OF  THE 

U N I V LRS  ITY 
OF  I LLI N O I S 


PRESENTED  5Y 


Newton  M.  Harris 


1941 


909 

G37w 


1862a 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/worldhistoricala00gilb_0 


THE  SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 


1—  Lighthouse  on  the  Island  of  Pharos,  Alexandria  4— The  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus. 

2—  Statue  of  the  Olympian  Jupiter.  5— The  Mausoleum  of  Artemisia. 

3—  The  Colossus  at  Rhodes.  6— The  Pyramids  of  Egypt. 

7— The  Walls  and  Hanging  Gardens  of  Babylon. 


THE  WORLD 


HISTORICAL  AND  ACTUAL. 

WHAT  HAS  BEEN  AND  WHAT  IS. 

OUR  GLOBE  IE  ITS  RELATIONS  TO  OTHER  WORLDS,  AND  BEFORE  MAE. 

Ancient  Nations  in  the  Order  of  their  Antiquity. 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  AND  THEIR  DARKNESS. 

THE  PRESENT  PEOPLES  OF  THE  EARTH  IN  THEIR  GRADUAL  EMERGENCE  FROM  BARBARISM 
INTO  THE  SUNLIGHT  OF  TO-DAY,  AND  AS  THEY  NOW  STAND  UPON 
THE  PLANE  OF  CIVILIZATION. 

TOGETHER  WITH 

USEFUL  AND  INSTRUCTIVE  CHARTS,  REFERENCE  TABLES  OF  HISTORY,  FINANCE, 
COMMERCE  AND  LITERATURE  FROM  B.  C.  1500,  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


ifttimcrons  ^Icgant  ^jllustralioniL 


By  FRANK  GILBERT,  A.  M. 

Late  Assistant  Treasurer  IT.  S.  at  Chicaoo  and  Associate  Editor  of  Chicago  Journal; 
Author  of  The  Manual  of  American  Literature. 


ST.  LOUIS,  MO.: 

RICHARD  S.  PEALE  & CO. 

New  York:  FAIRBANKS,  PALMER  & CO.  Chicago:  W.  M.  FARRAR. 

1882. 


12  Ag  g • 


oo 


■71 


HIS  age  is  at  once  busy 
and  inquiring.  The  peo- 
ple have  more  thirst  for 
knowledge  than  time  to 
devote  to  its  acquisition, 
and  of  that  little,  much 
must  be  given  to  the  cur- 
rent topics  of  the  day  as  presented 
in  the  newspapers.  The  aim  of 
The  Woeld  is  to  meet  the  demand 
of  this  large  class  of  the  public 
for  a volume  which  shall  be  ency- 
clopedic  in  its  range  of  informa- 
tion, yet  so  written  as  to  be  an  un- 
broken account  of  man’s  progress 
in  the  past  and  condition  in  the 
present. 

Each  chapter  forms  an  essay 
substantially  complete  in  itself  upon  the  subject  an- 
nounced in  the  heading.  It  is  also  a link  in  a chain 
of  intelligence  which  encircles  the  globe  and  binds 
in  a grand  unity  all  the  known  ages.  This  method, 
adopted  with  grave  apprehension  of  its  feasibility, 
was  found  to  be  natural  and  easy  to  follow. 

Preliminary  to  the  history  and  introductory  to 
the  body  of  the  work  are  presented  such  scientific 
facts  in  regard  to  the  heavens  above  and  the  earth 
beneath  as  were  deemed  necessary  to  an  intelligent 
understanding  of  man’s  environment.  No  attempt 
has  been  made  to  give  instruction  in  the  sciences, 
beyond  the  accomplishment  of  this  object.  Modern 
scholarship  has  disclosed  in  dim  outline  the  illimit- 
able field  of  prehistoric  humanity,  and  a faint 
glimpse  of  that  vast  field  is  also  afforded  for  the 
same  introductory  purpose. 


It  will  be  observed  that  each  country  or  people  is 
presented  in  the  order  of  its  emergence  from  obscur- 
ity and  followed  in  its  development  until  the  present 
time.  Into  the  ocean  of  the  Actual  debouch  the 
numberless  streams  of  the  Historical,  from  the  Nile 
of  Egypt  to  the  Amazon  of  America.  Care  has 
been  taken  to  give  to  each  the  relative  prominence 
to  which  it  is  entitled  by  its  real  weight  and  influence 
in  the  scale  of  civilization.  Separate  facts,  too,  have 
been  treated  upon  the  same  principle.  There  is  wide 
latitude  for  honest  and  intelligent  difference  of  opin- 
ion as  to  the  importance  of  almost  every  event,  and 
no  two  estimates  would  agree  entirely  upon  details. 

Every  subject  which  seemed  to  require  pictorial 
representation  to  render  it  more  intelligible  and  in- 
teresting has  been  illustrated.  These  illustrations 
are  believed  to  add  very  materially  to  the  intrinsic 
value,  as  well  as  the  attractiveness  of  the  volume. 
There  are  many  subjects  which  cannot  be  fully  pre- 
sented unless  “the  art  preservative  of  art,”  as  print- 
ing has  been  called,  is  supplemented  and  rounded 
out  by  the  engraver’s  art. 

Of  course  in  a volume  covering  a field  so  vast, 
many  things  which  are  in  themselves  highly  import- 
ant must  be  passed  over  in  silence  or  mentioned  only 
briefly ; but  the  endeavor  has  been  to  avoid  the 
omission  of  anything  necessary  to  the  general 
plan  of  the  book,  as  set  forth  upon  the  title-page. 

In  the  verification  of  facts  the  author  of  a work 
which  is  telescopic  rather  than  microscopic,  cannot 
make  original  research,  and  often  there  is  a wide  d i- 
vergence in  the  statements  made  by  standard  author- 
ities. In  this  book  no  statement  will  be  found  for 
which  good  authority  could  not  be  adduced,  and  in 
many  cases  (more  especially  in  the  statistical  part) 


(in) 


cil'V 


k. 


IV 


PREFACE. 


great  effort  has  been  made  to  determine  the  relative 
weight  of  testimony  and  conform  thereto. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  volume  it  has  been 
assumed  that  the  reader  is  far  more  interested  in 
American  history  than  in  foreign  history ; in  mod- 
ern times  than  in  antiquity.  If  the  space  devoted 
to  art,  for  instance,  in  the  United  States  is  small,  as 
compared  with  that  given  to  the  art  of  some  other 
countries,  while  American  industry  is  given  especial 
prominence,  the  reason  is  that,  much  as  might  be 
said  in  praise  of  art  in  the  United  States,  it  is  unde- 
niable that  the  typical  American  is  an  artisan  rather 
than  an  artist,  and  his  hands  are  more  skillful  in 
the  use  of  tools  and  implements  of  industry  than 
the  brush  and  chisel  of  art. 

The  earliest  nation  of  which  we  know  anything, 
Egypt,  seems  to  have  been  mainly  anxious  to  pre- 
serve the  body  after  death ; the  greatest  of  all 
nations  in  actual  attainments,  England,  has  devel- 
oped what  might  be  called  factory  mechanism, — 
machinery  which  enabled  the  English  to  convert 
raw  material  into  merchandise  on  terms  to  defy  the 
competition  of  the  world.  America  has  wrought 
much  in  the  English  line,  but  the  distinctive  pecu- 
liarity of  the  United  States  is  care  for  the  number- 
less comforts  and  conveniences  of  life.  In  a 
word,  it  seems  to  be  the  mission  of  American 
industry  and  ingenuity  to  lighten  the  labors  and 
enhance  the  happiness  of  the  toiling  masses  of 
mankind.  The  truth  of  these  observations  is  obvi- 
ous, and  it  only  remains  to  say  that  throughout  the 
volume  the  aim  has  been  to  bring  out  in  due  promi- 
nence the  distinctive  characteristics  of  each  people 
or  period. 


It  will  be  observed  that  the  reading  matter  lias 
been  re-inforced  by  copious  statistics,  selected  and 
arranged  with  reference  to  the  general  scope  of 
The  World,  constituting  a compend  of  leading 
facts,  relating  to  the  past  and  to  the  present  nations 
of  our  globe.  These  tables,  based  on  the  latest 
attainable  information,  aim  to  make  the  book 
available  for  the  purpose  of  reference,  especially  in 
connection  with  the  index,  and  will  meet,  it  is  hoped, 
a want  now  felt  by  speakers,  writers,  professional 
and  business  men  and  others,  whose  limited  time 
will  not  permit  their  consulting  exhaustive  treatises, 
but  who  demand  that  the  salient  points  shall  be  so 
arranged  as  to  be  easily  found  just  when  desired. 
By  the  joint  aid  of  the  table  of  reference  and  the 
index,  it  is  entirely  feasible  to  almost  instantaneously 
secure  the  information  desired.  The  table  of  con- 
tents is  designed  to  be  a complete  and  ready  guide 
to  the  reader  in  selecting  topics  about  which  to 
read,  for  the  book  is  equally  adapted  to  continuous 
and  occasional  reading. 

The  author  is  under  great  obligations  to  “ Gas- 
kell’s  Compendium  of  Forms,”  and  such  eminent 
statisticians  as  Mulhall,  Nichol  and  Walker,  for 
tabular  matter,  also  to  L.  T.  Palmer ; to  Prof.  W.  P. 
Jones  for  assistance  in  the  chapters  on  China,  and  to 
the  Hon.  C.  E.  Jones,  of  Melbourne,  for  aid  in  the 
preparation  of  the  chapter  on  Australasia.  In  the 
body  of  the  book  due  credit  is  given  to  the  numer- 
ous authors  from  whom  quotations  are  made. 

It  only  remains  to  add  that  one  more  needed  labor 
will  have  been  performed  if  this  book  shall  satisfac- 
torily fill  the  niche  in  the  library  and  the  place  in 
the  family-circle  for  which  it  was  designed. 


K 


"7T 


<L 


y>S( 

I. 

PAGE 

XXI. 

PAGE 

THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  SUN 

25 

MODERN  GREECE  AND  THE  GREEK  CHURCH  . 129 

II. 

XXII. 

THE  EARTH  WITHOUT  MAN 

37 

ANCIENT  ITALY  AND  PRIMITIVE  ROME 

>33 

III. 

XXIII. 

PRE-HISTORIC 

MAN 

. 40 

SEMI-HISTORIC  ROME  .... 

138 

IV. 

XXIV. 

THE  MOST  ANCIENT  EGYPT 

44 

ROME  AND  CARTHAGE 

143 

V. 

XXV. 

EGYPT  AT  ITS 

BEST 

48 

LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC 

. . X48 

VI. 

XXVI. 

THE  DECLINE 

OF  EGYPT  .... 

52 

C.ESAR  AND  THE  EMPIRE 

>55 

VII. 

XXVII. 

EGYPT  AND  THE  GLORY  OF  ALEXANDRIA  . 

55 

LATIN  CLASSICS  .... 

160 

VIII. 

XXVIII. 

EGYPT  AS  IT  IS 

59 

THR  EMPERORS  FROM  AUGUSTUS  TO  ALARIC  . 165 

IX. 

XXIX. 

ETHIOPIA  AND 

THE  PHCENECLANS 

64 

PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY 

>73 

X. 

XXX. 

THE  JEWS  . 

68 

THE  PAPACY  AND  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY 

. . 177 

XI. 

XXXI. 

HEBREW  LITERATURE  AND  SECTS 

73 

ITALY  AND  THE  ITALIANS  . 

. . 184 

XII. 

XXXII. 

ASSYRIA  AND 

SYRIA 

81 

THE  DARK  AGES 

• • 189 

XIII. 

XXXIII. 

PERSIA,  PARTHIA  AND  THE  ZENDA  VESTA 

86 

THE  SARACEN  EMPIRE 

• >95 

XIV. 

XXXIV 

GREECE  AND 

HERO  WORSHIP 

90 

THE  BYZANTINE  EMPIRE 

. . 200 

XV. 

XXXV. 

HISTORIC  WARS  OF  GREECE 

95 

THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE  (TURKEY) 

• • 206 

XVI. 

XXXVI. 

STATE  CRAFT 

IN  GREECE  .... 

. 103 

RUSSIA 

. . 2X0 

XVII. 

XXXVII. 

GREEK  CLASSIC  LITERATURE 

109 

POLAND  AND  THE  POLES 

. . 2X7 

XVIII. 

XXXVIII. 

GREEK  PHILOSOPHY  AND  ART 

114 

MEDIEVAL  GERMANY  . 

. • 223 

XIX. 

XXXIX. 

GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

. 120 

GERMANY  AND  THE  REFORMATION 

. . 228 

XX. 

XL. 

THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  . 



1 >25 

NEW  GERMANY  

*35 

(y) 


VI 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


XLI. 

PAGE 

INTELLECTUAL  GERMANY  .... 

XLII. 

242 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

XLIII. 

249 

BELGIUM  AND  THE  NETHERLANDS 

XLIV. 

255 

OLD  FRANCE  

XLV. 

261 

TRIUMPH  AND  DECAY  OF  FRENCH  MONARCHY 

XLVI. 

267 

THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION  .... 

XLVII. 

272 

NAPOLEON  AND  HIS  CAMPAIGNS  . 

XLVIII. 

281 

LATTER-DAY  FRANCE 

XLIX. 

289 

CELTIC,  GOTHIC,  AND  MOORISH  SPAIN  . 

L. 

294 

FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA  .... 

LI. 

300 

CATHOLIC  SPAIN 

LII. 

305 

PORTUGAL  AND  THE  PORTUGUESE 

LII1. 

3J5 

THE  SCANDINAVIANS 

LIV. 

320. 

SWITZERLAND  AND  LESSER  EUROPE 

LV. 

325 

OLD  ENGLAND  

LVI. 

332 

OLD  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PLANTAGENETS 

LVTI. 

339 

MODERN  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PLANTAGENETS 

LVIII. 

343 

LANCASTER  AND  YORK  .... 

LIX. 

349 

THE  TUDORS  

LX. 

355 

THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  COMMONWEALTH 

LXI. 

36* 

PRESENT  ENGLAND  

LXII. 

367 

LITERATURE  OF  ENGLAND  .... 

LXIII. 

375 

SCOTLAND  AND  THE  SCOTCH 

LXIV. 

382 

IRELAND  AND  THE  IRISH  .... 

LXV. 

387 

LXVI. 

BRITISH  INDIA  

LXVII. 

AUSTRALASIA 

LXVIII. 

JAPAN  AND  THE  JAPANESE 

LXIX. 

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE 

LXX. 

THE  CHINESE 

LXXI. 

MINOR  ASIA  AND  AFRICA 

LXXII. 

MEXICO  AND  THE  MEXICANS 

LXXIII. 

SOUTH  AMERICA 

LXXIV. 

CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND  THE  ISLES  OF  THE  SEA  . 

LXXV. 

NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS  ... 

LXXVI. 

EARLY  COLONIAL  UNITED  STATES 

LXXVII. 

COLONIAL  GROWTH  AND  OUTGROWTH 

LXXVII  I. 

INDEPENDENCE  AND  UNION  .... 

LXXIX. 

THE  YOUNG  REPUBLIC 

LXXX. 

THE  PERIOD  OF  COMPROMISE  .... 

LXXXI. 

THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT 

LXXX  1 1. 

RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY 

LXXXIII. 

THE  PRESENT  UNITED  STATES  .... 

LXXXI  V. 

GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

LXXXV. 

PRESIDENTS  AND  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS 

LXXXVI. 

STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

lxxx,vil 

AMERICAN  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS 

LXXXVIII. 

AMERICAN  INDUSTRY  AND  ART  .... 

LXXXIX. 

AMERICAN  LITERATURE 

xc. 


THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA 


TABLES  OF  REFERENCE 


PAGE 

400 

411 

427 

434 

442 

453 

461 

467 

477 

485 

49i 

500 

509 

516 

522 

529 

555 

564 

57> 

580 

59* 

622 

6314 

638 

650 


6 

1 


Abbas,  Khedive  of  Egypt 60 

Abdul  Hamid  II 208 

Abelard  and  Heloise 193,  263 

Abica  of  Tyre 67 

Aborigines  of  Germany 242 

Abraham 68 

Abu-Bekr  Succeeds  Mahommed 19S 

The  Saracen  Empire  under  198 

Re-arranges  the  Koran 197 

Abyssinia,  or  Modern  Ethiopia 66 

Population  and  Area 66 

Acadia  and  the  Acadians 395 

Academies  in  France 270 

Achaean  League,  The 107 

Achilles 92 

Acropolis  at  Athens,  The 1 17 

Actium,  The  Battle  of 1 57 

Adams,  John 518,  580 

Adams,  John  Quincy 5*28,  583 

Addison,  Joseph 379 

Adelaide 417 

Adler  on  the  Jews So 

Adolphus,  Gustavus 233 

Adrian  I,  Pope 180 

Adrianople 202 

Adrianopolitan  Period 206 

Adullum,  The  Cave  of 135 

Etolian  League,  The 107 

Eschylus 1 10 

Esop  and  his  Fables no 

Eneas  of  Virgil 161 

Eneas  in  Latium 135 

Eneid  of  Virgil,  The 161 

Afghanistan  455 

Africa,  Minor  Asia  and 453 

Ancient  Libya 456 

Explorations  in 456 

Agamemnon  and  Iphigenia 92 

Agassiz  Louis 644 

Age  of  Fable,  the  Golden 40 

Fables,  Poland's 218 

The  Stone  and  Bronze 42 

of  the  Mammoth,  The 40 

of  the  Mastodon,  The 40 

The  Augustan 159 

of  the  Antonines 16S 

of  Poetry,  the  Silver  and  Golden 161 

The  Apostolic 176 

of  the  Bishops 178 

of  the  Popes 178 

The  Medieval 178 

The  Dark 189 

of  Chivalry 190 


Agnosticism  of  Alexandria 57 

Agincourt,  Battle  of 351 

Agrarian  Laws ..  • 139 

Agrarianism,  Primitive 136 

Agricola  and  Britain 333 

Agrippa,  Menenius 139 

Agripina 166 

Ahaz S4 

Aix  la  Chapelle,  Peace  of. 310 

Alabama 592 

Alabama  Claims 564 

Alaric.  The  Goth 17 1 

The  Emperors  from  Augustus  to*. 165 

Sacks  Rome 17 1 

Alaska 593 

Alba  Longa 135 

Albert  I.,  Emperor  of  Germany 250 

Albert  II.,  Emperor  of  Germany 250 

Albert  V.,  of  Austria 250 

becomes  Albert  II.  of  Germany 250 

Albert,  Prince  of  Wales 368 

Albigenses,  The,  a Protestant  Sect 181 

Alembert,  D’ . . . 271 

Alexander  The  Great 53,55,  101 

Alexander  Severus 168 

Alexander  1 213,  221 

Alexander  II 215 

Alexander  III 216 

Alexandria,  Glory  of. 55 

Commerce  of 56 

Museum  at 56 

Public  Library 57 

Theological  Warfare  at 58 

Alexandrian  Philosophy 57 

Christianity 58 

Alexis,  Emperor  of  Byzantine 202 

Alfonso  XII 313 

Alfonso  V 315 

Alfonso  I . . .315 

Alfred  The  Great 336,  375 

Algeria 457 

Algerine  Piracy 521 

Alhambra  of  Granada...  29S 

Ali  Mehemet,  the  Saracen 19S 

Allen,  Ethan 505 

Alliance,  The  Holy 213 

Alps,  The 326 

Alsace — Lorraine 240,  291 

Amadeus,  Victor 186 

Amadeus 313 

Amanothph  II 49 

Amanothph  III 50 

Amazons,  Theseus  battles  with  the 92 


Amendments  to  the  Constitution 

American  Indians 

Literature 

Inventions  and  Inventors 

Industries 

Ammon,  The  God 

Alexander’s  Sonship  to 

Amphictyonic  League,  The 

Amru,  The  Saracen  in  Egypt 

Amsterdam 

Amurath,  The  Sultan 

Anatomy — Born  at  Alexandria.. 

Anabaptists 

Anam,  or  Cochin,  China  

Anamese  Literature 

Ancient  Egypt,  The  Most 

Italy,  and  primitive  Rome.. . 

Ancients,  The  World  of  the 

Andersen,  Hans 

Anderson,  Maj.  Robert 

Andersonville  Prison 

Andorra 

Andre,  Major 

Andrew  of  Hungary 

Andronicus 

Angevine  Dynasty 

Anglo-Saxons  in  England 

Anne,  Queen 

Animal  Kingdom,  The 

Antietam,  Battle  of 

Antilles,  The 

Antioch 

Antiochus  Epiphanes 

Antony,  Mark 

in  Egypt 

Antonius,  T.  Aurelius 

Antonines,  The  Age  of  the 

Apostolic  Age,  The 

Appomattox,  Surrender  at 

Appius,  Claudius 

and  Virginia 

Apollo,  The  Colossus 

Arab  Shiek,  an 

Arabs  and  the  Saracen 

Arabia  and  the  Arabs 

Aradnus 

Aragon  and  Castile 

Arbela,  Defeat  of  Darius  

Arcadian  League,  The 

Archaeological  Discoveries 

Archimedes 

Architecture  of  the  Greeks 

of  Corinth 


.569 

■tss 

.638 
.622 
.629 
••56 
..56 
. 107 
..58 
.256 
.202 

••57 


453 

453 

44 

- - >33 

>25  I 

322 

530, 550 
542 

....329 


. . . 192 
. .202 

■ • -339 
■ --334 

..366 
■39 
■■■537 
■••479 
....85 
/i.  S5 
• -•  >56 
•■•157 
..168 
. .168 
...176 

■ --546 
.. .139 
...140 

• •>25 
....68 
•••■97 
•••455 
. . . .66 
.. .299 
. . . 101 
. ..107 
....83 
...  1 26 
..  .118 
. . . 13° 


£ 

► 


9 


PAGE. 

Architecture  in  China 449 

in  Germany..  227 

in  France 269 

Area  of  Civilization 

of  Egypt 59 

of  Persia S9 

of  Present  Italy 1S4 

of  the  Byzantine  Empire 201 

of  Turkey 209 

of  Siberia 216 

of  Poland 217 

of  Prussia 241 

of  Germany 241 

of  Austria 249 

of  Hungary 250 

of  Bosnia 254 

of  Belgium 255 

of  the  Netherlands 256 

of  Portugal 315 

of  Norway 322 

of  Sweden 323 

of  Canada • -394 

of  Australasia 411 

of  the  United  States 570 

Argentine  Republic 468 

Aristedes 99 

Aristophanes hi 

Aristotle 115 

Arius,  The  Presbyter 58 

Arizona 594 

Arkansas 593 

Arkwright,  Sir  Richard 624 

Armada  Destroyed,  The  Spanish 307 

Arnold,  Benedict , 5 65,  5X3»  5X4 

Arnold  of  Brescia 181 

Arpad  Dynasty  of  Hungary,  The 250 

Artemisia,  Widow  of  Mansolus 125 

Art  and  Achievements,  Titanic 48 

of  Ethiopia 65 

of  Phcenicia 67 

Greek  Philosophy,  and 1 14 

Etruscan 14 1 

Byzantine 205 

Flemish  and  Dutch 259 

in  Spain 313 

American 637 

Articles  of  Confederation 512 

Arthur,  Chester  A 569,  586 

Arya 127 

Aryan  Race,  The 88,  128,  400 

Ascanius 135 

Asia  and  Africa,  Minor 455 

Assassination  of  Lincoln 546 

of  Garfield 569 

Assembly,  National 275 

The  Legislative  276 

Asser 375 

Asshur 81 

Assyria 81 

Assyrian  Antiquity Si 

Ninus  and  Semiramis 81 

Senacherib  and  Sardanapolis 82 

The  City  of  Nineveh ...  .82 

Babylon  and  Its  Hanging  Gardens S3 

Babylonian  History 83 

Alexander  and  Babylon S3 

Recent  Archaeological  Discoveries S3 

Assyrians,  The 53 

Astronomy,  The  Science  of 25,  32 

Astronomers 23,  25,  32,  35 


PAGE. 

Atcacer  Quibir 318 

Athanasius  58,  176 

Athenians,  The 97 

Athens,  The  City  of . .97 

Athor 52 

Atlanta,  Capture  of 545 

Atossa 97 

Attorney  General,  The 579 

Audobon.J.  J 640 

Auerstadt,  The  Battle  of 237 

Augsburg,  Council  of 232 

Augustan  Age,  The 159 

Augustus,  Frederick 219,  220 

Augustine,  an  Early  Christian  Writer 176 

Augustine  Monks 230 

Augustus,  Caisar 457 

Defeats  Antony 157' 

to  Alaric,  The  Emperors,  from 165 

Aurelius,  Marcus,  Emperor  of  Rome  16S 

Austerlitz,  The  Battle  of 237 

Austria-Hungary ...  249 

German  and  Semi -German 249 

The  Dual  Empire  Formed 249 

The  Hapsburg  and  Hohenzollern 249 

Rhodolph  and  Ottocar  249 

The  Duchy  and  Arch  Duchy 252 

Modern  or  Present 253 

Hungary  and  the  Magyars 253 

The  Hapsburgs  in  Hungary 253 

Present  Government  of  the  Empire 253 

Religion  and  Education 253 

Bosnia  and  Hervegovina 254 

The  Literature  of  Hungary 254 

The  Cities  of. 254 

Australia,  Western 426 

Area,  Debt,  Exports 426 

Australasia,  the  Colonies  of 411 

Australasian  Independence  426 

Ayasha 197 

Aztecs  in  Mexico,  The 461 

Azores  Islands 317 

Azores  and  Portugal,  The 4S4 

Baalbac,  The  City  of 84 

Babel,  The  Tower  of. 69 

Babylon,  Jewish  Captivity  in.  69 

The  City  of 82 

Babylonians,  Early  history  of  the S3 

Bache,  A.  D 644 

Bach,  a Composer 245 

Bacon,  Roger 341,  368 

Bacon,  Francis 377 

Bacon’s  Rebellion 493 

Bagdad,  the  City  of 82 

Bahama  Islands,  The 479 

Bakumin,  Michael 215 

Balaklava,  The  Battle  of 214 

Baldwin,  Count,  of  Flanders 202 

Baliol 345 

Bancroft,  George 644 

Bank  of  England 36S 

The  United  States 51S 

Banking  System,  U.  S 036 

Banks,  N.  P 536,  541 

Barbarossa 225 

Enters  Italy 185 

Barneveldt,  John,  a Dutch  Soldier 258 

Barons  W ar,  The ...  341 

Barnet,  The  Battle  of 353 

Bastile,  Fall  of  the  275 

Bathsheba  of  Nineveh 81 


PAGE. 

Battles  of  the  Franco  Prussian  War 241 

Bavarian  Republic,  The 259 

Baxter,  Richard  194,  378 

Bazil  Ascends  Byzantine  Throne 202 

Bazilian  Dynasty,  The 202 

Beaconsfield,  Lord 373 

Beauregard,  General 531,  561 

Becket,  Thomas,  & 339 

Beecher,  Lyman 649 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward 649 

Before  History 23 

Beirat,  The  City  of 66 

Belfast 38S,  390 

Belgium  and  the  Netherlands 255 

Religion  and  Education 256 

Java — Dutch  Government 256 

Typography  and  Resources... 257 

The  Dutch  in  History 257 

The  Nation  and  Its  Great  War 25S 

The  Throes  of  the  Dutch  Republic 258 

Period  of  Prosperity 258 

Fall  of  the  Republic 259 

Dutch  Art 259 

Waterloo 260 

Belisarius,  General 

Beloochistan 455 

Belshazzar,  King  of  Babylon 83 

Belus,  The  Temple  of 82 

Benares,  The  City  of 40S 

Benedek,  Marshall 239 

Bengal,  the  City  of 404 

Benhadad,  King  of  Syria 84 

Bennett,  J.  G 

Bennington,  Battle  of 51 1 

Berlin,  The  French  Enter 2S5 

The  University  of.  235 

The  Treaty  of. 254 

Berenice’s  Hair,  The  Group 32 

Beethoven 245 

Bey,  A Turkish 208 

Bible,  The  Books  of  the 70 

The  Persian 88 

Birney,  James  G 527 

Bishop  of  Rome,  Pope ...  178 

Bismark,  Count  Von 238 

Black  Death,  The 348 

Bladensburg,  Battle  of 520 

Blaine,  James  G 566 

Blair,  Frank  P 554 

Blanchard,  Thomas  625 

Blenheim  The  Battle  of 269 

Blucher,  Marshal 237,  369 

Boabdil,  Moorish  King 299 

Defeated  by  Ferdinand 299 

Boadicea,  Queen 333 

Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations 500 

Bobadilla,  Admiral 304 

Boccacio 193 

Boileau 270 

Bokhara 434 

Colleges  of 454 

Boleslas  I.,  of  Poland 218 

Boleyn,  Annie 356 

Bolingbroke  of  Lancaster 34S,  350 

Crowned  Henry  IV 350 

Bolivar,  Simon 470 

Bolivia,  Republic  of. 474 

Bombay,  The  City  of 407 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon 2S1 

Bonaparte,  Louis 259 


M1. 


INDEX. 


IX 


PAGE. 

Bonaparte,  Joseph 285,  310 

Borough  R epresentation 345 

Bosnia,  The  Province  of 254 

Boston,  “ Tea  Party,*’ S°3 

Evacuation  of 506 

Great  Fire  in 564 

Bosworth,  Battle  of 254 

Bossuet 269 

Botany  Bay ...  .411 

Botzaris,  Marco 102,  131 

Bourbons  in  France,  The 271 

Boyne,  Battle  of  the 365,  3SS 

Brabant,  The  Dukedom  ok 258 

Bradstreet,  Mrs.  Ann 63S 

Bragg,  General 53^ 

Brake,  The  Air 625 

Brandywine,  The  Battle  of 511 

Brazil,  The  Empire  of. 469,  318 

Kingdom  Established 318 

Dom  Pedro 470 

Breakspear,  Adrian  IV 340 

Breckenridge,  John  C 530,  561 

Brickmaking  in  Egypt  47 

Bright,  John 373 

British  India 400 

Britons,  The  Ancient 333 

Bronze  and  Stone  Age .42 

Bronte,  Charlotte 381 

Browne,  C.  F 647 

Brown,  General 519 

Brown,  John 529 

Browning,  Mrs 380 

Browning,  Robert 3S1 

Bruce,  Robert 345 » 3^4 

Brussa,  City  of 206 

Bryant,  William  Cullen.  645 

Brussells,  the  City  of. 255 

Uprising  in 255 

Brutus,  Junius 138 

Brutus,  Marcus 157 

Bruyere,  La 270 

Bubastis,  Priests  of 52 

Buchanan,  James 528,  585 

Buchner,  Prof. 247 

Buckner,  General  533 

Bucolics  of  Virgil 161 

Buddhism  in  Japan 430 

in  China 451 

Buel,  General 534,  538 

Buenos  Ayres,  The  City  of 468 

Button 271 

Bui  wer-Lytton 381 

Bull  Run,  Battles  of 531,  536 

Bull  Fights  of  Spain 314 

Bundesrath  and  Reichstag 251 

Bunker,  or  Breed’s  Hill . 505 

Bunyan,  John 378 

Burgoyne,  General  512 

Burgundy,  First  King  of 325 

Duke  of 25S 

Burke,  Edmund 379 

Burmah,  or  Farther  India 454 

Burmuda  Isles,  The. 484 

Burns,  Robert 386 

Burnside,  Ambrose  E 534,  537 

Butler,  Samuel 378 

Butler,  Benjamin  F 534,  550 

Bvblus,  City  of 66 

Byron,  Lord 130,  380 

Byzantine  Empire,  The 197,  200 


PAGE. 

Byzantine  Empire,  Area  and  Conserva- 


tism of 200 

Justinian  and  Belisarius 201 

The  Civil  Law 201 

Brazil  Dynasty. 202 

The  Comnenians  and  Latin  Crusaders ..  .203 

Palceologi  and  the  Turks 203 

Byzantium,  City  of 169,  200 

Cabinet,  The  English 373 

of  the  United  States 573 

Cabot,  John 394,  491 

Cabot,  Sebastian 394,  468 

Cabral,  Pedro  Alvarez 318 

Cade  Rebellion,  Thejack 351 

Caenar von,  The  Castle  of. 344 

CiEsar,  Julius . . .^S,  151,  153,  155,  156,  157,  163,333 

Caesar,  Tiberius 165 

Caesar,  Caius  or  Caligula 165 

Caesarea,  The  City  of. .* 71 

Cairo,  Egypt 61 

Caius,  Marius 150 

Caius,  Caesar 165 

Calais,  City  of 262 

Calcutta,  City  of 409 

Calendar,  The  Gregorian 35 

The  Russian 33 

The  Egyptian 4S 

Calderon 314 

Calhoun,  J.  C 323 

California 594 

Caliphs  of  Damascus 59 

Caliph  of  Mahammed 197 

Caliphs,  First  Four 198 

Caligula,  Emperor 165 

Assassinated 166 

Calmar,  Union  of  321 

Calvin,  John 265,  328 

Calvinists  and  Lutherans 232 

Cambyses 53,  65 

Camden,  Battle  of 313 

Camillus  Captures  Veii 14 1 

Camoens,  The  Poet 319 

Canada,  Dominion  of 394 

Census  of  1881 394 

English  Discovery  of. 395 

Acadia  and  the  Acadians 393 

Champlain's  Policy 396 

British  Policy 396 

Old  World  Prejudices 396 

The  Indians  of 396 

Manitoba  and  Hudson  Bay 396 

Political  system  of 397 

Virtual  Independence 397 

Reciprocity 397 

Cities,  Education,  Railroads 393 

Labrador,  the  Esquimaux 399 

Canaan,  Land  of 69 

Canal,  The  Suez 60 

The  Cloaca  Maxima 186 

Candace,  Queen 65 

Candia,  The  Island  of 126 

Cannoe,  Battle  of 146 

Cantebury,  Bishopric  of. * 334 

Canute,  the  Dane 321 

Rules,  England 336 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 317,  45S 

Cape  Verde  Islands 317 

Capetian  Line,  The  262 

The  Valois  Branch 262 

Captivity  of  the  Jews 69 


PAGE. 

Carlist  War,  The 312 

Carlos,  Don 312 

Carlovingian  Empire 257 

Dynasty 262 

Carlyle,  Thomas ..38I,  386 

Carolina,  North 613 

South 616 

Carolina,  Colonial  History 497 

French  Huguenots 49S 

Carnot,  French  Minister 278 

Carthage,  Rome  and 143 

Its  Place  in  History 144 

First  Punic  War 144 

Hamilcar  and  Hannibal 143 

Second  Punic  War 145 

Hannibal  Crosses  the  Alps 146 

Battle  ot  Came 146 

Fall  of  Carthage 147 

Carthagenians,  The.  143 

Cartier,  Jacques 393 

Casimir,  The  Restorer 218 

The  Great 218 

Casimir  IV 218 

Castelar. 3^ 

Castile  and  Aragon  United 299 


Castor  and  Pollux,  Sudden  Appearance  of.  . 137 
Cataline,  The  Conspiracy  of.  152 


Cataracts  of  the  Nile 62 

Catherine  de  Medici 265,267 

Catherine j , 

Catherine  of  Russia 207,  213 

War  with  Turkey 207 

Petitions  Poland 213,  220,  236 

Cato  the  Censor 147 

Destroys  Carthage 147 

The  Younger. . 149 

Cave  Dwellers,  The 4S7 

Cavour,  Italian  Statesman 186 

Cedar  Mountain,  Battle  of. 537 

Cedars  of  Lebanon,  The ...  67 


Celtic  and  Moorish  Spain. 

Celts  of  Great  Britain 

Celts  and  Celtic  Progress 
Census  of  Canada 


of  the  United  States 518,  370 

Central  America 4-0 

The  States  of. 473 

Champlain  Founds  Quebec 396 

Chancellorville,  Battle  of 538 

Channing,  Dr 643 

Chaldea 82 

Chaldean  Bricks 82 

Charlemagne  and  Chivalry . 190 

and  the  Dark  Ages 192 

in  Germany 228 

at  Aix  la  Chapelle 225 

Dynasty 262 

Charles  XII 

Charles  VI  235 

Charles  VII 236 

Charles  VII 264 

Charles  IX 263,  267 

Charles,  Martel 225 

Defeats  the  Saracens 262,  225 

Charles  X 289 

Charles  V 306 

Charles  II 309 

Charles  XI 323 

Charles  XI 323 

Charles  I.,  and  Parliament 362,  363 


x.  INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Charles  I.,  at  Marston  Moor 364 

Charles  II 364 

Returns  From  Holland 365 

Charleston  Attacked 506 

Chart.,  A Geological 38 

Charter,  The  Magna 341 

Charws  of  Lindus 125 

Chasidium  Sect 80 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey 347*  376 

Cheops,  The  Pyramid  of 46 

Chicago  Fire,  The 564 

Chickamauga,  Battle  of 541 

Chilperic  IV.,  King  of  the  Franks 262 

Chili,  The  Republic  of 474 

War  with  Peru 476 

Chinese  Empire 434 

Its  Territorial  Extent 434 

China  Proper 434 

The  Shanghai  Region ..437 

The  Valley  of  the  Hwang- Ho 437 

Interior  China 437 

Products  of  China 437 

Rivers,  Climate,  Forests,  Flora 439 

Minerals,  Petroleum,  Animals 439 

Corea  and  Its  Exclusiveness 440 

Manchura  and  the  Modern  Tartars 440 

Mongolia  and  the  Mongols 4-41 

Thibet  and  the  Grand  Llama 441 

Chinese,  The. . 442 

The  China  of  Fable 442 

The  Dynasties  of  China 443 

Confucius  and  the  Great  Wall 443 

The  Most  Civilized  Land . ..  ..443 

Kublai-Khan  and  Marco  Polo 443 

International  Commercial  Intercourse.  ..444 

Population  and  Government 445 

Revenue  and  Taxation 446 

Peculiarities — Occupation 447 

Architecture  and  Art 449 

Education  and  Office-Holding 450 

Hanlin  University 450 

Religion  of  China 451 

Eve  of  Great  Reforms 452 

Chivalry,  The  Age  of. 190 

Chloroform  Discovered 627 

Chrisna,  of  India 174 

Christ,  Jesus  the 173 

Rome  and 173 

Four  Biographies  of 173 

Paul  Preaches 174 

Christian  Commission,  The 549 

Christian  IV 232 

Christian  1 321 

Christian  X 321 

Christiana,  City  of 322 

Christian  Church,  The 175 

Churches,  The  Eight 174 

Christians,  Persecutions  of  by  Pagans. . . .174 

Christianity  in  Egypt 5S 

Constantine  Embraces 

Early  Days  of 174 

Paul’s  Preaching 174 

Catacombs  of  Rome 175 

The  Apostolic  Age 176 

Papacy  and  Modern 177 

In  Britain 334 

In  Scotland 3S2 

Chrysostom 176 

Chusan  Archipelago 434 

Church,  The  Greek 132 


PAGE. 

Eight  Christian 174 

Its  Primitive  Simplicity 174 

of  the  Catacombs i75 

Apostolic  Age 176 

of  Rome 177 

The  Russian 217 

Churches,  Strength  of  the 1S3 

Cicero i$3>  I57>  i63 

Cincinnatus 140 

Cities  of  Ireland 390 

of  Japan 427 

of  China 444 

of  Italy 184 

Civil  Service  of  the  U.  S 571 

Civil  War  in  Portugal 318 

In  the  United  States.  . 529 

Civilization,  The  Area  of. 38 

Classics,  The  Latin ....  160 

Clay,  Henry 523 

Claudius 166 

In  Britain. ...  333 

Clement  V.,  Pope 263 

Clemens,  Samuel  L 647 

Clenisthenes  of  Greece 106 

Cleopatra  and  Antony 157 

Cliff'  House  Indians 486 

Climate  and  Resources  of  Egypt 44 

Clinton,  General 509 

Clinton,  DeWitt 612 

Cloaca  Maxima 136 

Clothing  of  the  Egyptians 54 

Clovis,  Merong 262 

Clovis,  Merovingian  Dynasty 224 

Accepts  Christianity 261 

Cnaeus  Pompeius 15 1 

Code  Napoleon,  The 27S 

Colbert,  M 269 

Coleridge,  The  Poet..  3S1 

Colfax,  Schuyler 554 

Coligny,  Admiral 2 66 

Collins,  Wilkie 381 

Colonial  Policy,  Roman 137 

History  of  the  U.  S 491 

Colonies  of  F ranee 293 

of  the  Netherlands ....256 

of  Spain 306,  314 

of  Portugal 317 

of  Sweden 323 

of  England 373 

Colorado 596 

Colossus  of  Rhodes,  The 125 

Colt,  Samuel  625 

Columbia,  The  United  States  of 471 

Columbus,  Christopher 302 

Sails  for  the  New  World 303 

Death  and  Disgraced 304 

Comets 32,  35 

Commerce  of  Europe 264 

of  Alexandria 57 

of  the  Phoenicians 67 

Commentaries,  Blackstone’s  370 

Commons,  House  of 341 

Commonwealth',  The  English 361,  364 

Comnens,  Isaac 202 

Compromise,  The  Period  of. 542 

The  Missouri 522 

Conception,  The  Immaculate 182 

Confederacy,  Rise  and  Fall  of  the 355 

Confederation,  The  Swiss 325 

Confederate  States,  The 530 


PAGE. 

Confession  of  Faith 386 

St.  Patrick’s , 388 

Confucius,  The  Age  of 443 

Congress,  First  Continental 503 

Second  Continental 504 

Under  the  Constitution 516 

The  Confederate 557 

Conservative  Leaders,  English 372 

Consini,  Leonora 268 

Conspiracy  of  Cataline 152 

Constantine  the  Great 58 

Succeeds  Constantius 169 

Declared  Emperor 169 

Embraces  Christianity 169 

Decree  of  Milan 169 

Defeats  Lucenius 169 

Removes  to  Constantinople 169 

Constantine  IX 202 

Constantine  XIII 202 

Constantine  II 384 

Constantinople  Founded 169,  200 

Resists  Repeated  Sieges 198 

Constantius  and  Galerius 169 

Constantius,  Son  of  Constantine 170 

Constellations  of  the  Zodiac 32 

Constitution,  Canadian 397 

of  France 276 

of  the  U.  S 515,  569 

Conti,  Prince  of  France 219 

Continental  Army 505 

Money 517 

Consuls  of  Rome,  First. 138 

Continents  and  Population 38 

Convention,  The  National 276 

Cooper,  J.  Fennimore 641 

Cooper,  Peter 625 

Copenhagen,  City  of 321 

Copernicus 35,  248 

Copts  and  Coptic  Races 54,  63 

Coptic  Justice. 54 

Copley,  John  S 637 

Copperheads  at  the  North 53S 

Corday,  Charlotte 27S 

Cordova  and  Moorish  Spain 296 

and  Its  Literature 297 

The  Fall  of 29S 

Corea,  Island  of. 440 

Corfu,  Island  of.  126 

Corinth,  City  of 129 

Corinthian  Architecture 130 

Coriolanus 141 

Cornelia . 149 

Corpus  Juris  Civilis 201 

Corn  Laws  in  England ...... .371 

Cornwall,  Duke  of 2 26 

Cornwallis,  General 514 

Corsica,  Conquered 145 

Cortez  and  Mexico 462 

Costa  Rica,  States  of 47S 

Cotton  Gin,  The 523,  624 

Cotton  Industry,  The 632 

Cow  pens,  Battle  of. ....514 

Cowper,  William 3S0 

Council,  The  Nicene 179 

The  Vatican 128 

of  Constance  228 

Courts  of  the  U.  S.,  The 579 

Cracow,  City  of. 218 

Cracus 218 

Cranmer,  Thomas 356 


INDEX 


xi 


PAGE. 

Crater,  The  Tycho 31 

Creation,  The  Theories  of. 37 

Creed,  The  Nicene  176 

Crescent,  Success  of  the 207 

Cressy,  Battle  of 346 

Crete,  Island  of 126 

Croesus  of  .Lydia 96 

Cromwell,  Oliver 363 

Dissolves  Parliament 365 

Becomes  Lord  Protector 365 

Cromwell.  Richard 365 

Crusade,  The  First 191,263 

The  Second 191 

The  Third . 192 

The  Fourth 192 

The  Fifth 192 

The  Eighth, 192 

The  Latin 202 

Cuba,  The  Island  of. 4S0 

Curtis,  General 533 

Curtis,  George  W 64S 

Cushites  Dynasty,  The 52, 65 

Customs  of  the  Egyptians 54 

Cuvier 39 

Cynics,  The 116 

Cyprus,  The  Island  of 126 

Cyrus  the  Great 53,  96 

Dagobert 224 

Daimios  of  Japan 432 

Dakota  Territory 598 

Damascus,  City  of 84 

Siege  of. 192 

and  the  Saracens 19S 

Dana,  Richard  H 641 

Dana,  James  D 644 

Danes  in  History 321 

Dante 187,  193 

Danton 276,  278 

Darius  Hystaspes S6,  97 

Dark  Ages,  The 189 

Medieval  Chaos 1S9 

Feudalism  and  Feudal  Tenures 190 

Guizot  on  Feudalism iqo 

The  Crusaders ...  190 

Charlemagne 193 

The  Minnesingers 193 

Witchcraft,  Wesley 194 

The  Saracen  Empire 189 

Darwin,  Charles 381 

David,  King  of  Israel 70 

David  1 3S4 

David  II 384 

Davis,  Jefferson 530,  555,  561 

Daza 169 

Deborah 70 

Debt  ot  Egypt 60 

of  the  Colonies 502 

Decatur,  Commodore 521 

Declaration  of  Independence 506 

Decline  of  Egypt 52 

Decree  of  Milan 171 

Decretals,  Forged  Documents 180 

Defoe,  Daniel 179 

De  Grasse,  Count 514 

De  Kalb,  Baron 512 

De’Launay,  Gov 275 

Delaware 598 

Delphi,  Oracle  of 108 

Delta  of  the  Nile 62 

Deluge,  The 69 


PAGE. 

Demosthenes 1 13 

Denmark  321 

Dennison  A.  L 624 

Dentatus 140 

D’Estaing,  Count 512 

Destruction  of  Jerusalem 71 

Detroit,  Surrender  of 519 

Developments,  Gradations  of. 41 

Developments,  Geological 39 

Diana  of  Ephesus. . . 126 

Dickens,  Charles 3S1 

Diderot 271 

Diocletian 169 

Directory  of  France,  The 277 

Fall  of  the 280 

Discovery  of  the  New  World 303 

Disraeli,  Benjamin 373 

as  a Novelist 38 1 

Dollinger 234 

Dombroroka,  Princess 218 

Domesday,  Book  of  England - 338 

Dominion  of  Canada 394 

Domitian 167 

Donation,  a Forged  Document 1S0 

Donelson,  Capture  of  Fort ...  533 

Douglas,  Stephen  A 527,  600 

Dowlah,  Surajah 404 

Drake,  Sir  Francis 359 

Drake,  Joseph  R 640 

Draper,  Dr.  J.  W 644 

Dresden,  Battle  of. 285 

Dryden,  John 378 

Druzbacka,  Elizabeth 222 

Dublin,  The  City  of 390 

The  University  of 391 

Dufferin,  Lord 397 

Duncan  and  Macbeth 3S4 

Durer,  Albrecht 259 

Dustan 336 

Dutch  Republic,  The 25S 

Commerce 258 

in  History,  The 257 

The  Medieval 258 

Acknowledged  by  Phillip  II 308 

Art 259 

Dwellings  of  the  Egyptians,  The 54 

Dynasty,  First  Egyptian 46 

The  Cushite $2,  65 

of  Fatima,  The 59 

The  Ptolemic 55 

The  Ommiad  19S 

The  Bazilian 202 

The  Palacologi 202 

The  Merovingian 224,  262 

The  Hohenstaufels 226 

of  Hungary,  Arpad 250 

The  Hapsburg 250 

Dynasties  of  China,  The 443 

Eads,  John  B 628 

Earth  Without  Man,  The 37 

Its  Surface  in  Square  Miles  37 

The  Planet. . 23,  26 

Earth’s  Strata,  The 3S 

East  India  Company,  Dutch 403 

The  English 404 

Kcologues  of  Virgil,  The 161 

Ecuador,  Republic  of 471 

Ecumenical  Council  of  Constance  . . v 22S 

Edda,  The  Elder  324 

Edict  of  Nantes 268 


Edinburgh,  Founded  

Edmund  I 

Edmunds,  George  F 

Education  in  Turkey 

in  Germany 

in  Austria 

in  Belgium 

in  the  Netherlands 

in  France 

in  Denmark 

in  China 

Edward  the  Elder 

Edward  the  Confessor 

Edward  I.  of  England  

Annexes  Wales 

Scotland,  a Dependency 

Rebellion  of  the  Scotts 

Edward  II 

Defeated  and  Captured 

Edward  III 

Lays  Claim  to  France 

Defeats  the  French 

Edward  IV 

Victory  at  Tewksbury  

Defeated  by  Warwick 

Edward  V.,  murdered  by  Richard  III 

Edward  the  Black  Prince 

Edward  VI 

Abolishes  Mass 

Lady  Jane  Grey  His  Successor 

Edwardian  Age  of  England,  The  

Edwards,  Jonathan 

Edwin  of  Northumbria 

Egbert,  King  of  Wessex 

Egypt,  The  most  Ancient 

The  Geography  of 

Its  Climate  and  Resources 

The  Rosetta  Stone 

First  Egyptian  Dynasty 

Cheops,  Pyramid  and  Sphinx 

The  Shepherd  Kings....  

The  Dawn  of  Thebes 

The  Memphian  Kingdom 

At  Its  Best 

From  Memphis  to  Thebes 

Kanark  and  its  Tombs 

Cataracts  ot  the  Nile 

Reform  in  the  Calendar 

Amanothph  and  the  Exodus 

A G.impse  of  Greece 

Rameses  the  Great 

Home  Development  and  Conquest. 

Gold  and  its  Influence 

Decline  of 

Shishank  and  Bubastis 

The  Cushite  Period 

Commerce  and  Discovery 

Assyrian  and  Persian  Wars 

Cambyses  Work  of  Destruction.  . 

and  Greece 

University  at  Heliopolis 

Coptic  Justice 

Clothing  and  Dwellings 

Domestic  Life  in  

Political  Divisions  in 

Survey  by  an  Eminent  Writer. . . . 

and  Glory  of  Alexandria 

Alexander  and  Alexandria 

Papyrus  Making 

The  First  of  the  Ptolemies 


PAGE. 

334 

33b 

566 

. . 209 

241  247 

2 S3 

256 

257 

293 

321 

450 

336 

...  -336 

343 

344 

• -345 

34S 

346 

....346 

346 

340 

346 

3S2 

35* 

353 

354 

34<5 

358 

358 

258 

347 

...639 

334,383 

335 

44 

44 

- 44 

■ ..-45 

46 

46 

..,..47 

47 

47 

48 

48 

48 

48 

48 

49 

5° 

5° 

51 

51 

52 

52 

52 

S3 

53 

S3 

53 

53 

54 

54 

54 

■ ••■54 

54 

55 

55 

55 

56 


Xll. 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Egypt,  Alexandrian  Commerce 56 

Its  Public  Buildings 56 

The  Museum,  The  .Library 56 

The  Ptolemies  and  Science 57 

Alexandrian  Philosophy 57 

Material  Decline  of  Alexandria 57 

Alexandrian  Christianity 58 

Theological  Warfare 58 

Zenobia  in  Egypt 58 

The  Saracen  Invasion 58 

Present 59 

Turkish  Subjugation 59 

The  Present  Dynasty 59 

Debt  and  Political  Consequences 60 

Railroads  and  the  Suez  Canal 60 

Cairo  and  Alexandria 61 

The  Niles  Natural  Recources 62 

Slave  Trade  and  Education 62 

The  Present  Population 6 2 

The  Fellahs,  Copts  and  Turks 63 

Elder  Edda,  The 324 

Elgin  Marbles 1 19 

Eliot,  John 638 

Eliot,  George 381 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England 358 

Declines  the  Suit  of  Philip  II 358 

Defeats  the  Spanish  Amada 358 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots 359 

Favorites  of  the  Queen 359 

Raleigh— Drake 359 

English  Literature  360 

Elizabethan  Age  of  Literature 360 

Emancipation,  The  Proclamation  of 538 

Emanuel,  Victor 186 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo 645 

Emigrants  of  France 276 

Emigration  of  the  Irish 390 

Empire,  The  Roman 155 

The  Saracen 189,  195 

The  Byzantine 200 

The  Ottoman 205 

The  British 332 

Emmet,  Robert 393 

Emperors  from  Augustus  to  Alaric 165 

Encyclopedia  of  F ranee 271 

England,  Old 332 

Early  Britons 333 

Caesar  in  Britain 333 

The  Druids 333 

Roman  Conquest 333 

Advent  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 334 

Christian  Evangelization 334 

Irish  and  Roman  Church 335 

The  Synod  of  Whitley 335 

The  Danish  Incursion 335 

From  Alfred  to  Edward 335,  337 

The  Norman  Invasion 337 

Harold  and  William 337 

Domesday  Book  and  Realty 338 

Henry  I.,  Long  Reign 338 

and  the  Planta genets,  Old 339 

Thomas  & Becket 339 

Strongbow  and  Irish  Subjugation 339 

Henry  II.,  Sorrows  . 340 

Richard  Cceur  de  Leon .340 

John  and  the  Magna  Charter 341 

Henry  III.  and  Parliament 341 

Edward  and  the  Barons 341 

Roger  Bacon,  Scientist 342 

Architecture  and  Free  Masonry 342 


PAGE. 

England,  Retrospect  of  Old 342 

and  the  Plantagenets,  Modern. 343 

Edward  I.  and  his  Ambition 343 

Llewellen,  Welsh  Policy 344 

Arthurian  Legends 345 

Wallace,  Bruce,  Subjection  of  Scotland  . .345 
Edward  and  Scotch  Independence. ....  .345 

Edward  II.— Edward  III 346 

France  and  the  Black  Prince 346 

Chaucer — Wycliflfe 347 

Richard  IT.,  and  Wat.  Tyler 34S 

Houses  of  Lancaster  and  York  349 

Period  of  the  Roses . . .349 

Henry  IV.  and  Wycliffe 350 

Henry  V.  in  France 351 

Henry  VI.— One  Hundred  Years’  War.. 351 

Jack  Cade’s  Insurrection 351 

The  War  of  the  Roses 352 

Edward  IV 352 

Warwick,  the  King  Maker 352 

Edward  V.— Richard  III  354 

Bosworth  Field 354 

The  House  of  the  Tudors 355 

Henry  VII.  and  his  Times 355 

Henry  VIII.,  his  Character  and  Times. . .356 

Edward  VI.  and  Jane  Grey 358 

Bloody  Mary 351 

Accession  of  Elizabeth 358 

Philip  of  Spain 358 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots 358 

The  Elizabethan  Age 358 

Under  the  Tudors.  360 

Ireland  under  the  Tudors 360 

The  Stuarts  and  Commonwealth 361  j 

The  Gunpowder  Plot 361 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh 361 

Tobacco  and  Potatoes 362 

King  James  Version 362 

Virginia  and  New  England.  362 

Charles  I.  and  Royalty...., 362 

Cromwell,  The  Long  Parliament 363 

The  Commonwealth 364 

Charles  II.,  James  II 364 

William  and  Mary- Anne 365 

Close  of  Stuart  Dynasty . .366 

At  the  Present  Time 367 

The  Georges — William  IV 368 

Victoria  and  Prince  Albert 368 

Colonian  Intervention 371 

Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic  Wars 371 

The  Corn  Laws 371 

Political  Parties  and  Leaders 372 

Royalty,  its  Palaces  and  Revenues 373 

Parliament,  Thj  Ministry 373 

The  United  Kingdom  and  British  Empire. 373 

Colonial  Possessions 373 

England,  The  Literature  of 375 

Chaucer  and  his  Times 376 

Shakespeare  and  his  Contemporaries  ...376 

Milton  and  his  Contemporaries . 378 

Literature  of  the  Restoration 378 

Addison  and  the  Spectator 379 

Byron  and  his  Peers 3S0 

The  Great  Novelists 3S1 

Contemporary  Men  of  Letters 381 

Latest  Type  of  Literature  in 3S1 

English,  William  H 569 

Ephesus,  The  City  of 126 

Temple  of  Diana 

Epicurean  and  Stoic  Philosophy 1 16 


PAGE. 

Epictetus 161,  163 

Erfurt,  The  University  of 230 

Ergamenes 65 

Eric  of  Denmark 321 

Ericsson,  John 533»  *>27 

Erin,  as  Known  to  the  Celts 367 

Erostratus 126 

Escurial,  Palaces  of  the 30S 

Espartero,  Regent 312 

Esquimaux  of  Labrador 399 

Essenessect 74 

Ethelbert,  Earl  of  Kent 334 

Ether,  Discovery  of 627 

Ethiopia  Subjugated  by  Egypt 51 

Secession  of 52 

and  the  Phoenicians 64 

and  Egypt 65 

Elective  Monarchy 65 

The  Arts  and  Sciences  of  65 

Present  Ethiopia  or  Abyssinia 65 

Etrusci  and  the  Etruscans 134 

Romans  Capture 14 1 

Etruscan  Art 140 

Euripedes no 

Eutaw  Springs,  The  Battle  of 514 

Evilmerodach 83 

Executive  Department,  The 572 

Exodus  from  Egypt,  The 49 

Exposition,  The  Centennial 565 

Ezra  the  Scribe 70 

Fabian  Policy,  The 146 

Fabius,  Consul  of  Rome 146 

Fable,  The  Golden  Age  of 40 

Poland  and  Its 218 

The  China  of. . . 442 

Factory  System,  The 624 

Fairbanks,  Thaddeus 626 

American  Scales 626 

Fair  Oaks,  Battle  of. 535 

Farragut,  Admiral 549 

Farmer,  From  Shepherd  to 42 

Fatima,  The  Dynasty  of 59 

Federalists  of  the  U.  S.,  The  517 

Fellahs  of  Egypt,  The 62 

Fenelon 269 

Fenian  Brotherhood,  The  393 

Ferdinand  of  Germany. . 232 

Ferdinand  IV 250 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella 300 

Capture  of  Malaga  299 

Ferdinand  VII.,  of  Spain 310 

Fergus,  The  Celt 3S2 

Ferrend,  Extract  From 220 

Feudalism  and  Feudal  Tenures 189 

Defined  by  Guizot 190 

in  Poland  218 

in  the  Netherlands 25S 

in  Scotland 3^4 

Fichte 246 

Fifteenth  Amendment 553 

Fiji  Islands,  The 4S4 

Fillmore,  Millard 526,  5S4 

Finances  of  the  Confederacy  560 

Fire  Arms,  The  Manufactory  of. 625 

P'isher,  Capture  of  For' 559 

Fisheries,  Canadian 595 

of  the  United  States 629 

Flanders,  The  Count  of. 258 

Flavii,  a Roman  Family 167 

Flemish  and  Dutch  Art 260 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Flodden  Heights,  Battle  of. 385 

Florence,  The  City  of 186 

Florida 498,  598 

Florida  Purchased 311 

Fontaine,  La 270 

Foote,  Commodore 532 

Forrest,  General 545,  554 

Forum  at  Rome,  The 160 

Fourteenth  Amendment 553 

France,  Old.... 201 

Ancient  Gaul 261 

Clovis  and  the  Franks 261 

The  Merovingian  Line 262 

Charles  Martel  and  Saracens 262 

Carlovingian  and  Capetian  Dynasties..  .262 

The  House  of  Valois 262 

Abelard  and  Heloise 263 

St.  Louis,  Molay,  Serfs 263 

Battle  of  Agincourt  and  Joan  of  Arc 264 

The  Renaissance  and  Rabelais 264 

The  Vandois  and  John  Calvin 265 

Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew's 265 

Protestantism  Organized  in 266 

Triumph  and  Decay  of  Monarchy 267 

Henry  of  Navarre 267 

Recantation  and  Toleration 268 

Louis  XIII.,  Richelieu 268 

Louis  XV 26S 

Intellectual  Progress 268 

Persecution  and  Oppression 269 

Literati  of  that  Period 269 

Louis  XV.  and  John  Law 270 

Finance  and  Colonization .270 

American  Revolution 271 

Great  Revolutionary  Writers 271 

Colonies  in  America 271 

Colony  in  India 270 

The  Revolution  in 272 

States  General — National  Assembly 272 

The  Bastile— The  Emigrants 275 

Flight  of  the  Royal  Party 276 

Legislative  Assembly 276 

Change  of  the  Calendar 276 

The  Jacobins 276 

The  Girondists  and  Paine 276 

The  Reign  of  Terror 277 

The  Directory 277 

Napoleon  and  the  Revolution 277 

Notable  Characters 278 

The  Code  Napoleon 278 

Napoleon  and  His  Campaigns 281 

Latter  Day 289 

A Recall  of  the  Bourbons 289 

Louis  Phillipe,  King 2S9 

Louis  Napoleon 290 

The  Siege  of  Paris 291 

Centralization  in 292 

Importance  of  Paris 292 

Land  and  Rents 293 

Religion  and  Education 293 

Colonial  Possessions 293 

Contemporary  French  Literature 393 

The  Rise  of  the  Republic 292 

Jules  Grevy,  President 292 

The  Cities  of 292 

Franks  Invade  Gaul 261 

Franklin,  Benj 507,  623,  639 

Franklin,  Battle  of 546 

Fredericksburg,  Battle  of 537 

Free  Masonry  in  England 342 


PAGE. 

Free  Trade  in  England 371 

Fremont,  John  C 528,  532 

French  of  Canada,  The 395 

Settlements  in  the  Miss.  Valley 499 

French  Revolution,  The 272 

France  Declares  War  Against  Germany 239 

Francis,  Joseph  I.,  of  Austria 251 

Franks  Allies  of  Rome,  The 184 

Under  Charlemagne 184 

Invade  Gaul 261 

Frederick  I.,  called  Barbarossa 225 

and  the  Lombards 226 

and  the  Crusades 226 

Frederick  II.,  and  the  Crusades 192,  226 

Wears  the  Crown  of  Jerusalem 226 

Drives  Pope  Gregory  IX.  From  Rome.. 226 

Establishes  Court  at  Palermo 226 

Frederick  I.,  King  of  Prussia 235 

Frederick  William  I.,  King  of  Prussia.  . ...235 
Frederick  William  IV.,  King  of  Prussia. . ..338 

Frederick  William,  Crown  Prince 240 

Frederick  II.,  Called  Frederick  the  Great..  .236 

War  with  Austria 236 

The  Seven  Years'  War 236 

Division  of  Poland 236 

Sympathy  for  America 237 

Frederick  III.  of  Austria 250 

Fuller,  Margaret 642 

Fuller,  Thomas 378 

Fulton,  Robert 623 

Fushimi,  Battle  of 432 

Gaelic  Language,  The 3S8 

Gaines  Farm,  Battle  of 536 

Galba,  a Roman  Imperator 166 

Galerius,  a Roman  Imperator 168 

Galileo 35 

Galveston,  Capture  of 538 

Gama,  Vasco  da 317 

Gambetta. 291 

Games,  The  Four  Greek 107 

Garibaldi,  of  Italy. . . . 186 

Garfield,  James  A 532,  569,  5S5 

Gates,  General 512 

Gaul,  Conquered  by  Rome 261 

Invaded  by  Germans 261 

Invaded  by  Franks 261 

Gauls  Invade  Rome,  The 142 

Genghis  Khan,  a Tartar  Chief.. . 212 

Genoa  and  Pisa,  The  Cities  of. . ...  184 

Geographic,  by  Ptolemy,  of  Alexandria 128 

Geography  of  Egypt,  The 44 

Geological  Periods 37 

Chart. 38 

Developments 39 

George  I.,  Elector  and  King 367 

South  Sea  Bubble 367 

George  II 368 

George  III 368 

The  Revolutionary  War 368 

George  IV 368 

George,  Prince  of  Denmark 131 

Georgia 49s*  599 

Georgies  of  Virgil,  The 161 

German  Thought  and  Intelligence 242 

Music  and  Literature 243 

Universities  and  Libraries 347 

Philosophy 245 

Order  in  the  North 227 

Germans,  The  Medieval 223 

Germany,  Medieval 223 


xiii. 


PAGE 

Germany,  The  Ancient  Teutons 223 

Introduction  of  Christianity 224 

The  Merovingan  Kings 224 

Charles  the  Hammer 225 

Reign  of  the  Stewards. . 225 

Charlemagne,  Ludwig 225 

Barbarossa,  Otto 225 

Inquisition  and  Frederick  II 226 

Decline  of  the  Empire .226 

The  Hanseatic  League 227 

Conversion  of  Prussia 227 

and  the  Reformation 228 

John  Huss  at  Prague 228 

Byzantine  Empire  Falls 229 

Invention  of  Printing  and  Paper 230 

Martin  Luther,  Diet  of  Worms 231 

Translation  of  the  Bible 231 

The  Augsburg  Confession 232 

The  Thirty  Years'  War 232 

Adolphus  and  Wallenstein 233 

The  Peace  of  Westphalia 233 

The  Lutheran  Church 234 

New 235 

Military  Beginning  of  New 235 

Rise  of  Prussia,  Frederick  William 235 

Frederick  and  Maria  Theresa 236 

The  Division  of  Poland 236 

The  French  Revolution  and 237 

Napoleon  in  Germany 237 

Jena  Blucher  and  Waterloo 237 

The  Uprising  in  1S48 23S 

William  I.  and  Bismarck 238 

Schleswig  and  Holstein 238 

The  Seven  Weeks’  War 239 

The  Hohenzollerns . . 239 

The  Franco-Prussian  War 239 

The  Seven  Months’  War 240 

Paris,  its  Resistance  and  Capitulation . . . 240 

Alsace-Loraine 240 

Present  States  and  Reconstruction 24 1 

Compulsory  Education  and  Army 241 

Area  and  Population 241 

Intellectual 242 

Development  of  German  Thought 242 

An  Intellectual  Quadrangle 242 

Attainments  in  Music 242,  244 

Philosophers  of 245 

Universities  and  Libraries  of 247 

Scholarship  of. 248 

Gettysburg,  Battle  of . 538 

Gibralter,  The  Straits  of. 53,  309,  369 

Gideon  and  His  Band 70 

Gilbert  of  Ravena,  Pope 1S0 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey 491 

Girondists  of  France 276 

Gladstone,  William  E 372 

Gloucester,  The  Earl  of 351 

Gluck 245 

God  Ammon,  The 56 

Thoth,  The 49 

Godfrey  of  Bouillon 191 , 263 

Gods  of  Mythology 120 

Godwin,  Earl  of  Wessex 337 

Goethe 243 

Golden  Age  of  Fable 40 

of  Poetry . . .161 

Golden  Horde  of  Tartars 212 

Goldsmith,  Oliver 380 

Goodyear,  Charles 627 

Gorilla,  The 39 


XIV. 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Gothic  Alphabet,  The 223 

Spain 294 

Goths  of  Germany,  The 22S 

Goudar,  City  of 66 

Government  of  the  United  States 571 

of  Italy 186 

of  Turkey 20S 

Gracchus,  Tiberius 149 

Gracchus,  Caius 149 

Gradations  of  Development 41 

Granada  and  the  Alhambra 29S 

Grand  Vizier,  The 20S 

Grand  Llama 441 

Grant,  U.  S. . . 532,  534  539,  546,  553,  554,  564,  585 

Gratian,  Emperor 17 1 

Gravelotte,  Battle  of 240 

Gray,  Asa. 644 

Gray,  Thomas 380 

Great  Britain,  Territory  of 332 

Greece  and  Hero  Worship 90 

Its  Pre-eminence 90 

Grecian  Peculiarity 90 

Age  of  Fable  and  Poetry 90 

Its  Political  Divisions 91 

Grote  and  Schliemann 91 

Heroic  Age  and  Hercules 91 

Theseus  and  the  Amazons 92 

The  Trbjan  Heroes 92 

Homers  and  the  Heroic  Age 92 

The  Siege  of  Troy 93 

The  Wanderings  of  Ulysses 94 

Historic  Wars 95 

The  Spartans  and  Messenians 95 

The  Four  Great  Wars  of 96 

Asia  Minor  and  Crcesus 96 

The  Persians  and  Ionians 96 

Persian  Invasion 97 

The  Glories  of  Marathon  97 

Thermopylaj  and  Its  Defense 98 

The  Battle  of  Salamis 98 

Themistocles  and  Greece’s  Ingratitude.  ..99 

The  Peloponnesian  War 99 

The  Genius  of  Pericles 90 

Philip  of  Macedon 100 

Alexander  the  Great 100 

Roman  Conquest 102 

Modern  Greek  Heroism 102 

State  Craft  in 103 

Lycurgus  and  His  Laws 103 

The  Spartan  Monarchy 103 

The  Laws  of  Draco 105 

Solon  and  Athens 105 

The  Constitution  and  Its  Features 105 

Solon  and  Lycurgus 106 

Clenisthenes  and  Democracy  106 

Pericles  the  Statesman 106 

The  Four  Leagues  and  Games 107 

The  Delphi  Oracle 108 

Classic  Literature  of 109 

Homer  in  Literature 109 

Hesiod,  ./Esop,  and  other  Poets no 

Sapho,  Pindar,  and  the  Lyrists no 

The  Dramatists  and  Attica no 

Comedy  and  Aristophanes in 

Herodotus  Xenophon  and  Plato in 

Aristotle  and  Philosophy 112 

Demosthenes  and  Oratory 113 

Philosophy  and  Art 114 

Socrates  and  His  Philosophy 115 

Epicureans,  Stoics  and  Cynics.  116 


PAGE. 

Greece,  Painting  and  Sculpture 117 

Orders  of  Grecian  Architecture 118 

The  Elgin  Marbles 119 

and  Rome,  Mythology  of.  120 

Jupiter  and  Celestial  Heredity 120 

The  Amours  of  the  Gods 121 

Olympus 122 

Phaeton  and  His  Presumption 124 

Pegasus  and  Poetry 123 

Centaurs  and  Other  Monsters 123 

The  Riddle  of  the  Sphinx 124 

Orpheus  and  Eurydice 144 

and  the  Greek  Church 129 

Corinth,  Ancient  and  Modern 129 

Byzantine  and  Moslem  Rule 130 

The  Venetians  and  the  Parthenon 130 

The  Greek  Revolution 13 1 

Intervention  of  the  Great  Powers 13 1 

The  Monarchy  Established 131 

Present  Government  of. -131 

Condition  of  the  Country 132 

Greek  Church  and 132 

Greek  Church  Elsewhere 133 

Its  Characteristics 132 

Outer  Greece 125 

Greek  Church,  The. 17 1 

Poets  and  Philosophers  90 

Greeley,  Horace  564,  644 

Green,  General 514 

Greenland  Discovered 324 

Gregorian  Calendar,  The 35 

Gregory  XIII.,  Pope 35 

Gregory  The  Great 179 

Gregory  II.,  Pope 180 

Gregory  VII.,  (Hildebrand) 180 

War  of  the  Investitures 180 

Gregory  IX.,  Pope 226 

Grevy,  Jules ...  292 

Grey,  Lady  Jane 358 

Guatemala 478 

Guiana,  French,  English  and  Dutch 470 

Guinea,  a Tract  of  Country  in  Africa 457 

Guilford  Court  House,  The  Battle  of 514 

Guise,  House  of 266 

Gunpowder,  First  Used 228 

Gunpowder  Plot  of  Guy  Fawkes 361 

Gustavus,  Wasa 322 

Gustavus,  Adolphus....  323 

Gutenberg,  John 230 

Hadrian,  Emperor 16S 

Haeckel,  Ernest 247 

Hague,  The  City  of  the. 256 

Hale,  John  P 527 

Halicarnassus,  City  of 125 

Halifax,  Canada,  The  City  of 398 

Hallam  and  the  Dark  Ages 193 

Halle  School  of  Philosophy 247 

Halleck,  Gen.  H.  W 550 

Halleck,  Fitz  Greene 641 

Hamilcar 145 

Hamilton,  Sir  William 3S6 

Hamilton,  Alexander 517,  51S,  636,  640 

Hamlet,  Prince  of  Denmark 322 

Hampden,  John 363 

Hampton,  Wade 5^3 

Hancock,  General  W.  S 535,  550,  569 

Hancock,  John S°6 

Handel 245 

Hannibal *45»  *4^ 

Hanno 145 


PAGE. 

Hanseatic  League 327 

Hapsburg,  The  Dynasty  of 250 

in  the  Netherlands 358 

Hardee,  General 563 

Harper’s  Ferry,  Brown  at 529 

Harrison,  William  H 525,  584 

Harte,  Bret 649 

Hastings,  Battle  of. 337 

Haydn,  Joseph 24$ 

Hayti,  The  Island  of 481 

Havana,  The  City  of 480 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel 648 

Hawthorne,  Julian 64S 

Hawaiian  Islands,  The 484 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B 565,  585 

Headley,  J.  T 64S 

Headley,  P.  C 648 

Hebert 377 

Hebrew  Nation,  The 68 

Bible,  The 73 

Literature  and  Sects 73 

Hegel 246 

Heine,  Heinerich 244 

Heison  II 126 

Heidleberg,  The  University  of. 248 

Helen,  Wife  of  Menelaus 92 

Heliopolis,  The  City  of 29 

University  of 53 

Helenic  University,  The 57 

Helveti  and  Switzerland 325 

Hendricks,  Thomas  A 566 

Henry  III.  of  Germany 180 

Henry  II.  of  France 266 

Henry  III.  of  France  267 

Henry  IV.  of  France 266,  267,  26S 

Henry,  Count  of  Portugal 315 

Henry  I.  of  England 339 

Henry  II.  of  England 33S,  339,  340 

Henry  III.  of  England 341 

Parliament  Established 341 

Henry  IV.  of  England 350 

Henry  V.,  King  of  England 351 

Henry  VI.  of  England  and  France 351 

Henry  Tudor  Defeats  Richard  III 354 

Crowned  Henry' VII 355 

Henry  VIII.,  King  of  England 356 

Henry,  Patrick 503 

Henry,  Capture  of  Fort 533 

Herbert,  George 378 

Hercules 91 

Herder .243 

Hero  Worship,  Greek 90 

Heroic  Age,  The 90 

Herods  of  Jewish  History 71 

Herodotus 1 1 1 

Herring,  S.  C 627 

Herschel,  Sir  William 35 

Herzegovina,  Province  of 254 

Hesiod 103 

Hibernia,  as  Known  to  the  Romans 3S7 

Hildebrand,  Pope 180 

Highlanders  of  Scotland. ..  3S3 

Highways  of  Rome,  The 137 

Hildreth,  Richard 644 

Hill,  General  A.  P 536,  563 

Hill,  General  D.  H 563 

Hiram  of  Phoenicia. . . 67 

Historic  Wars  of  Greece 95 

History,  Before 23 

Hitchcock,  Edward 644 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Hohenlinden,  Battle  of 237 

Hohenstau-fels,  Dynasty 226 

Hohenzollerns,  House  of 235 

Holland,  J.  G 648 

Holland,  Kingdom  of 256,  259 

Holly  Springs,  The  Battle  of 538 

Holmes,  O.  W 646 

Holy  Alliance,  The 213 

Humboldt,  Von 23,  248 

Homemnes. 50 

Homer 90,  103,  109 

Honduras,  The  State  of 47S 

British 479 

Honorius 171 

Hood,  General 545,  546 

Hood,  Thomas 380 

Hooker,  General 535,  538,  541,  550 

Hopkins,  Ezekiel 515 

Hopkins,  Samuel 623 

Horace 162 

Hottentot,  The 39 

House  of  Representatives,  The 572 

Houston,  General  Sam 525 

Howard,  General  O.  0 553 

Howe,  Elias 626 

Howells,  J-  D 649 

Howe,  Lord 509 

Howe,  General 509 

Hudson's  Bay  Company 396 

Huguenots  of  France 265 

Hull,  General 519 

Hume,  David 379,  386 

Hungarians  and  Maria  Theresa 236 

History 250 

Literature  and  Language 254 

Hungary- Austria 249 

The  Hapsburg  and 250 

The  Dual  Government 250 

and  Maria  Theresa 236,  250 

Area  of. 250 

Hunter  to  Shepherd,  From 41 

Huss,  John,  at  Prague 22S 

Opposition  to  the  Romish  Church 228 

Hussite  War,  The 228 

Huxley 381 

Hyades,  The 332 

Ibrahim 60,  131 

Ibrahim,  The  Devil 219 

Iberia,  or  Celtic  Spain 294 

Iceland  and  its  Government 320 

Iconoclasts,  Reign  of  the 201 

Ida,  Mount 126 

Idaho  Territory 599 

Ignatius,  Bishop 176 

Iliad,  Homer's 92 

Illinois 599 

Imitation  of  Christ 181 

Immaculate  Conception  Proclaimed 182 

Impeachment  Trial  of  Johnson 554 

Inauguration  of  Washington 519 

India  of  the  Ancients . 127 

India,  the  French  in 270 

India,  British 400 

Victoria,  Empress  of 400 

The  Aryan  Race 400 

Alexander  the  Great 403 

Portuguese  and  Dutch 403 

British  Expulsion  of  the  Dutch 404 

Lord  Clive  and  Surajah  Dowlah 404 

Hasting,s--Cornwallis 404 


PAGE. 

India,  The  Sepoy  Mutiny 407 

Viceroys  of  the  Crown ...  .407 

Owen  Merideth — Lord  Ripon 407 

The  Mogul  Empire 408 

Benares  the  Holy  City 408 

Sanskrit  and  its  Possibilities 408 

Railways—  Population — Religion 408 

Indian  Territory 6oi,  4S9 

Indian  Wars  in  the  West 516 

War  in  Florida 520 

Indiana 601 

Indians,  The  American 485 

Origin  of  the  Race 485 

Mounds  and  Mound -Builders 4S6 

Cliff  Houses 4S5 

Cave  Dwellers 4S7 

Native  Tribes  of  the  Atlantic 4S8 

Reservations  of  the  United  States 4S9 

The  Indian  Bureau 4S9 

The  Indian  Territory  489 

Opportunity  and  Prospects 490 

Their  Relation  to  U.  S.  History 490 

Indians  of  Canada,  The 396 

Industries  of  the  U.  S 629 

Infallibility,  Papal 182 

Inker  man,  Battle  of 214 

Innocent  III 181,  192,  226 

Inquisition  Established,  The 181 

of  Spain,  The 301 

Insurance 636 

Intellectual  Germany 242 

Interior,  The  Secretary  of  the 577 

Investitures,  War  of 1S0 

Ionians,  The 97 

Isles,  The 126 

Iowa 602 

Iphegenia 92 

Irenaeus  of  Lyons 176 

Ireland,  England,  In 340 

Subjugated  by  the  Tudors 360 

and  the  Irish 387 

Its  Situation  and  Area 387 

Roads  and  Products  of 387 

Conversion  under  St.  Patrick 387 

Its  Language  and  Literature  38S 

Counties  and  Provinces 388 

English  Rule 38S 

Daniel  O’Connell  and  Parnell ....3S9 

Revolution  and  Reform 389 

Emigrations  to  America. ...  390 

Irish  Land  Law — Its  Cities 390 

Emmet  and  the  United  Irishmen 393 

The  Fenian  Brotherhood 393 

The  Land  League 393 

Irish  Missionaries  in  England 335 

Policy  of  the  Tudors 360 

Church,  The 387 

Land  Bill,  The 39° 

Iron  Industry,  The 633 

Irving,  Washington 642 

Isaac  to  Moses,  From 69 

Isabella,  Ferdinand  and 300,  305 

Isabella  II 312 

Islam,  see  Saracen,  also  Mohammed 

The  University  of 61 

The  Followers  of. 198 

and  Constantinople 207 

Islands,  The  Ionian 126 

Isles  of  the  Sea.. 479 

Ismail,  Khedive  of  Egypt 60 


XV. 


PAGE. 

Isocrates 113 

Ispahan,  Capital  of  Persia 89 

Israel  and  the  Hebrews 68 

Isthmian  Games,  The 107 

Italians — Italy  and  the 1S4 

Italy  and  Primitive  Rome 133 

The  Peninsular  of  Ancient 134 

and  the  Italians 184 

The  Youngest  Nation 184 

The  Lombards 184 

in  the  Dark  Ages 185 

The  Free  Cities 1S5 

The  Chief  Glory  of  Medieval 185 

Emanuel  and  Italian  Unity 186 

Pope  Pio  Nino 186 

The  Present  Government 187 

Condition  of  the  Country 187 

Literature  and  Art  of 187 

The  Italian  Renaissance 188 

luka,  Battle  of. 538 

Ivan,  Grand  Prince  of  Moscow 212 

Expels  the  Golden  Horde 212 

Monarch  of  the  Russias 212 

Ivan,  The  Terrible 212 

Ivry,  The  Battle  of 267 

Iyeyas,  Emperor 43  x 

Jackson,  Andrew 520,  524,  583 

Jackson,  Gen.  Stonewall 535,  562 

Jacob  in  Egypt 69 

Jacobins  of  F ranee,  The 276 

Jagellos  Family,  The 219 

James  I.  of  England 361 

The  Gunpowder  Plot 361 

Translation  of  the  Bible 362 

James  I.  of  Scotland 384 

The  Baronial  Power 384 

James  II.  of  England 365 

Establishes  the  Bloody  Assizes 365 

Defeated  at  Boyne 363 

James  II.  of  Scotland 384 

Civil  and  Border  Warfare 384 

James  V.  of  Scotland 384 

Navy  Built  and  Fisheries  Established. . .385 

Defeated  at  Flodden ....385 

James  VI.  of  Scotland 386 

James,  Jr.,  Henry 649 

Janizaries,  The 206 

Japan  and  the  Japanese 427 

Description  of  the  Country 427 

Its  Cities,  Products  and  Population 428 

Mines  and  Minerals 428 

Its  Early  History 428 

Its  Greatest  Queen  Kogu 429 

Letters  and  Philosophy 429 

Buddhism  Introduced 430 

First  Contact  with  Europeans 430 

Jesuit  Missions,  The  Dutch 431 

Tycoon  Iyeyas 431 

America  and  Commodore  Perry 431 

Fall  of  the  Daimios 432 

Christian  Calendar  Adopted 433 

as  it  is,  or  New  Japan 433 

Idolatry  and  Sintuism 433 

Methods  of  Transportation 433 

Modern  Missions 433 

Japanese  Literature....  433 

Java 256 

Jay,  John 640 

Jefferson,  Thomas 518,  5S0,  640 

Jena,  Battle  of. 237,  285 


xvi. 

INDEX. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

Jephthah 

Juvenal 

Legislative  Assembly  of  France.. 

Jerome 

Kaani,  Persian 

..89 

Legends,  The  Arthurian 

345 

Jerome,  Chauncy 

Leicester,  Earl  of 

Jerusalem 

Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  The 

•527 

Leipzig,  The  University  of 

and  the  Jews 

Kant,  Immanuel 

The  Battle  of 

237 

Submits  to  Alexander 

7° 

Karaites 

Leo  The  Great,  Pope 

Captured  by  Ptolemy  Soter 

Katzbach,  The  Battle  of 

.237 

Leo  X.  and  Luther 

• ■79. 

l8l,  231 

Destroyed  by  Titus 

Kearny,  General 

Leo  III.,  Pope 

1S0 

Godfrey,  King  of 

Keats,  John,  English  Poet 

.380 

Crowns  Charlemagne 

Christians  Driven  out  by  Saladin 192 

Keiser 

244 

Leo  III.  of  Byzantine 

Jesus  the  Christ 

Kempis,  k Thomas 

.181 

The  Reign  of  the  Iconoclasis. . 

The  Society  of  

Kenneth,  King  of  the  Lowlands 

.383 

Leo  IV.  of  the  Byzantine 

Jesuitism  and  the  Inquisition 

181 

Kent,  Chancellor 

.643 

Leo  XIII.,  Pope 

183 

The  Boast  of 

Kentucky 

.603 

Leonidas  at  Thermopylae 

98 

Jesuit  Missions  in  Japan,  China  and 

India..  .431 

Kepler,  The  Astronomer 

••35 

Leopold  of  Saxe  Coburg,  Prince... 

■3>.  255 

in  America . . . 

Key,  Francis  S 

Leopold  II.  of  Saxe  Coburg 

255 

Jesuits,  The  Society  of  the 

Khedive  of  Egypt,  The 

•59 

Lepidus,  Antony,  Caesar’s  Master  of  Horse.  157 

Dissolution  by  Papal  Bull 

1S2 

Kiah-tsing,  Chinese  Emperor 

Lesseps,  M.  de 

Jewish  Literature  and  Sects 

Kingdom,  The  Animal 

Lessing,  a German  Dramatist 

243 

History — The  Intangible  in 

73 

Kings,  The  Legendary 

■38 

Lexington,  Battle  of 

5°4 

Persecutions  in  England 

346 

Kings,  The  Shepherd 

• •47 

Liberal  Leaders  of  England 

372 

Jews,  The 

68 

Kirk  of  Scotland 

.386 

Liberia,  The  Republic  of 

457 

A Peculiar  People 

Klopstock 

Liberius,  The  Thirty-Sixth  Pope . . 

>79 

The  Fatherhood  of  Abraham.  .. 

68 

Knights  of  St.  John,  The 

D93 

Libraries  and  Universities  of  Germany 

247 

From  Isaac  to  Moses 

<59 

Knox,  John,  and  Presbyterianism 

Lichtenstein,  The  Province  of 

254 

The  Period  of  the  Judges 

69 

Konasski,  Stanislas 

Limbourg,  The  Dukedom  of. 

Saul  and  David 

7° 

Koran  of  Mohammed,  The 

Lincoln,  Abraham 

53°,  546. 585 

Solomon  King,  Poet  and  Philosopher 70 

Kosciusko,  Thaddeus,  Defends  Poland 

Lisbon  Taken  from  the  Moors 

3iS 

Disunion  and  Subjugation 

7° 

in  America 

Great  Earthquake  in 

316 

The  Restoration  and  the  Maccabees 71 

Koshroes  II.,  King  of  Persia 

.197 

Literature  of  the  Jews 

73 

Under  the  Roman  Rod 

Kossuth 

The  Hebrew  Bible 

73 

Destruction  of  Jerusalem  

Krasicki,  Archbishop 

The  Septuagint.  The  Talmud 

73 

Persecution  in  Dispersion 

72 

Kremlin  at  Moscow,  The 

.214 

Sadduces  and  Pharisees.  Essenes. 

74 

Improved  Condition  of  the 

Kublai-Khan 

•443 

Testimony  of  Pliny 

74 

Jerusalem  and  the 

Ku  Klux  Klan,  The 

554 

Philo  on  the  Essenes 

74 

In  Poland 

Labrador  and  the  Esquimaux 

• 399 

Josephus  on  Jewish  Sects 

74 

Persecution  in  Spain 

Lafayette  de  Marquis 271 

272, 

Sii 

The  Chasidim 

80 

Joan  of  Arc 

Lake  Regillus,  Battle  of. 

137 

Felix  Adler  on  the  Jews 

John  the  Evangelist 

>76 

Trasimenus,  Battle  of 

146 

of  Persia 

Sq 

John  of  Saxony 

>31 

Lamartine 

Greek  Classics 

John  of  England 

Lancaster,  The  House  of 

•349 

The  Latin  and  Preclassic 

Signs  the  Magna  Charter 

34 1 

Land  Bill,  The  Irish 

39° 

Italian 

'87 

John  III.  of  Portugal 

3*8 

Land  League  of  Ireland 

In  the  Dark  Ages 

....  193 

Establishes  Kingdom  of  Brazil. 

318 

Language  of  Ireland,  Original 

•3S7 

of  the  Sarace  n Empire 

....■99 

John  Maria  Joseph 

318 

Laoc66n,  The , 

IIQ 

Turkish 

John  of  Gaunt 

LaPlat  1 of  South  America 

468 

of  Poland 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  Lexographer. 

366 

Lathe,  The 

.625 

of  Germany 

Johnson,  Andrew 

545.  553  > 585 

Latin  Classics 

l60 

of  Hungary 

254 

Johnston,  Albert  Sydney 

Macauley  and  Primitive  Latin 

160 

Under  Louis  XIV 

Johnston, Joseph  E 535* 

545.  546,  562 

The  Golden  Age 

l6l 

of  Cordova  and  Moorish  Spain 

297 

Jones,  John  Paul 

The  Silver  Age 

.163 

of  Spain 

3*3 

Joseph,  Son  of  Jacob 

The  Historians  of  Rome 

164 

of  Portugal 

3*9 

Joseph  II 

Latium,  The  Ancient  Nation  of. 

•134 

of  the  Scandinavians 

•••  325 

Josephus 

Law, John,  “Mississippi  Bubble.” 

in  England 

347. 360, 375 

Joshua 

Law,  The  Coptic 

in  Scotland 

Jovian 

The  Jewish 

in  Ireland 

3SS 

Juana 

The  Licinian 

•■49 

of  the  Japanese 

428 

Juarez,  President  of  Mexico 

465 

The  Salic 

■312 

in  America 

638,  649 

Judah,  The  Tribe  of 

Lawrence,  Commodore 

•5'9 

Livy,  a Roman  Historian 

Judea  or  Palestine 

Laws,  Lycurgusand  His 

.103 

Llewellyn,  of  Wales 

344 

Judges,  The  Period  of  the 

of  Draco 

Locke,  John 

378 

Judiciary  of  England  Under  Edward  I 345 

of  Solon 

.105 

Locomotive,  The 

623,  625 

Julian 

of  Napoleon,  or  Code  Napoleon . . . 

Lombards  in  Italy,  The 

>84 

Jupiter,  The  Planet 

League,  The  Hanseatic . 

London  Captured  by  Boadicea 

333 

The  Mythological  God 

leagues,  The  Four  Greek 

.107 

Longfellow,  Henry  W 

645 

Jurisprudence,  Roman 

Lebanon,  The  Cedars  of 

..67 

Long  Island,  Battle  of 

509 

Justin,  Martyr 

Lebrun,  a French  Artist 

Ix>ngstreet,  General  James 

542,  562 

Justin  II 

Lech  I.,  King  of  Poland 

Lookout  Mountain,  Battle  of 

542 

Justinian,  Emperor 

Lee,  General  Robert  E 

•536,  S4<5 

Lorraine,  Alsace  and 

Corpus  Juris  Civi/is 

Legendary  Kings  of  Rome 

Lome,  Marquis  of. 

INDEX. 


xvil 


PAGE. 

Lost  Stars,  The 32 

Louis  of  Bavaria 13 1 

Louis  LX.  of  France 192,  263 

Convokes  a Parliament 263 

Louis  X.  of  France 263 

Louis  XI.  of  France 264 

Louis  XIII.  of  France 268 

Louis  XIV.,  the  Grand 26S 

Louis  XV.  of  France 270 

and  John  Law 270 

and  New  France 270 

Louis  XVI.  of  France 271 

Marie  Antoinette 271 

and  the  United  States 271 

Louis  XVIII 289 

Louis  Philippe,  of  France 2S9 

Louis  I.  of  Portugal 315 

Louisiana 499,  51S,  603 

Low  Lands,  or  the  Netherlands 25S 

Lowell,  James  R 646 

Loyola  Founds  the  Society  of  Jesus 1S1 

Lubbock,  Sir  John 43 

Lucenius,  Defeat  of .. 169 

Lucius,  King  of  Rome 136 

Lucretia,  Tragedy  of 137 

Lucretius 162 

Ludwig  the  Pious 225 

Lundy's  Lane,  Battle  of 519 

Lutherans,  Numerical  Strength  of 234 

Luthcrism  and  Anabaptists 232 

Luther,  Martin,  and  the  Reformation 230 

Lutzen,  The  Battle  of 233 

Luxemburg  Dynasty  of  Germany 229 

The  Dukedom  of 258 

Lycurgus  and  His  Laws 103 

Lydia,  The  Kingdom  of 96 

Lyon,  Gen.  Nathaniel S32 

Macauley,  Lord 381,  160 

Macbeth 384 

Maccabees,  Rule  of  the 71 

M’Clellan,  General  G.  B 531,  537 

Macdonough,  Commodore 520 

Macedonia,  Philip  of 100 

MacKenzie  on  the  Turk 209 

MacMahon,  Marshall 292 

Macomb,  General 520 

MacPherson,  General 243,  553 

Macpherson,  James 380 

McCormick,  Cyrus 627 

McDowell,  General 531 

Madagascar,  The  Island  of 456 

Madeira,  Discovery  of 316 

Madison,  James 518,  583,640 

Magi  of  the  East,  The 87 

Magna  Charter,  The 341 

Magna  Grajcia 134 

Magrudcr,  General 535 

Maine 604 

Magyars  of  Austria-Hungary 250 

Malaga,  City  and  Capture  of 299 

Malbone,  Edward  G 637 

Malcolm  I.,  of  Scotland 384 

Malta,  The  Island  of 192 

Malvern  Hills,  Battle  of 535 

Mamelukes  Subjugate  Egypt 59 

Mammoth,  The  Age  of  the 40 

Man,  The  Earth  Without 37 

and  Nature 38 

From  Sponge  to 39 

Prehistoric .40 


PAGE. 

Manitoba,  Canada 396 

Manchuria,  Country  of 440 

Manlius  Torquatus 142 

Mansard,  The  Architect 270 

Marat,  Jean  Paul 27S 

Marathon,  Battle  of 97 

Marbles,  The  Elgin 119 

Marcellus,  General 145 

Marcus  Aurelius 163 

Mardonius,  General 97 

Marengo,  Battle  of 237 

Margall,  President 313 

Margaret,  Queen  of  the  Danes 321 

Margaret  of  Scotland 3S5 

Maria  Christina 312 

Marie  Antoinette 27S 

Marion,  General 513 

Marius,  Caius 150 

Mark  Twain  on  the  Sphinx 46 

Marlborough,  Duke  of. 366 

Mars,  The  Planet 25,  26 

Marshall,  Humphrey 533 

Marston  Moor,  Battle  of 364 

Martius,  The  Campus 134 

Martyr,  Justin .176 

Mary,  Queen  of  England 35S,  306 

Marries  Philip  II.,  of  Spain 358 

Persecutes  the  Protestants.... 358 

Mary  and  William  of  Orange 365 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots 385 

Maryland 493>  604 

Masonry  of  Old  England,  Free 342 

Massachusetts 604 

Mastodon,  The  Age  of 40 

Mather,  Cotton 638 

Matter  and  Motion 37 

Matthias  of  Germany 232 

Maurice  of  Nassau 258 

Maury,  Commodore 644 

Mausolus,  The  Tomb  of. 125 

Maximian 169 

Maximilian,  The  Emperor 464 

Maximus  of  Thrace 168 

Mazarin,  Cardinal 268 

Meade,  General  George  G 538,  550 

Mecklenburg  Resolutions,  The 505 

Medes  and  Persians,  The 53 

Medici,  Catherine  de 265,  267 

Medici,  Mary  de 2 68 

Medieval  Germany 223 

Mehemet,  Ali 60 

Mehemit,  Tewfix 59 

Melancthon,  Philip 231 

Melbourne,  The  City  of 420 

Memphis,  The  Glory  of 46 

Mendelssohn 246 

Menelaus  of  Sparta 92 

Menes  of  Egypt 46 

Mercury,  The  Planet 25,  26 

Mercia,  Kingdom  of. 334 

Merovingian  Dynasty 224 

Atrocities  of  the 224 

Mcssenia,  Kingdom  of 95 

Messenian  Wars,  The  Three 95 

Metamorphoses,  By  Ovid 162 

Methodism,  The  Founders  of 3^9 

Metz,  Battle  of 240 

Mexico  and  the  Mexicans 461 

Discovered  by  Cortez 462 

The  Aztecs  and  Their  Civilization 461 


PAGE. 

Mexico,  The  Conquest  of 462 

Mexican  Independence 463 

Civil  War  and  Mexicanization 463 

Political  Fortunes  of  Santa  Anna 463 

The  Mexican  War •••463 

Disestablishment  of  the  Church 464 

Maximilian  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine..  .464 

The  French  in  Mexico 464 

Juarez  and  Political  Stability 465 

Subsequent  Presidents 465 

The  City  of  Mexico 465 

Resources  of  the  Country 466 

Agriculture  and  Transportation ......... .466 

Banco  Nacional  Mexicano 4 66 

Mexican  War,  The 525 

Michigan 606 

Michael  VIII 202 

Mickiewicz,  Adam 222 

Miecislas  I.,  of  Poland 218 

Miecislas  II.  of  Poland 218 

Mignard 270 

Mikado,  Rebellion  Against  the 432 

Milan,  The  Decree  of 169 

The  City  of 186 

Military  Duty  in  Germany 241 

Milky  Way,  The 32 

Mill,  James  Stuart 381 

Miller,  Joaquin 649 

Miltiades  Defeats  Darius 97 

Milton,  John,  and  His  Writings 378 

Minerals  in  the  U.  S '633 

Ministry,  The  English 373 

Minnesota 605 

Minor  Asia  and  Africa 453 

Minute  Men  of  the  Revolution 5°4 

Mirabeau 372 

Missions,  Modern 183 

Missouri 608 

Mitchell,  S.  A 35 

Mississippi 605 

Mississippi  Valley,  French  Settlements  in.. 499 

Mithrides  of  Parthia 87 

Mithridates  Defeated  by  Sulla 151 

Mockern,  The  Battle 237 

Modern  Egypt 59 

Persia 89 

Ethiopia 65 

Greece 102 

Greece  and  the  Greek  Church 129 

Christianity,  The  Papacy  and 177 

Missions 183 

Mogul  Empire,  The 408 

Mohammed,  The  Prophet. 195 

Names  Kadijah 195 

Begins  Preaching 196 

Seeks  Safety  in  Flight 196 

Builds  a Mosque  at  Medina 196 

War  Upon  the  Christians 196 

Captures  Mecca 196 

Death 196 

The  Koran  of 197 

Mohammed  II.,  at  Stainboul 207 

Mohammedan  Era  Dates  From 196 

Mohammedanism,  The  Strength  of. 197 

Moliere,  a French  Writer 270 

Molay,  Jacques 263 

Moltke,  Von,  a General 239 

Monaco,  Republic  of 330 

Mongolia  and  the  Mongols 441 

Monitor  and  Merrimack 533 


xviil.  INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Monmouth,  Battle  of 512 

Monroe,  James 522 

Monroe  Doctrine,  The 5 1 7»  5$3 

Montana  Territory 609 

Montenegro,  The  Principality  of 331 

Montpensier,  The  Duke  of 312 

Montreal,  The  City  of 398 

Mons-Sacer,  The  Hill  of 134 

Moon,  The  Earth’s 25 

Neptune’s 25 

Moons  of  Saturn,  The 25 

of  Jupiter,  The 25 

of  Uranus,  The 25 

Moors  in  Spain,  The  295 

Persecutions  of  the 301 

Moore,  Sir  Thomas 3571  376 

Moreau,  Marshall 337 

Morgan,  General 539 

Morgarten,  Battle  of 328 

Moriscoes  of  Spain 301,  308 

Moroe,  or  Ethiopia 65 

Morocco 457 

Morris,  George  P 641 

Morris,  Robert 5x3i  5X7 

Morse,  S.  F.  B 626 

Moscow,  The  City  of 213,  285 

Moses,  The  Lawgiver 49,  69 

Moslem,  The  Believer  in 197 

Mosque  of  St.  Sophia 201 

Moswijah  198 

Motley,  John  L 644 

Mound- Builders  of  America 486 

Mount  Cenis  Tunnel .327 

Mowing  Machine,  The 627 

Mozart 245 

Muhlenberg  and  the  Lutherans 234 

Multiple  Stars,  The 32 

Munda,  Battle  of 156 

Murad  V.,  of  Turkey 208 

Murfreesboro,  Battle  of 53S 

Museum  at  Alexandria 56 

Myloe,  Naval  Battle  of 145 

Mystics,  The  Sect  of  the 181 

Mythology,  Greek  and  Roman 120 

of  the  Scandinavians 324 

Nabonasar,  King  of  Babylon 83 

Nabopolasar,  King  of  Babylon 83 

Nantes,  The  Edict  of 268 

Napata,  Temple  of 5a 

Napier,  Sir  Robert 66 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  his  Campaign 2S1 

Appointed  First  Consul 277 

Italian  and  Egyptian  Campaign 277,  2S2 

Elected  Emperor 277 

The  Code  Napoleon 378 

At  Austerlitz 237,  2S2 

At  Marengo 237,282,  277 

At  Jena ?37,  285 

Dissolves  the  Assembly..* 280 

At  Dresden 2S6 

Victory  for  the  Allies 286 

Imprisoned  at  Elba 286 

The  100  Days  Campaign 286 

Battle  of  Waterloo 2S6 

Death  at  Helena 2S6 

Napoleon  III. — President 290 

and  the  Coup  d'etat 290 

and  the  Crimean  War 290 

The  Siege  of  Paris 291 

Declares  War  with  Germany 239,  291 


PAGE. 

Napoleon  III. — Surrender  at  Sedan 240,  291 

Naseby,  The  Battle  of 364 

Nashville,  The  Battle  of 546 

Nassr-ed-Din 89 

Natal,  The  Colony  of 458 

National  Guard  of  France 272 

Assembly  of  France 275 

Convention  of  France 276 

Nature  and  Man 38 

Naval  Battles  of  the  Civil  War 549 

Navy  Founded  by  Henry  V.,  The  British 351 

Navy  of  the  American  Revolution,  The 515 

of  the  War  of  1812 519 

Navy,  the  Secretary  of  the 57^ 

Nebo,  Temple  of 83 

N ebuchadnezzar 82 

Nebulae,  or  Star  Clusters 32 

Nebraska 609 

Necho  II 53 

Nemean  Games  of  Greece 107 

Neoplatonism  of  Alexandria 57 

Nepos,  Cornelius 103 

Neptune,  The  Planet 25,26 

Neriglosar 83 

Nero — The  Emperor 166 

Nerva,  Roman  Senator 167 

Netherlands,  Belgium  and  the 255 

Typography  and  Resources 257 

The  Dutch  in  History 257 

Dutch  Commerce 258 

The  Dutch  Republic 25S 

Nevada 610 

New  England,  Early  Colonial  History  of. . . 403 

Landing  of  the  Pilgrims 493 

Plymouth  Colony 491- 

Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay 494 

Harvard  College  Founded 494 

Settlements  in  Connecticut 495 

The  Charter  Oak 495 

Persecution  of  Roger  Williams 495 

King  Philip’s  War 49S 

The  Illustrious  Names  of  Early 496 

The  Salem  Witchcraft 496 

New  Hampshire 610 

New  Jersey 610 

New  Mexico  Territory 61 1 

New  Netherland’s  Discovered 496 

New  Orleans,  The  Battle  of 5X9 

The  Capture  of 534 

New-Stars 32 

New  South  Wales,  The  Colony  of 413 

Area,  Population,  Government 413 

The  Mineral  Productions  of 414 

Newspapers  in  U.  S 636 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac 35»  3^ 

New  York,  Early  Colonial 496 

Henry  Hudson  Discovers 496 

Trading  Post  Established  by  the  Dutch.. 496 

The  “ Patroon”  System  Introduced 496 

The  Dutch  Governors  of ...  .497 

History 61 1 

New  Zealand,  The  Colony  of 423 

Nibelungenlied,  Medieval  German  Poetry... 242 

Nicsea,  The  City  of 202 

Nicaragua 478 

Nicene  Creed,  The 176 

Nicene  Council,  The 179 

Nicholas  I.,  Czar  of  Russia 214 

Nicomedia,  The  City  of 202 

Nightingale,  Florence 214 


PAGE 


Nihilism  in  Russia 215 

Nimrod,  of  Assyria 81 

Nineveh,  The  City  of 81 

Ninus,  King  of  Assyria 81 

Niphon,  The  Island  of 427 

Nitocris,  Queen  of  Assyria 83 

Normans,  The  262 

Normandy  and  Brittany 262 

And  the  Norwegians 322 

North  Carolina  613 

N or th  - Lord 370 

Norway,  Consolidated  with  Denmark 321 


An  Independent  Kingdom 322 

And  her  Merchant  Marine 32 2 

and  its  Literature 322 

Its  Revenue  and  Resources 322 

Nosks  of  the  Zenda  Vesta 87 

Novgorod,  The  Republic  of 210 

Nubian  Kingdom,  The. . . 49,  64 

Mines 45,  32 

Valley,  The 64 

Numa  Pompilius — King  of  Rome 136 

Numidian  Jugurtha 130 

Obelisks  of  Egypt,  The 49 

O’Connell,  Daniel 389 

O’Conor,  Charles 565 

Octavius,  Afterward  Augustus  Caesar 157 

Odyssey,  Homer’s 92 

Ohio 613 

Oimemepthah,  King  ot  Egypt 50 

Oimemepthah  II 51 

Olga,  Regent  of  Russia 21 1 

Olenburg,  The  Danish  House  of 321 

Olympic  Games  of  Greece,  The 107 

Omar,  The  Caliphat  of 58 

Omnibus  Bill,  The 526 

Ommiad  Dynasty,  The 198 

Opinion  of  Astronomers 25 

Oporto  ana  its  Wine 319 

Oracle,  The  Delphic 108 

Orange-Nassau  Family,  The 25S 

Orange  River,  The  Teritory  of 45S 

Orbit,  Position  in  the 36 

The  Moon  and  Her 36 

Orchan,  The  Sublime  Port 206 

Ordinance,  The  Northwest 522 

Oregon 613 

Origen  of  Alexandria 176 

Orleans,  The  Siege  of  Raised 264 

The  Duke  of 270 

Osci,  Early  Races  of  Italy,  The 134 

Osinta,  King  of  Egypt 51 

Othman  Founds  the  Ottoman  Empire 20S 

Otho  of  Bavaria 131 

Otho,  Imperator  of  Rome 166 

Otho,  the  Great  King  of  Germany 225 

Restores  Peace  in  Italy 1S4 

Otis,  James 507 

Ottawa,  Canada 398 

Ottocar 249 

Ottoman  Empire,  The 206 

Ourique,  The  Battle  of 315 

Ovid,  Roman  Poet 162 

Oxford,  University  of 342 

Packenham,  General 520 

Padisha,  or  Sublime  Porte 206 

Paine,  Thomas 276,  277,  640 

Painters,  Celebrated  Italian 1S7 

Palaces  of  Egypt,  The 54 

of  England,  Royal 373 


INDEX. 


xix 


PAGE. 

Palasologi  Dynasty,  The 202 

Palatinates,  Poland  Divided  into 218 

Palfrey,  John  G 642 

Palermo,  The  City  of. 1S6 

Palestine  in  the  Time  of  Christ 172 

Palmyra,  Zenobia  Queen  of 5S 

The  City  of 84 

Panama,  Isthmus  and  State  of 479 

Pan-Slavonic  Nation,  A 221 

Papacy  and  Modern  Christianity 177 

Its  Slow  Growth 178 

Papal  Infallibility,  The  Dogma 182 

Paper,  First  Made 230 

Papyrus,  When  First  Used 55 

Paraguay  Republic,  The 46S 

Paris,  Siege  of 240,  291 

The  importance  of. 292 

Paris  of  Troy  and  Helen  of  Sparta 92 

Parker,  Theodore 643 

Parkman,  Francis 644 

Parliament  Established  in  England 341 

and  Cromwell,  The  Long 364 

Under  Cromwell,  The  Rump 365 

of  Present  England — 373 

Abolished,  The  Irish 3S9 

The  Canadian 397 

The  Australian 423 

Parnassus,  Mount 108 

Parnell  and  the  Irish 3S9 

Parsees  of  Persia,  The 88 

Parthenon  of  Athens,  The 117 

Parthia  and  the  Zenda  Vesta 86 

and  Rome,  Darius 86 

Pascal 270 

Pasha  of  Turkey,  The 208 

Patagonia  and  the  Patagonians 468 

Patents  and  Patentees 622 

Paul  Preaches  Christ 174 

Paul,  Czar  of  Russia 213 

Paulus,  Consul  of  Rome 146 

Pavia,  The  City  of 186 

Pea  Ridge,  The  Battle  of 533 

Pedro,  Dom,  Emperor 318 

Pelasgi,  The 134 

Peloponnesian  War,  The 99 

Pemberton,  General 541 

Penal  Colonies  of  Australasia 41 1 

Pendleton,  George  H 545 

Penn,  William 497 

Pennsylvania 497,  615 

People,  A Peculiar 68 

Pepin  of  Germany 225 

Pepin,  The  Short 225,  262 

Periander hi 

Pericles  and  Aspasia 106 

Period,  The  Cushite 52 

of  the  Judges — 69 

of  Compromise 522 

of  Conflict,  The 529 

Periods,  The  Geological 37 

Perrault 270 

Perry,  Commodore  M.  C 431 

Perry,  Commodore  O.  II 

Persia,  Parthia  and  the  Zenda  Vesta 86 

its  Early  History  and  Wars 86 

Physical  Aspects  and  Conditions 86 

Darius,  Parthia  and  Rome 87 

Zorasten  and  the  Magi 87 

The  Parsees  and  the  Zenda  Vesta S8 

Summary  of  the  Persian  Bible 89 


PAGE. 

Persia,  Comparative  Antiquity 89 

Present S9 

Persian  Invasion  of  Egypt 55 

Isolation 86 

Literature 86 

War  with  Greece 97 

Persius,  a Roman  Poet 162 

Persecution  of  the  Jews 72 

of  Christians 174 

Persepolis,  The  City  of. 87 

Peru,  Republic  of 472 

Francisco,  Pizarro  Invades 473 

Mines  and  Guano  Beds  of 474 

Peter  The  Great,  Czar  of  Russia 212 

Peter  at  Rome,  Saint 17S 

Peter  The  Hermit 190,  263 

Petersburg,  Capture  of 546 

Petition  of  Rights,  The 363 

Phcedrus,  Fables  of 162 

Pharaohs  of  Egypt,  The 49 

Pharisees,  a Jewish  Sect 74 

Pharsalia,  The  Battle  of. 152 

Pharos,  Lighthouse  on  the 56 

Phidias  the  Sculptor 1 17 

Philce,  The  City  of 62 

Philip  of  Macedonia 100,  102 

Philip  IT.  of  Spain 25S,  306 

Marries  Bloody  Mary 306 

and  Queen  Elizabeth 30 7 

Philip  The  Handsome 263 

Philip  VI.,  First  Valois  King 264 

Philip  m.,  King  of  Spain 30S 

Philip  IV.,  King  of  Spain 309 

Philippi,  The  Battle  of 137 

Philo  and  the  Essenes 57,  74,  117 

Philosophy,  Alexandrian  School  of 57 

and  Art,  Greek 1 14 

Phoenicia  and  the  Phoenicians 64 

The  Cities  of 66 

Tyre  and  Sidon 66 

Commerce  and  Enterprise. 67 

The  Colonies  of 67 

The  Arts  and  Industries 67 

Disappearance  of  the  Phoenicians 67 

Pickens,  General 513 

Piets  of  Scotland,  The 382 

of  England,  The 333 

Pierce,  Franklin 527,  584 

Pillow,  Massacre  of  Fort 542 

Pindar no 

Pisa,  The  City  of 1S5 

Pittsburg  Landing,  Battle  of 534 

Pius  Antonius 49 

Pius  IX.,  Pope 186 

Dogma  of  Immaculate  Conception 186 

Dogma  of  Infallibility 186 

Planets,  The 25,  26,  36 

Plates,  Explanation  of  the  Astronomical 36 

Plato 112,  1 15 

Plattsburg,  Battle  of. 519 

Plautus 161 

Pleiades,  The 32 

Plhehmen,  Meiothph 51 

Pliny 74,  164 

Plow,  The 624 

Plutarch 103 

Pocahontas  and  Capt  Smith 492 

Poe,  Edgar  Allen 640 

Poictiers,  The  Battle  of 225 

Poland  and  the  Poles 217 


PAGE. 

Poles,  Their  First  Appearance 217 

The  Casimirs  Feudalism  218 

A Monarchical  Republic 219 

John  Sobieski 219 

Anarchy  and  Intervention 220 

Stanislas  and  Neighboring  Powers 220 

St.  Petersburg  and  Warsaw 220 

Fall  of  the  Republic 220 

Kosciusko 220 

Polish  Characteristics 231 

Russian  Policy,  Pan  Slavonic  Dream..  ..221 

Literature,  Paul  Soboleski 221 

Polish  Jews,  Religious  Persecutions 222 

Polani  or  Poles,  The 217 

Pole  Star,  The 32 

Poles,  Poland  and  the 217 

Policy,  Roman  Colonial 137 

Polish  Characteristics 221 

Literature 221 

Jews 222 

Political  System  of  Canada 397 

Polk,  James  K 525,  584 

Poll  Tax  Rebellion  of  England 347 

Polybius,  a Greek 144,  146 

Polycarp,  a Christian  Martyr .. 176 

Pompey  the  Graat 71,  152 

Pompadour,  Madam 270 

Pompilius,  Numa 136 

Pontius  Pilate 71 

Pope,  General 536,  550 

Pope,  Alexander 379 

Popes  of  Rome,  The 17S 

Population  of  Ireland,  Increase  of. 3S9 

of  the  Japanese  Empire 427 

Porsena  of  Clusium 137 

Porte,  The  Sublime  206 

Porter,  Commodore 549 

Porter,  Fitzjohn 537 

Port  Hudson,  Capture  of 541 

Porto  Rico,  The  Island  of 480 

Port  Said,  The  Town  of 61 

Portugal,  The  First  Appearance  of 29S 

and  the  Portuguese 315 

Alfonso  of  Leon  and  Castile 315 

Maratime  Supremacy  316 

Zarga,  daGama 317 

and  Colonial  Possessions 317 

Don  Sebastian  and  Sebastian  ism 318 

and  Brazil  318 

Civil  War  and  England 319 

Exportation  of  Wine 319 

Portuguese  Literature 319 

Absorbed  by  Spain 318 

Revolt  Against  Spain 318 

Possessions  of  the  Netherlands 256 

Postmaster  General,  The 578 

Potter,  Paul 259 

Powers,  Hiram 63 7 

Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Charles  VI 236 

Prague,  The  University  of 228 

Great  Riot  at 232 

Praxitiles,  The  Attic 1 17 

Prebble,  Commodore ..  ..521 

Pre-historic  Man 40 

Prescott,  W.  H 644 

President,  The  Duties  of  the 572 

Presidents  and  Presidential  Elections 572 

Presidential  Electors 579 

Prcvost,  Sir  George 520 

Priesthood,  The  Roman 177 


C); 


s> 


k- 


XX. 

INDEX. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

Primitive  Savage,  The 

Railroads  of  the  Japanese  Empire 

Roman  Mythology,  Greek  and 

Agrarianism 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  an  English  Statesman. 

•359 

Republic,  The  Last  Century 

Fathers,  The 

Arrested  by  King  James 

.36' 

Romanofs,  The  House  of  the 

•213 

Princeton,  The  Battle  of 

....510 

Introduces  the  Potato  into  England. . . . 

.362 

Rome,  Ancient  Italy  and  Primitive 

Printing  Invented...  

and  Early  Colonial  History 

.491 

The  Peninsula  of  Italy 

Press,  The 

Rameses  I.,  of  Egypt 

The  Races  and  Cities 

Proctor,  Richard  A 

Rameses  The  Great 

Latium  and  Alba  Longa  Compared 

Products  and  Roads  of  Ireland 

... .3S7 

Rape  of  the  Sabines 

^Enus  and  the  Famous  Twins 

Protectorate  of  England  Established.... 

....36s 

Rassam’s  Discoveries  in  Assyria 

• •8.3 

The  Founding  of 

• '35 

Protestant  Reformation,  The 

Ravenna,  Italy 

The  Rape  of  the  Sabines 

War,  The 

. .. .22S 

Reconstruction  Art,  The 

553 

The  Reign  of  Numa  Pompilius 

.136 

Church  in  France 

Reconstruction  of  the  German  Empire 

.241 

The  Tarquins,  Lucius  and  Tullia 

.136 

Protestants,  The  Early 

Reference  Tables,  See  Tables  of  Reference . . 

Primitive  Agrarianism 

The  Persecutions  of  the 

Reformation,  The  Protestant 

Roman  Colonial  Policy 

• '37 

Protestantism  in  Germany 

Under  the  Hussites,  The 

The  Public  Highways 

. .. .266 

Prussia,  The  Rise  of 

Regulus  and  the  Punic  War 

Semi  Historic 

The  House  of  Hohenzollerns 

• ••235 

Reichstag  and  Bundesrath,  of  Germany.... 

Republicanism  and  First  Consuls  of. . . . 

•>38 

Declares  War  Against  France 

..  ..237 

Reid,  The  Philosopher  

.386 

The  Rivalry  of  Classes 

.'38 

Defeated  at  Anerstadt  and  Jena 

...  .2.17 

Reign  of  Terror  in  France 

•277 

Establishment  of  Tribunate 

• '39 

Victories  at  Katzbach  and  Mockern. 

....237 

Religion  in  France . 

Agrarianism  and  the  Plebs 

•'39 

Blucher  Defeated  at  Leipzig 

....2)7 

In  Scandinavia 321 

325 

Cincinnatus  and  Dentatus 

. I4O 

Blucher  at  Waterloo 

in  China 

45' 

Virginius  and  Virginia 

. 140 

William  I.,  King  of  Prussia 

....238 

Religions  of  History,  The  Ten 

• '75 

Coriolanus  and  His  Pride 

.141 

The  Seven  Weeks’  War 

....239 

Religious  Toleration  in  Austria  

•253 

Greek  and  Roman  Ideals  Compared 

.141 

Schleswig-Holstein  War..; 

Toleration  in  Belgium 

.256 

Invasion  of  the  Gauls 

.141 

North  German  Confederation 

....239 

Toleration  in  the  Netherlands 

•257 

T he  Gauls  and  Latins 

.142 

War  With  France 

Toleration  in  Spain 

■3'3 

and  Carthage 

•'43 

Battles  Around  and  Surrender  of  Metz.  .239 

Rembrandt,  Painter 

.250 

Pyrrhus  and  His  Elephants 

•'43 

Sedan  and  Capture  of  Napoleon  III 

....239 

Remus  and  Romulus 

••'3 

Carthage  and  Its  Place  in  History 

•'44 

Siege  and  Capture  of  Paris 

....239 

Renaissance  in  France,  The 

The  First  Tunic  War 

'44 

Heavy  French  Indemnity  Required. 

in  Japan 

.432 

Hamilcar  and  Hannibal 

•'45 

A Part  of  the  German  Empire  . . . . 

. . . .241 

Republic,  The  Dutch 

•25S 

The  Second  Tunic  War 

•'45 

Psammeticus  I 

•53.6s 

The  Fall  of  the  Dutch 

259 

Hannibal  Crosses  the  Alps 

I46 

Ptolemaeus,  Claudius 

The  Bavarian 

The  Battle  of  Cannai 

I46 

Ptolemaic  System,  The 

The  French 276, 

29  2 

The  Fabian  Policy 

I46 

Ptolemic  Dynasty,  The 

55 

of  Spain,  The 

■312 

Scipio  and  the  War  in  Africa 

I46 

Ptolemies,  The  First  of  the 

56 

The  Swiss  

325 

The  Further  Conquests  of 

■47 

and  Science,  The 

57 

of  Andorra 

329 

Third  Tunic  War,  Fall  of  Carthage. . . . 

147 

Ptolemy,  Epiphanes 

45 

of  San  Marino 

33° 

Last  Century  of  the  Roman  Republic. .. 

148 

Ptolemy,  Philopater 

45 

The  Roman 

■'38 

The  March  of  Conquest 

I4S 

Ptolemy  of  Alexandria 

....128 

of  Novgorod,  The 

210 

Area  of  the  Republic...  

148 

Public  Domain  of  the  United  States.  . . . . 

...570 

of  Poland 

.219 

The  Censor  and  Younger  Cato 

'49 

Pulaski,  Count 

..  S'2 

Republican  Party  Under  Burr  and  Jefferson. 517 

The  Gracchi 

■49 

Punic  War,  The  First  

••■•'44 

or  Anti  Slavery  Party 

■527 

Sulla  and  Marius 

•'5° 

The  Second 

••■•'45 

Reservations  of  the  U.  S.  Indian 

.489 

The  Unification  of  Italy 

.'5° 

The  Third 

Resources  of  Egypt,  The 

■ •44 

Burning  of 

'5' 

Pyramid  and  Sphinx,  Cheops 

Restoration  of  the  Jews,  The 7 

.74 

Sulla  Dictator 

'S' 

Pyramids  of  Egypt 

Revolution  in  Paris 240, 

272 

Pompey  the  Great 

• '52 

Pyrrho,  The  Father  of  Skeptics 

in  Portugal  Against  Spain  

.318 

Judea  and  Spain  Taken 

'52 

Pyrrhus  of  Epirus 

Reynolds,  General  J.  F 

.541 

Cicero  and  the  Conspiracy  of  Catalinc. 

'52 

Pythia  of  Delphi 

Rhacotis,  Village  of 

••55 

Julius  Caesar,  His  First  Consulate 

■53 

Pythian  Games  of  Greece 

Rhine,  The  Confederation  of  the 

237 

Caesar  and  the  Empire 

■55 

Pythias 

Rhode  Island 

.6l6 

Caesar  and  the  Calendar 

•'55 

Quarles,  Francis,  English  Poet 

....378 

Rhodes,  The  City  and  Colossus  of. 

.1 2t; 

Testimony  of  Froude 

56 

Quebec,  The  City  of. 

....  397 

The  Island  of 

•'93 

The  Age  of  Skepticism 

156 

Captured  by  Wolfe 

....501 

Rhodolph,  Count  of  Hapsburg 

249 

The  Assassination  of  Caesar 

156 

Montgomery  before . . . 

•••  5°S 

Emperor  of  Germany 

249 

The  Triumvirate 

'57 

Queens’and,  The  Colony  of 

....425 

Richard  Cceur  de  Leon 

34° 

Cleopatra  of  Egypt 

'57 

Area 

Richard  II.,  of  England 

34S 

Augustus  and  His  Policy 

■57 

Quiritary  Land  of  Rome 

•••.'39 

Richard  III  , of  Englan  *' 

354 

The  Empire  and  the  Senate 

158 

Rabellais,  Francois 

. . . . 285 

Richelieu,  Cardinal 232, 

^68 

Popularity  of  the  Emperor  Augustus..  . 

•'59 

Racine 

Richter 

244 

The  Augustan  Age 

.'59 

Railroad,  The  Pacific 

Riot,  The  Canadian 

Latin  Classics 

160 

Railroad  Strikes  of  1S77 

....566 

in  New  York,  The  Draft 

542 

The  Emperors  from  Augustus  to  Alaric 

'65 

Railroad  Industry  U.  S 

Robert  of  Normandy 

■189 

Tiberius  Ca?sar  and  Caligula 

276 

Rome  in  the  Days  of  Nero 

166 

of  British  India 

Rochambeau,  Count 

5'4 

The  Siege  of  Jerusalem 

166 

o' 


v 

► 


fv 


INDEX. 


xxi. 


PAGE. 

Rome,  From  Vespasian  to  Trojan 167 

Hadrian  to  Marcus  Aurelius 16S 

The  Forum 168 

The  Age  of  the  Antonines 16S 

Ulpian  the  Lawyer 168 

Diocletian  and  Constantine 169 

Julian  the  Apostate 170 

Weakness  and  Dissension 17 1 

Theodosius,  the  Permanent  Division  of 

Empire 1 7 1 

The  Greek  and  Roman  Churches 171 

The  Last  Days  of  Imperial 17 1 

and  Christ 173 

and  Primitive  Christianity 173 

The  Papacy  and  Modem  Christianity..  ..177 

The  Early  Popes 178 

Popes  Leo  and  Gregory 179 

Papal  Corruption  and  the  Reformation..  180 

Protestantism  in  Italy 181 

The  Mystics  and  Inquisition 181 

The  Jesuits  and  Jesuitism 18 1 

Philip  Schaff  on  the  Church  of  Rome...  182 

Present  Pope  and  the  Vatican 183 

Spiritual  Divisions  of  Christendom 1S3 

Modern  Missions 183 

Present  Italy 184 

Romerer,  King  of  Egypt 51 

Romulus,  The  Founder  of  Rome 134 

Rosecrans,  General 541,  550 

Roses,  The  War  of  the 352 

Rosetta  Stone,  The 45 

Rotterdam,  The  City  of 256 

Roumania 331 

Rousseau,  Jean  Jaques 271 

Rubens '59 

Rubber,  Vulcanized 627 

Rudaki,  Persian  Poet . .89 

Rurik,  Grand  Prince  and  Founder  of  Russia,  210 

Russia,  The  Dawn  of 310 

Novgorod,  The  Great  Republic 210 

Grand  Princes,  From  Rurik  to  Igoe 21 1 

Olga’s  Revenge  and  Piety 211 

Vladimir  and  Christianity 21 1 

Geughis  Khan  and  the  Golden  Horde. . . 212 

Ivan,  Peter  and  Catherine 212 

Moscow  and  Napoleon  213 

Alexander  I.  and  the  Holy  Alliance 314 

Nicholas  and  the  Crimean  War 214 

Alexander  II.  and  the  Serfs ..315 

Nihilism,  Siberia 315 

Present  Condition  of .216 

Greek  Church  in 216 

Russian  Calendar,  The 35 

Saarbrucken,  Battle  of 240 

Sabbakon  of  Ethiopia 65 

Sabelli  Race,  The 134 

Sabines,  Rape  of  the 136 

Sadduces 74 

Sadowa,  Battle  of 239 

Safes,  American 626 

Sahara,  The  Desert  of 457 

Saida,  City  of 67 

Sais,  The  Town  of 50,  53 

St  Albans,  The  Battle  of 352 

St.  Augustine,  in  England  334 

St.  Bernard,  Abbott  of 191 

St.  Bartholomew,  Massacre  of 265 

St.  Clair,  General 516 

St.  Columba,  an  Irish  Saint 3S3 

St.  Helena,  The  Island  of 460 


PAGE. 

St.Johns,  N.  F.,  The  City  of. 39S 

St.  John,  The  Knights  of 193 

St.  Patrick  and  Ireland’s  Conversion 3S7 

Confession  of  Faith 38S 

St.  Petersburgh,  City  of 214,  220 

St.  Sophia,  The  Mosque  of 201 

Saladin  Captures  Jerusalem 192 

Salamis,  Naval  Battle  of. 99 

Sallust 163 

Salic  Law  of  Spain,  The 313 

Saminite  Race,  The 142 

Samson,  the  Israelite 70 

Sandys,  George 638 

San  Domingo 4S1 

Sandwich  Islands,  The 484 

Sanitary  Commission,  The . 549 

San  Marino,  The  Republic  of 330 

Sanskrit  of  India,  The 408 

San  Salvador 478 

Santa  Anna,  President  of  Mexico 463 

Sanskrit  Language 87 

Sappho . . no 

Saracen  Empire,  The . 195 

Mohammed 195 

Mecca  and  Medina 196 

The  Strength  of  Islam 197 

The  Great  Empires 197 

Mohammed  Morals,  The  Koran  197 

The  Caliphate  and  the  Ommiad  Dynasty.  198 

Division  and  Fall  of  the  Empire 198 

The  Saracens  and  Modern  Civilization. . 199 

Saracenic  Glory  and  its  Eclipse 199 

Saratoga,  Battle  of 512 

Sardanapalus,  King  of  Assyria 82 

Sardinia  Captured  by  the  Romans 145 

The  Kingdom  of 1S6 

Sardis,  Capital  of  Lydia 97 

Satsuma  Rebellion  in  Japan,  The 432 

Saturn,  The  Planet 35,  36 

Saul,  King  of  Israel 70 

Savage,  The  Primitive 41 

Savage  Station,  The  Battle  of 536 

Savonarola,  an  Early  Antipapist iSr 

Savoy,  The  House  of 186 

Saxe-Coburg,  the  Kingdom  of 255 

Saxe,  John  G 647 

Scales,  American 626 

Scandinavia  and  the  Scandinavians 320 

Iceland  and  its  Literature 320 

The  Danes  in  History 321 

Norway  and  the  Norwegians  322 

Sweden  and  the  Swedes 323 

Mythology  of 324 

Greenland  and  the  Norsemen  in  America. 324 

Schaff  on  the  Roman  Church 182 

Scheffer 260 

Schelling 246 

Schiller,  Von 246 

Schleswig  and  Holstein  Question 329,  321 

Schliemann’s  Explorations  at  Troy 90 

Science  in  England,  Society  for  Promotion  of.  368 

Scio,  The  Massacre  of 131 

Scipio  in  Spain 146 

Captures  Carthage 147 

Scotland  and  the  Scotch 382 

Scotia  and  Nova  Scotia 3S2 

The  Piets — The  Anglo  Saxon 3S2 

Conversion  to  Christianity ..382 

Fergus  the  Scotch -Irishman 38 2 

Edwin  and  Edinburgh 3S3 


PAGE. 

Scotland,  Constantine  II.  and  England 384 

Duncan  and  Macbeth 384 

James  I. — Feudalism 384 

Bruce  and  Independence 3S4 

Robert  and  the  House  of  Stuart 3S4 

David  II.,  James  V 3S4 

Henry  VIII.  and  the  Scotch  Crown 385 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots 385 

James  VI.  Becomes  James  I.  of  England. 385 

John  Knox  and  Presbyterianism 386 

Union  with  England 386 

Scotch  Literature  and  Writers 380 

Scott,  Sir  Walter 386 

Scott,  General  Winfield 519,  525,  531 

Sculptors,  Noted  Italian 187 

Scythia  of  The  Ancients,  The 187 

Sebastian,  Dom 318 

Secession,  Southern 530 

Ordinance  Repealed 553 

Sects,  Hebrew  Literature  and 73 

Sedan,  Battle  of 240 

Sedgwick,  General  John 545 

Seleucidae,  The  Victory  of 8$ 

Selim,  Sultan  of  Turkey 85 

Semiramis,  Queen  of  Assyria Si 

Semmes  Raphael 558 

Senacharib S2 

Senate  of  the  United  States,  The 572 

Seneca 163 

Senegambia,  The  Country  of 457 

Sepharvaim,  The  City  of 84 

Sepoy  Mutiny  of  India,  The 407 

Septuagint,  Hebrew  Bible 73 

Sepulcher,  The  Holy.  . 192 

Serfs,  Liberation  of  Russian 215 

of  France  Liberated 263 

Serrano,  President 312 

Servetus  Burned  by  Calvin 265 

Servia,  The  Kingdom  of 330 

Servilius,  Consul  of  Rome 139 

Servius,  Tarquin 137 

Servius,  Flavius 169 

Sevastopol  Bombarded  by  the  Allies 214 

Sevechus  of  Ethiopia 65 

Seven  Years’  War,  The 235 

Severus,  Alexander 168 

Seward,  William  H 527 

Sewer,  The  Cloaca  Maxima 136 

Sewing  Machine 626 

Sextus  and  Lucretia 137 

Seymour,  Horatio ..  554 

Shakespeare,  William 376 

Sheba,  The  Queen  of. 65 

Shepherd,  From  Hunter  to.  . . .41 

to  Farmer,  From 42 

Kings  of  Egypt 47»  49 

Sheik-ul-Islam 208 

Shems-ed-Dim  Mohammed 89 

Sheridan,  General  Philip  II 542.  553 

Sherman,  General  W.  T 542,  545,  550 

Shillaber,  B.  P 647 

Shishank  and  Bubastis 52 

Siam,  The  Kingdom  of 453 

Siberia,  or  Russia  in  Asia 217 

The  Rivers  and  Mountains  of 217 

Area  and  Population  217 

Sicily  and  the  First  Punic  War 144 

Sickles,  General  D.  E 541 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip 376 

Sidon,  The  Cities  of  Tyre  and 66 


■s.  © 


,t«  - 


U- 


XXII. 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Sierra  Leone 457 

Sigismund  I.,  King-  of  Poland 219 

Sigismund  II.,  the  Last  of  thejagellos 219 

Sigismund,  King  of  Sweden 323 

Signs  of  the  Zodiac 3r 

Silesia,  The  Providence  of 235 

Silk  Culture  in  the  United  States 632 

Silliman,  Benjamin 644 

Sintuism  Worship 4*33 

Siphara,  The  City  of &4 

Slavs,  The  Polish 222 

Slavonic  Republic,  The  Dream  of  a 221 

Slowacki,  Julius 222 

Smith,  Adam 379 

Smith,  General  Kirby 54^ 

Smith,  Captain  John 492 

Smugglers  of  Rhode  Island  and  the  Gospee.503 

Sobieski,  John,  A Polish  Ruler 219 

Defeats  Ibrahim,  The  Devil 219 

Defeats  the  Turks  Under  Mustapha. . . . 219 

Sobieski,  James,  of  Poland 219 

Sobieski,  Paul 221 

Socrates 1 15 

Solar  System,  The 26 

Solomon,  King 7° 

Solon  and  his  Laws 105 

Solymon  The  Magnificent 192,  207 

Sons  of  Liberty,  Organized 5°3 

Soudan,  Africa 457 

South  America,  The  Countries  of 467 

South  Carolina 616 

South  Mountain,  The  Battle  of..  . 537 

Southey,  Robert 381 

South  Sea  Company,  The 367 

Spain,  Celtic,  Gothic  and  Moorish 294 

Iberia  and  the  First  Age  of  Spain 294 

The  Gothic  Period 294 

Theological  Animosity 294 

Invasion  of  the  Moors 295 

The  Moorish  Kingdom  Established. . . . 295 

Averroes  and  Religious  Reaction 297 

Fall  of  Cordova  and  Rise  of  Granada..  .298 

The  Alhambra 29S 

The  Fall  of  Malaga 299 

The  Conquest  of  Granada 299 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella 300 

and  Portugal 300 

The  Moors  and  Moriscoes 301 

Persecution  of  the  Jews 301 

The  Inquisition  and  Auto-da-fe 301 

Christopher  Columbus  and  his  Career..  .302 

Indian  and  African  Slavery 304 

The  last  Days  of  F erdinand  and  Isabella. 304 

Catholic,  Chapter  LI 305 

Philip  and  Juana 305 

The  Escurial 307 

Portuguese  and  Spanish  Crowns 30b 

Decline  and  Loss  of  Territory 306 

Napoleon  and  Spain 310 

The  Rulers  from  Charles  V.  to  Isabella  II.31 1 

A Republic 3X3 

Alfonzo  and  the  Present  Government..  .313 

Art  and  Literature  of 313 

Sparks,  Jared 642 

Sparta,  The  Kingdom  of 95,  98,  104 

Spartans,  The 95*  I04 

Spencer,  Herbert 3S1 

Spenser,  Edmund 376 

Sphynx,  The  Great  Pyramid  and 46 

Sponge  to  Man,  From  the 39 


PAGE. 

Spots  on  the  Sun,  View  of 31 

Spottsylvania,  Battle  of 545 

Spurius  Cassius 139 

Stamboul,  or  Constantinople 204 

Stamp  Act,  The 5°2 

Stanislas  of  Poland 220 

Stanton,  Edwin  M 57^ 

Star  of  Bethlehem,  The 32 

Stark,  Col.  John 512 

Stars,  The 25,  32 

State,  The  Secretary  of 573 

State  Sovereignty,  The  Doctrine  of 55^ 

Stales  of  the  German  Empire 241 

of  the  United  States 592 

of  Colombia,  The  United  States 471 

Steamboat,  The 623 

Stephen  of  Vendome 192 

Stephen,  King  of  England 338 

Stephen  I.  of  Hungary 250 

Stephens,  Alexander  H 530,  555,  561 

Sterne,  Lawrence 380 

Steuben,  Baron 512 

Stevens,  Thaddens 553 

Stewards,  or  Major  Domi 223 

Stewart,  Commodore 5X9 

Stilicho 171 

Stockholm,  The  City  of 323 

Stone  and  Bronze  Age,  The 42 

The  Rosetta 45 

Stoneman,  General 535 

Story,  W.  W 637 

Story,  Judge 643 

Stowe,  Harriet  B 64S 

Strasburg,  The  Siege  of 240 

Stratherne,  Ancient 383 

Strongbow,  Earl  of  Pembroke 340 

Stuart,  General  J.  E.  B 536 

Stuart,  Gilbert  C 63 7 

Stuart,  Prof.  Moses 643 

Stuarts  of  Germany,  The 225 

of  England,  The 361 

Subjugation  of  the  Jews 7° 

Suetonius 164 

Suez  Canal  and  Town 60 

Suffrage  in  the  United  States 579 

Suffolk,  The  Duke  of 351 

Sulla,  Cornelius 150 

Sullivan,  General 509 

Sumner,  Charles 527 

Sumner,  General  E.  V 53^ 

Sun,  The  Children  of  the 25 

The  Paternity  of  the 25 

Spots  on  the  31 

Supreme  Court,  The. .. . 579 

Sumter,  Fort,  Bombardment  of 530 

Swedes  in  America,  The 497 

Swedenborg,  Emanuel 323 

Sweden,  First  Founded 322 

and  Protestantism 323 

Gustavus  Adolphus 323 

The  Literature  of 324 

Scandinavian  Mythology 324 

Swedenborg  and  the  Church  of  the  New 

Jerusalem 323 

Swift,  Jonathan 379 

Swing,  David 649 

Switzerland  and  Lesser  Europe 325 

The  Helveti  and  Medieval  Switzerland.. 325 

The  Story  of  William  Tell 326 

The  Mountains  of 326 


PAGE. 

Switzerland,  The  Mt.  CenisTunne4 327 

and  the  Reformation .328 

The  Swiss  as  Soldiers 328 

Swiss  Literature  and  Universities 329 

Sydney,  The  City  of 424 

Sylvester 179 

Syracuse,  The  City  of 126 

Syria,  Antiochus,  Epiphanes  of 71 

in  its  First  Period 81 

Under  the  Selucidae 84 

Modern,  and  Syriac 85 

Tables  of  Reference,  Astronomical 36 

of  Ancient  History  and  Literature,  From 

B.  C.  1500  to  A.  D 200. . . 651-662 

of  American  and  European  History  and 
LiteratureA.  D.  200  to  A.  D.18S2.  ..663-6S4 
The  Principal  Countries  of  the  World... 685 

The  Commerce  of  the  World 685 

The  Legislatures  of  the  World 686 

Congressional  Apportionment,  Based  on 

Census  of  1S80 686 

The  Industries  of  All  Nations 6S7 

Money  of  All  Nations,  Compared  With 

Population 687 

Armaments  of  All  Nations,  or  the  Art  of 

War 6S8 

The  Capital  or  Wealth  of  All  Nations.  .6SS 
The  Earnings  or  Income  of  All  Nations,  688 

The  Increase  of  Railroads  since  1S70 6S8 

The  Food  Supply  of  All  Nations 689 

The  Food  of  All  Nations 6S9 

Agricultural  and  Pastoral  Industries  of 

the  World  690 

Increase  of  Population  since  1S70. ...  . .690 
Consumption  of  Cotton,  Wool,  Flax, 

Etc 690 

Manufacturers  of  All  Nations 690 

Gold  and  Silver  Production  of  All  Na- 
tions  691 

The  Gold  Coinage  of  the  World 691 

The  Mint  Coinage  of  the  United  States,  691 
Increase  of  Commerce  and  Balance  of 

Trade 693 

Gold  and  Silver  Coins  of  the  U.  S 692 

Coin  Minted  and  Production  of  Precious 

Metals 692 

Production  of  Iron  and  Steel  Works  in 

U.  S 692 

U.  S.  Financial  History 693 

U.  S.  Political  History 694 

U.  S.  Military  History 695-699 

U.  S.  Naval  History 700 

Paper  Money  and  Fractional  Currency  in 

U.  S 701 

Pension  Statistics  of  the  U.  S 701 

The  Presidents  and  Their  Cabinets,  702,  703 

Right  of  Suffrage  in  States 704 

New  Testament  Canon 704 

The  Chinese  Empire 704 

Foreign  Exchange 710 

Pay  Roll  of  the  Leading  Civil  officers 

U.  S.. 710 

Pay  Roll  U.  S.  Army,  Navy  and  Marine 

Corps  710 

Distances  and  Standards  of  Time 705 

History  of  the  Several  States  and  Terri- 
tories   706 

Population  of  the  Several  States 707 

Population  of  the  Leading  Cities  of  the 
U.  S 70S 


— 3 v 


INDEX. 


XXlil. 


71 


<5" 


PAGE. 

Tables,  Population  of  the  Cities  of  the  World  .70S 
Religious  and  Educational  Statistics  of 


U.  S 709 

The  Metric  and  Standard  System  of 

Measure 71 1 

Tacitus 164 

Talmage,  T.  DeWitt 6*9 

Talmud,  The 74 

Tamerlane 206 

Tarakus  of  Ethiopia 65 

Tarlton,  General 5*4 

Tarquin,  Lucius,  King  of  Rome 136 

Tarquin  The  Proud 137 

Tarquin  Servius 137 

Tarquinius  Collatinus 138 

Tartar  Invasion  of  Russia,  The 212 

Tasmania, 414 

Tasso 187 

Taylor,  Bayard •.•  645 

Taylor,  Jeremy 37S 

Taylor,  Gen.  Richard 546,  363 

Taylor,  Zachery 526,  5S4 

Telegraph,  The . ..626 

Tell,  William,  and  Swiss  History 326 

Temples  of  Egypt,  The 52,  54 

Ten  Tribes  of  Israel -7° 

Tennessee 616 

Tennyson,  Alfred 381 

Terence 161 

Territory  and  Tribes,  The  Indian 489 

Territorial  Governments,  The 579 

Terror,  The  Reign  of 277 

Terry,  General 5:9 

Tertullion  of  Carthage 176 

Tenure  of  Office  Bill 553 

Tetzel 231 

Tewfix,  Khedive  of  Egypt 59 

Tewkesbury,  Battle  of 352 

Texas,  Republic  of 525 

Annexed  to  the  United  States  525,  617 

Thackeray 381 

Thales  of  Miletus 114 

Thebes  in  Egypt 4S 

in  Greece 91 

Themistocles 99,  106 

Theodra,  Queen 201 

Theories  of  Creation 37 

Theodore  II.,  of  Abyssinia 65 

Theodosius  of  Constantinople 17 1 

Theseus  the  Pride  of  Athens 92 

Theresa,  Maria • 236 

Thermopylae,  The  Glory  of. 98 

Theses  of  Martin  Luther  231 

Thibet  and  the  Grand  Llama 441 

Thiers,  M.,  President  of  France 292 

Thirteenth  Amendment 553 

Thirty  Years’  War 232 

Thomas,  Gen.  Geo.  H 539,  546,  550 

Thoth,  the  Egyptian  God 49 

Thothmosis,  King 49 

Thothmosis  IV 50 

Thucydides 112 

Thurman,  Allen  G $66 

Tiber,  The  River 134 

Tiberius  Caesar 165 

Ticinus,  Battle  of 146 

Tiglathpileser 84 

Tilden,  Samuel  J 565 

Tirhakus 65 

Titus.. * 7*»  *66 


PAGE. 

Tokio,  Japan 427 

Toronto,  The  City  of 398 

The  University  of 39S 

Torquemada ...  .302 

Tory  Party  Leaders  of  England .. 372 

Tower  of  Babel,  The 69 

Trafalgar,  The  Battle  of 282,  31© 

Trajan 167 

Traslmenus,  Battle  of  Lake 146 

Trebia,  The  Battle  of 146 

Trent  Affair,  The 532 

Trenton,  The  Battle  of 510 

Treasury,  The  Secretary  of  the 574 

Treaty  of  Berlin,  The 253 

Tribunatus  Established  in  Rome 139 

Tribes,  The  Ten 70 

Tribes  of  the  Atlantic  Coast.,  The  Ind  an 488 

Tribune,  The  N.  Y 565 

Trinity  College,  Dublin 393 

Tripoli,  a Country  in  Africa 457 

Tripolls,  The  City  of 66 

Trojan  War,  The 92,  95 

Trollope,  Anthony 3S1 

Trowbridge,  J.  T 648 

Troy  Captured  by  the  Greeks 93 

Troyes,  The  Treaty  of 351 

Trumbull,  John 637 

Tudors,  The  House  of  the 355 

Tullia,  Wife  of  Lucius 136 

Tullius,  Hostilius 136 

Tullius,  Servius 136 

Tunis,  Africa 457 

Turkestan  and  Ancient  Scythia 455 

Turkey,  or  the  Ottoman  Empire 206 

Adrianople  and  Tamerlane 206 

The  Fall  of  Constantinople 207 

Solyman  the  Magnificent 207 

The  Decline  of  the  Empire 207 

Religion  and  Intelligence  in 208 

Present  Condition  of  208 

Area,  Population,  Government 208 

Education,  Railroads,  Debt 209 

Tycho,  The  Crater 31 

Tycoon  of  Japan  Established  432 

Tyler,  John 525,  5S4 

Tyler,  Wat,  and  the  Poll  Tax  34S 

Tyndall 381 

Tyre  and  Sidon,  The  Cities  of 66 

Ulema  and  the  Koran 20S 

Ulfila 224 

Ulpian 16S 

Ulrica  Eleonora,  Queen  of  Sweden 323 

Ulysses  of  Ithaca 92 

The  Wanderings  of  94 

Umbri,  A Race  of  Ancient  Italy.... 134 

Unhistoric  Man 43 

Union  of  Sweden  and  Norway 323 

United  Kingdom,  The 373 

United  States  of  Colombia,  The 471 

United  States,  Early  Colonial  History  of  the. 491 

England  and  English  America 491 

The  Dutch  and  New  Netherlands 496 

The  Spanish  and  French  Settlements. . . .49S 

Colonial  Growth  and  Outgrowth 500 

Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations 500 

Intercolonial  Wars S°° 

French,  Spanish  and  English  Posses 

sions 501 

Capture  of  Quebec 501 

Colonial  Debts  and  Money . ...502 


PAGE. 

United  States,  The  Stamp  Act 503 

Smuggling  and  the  Gaspee 503 

The  Boston  Tea  Party 503 

First  Continental  Congress 503 

Minute  Men  and  Paul  Revere 504 

Battles  of  Lexington  and  Concord 504 

Continental  Army  Organized 505 

The  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill 505 

Evacuation  of  Boston 506 

Charleston  and  Moultrie 506 

Declaration  of  Independence £06 

Eminent  Men  of  the  Period 506 

Independence  and  Union 509 

The  Hessians  and  Indians 509 

The  Two  British  General  Howes 509 

The  Battle  of  Long  Island 509 

The  Defeat  of  Burgoyne 510,  512 

La  Fayette  and  French  Reinforcements.  .53 1 

The  Battle  of  the  Bran  iywine 51 1 

Battle  of  Germantown  and  Evacuation  of 

Philadelphia 511 

The  Battle  of  Bennington 51 1 

Valley  Forge  and  the  Hour  of  Gloom....  512 

Articles  of  Confederation  Submitted 512 

France  Recognizes  American  Indepen- 
dence   512 

The  Battle  at  Monmouth ...512 

The  Campaigns  in  the  South 513 

The  Treason  of  Arnold 513 

The  Surrender  of  Cornwallis  514 

The  Navy  of  the  Revolution 515 

The  Adoption  of  the  Constitution 515 

The  Young  Republic 516 

Election  of  Washington  as  President. ..  516 

Hamilton  and  the  U.  S.  Bank 518 

The  Period  of  Compromise 522 

The  Period  of  Conflict 529 

The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederacy..  .£55 

The  Present 564 

The  Government  of  the....  571 

The  Presidents  of  the 5S0 

The  States  of  the 592 

Inventions  and  Inventors  of  the 622 

The  Industries  of  the 629 

American  Literature 638 

Universe,  The  Conception  of  the 23 

University  of  Alexandria,  The  Hellenic 57 

of  Islam,  Cairo  63 

of  Prague 228 

at  Leipzig 228 

Erfurt 230 

Wittenburg  230 

of  Berlin 235,  247 

of  Jena 247 

of  Halle 247 

of  Heidlebcrg 24S 

of  Copenhagen 321 

of  Toronto 398 

of  Hanlin,  China 450 

Universities  of  Germany,  The 242 

of  Belgium,  The 256 

of  the  Netherlands 257 

of  Switzerland 329 

of  Ireland 391 

Upsala,  Sweden,  The  Library  of 224 

Uranus,  The  Planet 25,  26 

Urban  II.,  Pope 263 

Uruguay,  The  Republic  of 468 

Utah  Territory 617 

Valcntinian 17* 


XXIV. 


INDEX. 


PAGE- 

Valentinian  II  171 

Valerius  Corans i<|  2 

Valerius,  a Roman  General 137 

Van  Buren,  Marlin £>25,  583 

Van  Dieman's  Land  .411 

Van  Dorn,  General 533 

Van  Dyck 259 

Van  Eyck,  Hubert. 259 

Van  Eyck,  Jan 259 

V alencia,  The  T reaty  of . . . 3 1 1 

Valois  Branch  of  the  Capetian  Dynasty 263 

Vatican  Council,  The 1S2 

at  Rome,  The 183 

Vaudois,  The,  a Religious  Sect 265 

Massacre  of  the 265 

Venezuela,  The  Republic  of 470 

Venice,  The  City  of 184 

Venus,  The  Planet 25,  26 

Verdun,  The  Treaty  of 264 

Vermont 618 

Versailles,  Louis  XVI  Retires  to  275 

Vespasian 1 66 

In  Britain 333 

Vesta,  Persia,  Parthia  and  the  Zenda 86 

Vice  President,  The  Duties  of  the 572 

Vicksburg  Captured 541 

Victoria,  Queen  of  England 419 

Marriage  with  Prince  Albert 368 

Victoria,  The  Colony  of 479 

Vienna,  The  City  of 237,  249 

Napoleon  at 237 

Vionville,  The  Battle  of 240 

Virgil,  a Poet  of  Rome 162 

Virgin  Islands,  The 479 

Virginia,  First  Settlement  in  492 

Captain  John  Smith  and  Pocahontas 492 

Slavery  Introduced  into 492 

First  Indian  War  49a 

The  Colonial  Governors  of 493 

Bacon’s  Rebellion  in 493 

History  of 619 

Virginia,  The  Death  of 140 

Virginius,  a Roman  Tribune 140 

Volcanoes 24 

Volcanic  Eruptions 24 

Voltaire . . . 271 

Von  Humboldt . . 23 

Vladimir  of  Novgorod  21 1 

Embraces  Christianity 21 1 

Wagner 246 

Wakefield,  The  Battle  of 352 

Waldo,  of  Lyons,  Peter 181 

Waldenes,  The 1S1 

Wales  Absorbed  by  England 344 

Wales,  Llewellyn,  Prince  of 344 

Wales,  The  First  English  Prince  of 344 

Wall  of  China,  The  Great 443 

Wallace,  William .345,  3S4 

Wallenstein  and  the  Reformation 33 

Walpole,  Sir  Horace 367 

Walter,  The  Penniless 191 

Waltoft,  Izaak 378 

War  for  Grecian  Independence 130 

The  First  Punic 144 

The  Second  Punic 145 

The  Third  Punic 147 

of  the  Investitures 1S0 

The  Crimean ...214 

The  Hussite 22S 

The  Thirty  Years' 232 


PAGE 

War,  The  Seven  Years’ 235 

The  Seven  Weeks’ 239 

The  Dutch 258 

The  Peninsula 31 1 

of  the  Roses,  The 352 

The  Mexican 463 

of  America,  The  Colonial 503 

The  Revolutionary 509 

with  England,  The  Second .518 

War,  The  Secretary  of 576 

Wares,  Henry  and  William 643 

Warren  at  Bunker  Hill,  General 505,  5o5 

Warren,  Seth 512 

Warsaw,  The  City  of 220 

Wartburg,  The  Castle  of 231 

Warwick,  The  Earl  of .352 

Washington  Territory 620 

Washington  Selected  as  the  Capital  516 

Burnt  by  the  British 521 

Washington,  George,  and  Virginia  Militia,  501 

Present  at  Braddock’s  Defeat 501 

Takes  Command  at  Boston 505 

and  the  War  of  the  Revolution 509 

Inaugurated  as  President... 517,  580 

Watch -making  in  America 624 

Waterloo,  The  Plain  and  Town  of 260 

The  Battle 286 

Watts,  Isaac 479 

Way,  The  Flammian  145 

The  Appian 145 

Wayne,  General  Anthony 516 

Weapons,  Bronze  and  Stone 43 

Webster,  Daniel 523 

Webster,  Noah. 643 

Weimer,  The  Court  of 243 

Weisenberg,  The  Battle  of 240 

Wellington,  Lord 31 1,  286 

Welsh  Chiefs  at  Caernarvon 344 

Wenda,  Queen 218 

Wesley,  John  and  Charles 369 

West,  Benjamin 637 

West  Indies,  'The 479 

Westminster  Abbey 337,  34* 

West  Virginia 620 

Westphalia,  The  Peace  of 233,  323 

Weiland 243 

Wheeler,  William  A 566 

Whig  Parties  of  England 372 

Party  of  the  United  States  590 

Whipple,  E.  P 646 

Whisky  Insurrection  in  Pennsylvania 51& 

Whitby,  The  Synod  of 335 

Whitfield,  George,  and  Methodism 369 

White  Plains,  The  Battle  of. 509 

Whitman,  Walt 648 

Whitney,  Eli 624,  523 

Whittier,  John  G 641; 

Wilberforce,  William 370 

Wilderness,  Battle  of  the 545 

Wilkes,  Captain  Charles 532 

William,  Duke  of  Normandy  263 

Invades  England 263 

Claims  English  Crown 337 

Defeats  Harold  at  Hastings 337 

Crowned  at  Westminster  Abbey 337 

The  Domes- Day  Book 338 

William  and  Mary. . . 365 

Victory  of  the  Boyne 365 

Act  of  Settlement  Passed 363 

William  IV.,  of  England 368 


PAGE. 

William  I.,  First  King  of  the  Netherlands..  .257 


William  II.,  of  the  Netherlands 257 

William  III.,  of  the  Netherlands 237 

William  of  Nassau 238 

William  I.,  King  of  Prussia 238 

Crowned  Emperor  of  Germany 239 

Receives  the  Surrender  of  Napoleon..  ..240 

Williamsburg,  The  Battle  of 535 

Willis,  N.  P 641 

Wilson,  Alexander 640 

Wilson,  Henry 565 

Wilson’s  Creek,  Battle  of 532 

Winchell,  Alexander 644 

Winchester,  The  Battle  of 542 

Wirt,  William .389 

Wirz,  Henry 542 

Wisconsin . 620 

Witchcraft  of  the  Dark  Ages 193 

and  King  James’  Version 104 

Innocent  VIII.,  Bull  Against 194 

Richard  Baxter  and  John  Wesley  on. . . . 194 

Salem,  Massachusetts 194 

Wittenberg,  The  University  of 230 

Wolfe  Captures  Quebec . .501 

Wolsey,  Cardinal 356 

Wood,  Jethro 624 

Woodworth,  Samuel 640 

Wool  Industry 633 

Woolman,  John 639 

Worcester,  J.  E 643 

Wordsworth,  William 381 

World  of  the  Ancients,  The 125 

Outer  Greece 125 

Rhodes  and  its  Colossus 125 

Halicarnassus  and  its  Mausoleum 125 

Diana  of  Ephesus 126 

Syracuse  and  Archimedes 126 

The  Ionian  Islands 126 

Crete  and  Cyprus 126 

Scandia,  Sarmatia,  Dacia,  and  Thrace.. . 127 

Scythia  and  India,  Arya 127 

Ptolemy  and  His  Geography 128 

The  Ptolemic  System 128 

The  Great  Periods  of  the 24 

Worms,  The  Diet  of. 231 

Worship,  Greek  Hero 90 

Worth,  The  Battle  of 240 

Wycliffe,  John 347 

Wyoming  Territory 621 

Massacre  of 512 

Xenophon 1 12 

Xerxes  the  Great 53,  9S 

Ximenes,  Cardinal  of  Spain 302,  306 

Y aroslaf,  Prince  of  Russia . . . . 2 1 1 

Yesso,  an  Island  of  Japan 427 

Yokohama,  a Seaport  City  of  Japan 427 

York,  Richard  Duke  of 352 

York,  Edward  Duke  of 352 

Crowned  Edward  IV 352 

Yorktown,  Cornwallis*  Surrender  at 514 

Ypsilantis,  Alexander,  and  Demetrius 102 

Zahringen  of  Switzerland 325 

Zama,  The  Battle  of 147 

Zenda  Vesta,  Persia,  Parthia  and  the S6 

Zcnobia,  Queen  of  Palmyra 58 

Zerubbabel,  The  Jews  Under 70 

Ziska,  John 229 

Zoroaster  and  the  Zenda  Vesta S7 

Zululand  and  the  Zulus 45S 

Zwingle  and  the  Reformation 32S 


■-TS 


CIENCE  has  dispelled  the  old 
delusion  that  all  things  were 
created  for  man,  that  he  is  the 
diamond  of  creation,  all  else 
being  mere  setting ; but  it  is 
none  the  less  true,  that  no 
conception  can  be  formed  of 
the  universe,  except  in  its  human 
relations.  It  is  equally  true,  that  in 
order  to  follow  the  path  of  human 
progress  intelligently,  it  is  necessary 
to  first  glance  at  the  vast  field  of 
knowledge,  outside  the  domain  of  his- 
tory, antedating  all  human  records. 
Such  a preliminary  survey  will  serve  as 
a fitting  introduction  to  the  specific 
inquiry  in  hand,  and,  indeed,  forms 
an  integral  part  of  it.  The  great  Yon  Humboldt 
maybe  said  to  have  finished  the  demonstration  of  the 
fact  that  “the  universe  is  governed  by  law,”  by 
which  it  is  meant  that  all  things  proceed  in  an  or- 
derly and  rational  manner,  as  Great  Britain  or  the 
United  States  may  be  said  to  be  governed  by  law. 
It  is  the  part  of  science  to  discover  and  disclose 
those  laws,  in  their  manifold  relations.  It  is  but 
yesterday  that  man  began  to  unravel  the  mysteries 
of  creation.  For  thousands  of  years  the  eye  of  gen- 
ius was  dimmed  by  the  mists  of  absurd  conceits  and 
immemorial  blunders. 

Albeit  the  ancient  folly  that  the  universe  was 
made  for  man  has  been  cast  into  the  limbo  of  ex- 
ploded heresies,  it  is  undeniable  that  the  prepara- 
tions made  for  man  were  elaborate  beyond  all  pre- 
conception. Whether  one  glance  over  the  celestial 


field,  and  pause  to  ponder  upon  the  wonders  of  the 
heavens,  or  delve  deep  into  the  earth  to  ascertain 
the  marvels  of  geology  and  paleontology,  one  is 
alike  impressed  with  the  magnitude  and  minuteness 
of  the  preparations  which  rendered  this  earth  habit- 
able by  human  beings.  From  the  remotest  star  in 
the  Milky  Way  to  the  tiniest  spear  of  grass,  all  forms 
a part,  necessary  and  correlative,  in  the  mighty  sys- 
tem of  being  over  which  man  sways  the  scepter  of 
superior  intelligence. 

The  antiquity  of  the  human  race  is  a problem 
thus  far  defiant  of  solution.  Biblical  chronology 
has  been  somewhat  variously  interpreted  by  differ- 
ent scholars,  but  science  and  scripture  agree  that 
man  was  the  last  and  crowning  result  of  creation. 
Vast  epochs  intervened  between  the  beginning  and 
the  end  of  the  journey  which  began  in  the  dim 
chambers  of  mere  conceptive  potency,  and  ended  in 
humanity.  It  would  be  foreign  to  the  object  of  this 
volume  to  discuss  the  polemics  of  science.  The  field 
of  positive  and  definite  information  is  far  more  in- 
viting and  profitable.  It  is  wiser  to  calmly  glean 
and  garner  the  wheat  of  knowledge  than  to  frantic- 
ally thresh  the  tares  of  controversy.  It  may  be, 
and  doubtless  is,  a grander  flight  of  genius  to  skim 
along  the  azure  of  philosophic  thought  than  to  wearily 
plod  along  the  road  of  events ; hut  as  a preparation 
for  the  intelligent  perusal  of  history,  a few  general  facts 
of  nature  are  vastly  more  helpful  than  the  sublimest 
disquisitions  upon  the  abstract  and  the  abstruse. 

The  development  of  existing  cosmos  out  of  pri- 
mordial chaos,  produced  continents,  oceans  and 
mountains  in  the  place  of  a vast  globe  of  liquid  fire. 
The  great  mass  of  the  earth  is  still  in  a fluid  and  fiery 


7“ 


(23) 


£k. 


24  BEFORE  HISTORY. 


state,  covered  by  a comparatively  thin  crust  of  cold 
and  solid  substance.  In  tracing  the  necessary 
course  of  this  change  from  a molten  to  a solid  con- 
dition, a scientific  writer  of  our  day  remarks : “ As 

the  interior  became  hard  and  concrete  by  cooling, 
furrows,  corrugations  and  depressions  in  the  exter- 
nal crust  of  the  globe  would  occur,  causing  great  in- 
equalities in  its  surface.”  Volcanic  eruptions  are 
simply  the  escape  of  the  central  fire,  and  liability  to 
such  eruptions  would  be  proportionate  to  the  thin- 
ness of  the  crust.  Once  this  globe  must  have  been 
little  else  than  one  universal  volcano,  belching  fire 
and  lava  at  every  point.  In  the  earlier  stages  of 
creation,  volcanic  action  played  the  chief  part,  even 
after  its  general  subsidence. 

As  volcanoes  were  the  great  agencies  of  the  geo- 
logical dawn,  so  glaciers  came  in  the  cool  of  the 


evening.  The  transition  from  more  than  tropical 
heat,  the  world  over,  to  universal  winter  is  supposed 
to  have  been  sudden,  and  no  satisfactory  hypothesis 
has  yet  been  devised  for  its  explanation.  Agassiz 
says  of  this  era  of  frost : “ A vast  mantle  of  ice  and 
snow  covered  the  plains,  the  valleys,  and  the  seas. 
All  the  springs  were  dried  up ; the  rivers  ceased  to 
flow.  To  the  movements  of  a numerous  and  ani- 
mated creation  succeeded  the  silence  of  death.”  It 
was  in  the  period  immediately  following  the  general 
thaw,  or  springtime  of  that  supreme  winter,  that 
the  present  life  of  the  earth  was  begun.  Nature 
having,  as  it  were,  frozen  out,  and  gotten  rid  of  her 
experiments,  zoological  and  botanical,  was  ready  to 
create  man  and  his  vital  environments. 

In  point  of  time,  then,  the  great  period  of  the 
world  was  before  man,  as  well  as  before  history. 


■A 


71 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  Paternitt  op  the  Sun — Chief  Members  op  the  Solar  Family — Peculiarities 
op  the  Several  Planets— The  Properties  op  Matter— Density,  Velocity  and 
Diameter  op  Planets— The  Moon — Sun-spots— Precession  and  Multiple  Stars — 
The  Star  op  Bethlehem  and  its  Re -appearance — The  Milky  Way  andj  Star- 
Clusters— Comets— Gravitation— Time— Noted  Astronomers. 


'HOU  hast  set  the  solitary 
in  families,  was  spoken 
of  man,  but  it  is  quite  as 
applicable  to  worlds.  There 
are,  it  is  true,  wandering 
stars  which  seem  defiant 
of  the  law  of  association, 
as  there  are  human  beings  who 
shoot  off  on  tangents  of  solitude, 
forming  exceptions  to  the  general 
rule  of  society.  The  rule  itself 
is,  however,  none  the  less  forcible. 

In  the  opinion  of  some  astron- 
omers, there  exists  somewhere  in 
the  limitless  and  illimitable  vast- 
ness of  space  a luminary  which 
is  the  center  and  source  of  life, 
light  and  existence.  But  no  eye 
has  caught  a glimpse  of  it,  nor  is  there  any  like- 
lihood of  such  discovery.  The  utmost  stretch  of 
astronomical  intelligence  goes  to  the  ascertainment 
of  suns  which  are,  each  in  its  sphere,  the  head  of 
a planetary  system  or  family.  Every  fixed  star  that 
shines  in  the  firmament  is  the  father  of  a family 
of  worlds,  and  the  same  is  true  of  countless  others 
which  lie  beyond  human  ken,  however  assisted  the 
eye  may  be  by  the  telescope. 

The  central  body,  the  light  and  life,  of  our  system 
of  worlds,  is  the  Sun.  The  planets  and  satellites 
which  belong  to  this  system  are  absolutely  depend- 


ent upon  the  father-sun  for  the  necessaries  of  life, 
no  less  than  for  all  the  luxuries  of  planetary  exist- 
ence. They  can  never  reach  “ majority,”  but  ever 
remain  “ infants.”  Children  are  they  of  a parent 
whose  patriarchal  authority  must  be  respected  for- 
ever. Without  the  heat  of  the  Sun,  every  planet 
would  become  little  else  than  a vast  iceberg.  There 
are  many  members  of  this  family  too  small  for 
observation  from  an  earthly  stand-point,  and  many 
which  can  be  discerned  by  the  telescope  can  not  be 
explored  by  it,  and  are  hardly  worth  mention.  The 
recognized  and  important  children  of  the  Sun  are 
Neptune,  Uranus,  Saturn,  Jupiter,  Mars,  Earth, 
Venus  and  Mercury,  eight  in  all.  Some  of  these 
have  satellites  of  their  own,  or,  as  they  might  be 
designated,  children.  These  grandchildren  of  the 
Sun,  so  far  as  discovered,  are  eighteen.  The 
Moon  is  the  satellite  of  Earth.  Mars,  Venus  and 
Mercury  have  none.  Saturn  has  eight  moons  or 
satellites,  Jupiter  four,  Uranus  four,  and  Neptune 
one.  From  observation  by  the  naked  eye,  the  Moon 
occupies  a prominence  out  of  all  proportion  to  its 
real  importance  in  the  solar  household.  This  planet 
of  ours  is  somewhat  below  par  in  magnitude.  It 
is,  however,  one  of  the  more  favored  children  of  the 
Sun  in  point  of  relative  position.  Some  of  the  plan- 
ets are  so  far  removed  from  the  Sun  as  to  suffer 
perpetual  winter,  while  others  endure  a continuous 
furnace  heat. 

It  would  hardly  be  of  interest  to  "go  a-sailingall 


1 


26 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  SUN. 


among  the  little  stars,”  but  some  members  of  the 
family  deserve  special  attention,  besides  the  Earth. 
Mercury,  the  smallest  of  the  noteworthy  planets,  is 
the  nearest  to  the  Sun.  “ I am  blinded  by  my  own 


The  Earth. 

light,”  says  the  Ormuzd  of  the  Persian  mythology, 
and  Mercury  might  well  say  the  same.  It  is  sup- 
posed to  have  very  high  mountains.  Its  tempera- 
ture is  seven  times  hotter  than  our  own.  If  its 
material  were  as  liable  to  combustion  as  our  own, 
it  would  have  been  consumed  with  fervid  heat  long 
ago.  Its  days  are  very  unequal  in  length,  and  if 
inhabited  at  all,  it  must  be  by  very  peculiar  people, 
veritable  salamanders.  “ They  must,”  observes  a 
French  author,  “ be  as  vivacious  and  mad  as  raving 
maniacs,”  Venus  must  have  twice  the  heat  of  the 

Earth.  Like  Mercury, 
it  has  immense  moun- 
tains, some  of  them  at 
least  twenty-five  miles 
high.  It  is  studded 
with  islands,  and  has 
an  atmosphere  not  very 
inference  or  guess  of 


Telescopic  Views  of  Venus. 

unlike  our  own.  The 


the  astronomers  is  that  Venus  is  a very  lovely 
world.  Although  destitute  of  moons,  it  has  the 
benefit  of  reflections  from  Mercury  and  Earth. 

Mars  is  nearest  to  Earth, 
and  presents  close  analo- 
gies to  our  planet,  espe- 
cially in  atmospheric 
phenomena  and  polar 
cold.  It  is  believed  to 
have  a very  dense  air. 
Continents  and  seas  are 
distinguishable  upon  it. 
A fair  idea  of  its  topog- 

Telescopic  View  of  Mars.  . , » j 

raphy  may  be  formed 
from  a study  of  the  map  of  North  America, 


Telescopic  View  of  Jupiter. 


with  this  transposition : that  the  continent  of 
one  stands  for  the  water  of  the  other.  Science 
shows  it  to  be  a very  old  planet.  The  other  plan- 
ets, Neptune,  Saturn,  Ura- 
nus, and  Jupiter,  are  so 
very  far  off  that  their  pe- 
culiarities are  less  known 
than  those  of  the  other 
members  of  the  family  of 
the  Sun.  The  rings  of 
Saturn,  however,  deserve 
mention.  The  most  plaus- 
ible theory  is  that  they 
consist  of  an  accumulation  of  satellites,  completely 
filling  its  orbit.  These  satellites,  however,  defy 
anything  like  definite  observation. 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  well  to  give  some 
facts  general  to 
the  solar  system. 

The  properties 
of  matter  are 
fourteen,  viz. : 

Divisibility,  in- 
destructibility, 
impenetrability 
(or  the  occupancy  of  space),  variability  (i.  e.,  gas, 
liquid  or  solid),  inertia,  motion,  force,  gravitation, 
magnetism,  electricity,  heat,  reflection,  refrac- 
tion, polarizing  and  absorbing,  cohesion  and 
repulsion.  Taking  water  as  a standard  of  unity, 
the  density  of  the  planets  is  as  follows : Nep- 
tune, 1.25;  Uranus,  .97;  Saturn,  .76;  Jupiter, 
1.32  ; Mars,  5.12  ; Earth,  5.44  ; Venus,  5.11 ; 
Mercury,  6.71.  The  velocity  of  planets,  stated 
in  miles  per  second,  is  as  follows:  Neptune,  3.491 ; 
Uranus,  4.369;  Saturn,  6.196;  Jupiter,  8.389; 
Mars,  15.50;  Earth,  19.13;  Venus,  22.50;  Mercury, 
30.76.  The  diameters  of  the  planets,  expressed  in 
miles,  are  as  follows:  Neptune,  32,243;  Uranus, 
34,704;  Saturn,  71,936;  Jupiter,  88,316;  Mars, 
3,900;  Earth,  7,925.3;  Venus,  7,566;  Mercury, 
2,960  ; the  Sun,  851,736. 

The  Moon  is  too  prominent  a factor  in  the  celes- 
tial problem  which  astronomy  has  been  solving  for 
thousands  of  years  (but  can  never  fully  solve),  to 
be  overlooked.  It  is  insignificant  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  universe,  or  even  from  that  of  the 
Sun ; but  the  Earth  has  special  interest  in  it. 
Everybody  has  heard  of  “ the  man  in  the  Moon,” 


Telescopic  View  of  Saturn. 


PLATE  I, 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  SUN. 


but  the  wisdom  of  the  telescope  pronounces  him  a 
myth,  or,  if  he  ever  existed,  it  was  ages  ago.  The 
Moon  is  set  down  as  a vast  charnel-house.  It  has 
neither  air,  water,  nor  life  of  any  kind.  Its  awful 
crags  are  absolutely  desolate.  The  supposition  is 
that  it  is  an  exhausted,  burnt-out,  and  used-up 
world.  If  there  is  life  at  all,  it  must  be  utterly 
unlike  any  known  to  man.  It  is  the  Sahara  of  the 
skies.  Distant  from  the  earth  only  240,000  miles, 
it  is  attracted  and  largely  controlled  by  this  planet. 
The  term  satellite  is  appropriate.  It  is  not  exhaust- 
ive, however,  for  it,  too,  is  a planet  of  the  Sun. 
Although  distant  92,000,000  miles  from  the  head 
of  the  family,  it  is  more  influenced  by  it  than  by 
the  Earth.  The  action  of  the  Moon  upon  this 
planet  is  chiefly  in  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tides. 

Its  huge  craters 
are,  some  of 
them,  one  hun- 
dred miles  in 
diameter,  and 
the  whole  sur- 
face of  the 
moon  appears 
to  be  honey  - 
combed  by  ex- 
tinctvolcanoes. 
The  Moon  has 
its  phases  from 
full  to  crescent. 

The  Crater  Tycho,  as  seen  by  Telescope.  They  are  the 

different  portions  of  her  illuminated  surface,  which 
she  presents  to  the  Earth  in  revolving  around  it. 
When  the  dark  side  is  turned  toward  us  the  Moon 
is  said  to  be  new  ; then  it  is  half-full  and  horned, 
and  by  these  phases  the  revolutions  of  the  Moon 
are  ascertained.  The  time  between  full  moons  is 
29£  days ; a synodical  month,  or  lunation. 

Sun-spots  were  first  carefully  studied  by  Fabri- 
cius  in  the  seventeenth  century.  They  have  been 
observed  very  closely  ever  since.  Those  of  to-day 
are  not  those  of  two  centuries  ago.  Perpetual  change 
goes  on.  They  are  the  result  of  some  kind  of  tre- 
mendous storms  or  cyclones.  That  vast  furnace 
seems  to  be  subject  to  inconceivable  perturbations, 
by  the  side  of  which  Vesuvius  in  action  would  be 
cold  calm.  The  flames  are  supposed  to  rise  to  a 
height  of  100,000  miles  sometimes.  The  rents  and 
chasms  in  that  ocean  of  flame  are  measureless  in 


width  and  depth.  Astronomers  have  measured  one 
chasm  or  spot 
thatwasfound 
to  be  large 
enough  to 
hold  one  hun- 
dred Earths. 

A still  larger 
spotwasmeas- 
ured  in  1839, 
and  found  to 
be  186,000 
miles  in  diam- 
eter.  The 
speedormove- 
m e n t per 
ceived  in  spots 
exceeded  that 
of  the  most  Telescopic  view  of  a Sun-spot. 

violent  hurricanes,  three  to  one. 

The  term  precession  applies  to  the  gradual  fall- 
ing back  of  the  equinoctial  points  from  east  to 
west.  In  his  apparent  annual  revolution  around 
the  Earth,  the  Sun  does  not  cross  the  equinoctial 


Aries. 


Taurus. 


Gemini. 


Cancer. 


Leo. 


Virgo. 


Libra. 


Scorpio. 


Sagittarius. 


Capricomus.  Acquarius.  Pisces. 

The  Twei.ve  Signs  or  the  Zodiac. 

at  the  same  points  one  year  that  it  does  the  next, 
but  drops  to  the  west  about  50  seconds  a year.  The 


] 


i 

a) 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  SUN. 


32 


entire  precession  of  the  equinoxes  requires  a period 
of  nearly  26,000  years.  Consequently  the  apparent 
positions  of  the  stars  constantly  undergo  change, 
and  the  Pole-star,  even,  is  not  the  same  in  all  eons. 

For  the  convenience  of  astronomical  study,  the 
heavens  are  divided  into  distinct  spaces,  represented 
on  the  map  by  the  figures  of  animals  or  other 
objects.  These  spaces,  with  the  stars  they  contain, 
are  called  constellations.  They  are  distinguished 
as  northern,  zodiacal,  and  southern,  according  to 
their  positions  in  respect  to  the  ecliptic.  There  are 
twenty-five  prominent  constellations  in  the  north, 
twelve  in  the  zodiac  and  eighteen  in  the  south. 

Multiple  stars  are  those  which  seem  to  the  ordi- 
nary observer  to  be  single,  but  which,  when  viewed 
through  a telescope,  appear  to  be  two  or  more  stars. 
If  there  are  only  two,  they  are  called  double,  or 
binary  stars.  Variable  stars  exhibit  periodical 
changes  of  brightness.  Temporary  stars  are  the 
luminaries  which  make  their  appearance  suddenly 
in  the  heavens,  often  very  brilliant,  but  after  a 
while  fading  away,  or  nearly  so.  If  they  do  not 
disappear  entirely  they  are  called  new  stars.  Astron- 
omers can  arrive  at  no  satisfactory  solution  of  this 
mystery.  Some  stars  known  to  the  ancients  are 
not  to  be  found.  They  are  called  lost  stars. 

One  peculiarity  of  astronomy  is  that  it  can  fore- 
tell events  in  its  own  line,  and  also  discover  lost 
information.  For  instance,  it  is  known  that  in  the 
year  4 B.  C.  a brilliant  star  appeared,  which  astron- 
omers call  the  “ Star  of  Bethlehem,”  and  of  this 
star  the  learned  Professor  Gounnier  remarks:  “In 
1887  the  ‘ Star  of  Bethlehem  ’ will  be  once  more 
seen  in  ‘ Caseopia’s  Chair,’  and  will  be  accompanied 
by  a total  eclipse  of  the  sun  and  moon.  The  star 
only  makes  its  appearance  every  315  years.  It  will 
appear  and  illuminate  the  heavens,  and  exceed  in 
brilliancy  even  Jupiter  when  in  opposition  to  the 
sun,  and  therefore  nearer  to  the  sun  and  brightest. 
The  marvelous  brilliancy  of  the  ‘ Star  of  Bethle- 
hem,’ in  1887,  will  surpass  any  of  its  previous  visit- 
ations. It  will  be  seen  even  by  noonday,  shining 
with  a quick,  flashing  light,  the  entire  year,  after 
which  it  will  gradually  decrease  in  brightness,  and 
finally  disappear,  not  to  return  to  our  heavens  until 
2202,  or  315  years  after  1887.  This  star  first 
attracted  the  attention  of  modern  astronomers  in 
the  year  1575.  It  was  then  called  a new  star.  It 
was  no  new  star,  however,  for  this  was  the  star 


which  shone  so  brightly  4 B.  C.,  and  was  the  star 
that  illuminated  the  heavens  at  the  nativity  of 
Christ.” 

Beside  the  planets  which  belong  to  our  system, 
and  the  suns  of  other  systems,  which  are,  for  the 
most  part,  the  countless  stars  of  our  firmament,  is 
the  Milky  Way.  That  is  too  sharply  defined  in  its 
individuality,  as  seen  by  the  naked  eye,  to  be  passed 
over,  although,  in  point  of  fact,  no  part  of  the  solar 
system.  It  comprises  luminous  matter;  aggrega- 
tions of  stars.  As  one  writer  expresses  it,  “ The 
Milky  Way  presents  patches  of  diffuse,  luminous 
matter,  and  many  millions  of  stars,  some  isolated, 
others  formed  in  groups,  and  forming,  in  its  total- 
ity, a kind  of  zone  or  ring,  the  diameter  of  which 
would  be  about  six  times  greater  than  its  thickness, 
and  of  which  our  sun  would  form  a part.  It  has 
been  estimated  that  light  would  not  traverse  the 
distance  between  those  nebulae  and  the  earth  in  less 
than  sixty  millions  of  years,  while  a cannon-ball 
would  require  37,000  millions  of  years  to  traverse 
the  same  distance;  yet  the  limits  of  the  universe 
would  still  be  untouched.  As  Buchner  and  others 
contend,  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  universe, 
like  the  earth,  is  a sphere,  with  no  “jumping-off 
place  ” anywhere.  Star-clusters  are  near  of  kin  to 
the  Milky  Way.  Some  of  these  groups  have  been 
ascertained  to  contain  no  less  than  25,000  stars, 
such  as  the  Pleiades,  the 
Hyades,  and  the  group  known 
as  Berenice’s  Hair.  These  glob- 
ular clusters,  or  galaxies,  are 
supposed  to  be  held  together 
by  their  motions  and  mutual 
attractions.  • Nebulae  are  star- 
clusters,  only  so  far  off  as  to  be 

J . . Nebulae  viewed  through 

vague  even  to  the  telescopic  the  Telescope. 

eye.  The  separate  stars  cannot  be  distinguished. 

They  form  the  extreme  verge  of  celestial  discovery, 

and  serve  to  suggest  the  infinite  spaces  beyond 

the  reach  of  scientific  inquiry. 

By  all  ignorant  people,  great  consequence  is 
attached  to  comets.  As  a matter  of  fact,  they  are 
trifles,  and  literally  lighter  than  air.  They  are 
small,  irregular  nebulae,  which  travel  in  space,  and 
which,  coming  within  the  sphere  of  the  sun’s  attrac- 
tion, approach  that  body  at  an  ever-increasing  veloc- 
ity, revolving  around  it,  at  a varying  distance  from 
its  surface,  and  again  moving  off  toward  other 


i yrvy'&'7'..  .* 


7T 


10  4 

np  xU-03 


(otuui' 


i Ycepheus 


PLATE.  V. 


SCALE  OF 

MAG  N I T U D E 


Constellations  Visible  In  the  United  States. 


±{L 


G 

' 


C* 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  SUN.  35 


regions  of  the  sky,  losing  their  velocity  as  they 
recede.  They  vary  in  their  nature  and  move- 
ments, and  really  possess  very  little  actual  signifi- 
cance in  the  solar 
economy.  They 
are  to  the  solar 
system  about  what 
a light  morning 
fog  is  to  a day 
in  June.  Comets 
are  infrequent, but 
shooting  stars  are 
very  common, and 
deserve  brief  con- 
sideration. They 
are  sometimes 
called  bolides,  aer- 
olites, or  meteorites.  This  branch  of  science  has 
not  reached  basis  of  demonstration  in  its  details. 
Enough  is  known  to  warrant  the  positive  assertion 
that  these  seeming  eccentricities  are  not  freaks  of 
nature,  but  results  of  established  laws  of  the  uni- 
verse, especially  that  great  fundamental  law,  gravi- 
tation. This  law  of  gravitation  is  so  very  funda- 
mental, in  fact,  as  almost  to  deserve  the  appellation 
of  “ First  Cause,”  or,  as  a German  would  put  it, 
“ the  cause  of  the  cause  of  the  thing  caused.”  One 
extract  from  Rambosson’s  lectures  on  this  subject 
will  serve  as  a fitting  bridge  between  this  subject 
and  its  immediate  successor.  He  says: 

“ It  has  been  found  that  the  earth  revolves  upon 
its  rapid  course  like  a vast  cannon-ball  amidst 
moving  clusters  of  rings  of  bullets,  circulating  ever- 
lastingly in  fixed  ellipses.  These  rings  are  regular 
rivers,  without  beginning  or  end,  which  pour  along 
their  beds  in  celestial  projectiles,  intersecting  at 
several  points  the  invisible  route  which  the  earth 
follows  around  the  sun.  The  earth,  in  passing 
through  them,  is  struck  by  thousands  of  the  small 
planets,  which  drop  to  its  surface,  and  its  attractive 
force  drags  a great  number  more  of  them  into  its 
train,  causing  them  to  revolve  around  it  for  some 
time,  like  so  many  imperceptible  moons,  until  they, 
too, fall  to  its  surface  in  the  shape  of  shooting  stars.” 

Whenever  and  wherever  there  has  been  anything 
approaching  a correct  computation  of  time,  astron- 
omy has  been  the  base  of  reckoning.  The  Egyp- 
tians, Greeks,  and  Romans,  not  only,  but  the  Hin- 
doos and  Chinese,  all  adopted  the  same  general 


plan.  The  moon  is  the  convenient  stand-point  for 
computing  months,  as  the  sun  is  for  computing 
days  and  years.  The  present  system,  sometimes 
called  the  new  style,  was  introduced  by  Pope  Greg- 
ory XIII.  in  1582,  as  the  result  of  careful  study 
and  observation,  and  so  accurate  is  it  that  the  vari- 
ation between  the  computed  and  the  actual  year  is 
not  over  one  day  in  5,000  years.  The  Gregorean 
calendar  was  at  once  adopted  in  Catholic  countries, 
but  it  gained  general  credence  in  Protestant  coun- 
tries only  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Russia  has  not  even  yet  adopted  it.  The 
Russians,  or  the  members  of  the  Greek  Church, 
reckon  from  the  birth  of  Christ,  old  style.  The 
Mohammedans  reckon  from  the  flight  of  their 
prophet  from  Medina  1,300  years  ago ; the  He- 
brews from  the  creation,  5641. 

Several  great  astronomers  deserve  mention  for 
the  services  they  rendered  mankind  in  making 
known  the  wonders  of  the  heavens.  First  of  all 
ranks  Copernicus,  born  in  1473,  a German,  who 
verified  the  ancient  theory  that  the  sun  was  the 
center  of  the  solar  system.  After  his  day  this 
was  a demonstrated  fact,  and  not  a mere  hypothe- 
sis. Galileo,  born  1564,  made  further  discoveries  in 
that  same  line,  proving  beyond  a doubt  that  the 
world  moves  around  the  sun,  not  the  sun  around 
the  earth.  For  that  “heresy”  he  was  tried,  and 
would  have  suffered  martyrdom  had  he  not  recanted, 
his  recantation  being  110  detriment  to  science.  Gal- 
ileo was  an  Italian.  Kepler,  a German,  born  in 
1571,  made  great  progress  in  this  science,  and  with 
good  reason  exclaimed:  “I  think  thy  thoughts 
after  thee,  O God.”  He  discovered  several  of  the 
fundamental  laws  of  the  solar  system.  With  Sir 
Isaac  Newton,  born  in  1642,  England  came  to 
occupy  the  front  rank  in  astronomical  discoveries, 
for  he  discerned  that  greatest  of  all  laws,  the  law 
of  gravitation,  or  the  reason  why  the  planets 
revolve,  as  well  as  why  the  apple  falls  to  the  ground 
when  shaken  from  the  stem.  His  supreme  law  is 
that  matter  attracts  other  matter  in  proportion  to 
its  mass  and  distance.  Sir  William  Herschel  and 
his  son,  belonging  in  their  life  work  to  England 
and  the  present  century,  deserve  exalted  rank,  as 
do  Mitchell,  father  and  daughter,  in  this  country. 
Richard  A.  Proctor  has  done  and  is  doing  very 
much  to  bring  astronomical  knowledge  within  the 
easy  reach  of  the  general  public. 


Comet  of  1819. 


TABLE  SHOWING  THE  RELATIONS  OF  POSITION  IN  THE  ORBIT. 


Name 

Place  op 
Perihelion. 

Annual 

Variation. 

Place  of 

North  Node. 

Annual 

Variation. 

Inclination  of 
Orbit. 

Annual 

Variation. 

Mercury 

u 

15°  30’  48" 

4-  5.84" 

16°  50'  39" 

— 7.82" 

70  q,  18„ 

+ 0,181" 

Venus . 

a 

9°  42’  32" 

- 2.68” 

n 

15°  33'  6" 

— 18.71" 

3°  23'  32" 

4-  0.045" 

69 

10°  46’  38” 

- 11.81" 

Mars 

3°  45’  28" 

- 15.82" 

£ 

18°  33'  16" 

— 23.29” 

1°  51'  6" 

— 0 003" 

Jupiler 

T 

12°  18’  47" 

- 6.65" 

9°  21'  27" 

— 15.81" 

1°  18'  35" 

— 0.226" 

Saturn 

® 

0°  35’  23” 

4 19.37" 

69 

22°  34'  37" 

— 19.42" 

2°  29'  24" 

— 0.155" 

Uranus 

up 

18°  36'  8" 

- 2.  4" 

XT 

13°  17'  9" 

— 36.  0" 

0°  46'  30" 

+ 0.031" 

Neptune 

14°  19’  28" 

a 

11°  9'  30" 

1°  47'  2" 

Table  showing  the  diameter  in  miles,  and  the  angular  diameter  of  each  body,  in  seconds,  wnen  at  the  mean  distance  from  the  Earth;  the 
weights  of  each  as  compared  with  those  of  the  Sun  and  Earth,  and  the  Densities  as  compared  with  that  of  the  Earth,  and  with  equal  bulks  of  water. 


Diameter  in 

Weight 

Weight 

Density 

Density 

Miles. 

Seconds. 

Sun  — 1. 

Earth  = 1. 

Earth  — 1. 

Water  — 1. 

Sun 

851736 

1923.6" 

1.000000 

354936. 

0.284 

1.533 

Mercury 

2960 

6.7" 

0.0729 

1.392 

7.518 

Venus 

7566 

17.1" 

0.9101 

1.032 

5.572 

Earth 

7925.6 

1.0000 

1.000 

5.4 

Mars 

3900 

5.8" 

JZTUVJ7 

0.1324 

1.105 

5.965 

Jupiter 

88316 

38.4" 

TVT7.3TT 

338.718 

0.258 

1.393 

Saturn 

71936 

17.1" 

101  364 

0.149 

0.804 

Uranus 

34704 

4.1" 

14.252 

0.19 

1.025 

Neptune 

32243 

2.4" 

T27SIT 

18.98 

0.335 

1.807 

The  following  are  .the  Elements  of  the  Moon,  and  of  her  Orbit. 


Mean  Distance  in  Radii  of  Earth  59.96435 

Mean  Distance  in  Miles,  237,626 

Eccentricity  of  Orbit,  0.054844 

Diameter  in  Miles,  2153 

Angular  Semi-diameter  14’  44"  to  16'  46" 

Weight  (Earth  = 1),  0.011399 

Weight  of  Earth  and  Moon  (Sun  being  1),  -= 


Sidereal  Revolution,  days, 

Synodical  Revolution, 

Inclination  of  Orbit, 

Revolution  of  Nodes,  Days, 

Revolution  of  Perigee, 

Density  (Earth  = 1). 

jifm 


27.321661418 
29  530488715 
5°  8’  47.9" 
6798.28 
3232.57534 
0.5657 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PLATES. 


Plate  I. 

Contains  representations  of  the  planets  Venus  and  Mars,  Jupiter  and 
Saturn.  The  figure  of  Venus  (Fig.  2)  is  copied  from  a drawing  by 
Schroeter  representing  the  planet  near  its  inferior  conjunction.  The 
figure  of  Mars  (Fig.  1)  is  copied  from  a drawing  by  Secchi.  The  figure  of 
Jupiter,  (Fig.  3)  is  copied  from  a drawing  in  the  Sidereal  Messenge^ 
and  the  figure  of  Saturn  (Fig.  4)  is  copied  from  a drawing  by  Dawes. 

Plate  II. 

Shows  the  apparent  size  of  the  Sun  as  viewed  from  the  several  plan- 
ets, and  the  relative  sizes  of  the  eight  principal  planets. 

Plate  III. 

* Is  a representation  of  the  appearance  of  the  full  Moon,  copied  from 

the  engraving  of  Bear  and  Maedler — also  a representation  of  portion  of 


the  moon’s  surface  as  seen  with  a powerful  telescope  near  the  time  of 
the  first  quarter. 

Plate  IV. 

Contains  representations  of  Comets.  Fig.  1 is  a representation  of 
Halley’s  comet  as  it  appeared  to  the  naked  eye  October  29,  1835,  accord- 
ing to  Strave.  Fig.  2 is  a representation  of  Donati’s  comet  as  it  ap- 
peared to  the  naked  eye  October  10,  1858,  according  to  Prof.  Bond.  Fig. 
3 is  a telescopic  view  of  the  head  of  Douati’s  comet  as  it  appeared 
October  2,  1858,  according  to  Prof.  Bond. 

Plate  V. 

This  Map  shows  all  the  prominent  constellations  visible  in  the  United 
States;  the  center  is  the  North  Pole.  The  map  shows  all  the  Fixed  Stars 
of  not  less  than  the  third  magnitude,  with  many  of  the  smaller  stars. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Matter  and  Motion — Theories  of  Creation— Geological  Periods— Nature  and  Man— The 
Continents  and  Population — Geological  Developments — From  Sponge  to  Man — The 
Animal  Kingdom. 


# THE  EARTH  WITHOUT  MAN.  0 


F the  facilities  for  studying 
all  the  planets  of  our  solar 
system  were  the  same,  this 
world  would  dwindle  into 
insignificance,  being  one  of 
the  smallest  of  the  heaven- 
ly bodies.  It  is,  however, 
able  to  boast  a surface  of 
197,124,000  square  miles,  and  a plan- 
etary mass  amounting  to  256,000  mil- 
lions of  cubic  feet.  All  this  matter  is 
in  constant  motion.  The  “ change- 
less rocks  ” are  never  at  rfest,  absolute- 
ly. As  the  earth  itself  is  in  motion, 
so  are  its  component  parts.  Gradual 
changes  are  being  wrought  through 
this  activity.  “ Nature,  immutable  in 
its  laws,  but  forever  variable  in  its 
phenomena,  never  repeats  itself.”  The  rotation  of 
the  earth  is  around  an  ideal  axis,  passing  through 
the  two  poles.  The  movement  is  from  right  to  left, 
or  from  west  to  cast,  that  is,  contrary  to  the  appar- 
ent motion  of  the  sun  and  stars. 

The  origin  of  the  earth  is  an  unsolved,  if  not  an 
insoluble,  mystery.  Ingenious  theories  on  this  sub- 
ject have  been  elaborated,  but  none  of  them  have 
been  actually  verified.  Kant,  Laplace,  and  others, 
have  devoted  a good  deal  of  study  to  the  birth  of 
the  earth.  Their  ideas  are  interesting,  without 
being  satisfactory,  or  worthy  of  more  than  mere 


reference  in  this  connection.  We  know  that  it  was 
a slow  development.  That  much  is  certain.  The 
records  of  geology  show  that  “ in  the  beginning,” 
must  have  been  millions,  and  probably  billions,  of 
ages  ago,  and  that  the  present  life,  animal  and  veg- 
etable, of  the  world,  including  man,  must  be  of 
comparatively  recent  date.  The  commonly  received 
opinion  is  that  originally  the  planets  were  sparks 
from  the  sun,  vast  gaseous  or  liquid  matter,  and 
that,  by  a process  of  cooling  and  solidifying,  was 
brought  into  existence  the  rocks,  soil,  and  various 
transmutations  which  make  up  a habitable  world. 
It  is  supposed  that  some  planets  are  now  going 
through  the  process  of  preparation  for  utility,  and 
perhaps  others,  again,  have  literally  outlived  their 
usefulness. 

With  a lamp  of  gecdogical  science  for  guide,  one 
might,  by  descending  a shaft  sunk  deeply  in  the 
earth,  read,  page  by  page,  the  history  written  in  the 
strata  penetrated.  Each  stratum  represents  and 
records  a vast  and  distinct  formative  period. 
These  strata  may  be  classed  as  shown  in  the 
subjoined  chart.  The  organic  remains,  animal 
or  vegetable,  which  are  contained  in  a greater  part 
of  these  various  formations,  afford  the  principal 
data  for  ascertaining,  frequently  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty, the  order  of  succession  of  the  various  lay- 
ers. There  is,  however,  more  or  less  lapping  over, 
the  ages  not  being  so  perfectly  disconnected  in  pro- 
ductions as  the  scientists  at  one  time  supposed. 


WITH  A GEOLOGICAL  CHART. 


(37) 


THE  EARTH  WITHOUT  MAN. 


“ The  idea  is  not  warranted,”  says  Keclus,  “ which 
connects  some  kind  of  cataclysm  with  the  end  of 
each  geological  period,  and  continuity  of  life  has 
linked  together  all  the  formations,  from  the  orgau- 


MAN. 


msmmsGWemmmsm 

* _-*  , * r * . 

Le  — — — — 

BIRDS  AND  Different 
MAMMALIA.  orders. 

FIS1I  (soft  scaled). 


MARSUP1ALIA. 


MARSUPIAL  MAMMALIA. 


The  Earth’s  Strata.  (Hitchcock.) 

ized  beings  which  first  made  their  appearance  on 
earth,  down  to  the  countless  multitudes  which  now 
inhabit  it.”  To  this  may  be  added,  in  a general 
way,  that  the  higher  the  organism  is  raised  in  the 
scale  of  being,  the  narrower  the  limits  between 


wliich  it  is  confined.  Man,  for  instance,  is  found 
in  all  parts  of  the  world,  but  the  higher  types  of 
manhood  are  quite  limited.  Human  remains  are  to 
be  found,  on  the  other  hand,  side  by  side  with  the 
bones  of  the  cave-bear,  the  mammoth,  the  woolly 
rhinoceros,  and  other  extinct  species. 

About  three-quarters  of  the  earth’s  surface  is 
covered  by  sea.  No  part  of  this  surface  is  without 
its  organic  life,  and  beneath  large  portions  of  the 
land  are  deposited  the  vast  stores  of  fuel  and  metals 
of  every  kind.  Ample  provision  is  made  for  the 
happiness  of  every  kind  of  creatures.  The  under- 
ground resources  belong  exclusively  to  man.  He 
alone  can  appropriate  to  his  use  coal,  iron,  copper, 
silver,  gold,  and  kindred  resources  of  nature.  The 
relations  man  sustains  to  his  surroundings  form  an 
interesting  subject  of  study.  It  is  only  where  all 
conditions  are  favorable  that  satisfactory  results 
can  be  obtained.  It  is  no  less  true  that,  were  all 
nature  auspicious,  this  very  favorability  would  be 
paralyzing  to  human  effort.  Some  obstacles  must 
be  encountered,  or  no  triumphs  are  to  be  expected. 
Perpetual  summer  balm,  plenty  and  pleasure 
unceasing,  would  undermine  the  character  and  debil- 
itate the  system,  while  arctic  winter,  sterility  and 
suffering  are  no  less  benumbing. 

On  the  American  continent,  the  area  favorable 
to  civilization  is  small.  In  South  America  the 
temperate  region  is  narrow,  and  subject  to  disad- 
vantages so  serious  as  to  preclude  the  hope  of  great 
South  American  prosperity.  North  America  is 
much  more  'favored,  and,  with  Asia  and  Europe, 
comprises  the  great  area  for  civilization,  and  it  will 
be  with  these  continents,  for  the  most  part,  that 
general  history  must  have  to  do,  not  only  now,  but 
during  the  ages  to  come.  Man  can  adapt  himself 
to  almost  any  vegetable  food  nature  furnishes. 
The  potato,  now  as  important  as  wheat,  was  unknown 
to  our  ancestors  of  a few  centuries  ago.  If  there 
were  no  wheat  or  potatoes  either,  we  could  get  on 
very  well  with  some  of  the  other  cereals  and  roots. 
But  the  continent  of  America  tried  in  vain  to  pro- 
duce a permanent  historical  civilization  without 
that  one  animal,  the  horse.  While,  therefore, 
details  of  zoology  would  be  out  of  place  here,  it  is 
well,  before  proceeding  to  the  records  of  man,  to 
pause  for  a brief  consideration  of  the  animal  king- 
dom by  which  man  is  surrounded,  and  upon  which 
he  is  so  dependent. 


_J1 


THE  EARTH  WITHOUT  MAN. 


39 


According  to  Cuvier,  the  greatest  of  all  natural- 
ists, and  second  to  none  as  a scientist,  the  living 
animals  are  divided  into  two  great  classes,  those 
having  backbones,  and  those  destitute  of  the  same  ; 
vertebrates,  and  invertebrates.  The  former  include 
fishes,  reptiles,  birds,  and  mammals,  the  latter  being 
all  those  living  things  which  nourish  their  young 
by  direct  food  supply  from  the  mother.  The  in- 
vertebrates take  in  mollusks,  such  as  oysters,  snails, 
cuttle-fish ; also  spiders,  lobsters,  and  insects  gen- 
erally, including  those  half -developed,  pulpy  things 
called  “ radiated  animals.”  One  of  the  very  lowest 
forms  of  life  is  the  sponge,  familiar  to  everybody 
as  a toilet  article. 

The  flint  is  a petri- 
fied sponge.  The 
coral,  as  ornamental 
as  the  sponge  is  use- 
ful, is  another  petri- 
faction of  animal 
life  as  found  in  the 
sea. 

It  is  a popular 
theory  with  the  sci- 
entists that  one  form 
of  life  develops  into 
another,  and  that 
all,  from  man  down, 
originated  in  the 
very  lowest  form  of 
vitality,  a form  so 
very  nearly  akin  to 
the  vegetable  kingdom  as  to  be  almost  indistinguish- 
able from  it.  This  is  a theory,  not  an  established  fact. 
If  it  be  true,  then,  we  are  not  only  descended  from 
monkeys,  but  from  a first  parent  lower  in  the  scale 
of  being  than  the  dumb  oyster,  the  useful  sponge, 
or  the  beautiful  coral.  The  lowest  form  of  man  is 
about  as  much  like  the  chimpanzee  (the  most 
human  of  animals)  as  he  is  like  the  civilized  man. 
If  this  world  were  visited  by  a being  of  intelligence, 
or  rather  of  capacity  for  intelligence,  but  utterly 
ignorant  of  what  he  was  to  find  here,  he  would 
infer,  as  a strong  probability,  that  the  development 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest  was  by  gradual  steps. 
He  would  nowhere  find  any  “connecting  link,” 
however,  but  everywhere  suggestions  and  family 
resemblances. 

The  soft-footed  aniinalculae,  or  rhizopoda,  leading 


up  to  sponges,  infusoria , corallines,  corals,  echin- 
odennata,  and  parasitic  worms,  constitute  the 
different  species  of  the  first  division  of  animals. 
The  second  division,  with  its  countless  sorts 
of  worms,  is  just  one  step  removed  from  insects, 
crabs,  shrimps,  and  mollusks.  The  latter  grade 
into  fishes  and  reptiles.  The  progress  to  birds  and 
animals  of  the  mammal  family  is  a much  longer 
stride  ; still  the  resemblances  are  preserved  through- 
out. The  embryo  and  the  skeleton,  however,  show 
the  kinship  of  nature  more  clearly  than  existence 
in  its  perfection.  For  instance,  there  is  no  mis- 
taking the  man  and  the  orangoutang,  seen  in  any 

vitality,  but  their 
skeletons,  with 
hands  and  feet  cut 
off,  are  almost  in- 
distinguishable. 
That  any  species 
ever  passed  over,  by 
development,  into 
another  species,  is  a 
theory  without  the 
support  of  direct 
evidence.  There  is 
not  an  attribute  of 
man,  however, 
which  is  not  found 
in  rudimentary 
form  in  the  brute 
ci’eation.  The  old 
idea  of  instinct,  in 
distinction  from  reason,  has  been  abandoned. 
Rational  use  of  intellectual  faculties  accounts  for 
intelligence,  judgment  and  efficiency,  whether  in 
man  or  beast,  bird  or  insect. 

The  animal  kingdom  has  been  compared  to  a 
great  city.  From  it  go  out  many  thoroughfares, 
and  each  street  has  its  own  starting-point  and  des- 
tination, not  necessarily  separate  in  all  respects,  but 
maintaining  individuality  even  in  intersections. 
Along  these  streets  are  found  all  sorts  of  people, 
and  all  sorts  of  business.  The  Broadway  of  this 
city  of  Existence  is  Man.  All  other  roads,  whether 
parallel  with  or  at  right-angles  to  it,  are  tributary, 
and  contribute  to  its  supremacy.  There  is  inter- 
dependence throughout,  but  all  in  consistence  witli 
the  grand  idea  of  climacteric  unity  in  man’s  rule 
over  “the  earth  and  the  fullness  thereof.” 


7T 


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4 

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Fable— Primitive  Savage— From  Hunter  to  Shepherd— From  Shepherd  to  Farmer— Primi- 
-Stone  and  Bronze — Gradations  op  Development,  and  Degrees  op  Savagery — Celts  and 
■Sir  John  Lubbock’s  Testimony— Prehistoric  and  Unhistoric  Man. 


HE  poetic  fancy  in  all  ages 
lias  depicted  primitive  man 
as  a delightful  and  angelic 
being.  All  civilized  people 
have  had  their  golden  age 
of  the  past.  If,  as  in  the 
case  of  all  Europe,  the  bar- 
baric age  lapped  on  the  age  of 
civilization,  compelling  a recog- 
nition of  ancestral  savagism, 
still  the  imagination  would  trav- 
el back  to  a more  remote  ancestry 
to  find  an  honorable  origin.  But 
now,  the  poetic  faculty  has  been 
superseded  by  the  scientific  sense, 
and  we  must  all  admit,  whatever 
our  fancies  and  conceits,  that  man 
in  his  first  estate  was  a savage  of 
the  lowest  type.  A few  years  ago,  it  would  have  been 
positively  absurd  in  a historical  work,  to  treat  of 
prehistoric  man.  It  would  have  been  set  down  as 
self-evidently  preposterous.  But  there  is  a history 
older  than  history.  The  annals  of  primeval  man  do 
not  follow  out  any  line  of  chronology  with  exact- 
ness, nor  do  they  present  to  the  mind  individual 
types  and  details.  They  simply  show  us  the  stages 
by  which  the  savage  became  a man  capable  of  his- 
toric achievements.  For  this  we  are  indebted  to 
archaeology,  which  may  be  defined  as  the  history  of 
men  and  things  which  have  no  history. 


The  Roman  poet,  Horace,  was  almost  prophetic 
of  what  would  be  discovered  centuries  after  him, 
when  he  wrote : “ When  these  brutes,  now  called 


Mammoth  (E.  primigenius)  and  Mastodon  (31.  giganteus)  Restored. 

men,  first  crawled  out  of  the  ground,  a dumb  and 
dirty  lot,  they  fought  for  nuts  and  sheltering  spots, 
with  nail  and  fist ; then  with  sticks ; later,  with 
arms  forged  of  metal.  Then  they  invented  names 
and  words.  With  language  and  thought,  came  cit- 
ies, and  some  relief  from  strife.”  In  the  days  of 
the  mammoth,  in  what  seems  to  have  been  an 
almost  totally  distinct  era,  man  lived  in  caves,  and 
was  on  much  the  same  plane  of  existence  as  the 
Fuegians  when  first  discovered.  He  fed  on  fruits, 


7 <5 


(4°) 


•r 


nuts,  and  roots,  on  fish  or  flesh,  according  to  his 
opportunities  and  necessities.  Emerging,  by  slow 
and  gradual  steps,  from  the  cavern  of  darkest  sav- 
agery, primitive  man  was  still  a hunter,  living  by 
the  chase,  or  a fisher,  as  circumstances  might  deter- 
mine. What  is  now  the  recreation  of  the  over- 
worked civilized  man  was  the  first  employment  of 
the  race.  A people  dependent  upon  wild  beasts 


of  a cave,  he  has  a tent  made  of  the  skins  of  beasts, 
rude  in  its  simplicity,  still  a great  improvement  on 
a hole  in  the  ground.  It  was  a great  step  to  go 
from  wild  to  domestic  animals.  The  brute  and 
man  meet  on  the  same  level  when  both  live  by 
rapine  and  violence.  Grazing  is  an  ascent  toward 
the  table-lands  of  civilization.  The  Hebrews  can 
trace  their  descent  from  that  Bedouin  sheik,  Abra- 


and  fish  for  sustenance  arc  necessarily  migratory. 
They  must  follow  the  trail  wherever  it  leads,  and  if 
neither  the  game  nor  the  fisb  appear  in  their  accus- 
tomed haunts,  they  must  go  in  search  of  them. 

From  hunting  to  pastoral  life  is  the  natural 
gradation.  This,  too,  is  somewhat  migratory.  The 
flocks  must  be  led  beside  still  waters  and  into  green 
pastures,  be  the  same  far  or  near.  The  shepherd 
is  some  advance  upon  the  hunter  and  fisher;  still, 
he  is  very  near  the  bottom  of  the  ladder,  lie  can- 
not build  him  a house  or  form  society.  The  shep- 
herd must  be  in  constant  readiness  to  move.  Instead 


ham,  but  we  may  all  rest  assured  that  in  the  far- 
away ages  our  ancestors  fed  their  flocks  and  pitched 
their  tents  in  true  Arabic  fashion,  however  obscure 
the  annals  may  be.  The  hunter  may  he  as  isolated 
from  the  rest  of  his  kind  as  the  deer  of  the  forest, 
mating  only  at  the  fierce  impulse  of  a passing  pas- 
sion, but  the  nomad  belongs  to  a tribe.  It  may  be 
small,  or  it  may  branch  out  into  an  imposing  mul- 
titude ; it  is  surely  a great  improvement.  There  is 
a community  of  interest  which  begets  society  and 
stimulates  progress.  Most  nations  can  be  traced 
back  traditionally,  if  not  historically,  to  this  prim- 


► 


— 6 


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42  PREHISTORIC  MAN. 


itive  or  tribal  system.  The  father  is  the  patriarch, 
and  as  such  a little  king,  absolute,  indeed,  but  with- 
out temptation  to  despotism.  Poets  love  to  picture 
the  pastoral  life.  It  has  charms  for  romance  and 
sentiment,  especially  when  viewed  from  afar. 

To  the  pastoral  life  succeeds  the  agricultural 
phase  of  progress.  Necessity  is  the  mother  of  civ- 
ilization. It  takes  a great  deal  of  land  to  maintain 
a very  small  pastoral  population.  With  the  increase 
of  people,  it  becomes  impossible  to  live  by  meat  and 
milk  alone.  Very  likely  there  have,  almost  from 
the  first,  been  some  crude  attempts  at  tillage,  but, 
in  proportion  as  the  people  improved,  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  ground  has  always  gained  in  relative 
prominence.  It  is  only  when  agriculture  is  the 
chief  reliance  of  a people  that  permanent  habita- 
tions are  built,  and  stable  institutions  are  out  of 
the  question  with  vagrant  tribes  of  flock-tenders. 
It  may  be  said,  then,  that  when  a people  have  so 


Stone  Ax.  (Mound  Builders'.)  Stone  Hammer. 

far  prospered  that  they  are  tillers  of  the  soil,  farm- 
ers, properly  so  called,  they  have  reached  a stage  of 
civilization  which  fairly  takes  them  out  of  the  pre- 
historic list. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  of  the  correctness  of 
this  theory  of  progress.  We  now  give  the  more 
prominent  facts  in  support  of  the  foregoing  obser- 
vations. 

The  rude  implements  discovered  in  the  valley  of 
the  Somme,  in  France  ; at  Hoxhe,  Santon,  Down- 
ham,  and  Thetford,  England,  in  conjunction  with 
elephant  remains,  and  those  of  other  extinct  ani- 
mals, raises  a presumption  which  is  irresistible  : their 
makers  were  rude  barbarians.  Flint  instruments, 
found  in  the  gravel  drifts  at  Ponte  Molle,  near 


Rome,  attest  the  same  facts.  So  do  many  of  the 
relics  of  America.  In  fact,  wherever  science  has 
explored,  and,  as  it  were,  had  access  to  the  libraries 
of  prehistoric  man,  the  same  line  of  facts  has  been 
ascertained.  The  nearest  approach  to  an  exception 
to  this  rule  is  found  in  America.  Here,  on  this 
continent,  there  was  once  a progress  reaching  civil- 
ization, and  that  without  the  pastoral  phase.  There 
was,  however,  an  intermediate  phase,  and  the  prin- 
ciple of  gradation  from  low  to  high  is  perfectly 
traceable  in  the  remains  of  the  aboriginal  Ameri- 
cans, and  in  Peru  there  were  shepherds  with  vast 
flocks  of  sheep. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  flint  or  stone,  and 
of  the  bronze  age.  Man  seems  to  have  been  endowed 
with  a strong  predilection  for  some  sort  of  imple- 
ment. The  researches  of  archaeology  have  traced 
out  five  distinct  stages  of  the  stone  age,  and  on  so 
broad  a scale  as  to  show  the  operation  everywhere 


Copper  Relics  from  Wisconsin. 


of  the  same  grand  law  of  growth.  First  came  the 
rudest  flints,  mere  chunks  of  stone.  Then  came 
flakes  chipped  from  the  rock,  and  showing  the 
dawn  of  the  creative  or  fashioning  faculty.  The 
third  stage  indicates  some  skill  and  art  in  the  fash- 
ioning of  the  flint.  The  idea  of  form  and  comeli- 
ness, of  adaptability  and  convenience,  crops  out. 
Tiie  fourth  age  was  the  beginning  of  grinding  or 
rubbing.  The  points  are  made  sharp  by  attrition. 
The  fifth  stage  brings  us  to  the  perfectly  polished 
and  quite  artistic  flint  implements,  which  show 
constructive  invention.  Some  of  these  flints  are  a 
rude  sort  of  ax,  one  piece  fitted  into  another,  like 
helve  and  blade.  One  is  impressed  witli  the 
immense  progress  made  from  the  use  of  a jagged 


jsje 


PREHISTORIC  MAN. 


43 


stone,  such  as  an  ape  might  use,  to  the  somewhat 
curiously  wrought  and  laboriously  finished  flint 
hatchet. 

While  there  are  found  these  five  gradations,  there 
are  indicated  by  them  three  stages  of  human  prog- 
ress. The  flints,  implements  of  the  cave  period, 
show  man  at  his  worst ; the  flint  flakes  belong  to  a 
people  devoted  to  the  chase,  while  the  ground,  pol- 
ished, and  fashioned  stones  bespeak  a pastoral  age. 
not  unmixed  with  the  initial  steps  of  agriculture, 
The  archaeological  designations  of  these  three  ages 
are  the  palaeolithic,  the  mesolithic,  and  the  neo- 
lithic. No  nation  has  come  up  to  civilization  with- 
out passing  through  those  primitive  stages. 

Between  the  fifth  or  stone  age  and  the  bronze  age 
intervened  a sixth  stage,  transitional  in  character, 
in  which  copper,  cold  and  crude,  was  hammered 
into  shape.  It  was  used  like  a stone,  and  not  fused 
and  fashioned  in  conformity  to  the  peculiar  prop- 
erties of  metals.  It  was  treated  as  a kind  of  mal- 
leable stone.  Very  little  creative  progress  was  made 
anywhere  during  this  stage.  This  period  is  found 
everywhere,  but  evidently  continued  much  longer 
in  the  new  world  than  in  the  old.  The  Promethean 
gift  of  fire  seems  to  have  come  much  earlier  to  the 
barbarians  of  the  East  than  to  the  savages  of  the 
West. 

The  seventh  stage  opens  to  view  the  bronze  age 
proper.  Then  began  the  fusing  of  metals.  The 
soft  copper  and  hard  tin  were  blended  into  the 
bronze  of  the  prehistoric  age.  That  was  probably 
the  result  of  a lucky  accident.  When  once  the  idea 
of  melting  and  mixing  metals  was  conceived,  the 


skill  slowly  attained  in  the  making  of  stone  and 
copper  implements  was  brought  into  requisition, 
and  improvements  were  easy  and  inevitable.  The 
world  over  are  found  traces  of  the  birth  of  bronze, 
the  dawn  of  its  day,  and  the  brilliance  of  its  aurora. 
Manufacturing  by  molding  began.  The  corner- 
stone of  all  construction  was  laid  when  smelting 
and  molding  commenced,  and  that  corner-stone 
may  be  said  to  have  reached  around  the  world.  It 
was  at  this  point  of  development  that  the  more 
advanced  peoples  became  celts,  i.  e.,  tool-makers 
and  users. 

Sir  John  Lubbock  remarks  that  “the  use  of 
bronze  weapons  is  characteristic  of  a particular 
phase  in  the  history  of  civilization,  and  one  which 
was  anterior  to  the  discovery,  or,  at  least,  to  the 
general  use,  of  iron.  Soon  after  iron,  came  pot- 
tery. Man  found,  not  only  the  advantage  of  soft- 
ening metals  with  fire,  but  of  hardening  clay  with 
it.  A mass  of  evidence  proves  that  a stone  age 
prevailed  in  every  great  district  of  the  inhabited 
world,  followed,  as  general  progress  was  made,  by 
the  other  ages  named.”  As  Figuier  observes,  “ The 
development  of  man  must  have  been  doubtless  the 
same  in  all  parts  of  the  earth,  or  that,  in  whatever 
country  we  may  consider  him,  man  must  have 
passed  through  the  same  phases  in  order  to  arrive 
at  his  present  state.  He  must  have  had  everywhere 
his  age  of  stone,  his  epoch  of  bronze,  and  iiis  epoch 
of  iron,  in  orderly  succession.”  In  a word,  the  pre- 
historic man  of  the  jrast  still  lives  in  the  unhistoric 
man  of  the  present,  and  the  march  from  savagism 
to  civilization  is  over  substantially  the  same  road. 


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HN  attempt  has  been  made  to 
trace  man  in  his  civilized 
state  to  Ethiopia,  bnt  the 
nearest  to  that  country  that 
research  has  been  able  to 
come  is  Egypt.  The  land 
of  the  Pharaohs,  the  pyr- 
amids, the  Sphinx,  and  the 
Nile,  if  not  the  veritable  cradle  of  civ- 
ilization, was  its  earliest  historic  home. 
By  civilization  is  here  meant  that 
stream  of  intelligence  and  betterment, 
which,  trickling  through  the  ages,  has 
fertilized  Europe  and  America.  The 
myriads  of  China  and  Japan  are  not 
without  a civilization,  and  it  may 
antedate  that  of  more  Western  peoples,  but  it  does 
not  belong  to  that  steadily  widening  current  of 
thought  which  gives  a certain  unity  to  all  the  lands 
and  times,  from  the  dawn  of  history  to  date. 

As  a term  in  geography,  Egypt  represents  almost 
as  fixed  and  unvarying  a quantity  as  America. 
Nature  has  determined  its  boundaries.  It  is  indeed 
the  country  of  the  Nile,  or  Egyptus,  as  that  river 
was  once  called.  From  the  seven  mouths  of  that 
grand  river,  through  which  it  debouches  into  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  on  the  north,  to  the  cataracts  or 
rapids  of  the  south,  which  arrest  navigation  at 
Syene,  and  from  desert  to  desert,  on  either  side, 
extends  this  wonder-land.  Upper  Egypt  is  the 


region  of  the  undivided  Nile,  and  Lower  Egypt  of 
the  vast  delta,  through  which  it  flows  in  several 
streams,  broadening  the  area  of  productiveness. 
Besides  these,  were  a few  green  spots  in  the  desert, 
and  ports  on  the  Red  Sea. 

By  its  geographical  position,  the  country  was  pro- 
tected from  hostile  incursions  by  a better  than  Chi- 
nese wall,  and  allowed  to  develop  normally  until  a 
comparatively  late  period.  Not  that  the  same  race 
maintained  the  ascendency  all  the  time,  but  that 
the  immunity  from  hostile  incursion  enjoyed  by  that 
people  was  such  as  no  other  nation  ever  enjoyed 
until  the  United  States  came  upon  the  stage  of 
national  development.  It  was  not  necessary  to 
exhaust  the  resources  and  ingenuity  of  the  people  in 
war.  There  was  ample  leisure  for  and  incentive  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  arts  of  peace. 

The  Rainless  Land  might  be  the  appellation  of 
Egypt.  The  productiveness  of  the  soil  is  not  depend- 
ent upon  capricious  clouds.  During  our  spring 
months  the  air  is  sultry  and  the  ground  parched. 
The  rains  of  mountainous  Abyssinia  commingle  in 
the  upper  Nile,  and  by  about  the  middle  of  June 
the  mighty  flood  reaches  Egypt,  and  the  overflow 
begins.  The  fields  of  the  delta  are  one  vast  sheet  of 
water  during  August,  September,  and  October.  The 
villages,  built  on  raised  mounds  or  artificial  hills, 
are  little  islands.  The  water  is  red  with  Abyssinian 
mud.  When  the  water  disappears,  early  in  Novem- 
ber, the  alluvial  deposit  is  the  richest  of  soil,  and 


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THE  MOST  ANCIENT  EGYPT.  45 


the  vegetation  is  prodigious.  Two  crops  a year  can 
be  raised.  First  wheat  and  barley,  then  corn  and 
rice.  The  latter  crop  is  sowed  to  grow  during  the 
inundation,  giving  rise  to  the  proverb  about  casting 
bread  (seed)  upon  the  water.  It  is  harvested  in  time 
for  the  second  crop  to  be  put  in,  and  matured  during 
the  same  year.  A country  so  fertile  can  support  a 
very  dense  population,  especially  as  the  water  affords 
facilities  for  transportation 
and  exchange.  For  a long 
time  gold  and  precious  stones 
came  from  the  south,  and  to 
some  extent  commerce  is 
still  maintained  in  that  di- 
rection. The  Nubian  mines 
were  the  “bonanzas”  of  an- 
tiquity. To  them  Thebes 
was  largely  indebted  for  its 
opulence,  being  for  five  hun- 
dred years  the  richest  city 
in  the  world.  The  water 
which  overflowed  the  delta 
supplied  the  clay  for  most 
excellent  brick,  and  a road- 
way for  the  stupendous 
blocks  of  stone  which  are 
still  conspicuous  and  mar- 
velous in  ruins.  It  is  from 
the  inscriptions  on  these 
monumental  ruins  that  the 
oldest  authentic  history  must 
be  gleaned.  Until  a quite 
recent  date  those  hiero- 
glyphics were  a sealed  book. 
The  discovery  and  deci- 
phering of  that  key  to  the 
mysteries  of  Egyptian  rec- 
ords, called  the  Rosetta  Stone,  led  to  the  recovery  of 
a lost  treasury  of  knowledge.  And  here,  an  account 
of  this  pass-key  to  the  historic  treasures  of  Most  An- 
cient Egypt  can  hardly  fail  to  be  read  with  interest. 

The  Rosetta  Stone  was  discovered  in  1799,  at 
Rosetta,  a town  on  the  delta  of  the  Nile.  It  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  set  up  originally  in  a temple, 
and  was,  in  its  perfect  state,  3 feet  1 inch  high,  2 
feet  5 inches  wide,  and  10  inches  thick.  It  lias  been 
broken,  lmt  has  still  14  lines  of  hieroglyphics,  32 
cursive  Egyptian,  the  so-called  demotic  or  enchorial 
writing,  and  54  lines  of  Greek.  The  latter  serve 


as  the  clew  to  the  rest.  From  the  Greek  inscription 
it  appears  that  it  was  erected  in  honor  of  King 
Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  in  the  ninth  year  of  his  reign, 
B.  C.  196-7,  by  the  priests  assembled  in  synod.  The 
birth  of  the  king  is  narrated ; also  the  disturbances 
in  Upper  Egypt,  the  inundation  of  the  Nile,  the 
death  of  Ptolemy  Philopater,  the  attack  of  Antio- 
chus,  and  especially  that  a copy  of  this  synodical 
inscription  should  be  carved 
on  a tablet  and  erected  in 
every  temple  of  the  first, 
second,  and  third  rank, 
throughout  the  country. 

About  one-third  of  the  hiero- 
glyphic portion  was  pre- 
served, and  nearly  all  the 
Greek  and  demotic  versions 
of  it.  At  the  capitulation 
of  Alexandria  to  the  En- 
glish, not  long  after  its  dis- 
covery, it  came  into  posses- 
sion of  the  conquerors,  and 
in  due  time  found  its  way 
to  the  British  Museum  and 
was  published.  It  was  at 
once  recognized  as  a key  to 
the  decipherment  of  hiero- 
glyphics, if  only  the  com- 
bination of  the  lock  could  be 
discovered.  Eminent  Greek 
scholars  succeeded  in  restor- 
ing the  Greek  text,  and 
Egyptologists  made  some 
progress  toward  understand- 
ing the  rest  of  the  in- 
scription. The  demotic  text 
is  still  somewhat  inexplic- 
able, but  finally,  in  1851,  Brugsch  Bey  is  supposed  fo 
have  completed  the  translation  of  the  hieroglyphics, 
although  the  work  was  not  really  perfected  until  1867. 

One  year  after,  another  tablet  in  three  languages 
was  found  at  San.  The  latter  is  in  good  preserva- 
tion and  has  37  lines  of  hieroglyphics,  76  lines  of 
Greek,  and  72  of  demotic  writing.  The  decree  of 
Canopsus,  served  to  complete  and  verify  the  progress 
already  made  in  reading  hieroglyphics.  Between 
the  two,  it  was  positively  ascertained  that  they  were 
used  for  sounds,  not  ideas,  and  tiro  exact  import 
of  these  sounds  was  determined. 


The  Interior  of  the  Great 
Pyramid. 


7~ 


£ 

7 


> 


5 


THE  MOST  ANCIENT  EGYPT. 


46 


Following  tho  clew  thus  furnished,  it  has  been 
discovered  that  the  earliest  dynasty  to  leave  imper- 
ishable records  was  the  royal  house  of  Memphis, 
dating  back  to  B.  C.  4400,  and  coming  down  to 
B.  C.  3300.  The  Memphian  kingdom  was  Lower 
Egypt,  now  called  “the  Beharah”  by  the  Arabs. 
The  whole  land  was  divided  into  states,  much  as 
the  United  States  is.  They  are  sometimes  desig- 
nated nomes.  These  were,  at  the  dawn  of  history, 
forty-two  in  number.  Each  enjoyed  “ state  rights,” 
but  recognized  the  “national  sovereignty”  of  the 
chief  dynasty,  wherever  it  might  be  located.  The 
earliest  monarch  definitely  outlined  is  Menes,  the 
founder  of  Memphis,  and  constructor,  it  is  supposed, 
of  the  dyke  of  Co- 
chenke,  which  now 
regulates  somewhat 
the  overflow  of  the 
Nile.  lie  caused  tem- 
ples to  be  erected  in 
every  village  or  city, 
which  were  the  main 
features  of  the  towns. 

It  may  be  observed 
that  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians were  remarkable 
for  their  piety.  Many 
of  the  priests  were  the 
scions  of  royalty,  and 
the  Pharaohs  were  often,  if  not  usually,  addressed 
as  “Your  Holiness.”  Memphis  was  a seat  of  learn- 
ing. A list  of  the  kings  who  succeeded  Menes 
could  be  given,  but  it  would  be  barren  of  interest, 
for  it  is  a list  of  names  and  nothing,  else  for  hun- 
dreds of  years.  There  is  a suspicious  closeness  of 
resemblance  between  the  names  of  the  first  conquer- 
ors or  founders  of  Egypt,  India,  Judea,  and  Greece, 
namely : Menes,  Menu,  Moses,  and  Minos. 

There  were  five  Memphian  dynasties,  but  only 
one  successor  of  Menes  who  towered  into  the  region 
of  perpetual  glory,  Cheops,  the  master  builder  of 
all  the  ages.  The  crowning  work  of  his  reign  was 
the  pyramid  bearing  his  name.  It  is  450.75  feet  in 
height  by  746  feet  broad  at  the  base.  Surrounded 
by  seventy  minor  pyramids,  and  companioned  by 
that  “ monarch  of  the  past,”  the  Sphinx,  it  defies 
time  or  rivalry.  High  about  it  is  piled  the  sand, 
but  in  vain  the  desert  tries  to  entomb  it. 

The  builder  of  the  Sphinx  (called  by  the  Arabs 


the  “ Lion  of  the  Night”)  is  not  known.  It  has  the 
form  of  a lion  and  the  head  of  a man.  It  was  hewn 
out  of  the  solid  rock,  except  that  the  fore-legs,  which 
extend  fifty  feet  from  the  breast,  were  added  to  the 
body,  some  idea  of  which  can  be  formed  from  the  fact 
that  these  legs  are  in  good  proportion  to  the 
rest  of  that  ancient  marvel. 

The  great  American  humorist  Samuel  L.  Clem- 
ens (Mark  Twain),  putting  aside  for  the  moment 
his  cap  and  bells,  thus  eloquently  gives  voice  to  the 
sentiment  inspired  by  the  august  presence  of  this 
gigantic  work  of  art : 

“ After  years  of  waiting,  it  was  before  me  at  last. 
The  great  face  was  so  sad,  so  earnest,  so  longing,  so 

patient.  There  was 
a dignity  not  of  earth 
in  its  mien,  and  in  its 
countenance  a benig- 
nity such  as  never 
anything  human  wore. 
It  was  stone,  but  it 
seemed  sentient.  If 
ever  image  of  stone 
thought,  it  was  think- 
ing. It  was  looking 
toward  the  verge  of 
the  landscape,  yet 
looking  at  nothing — 
nothing  but  distance 
and  vacancy.  It  was  looking  over  and  beyond 
everything  of  the  present,  and  far  into  the  past. 
It  was  gazing  out  over  the  ocean  of  Time — 
over  lines  of  century-waves,  which,  further  and  fur- 
ther receding,  closed  nearer  and  nearer  together, 
and  blended  at  last  into  one  unbroken  tide,  away 
toward  the  horizon  of  antiquity.  It  was  thinking  of 
the  wars  of  departed  ages ; of  the  empires  it  had 
seen  created  and  destroyed;  of  the  nations  whose 
birth  it  had  witnessed,  whose  progress  it  had  watched, 
whose  annihilation  it  had  noted  ; of  the  joy  and  sor- 
row, the  life  and  death,  the  grandeur  and  decay,  of 
five  thousand  slow  revolving  years.  It  was  the  type 
of  an  attribute  of  man — of  a faculty  of  his  heart  and 
brain.  It  was  Memory — Retrospection — wrought 
into  visible,  tangible  form.  All  who  know  what 
pathos  there  is  in  memories  of  days  that  are  ac- 
complished, and  faces  that  have  vanished — albeit 
only  a trifling  score  of  years  gone  by — will  have 
some  appreciation  of  the  pathos  that  dwells  in  those 


The  Great  Pyramid  (Cheops),  and  the  Sphinx. 


THE  MOST  ANCIENT  EGYPT. 


47 


grave  eyes  that  look  so  steadfastly  back  upon  the 
things  they  knew  before  History  was  born,  before 
Tradition  had  being — things  that  were,  and  forms 
that  moved  in  a vague  era  which  even  Poetry 
and  Romance  scarce  knew  of — and  passed  one  by 
one  away,  leaving  the  stony  dreamer  solitary  in  the 
midst  of  a strange,  new  age,  and  uncomprehended 
scenes.  The  Sphinx  is  grand  in  its  loneliness  ; it  is 
imposing  in  its  magnitude ; it  is  impressive  in  the 
mystery  that  hangs  over  its  story.  And  there  is  that 
in  the  overshadowing  majesty  of  this  eternal  figure  of 
stone,  with  its  accusing  memory  of  the  deeds  of  all 
ages,  which  reveals  to  one  something  of  what  he 
shall  feel  when  he  shall  stand  at  last  in  the 
awful  presence  of  God.” 

An  eminent  Egypt- 
ologist describes  as  fol- 
lows the  method  of  pyr- 
amid building:  “First 
the  nucleus  was  formed 
by  the  erection  of  a 
small  pyramid  upon 
the  soil  of  the  desert. 

It  was  built  in  steps, 
and  contained  a stone 
chamber,  well  con- 
structed and  finished. 

Then  coverings  wei-e 
added  until  the  final 
size  was  reached,  and 
at  last  all  was  inclosed  in  a casing  of  hard  stone, 
deftly  fitted  together  and  polished  to  a glassy  surface. 
The  pyramid,  thus  finished,  presented  a gigantic 
triangle  on  each  of  its  four  sides.  The  stone  used 
for  the  inner  structure  was  found  near  the  place  of 
erection,  hut  as  the  work  progressed,  better  material 
was  brought  from  the  mountain  quarries  as  far  up 
the  Nile  as  the  modern  Assouan.”  The  granite  last 
referred  to  was  as  hard  as  metal,  and  susceptible 
of  an  exquisite  polish.  The  dates  of  construction 
of  the  Sphinx  and  the  great  pyramid  are  subjects 
of  conjecture,  and  authorities  widely  differ  in  their 
conclusions.  It  is  supposed  that  the  tenth  king  of 
Memphis  was  reigning  when  Abraham,  forced  by 
the  stress  of  fodder  for  his  flocks,  drove  his  herds 
to  Egypt,  there  getting  himself  into  trouble  by  pre- 
tending that  his  wife  was  his  sister.  It  may  ho  well, 
in  this  connection,  to  speak  of  an  episode  in  Egyp- 
tian history  which  served  to  consolidate  the  country 

d 


politically.  We  refer  to  the  reign  of  the  Shepherd 
Kings,  or  Hycsos,  who  scourged  Egypt  for  one  hun- 
dred years.  From  the  meager  accounts  preserved, 
they  must  have  been  to  that  country  much  what  the 
Golden  Horde,  or  Tartars,  were  to  Russia.  A race 
of  shepherds  and  traders,  these  Arabs  gradually 
gained  a foothold  in  Lower  Egypt.  Some  think 
they  were  the  Philistines  before  they  settled  in  Pales- 
tine ; others,  that  they  were  the  Hebrews,  between 
the  time  when  Joseph,  or,  as  the  tablets  call  him, 
Zeplinet-Plicenich — Joseph  the  Phoenician — was  a 
member  of  Pharaoh’s  cabinet,  and  the  subjugation 
of  the  Israelites.  Be  that  as  it  may,  for  a century  or 
so  these  interlopers  maintained  a certain  sovereignty 

over  the  agricultural 
ami  mechanical  Egyp- 
tians. Salatis  was  the 
first  of  these  Shepherd 
Kings,  and  five  others 
are  named  in  the  chron- 
icles. Finally  the  peo- 
ple became  so  restive 
under  foreign  domina- 
tion that  LTpper  and 
Lower  Egypt  joined 
forces  and  swept  the  l 
enemy  out  of  the  land. 

The  union  thus  form- 
ed included  the  minor 
states  of  the  country, 
and  survived  its  immediate  occasion.  The  kings  of 
Thebes  now  became  monarchs  of  all  Egypt,  much 
as  Ivan  the  Great  secured  for  the  grand  princedom 
of  Moscow  the  sovereignty  of  all  the  Russias  through 
the  expulsion  of  the  Tartars.  The  Pharaohs  of 
Abraham,  Joseph,  and  Moses,  were  the  rulers  of 
Memphis,  or  Lower  Egypt,  and  it  was  doubt  less  for 
the  pyramids  that  the  Hebrew  slaves  were  com- 
pelled to  make  “bricks  without  straw,”  and  it 
was  in  all  probability  from  the  fecund  ooze  of  the 
delta  of  the  Nile  that  the  magical  and  miraculous 
ten  plagues  sprung. 

And  now,  without  wearying  the  reader  with  mere 
skeletons  of  facts,  names,  and  dates,  we  take  leave 
of  Most  Ancient  Egypt,  only  pausing  to  make 
this  remark,  although  Egypt  has  well  been  called 
“the  monumental  land  of  all  the  world,”  no  con- 
temporary monuments  of  Menes,  the  first  to  reign 
over  all  the  land,  have  been  discovered. 


A 


4 


_a_ 


-<$y  '<^y  imidL 


EGYPT 


BEST 


(W\fA*At/WWW\i? 


CHAPTER 


V 


From  Memphis  to  Thebes — Karnak — The  Tombs  and  Cataracts  of  Upper  Egypt — Reform 
in  the  Calendar — Amanothph  and  the  Exodus — A Glimpse  of  Greece — Rameses  the 
Great — Home  Development  and  Conquest — Gold  and  its  Influence. 


roR  seven  hundred  years  the 
scepter  of  national  suprem- 
acy, so  long  held  by  Mem- 
phis, belonged  to  Thebes. 
It  was  not  simply  apolitical 
ascendancy.  Memphis  and 
Lower  Egypt  could  boast 
‘gigantic  works  which  were 
a triumph  of  architectural 
science,  but  art,  in  its  more  esthetic 
character,  belonged  rather  to  Thebes. 
That  marvelous  city,  the  miracle  of 
history,  even  in  ruins,  represents  an 
unbroken  chain  of  reigns,  and  its  tab- 
lets jireserve  the  names  of  nionarchs 
with  the  most  meager  details.  Of 
course,  the  catalogue  of  those  names  would  be  te- 
dious and  unprofitable.  The  city  had  a road  of  its 
own  to  the  Red  Sea,  and  thus  not  only  commanded 
the  Ethiopian  trade,  but  had  a seaport.  It  was  a 
London  with  its  Liverpool.  At  one  time  Elephan- 
tine, built  on  an  island  of  the  Upper  Nile,  was  the 
capital  of  a small  kingdom,  as  was  also  Heracleop- 
olis,  near  Memphis.  But  Thebes  and  Memphis 
long  enjoyed  the  sovereignty  of  Egypt. 

In  the  shadowy  days  of  antiquity,  the  temple  of 
Karnak  “ rose  like  an  exhalation,”  and  the  countless 
tombs  of  Beni-IIassarwcre  tunneled  into  the  hills  that 
form  the  site  of  Egyptian  Thebes, for  this  antique  city 
must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Thebes  of  Greece. 


These  houses  of  death  give  a certain  deathlessness 
to  Egypt,  for  upon  the  walls  are  depicted  the  em- 
ployments and  amusements  of  the  people.  The 
resemblance  between  Egyptian  life  thousands 
of  years  ago  and  to-day  is  wonderfully  close. 
Indeed,  about  Thebes  are  evidences  of  the  most  mar- 
velous achievements  in  Titanic  art.  Vast  and  im- 
perishable stones,  such  as  modern  skill  could  not 
quarry,  served  to  make  the  region  of  Upper  Egypt 
a ceaseless  source  of  interest. 

Without  attempting  to  follow  the  political  for- 
tunes of  dynasties  with  closeness,  it  will  be  of  interest 
to  note  the  more  important  facts  of  this  middle  pe- 
riod of  Egypt. 

It  was  in  the  year  B.  C.  1321,  that  the  new  peri- 
od began.  It  was  then  the  calendar  was  reformed, 
a work  showing  great  attainments  in  science ; as- 
tronomy especially.  It  was  almost  identical  with 
the  calendrial  reformation  inaugurated  at  Rome  by 
Julius  Caesar,  which  is  the  real  basis  of  modern  com- 
putation of  time.  Caesar  was  little  more  than  a 
borrower  from  “ the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians,” 
learned  while  dallying  with  Cleopatra  (for  that 
greatest  of  Romans  had  a genius  for  combining 
pleasure  with  more  substantial  advantages).  The 
fundamental  and  intimate  relation  of  that  old  re- 
form in  time-keeping  with  the  present  system,  renders 
it  worth  our  while  to  look  somewhat  minutely  into 
it.  The  era  of  which  we  speak  was  called  Meno- 
plires,  and  of  it  an  eminent  Egyptologist  remarks 


EGYPT  AT 


(and  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  quote  his  words) : 
“ The  observing  man  may  note  that  every  star  rises 
to-day  earlier  than  it  did  yesterday,  and  that  every 
morning  a fresh  set  of  stars  peeps  up  from  the  hori- 
zon to  be  seen  but  for  a moment  before  they  are  lost 
in  the  bright  light  of  the  day-break.  The  day  on 
which  a star  is  thus  first  seen  in  the  east,  is  called 
its  heliacal  rising,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  era 
of  Menophres,  the  first  day  of  Thoth,  the  civil  new 
year’s  day  began,  falling  on  the  day  the  Dog-star 
was  first  seen  to  rise  at  day-break,  which  was  held 
to  be  the  natural  new  year's  day,  when  the  Nile  be- 
gan to  rise,  six  weeks  before  the  overflow.  This 
agreement  between  the  natural  new  year’s  day  and 
the  civil  new  year’s  day  may  have  happened  simply 
by  the  motion  of  the  civil  year,  but  it  was  possibly 
accompanied  by  a reform  in  the  calendar,  and  by 
fixing  the  length  of  the  civil  year  at  365  days,  in  the 
belief  that  the  months  would  not  again  move  from 
their  seasons.  Among  the  common  names  of  the 
months,  that  of  the  last,  the  Bull,  was  clearly 
brought  into  use  at  this  time,  when  the  year  ended 
with  the  rising  of  that  constellation.  The  months, 
however,  were  left  with  the  mistakes  in  their  hiero- 
glyphical  names,  which  had  arisen  from  former 
change  of  place.  The  four  months  which  were 
named  after  the  season  of  vegetation  fell  during 
the  overflow  of  the  Nile ; the  months  named  after 
the  harvest  fell  during  the  height  of  vegetation, 
and  those  named  after  the  inundation  fell  during 
harvest  time.  But  if  no  alteration  was  made  at 
this  time  in  the  calendar,  and  the  civil  year  already 
contained  365  days,  the  addition  of  the  five  days  had 
probably  been  made  five  hundred  years  earlier, 
when  the  first  month  of  the  inundation  would  have 


The  Egyptian  God,  Thoth. 

begun  with  the  Nile’s  overflow.  The  Egyptian  year 
was  never  altered.  For  the  want  of  a leap  year, 
1461  civil  years  took  place  in  1460  revolutions  of 


ITS  BEST.  49 


the  sun ; and  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  the 
Roman  Emperor  Antoninus  Pius,  the  new  year’s 
day  again  came  around  to  the  season  from  which  it 
moved  in  the  reign  of  the  Menophres.  Again,  Plu- 
tarch says,  that  the  God  Thoth,  i.  e.  King  Thotlmio- 
sis,  taught  the  Egyptians  the  true  length  of  the 
year;  and  the  figure  of  this  king  is  often  drawn 
with  a palm-branch,  the  hieroglyphic  for  the  word 
year,  in  each  hand,  hence  it  is  probable  that  he  is 
the  author  of  the  change  in  the  calendar,  made  in 
the  year  B.  C.  1321.” 

This  reformer  of  time  was  industrious  in  many 
ways.  Cleopatra’s  needle  (now  in  Central  Park, 
New  York),  and  other  obelisks,  date  from  his 
reign.  From  the  lowest  part  of  the  kingdom  to 
Nubia,  are  scattered  unmistakable  evidences  of  his 
constructive  energy.  At  Heliopolis,  Ombos  and 
Samneh,  temples  which  must  have  been  marvels  of 
architectural  grandeur  were  erected.  But  it  was 
during  the  i-eign  of  his  son  Amanothph  II.  that 
the  arts  were  brought  to  a high  degree  of  perfec- 
tion, especially  the  industrial  branches.  The 
paintings  on  the  walls  of  the  Theban  tombs  show 
this.  The  artisan  life  these  set  forth,  reveals  ad- 
vanced civilization.  It  is  supposed  that  under  this 
king  the  Hebrew  exodus  occurred,  and  we  have 
herein  probably  supplied  to  us  a missing  link  in 
Biblical  history.  The  Bible  tells  us  when  Joseph 
brought  his  father  and  brethren  into  Egypt,  and 
when  Moses  led  them  out,  but  when  the  transition 
from  pets  to  slaves  occurred,  and  the  intermediate 
steps,  are  not  suggested  in  the  sacred  record.  From 
Joseph,  prime  minister,  and  his  brethren  highly 
favored,  to  abject  slavery,  was  a long  stride.  In 
the  light  of  Egyptology  it  seems  probable,  almost 
to  certainty,  that  they  either  were  the  Shepherd 
Kings  or  their  allies,  and  that  the  period  of  actual 
bondage  was  very  brief,  less,  surely,  than  one  hun- 
dred years.  Even  if  they  were  not  at  all  connected 
with  the  Shepherd  Kings,  they  wore  of  the  same 
Arab  stock,  and  the  Pharaohs  of  Thebes  and  Unit- 
ed Egypt  naturally  “knew  not  Joseph,”  belonging 
as  he  did  to  the  Memphian  kingdom.  The  mud  of 
the  Nile,  mixed  with  chopped  straw,  and  baked  in 
the  sun  was  used  very  extensively.  The  Egyptian 
version  of  the  Exodus  is  quite  unlike  the  Hebraic 
account.  The  priests  of  Egypt  were  prejudiced 
against  them  because  of  their  religion,  and  secured 
their  isolation  and  enslavement.  Moses,  a learned 


5° 


EGYPT  AT  ITS  BEST. 


priest  of  Heliopolis,  preferred  being  the  chief  man 
among  the  despised  Israelites,  rather  than  one 
among  many  aristocratic  priests.  He  espoused  their 
cause,  gave  them  a code  of  laws,  and  a reformed 
religion,  encouraged  them  to  form  a hostile  alliance 
with  the  Canaanites,  and  when  they  were  beaten  by 
Amanothph,  he  retreated  with  them  into  the  desert, 
from  which,  after  years  of  wandering  and  hiding 
from  their  adversaries,  they  succeeded  in  reaching 
the  land  of  their 
allies  whom  in 
part  they  dispos- 
sessed. 

How  much  this 
history  was  a dis- 
torted account, 
we  leave  the 
reader  to  judge. 

It  is  certainly  in- 
teresting and  cu- 
rious. The  two 
peoples  thus  in- 
timately associ- 
ated in  the  far- 
off  days  may  be 
said  to  have 
given  to  Europe 
and  America 
their  great  characteristics.  To  those  fugitive  slaves 
we  owe  our  religion,  and  to  their  pursuers  have  been 
traced,  through  many  a devious  winding,  the  gen- 
eral civilization  of  modern 
times.  It  would  be  inter- 
esting to  follow  the  Ex- 
odus to  the  Land  of  Prom- 
ise, but  that  would  be  a 
tangent,  and  we  must  now 
dismiss  from  our  thoughts, 
in  connection  with  Egypt, 
the  children  of  Israel. 

Thothmosis  IV.  was  the 
next  king  of  Egypt.  The 
temple  which  stands  be- 
tween the  fore-legs  of  the 
Sphinx,  near  Memphis, 
was  evidently  the  work  of 
Dress  of  the  King.  his  reign.  I hat  edilice 
shows,  as  has  been  observed,  that  “ in  this  reign  at 
least,  though  probably  much  earlier,  the  rock  had 


COLOSSAL  STATUE  OF 


been  carved  into  the  form  of  that  monster.”  The 
next  king,  Amanothph  III.,  was  a great  warrior,  and 
did  a great  deal  of  temple  and  tomb  building,  of 
wall-painting  and  of  obelisk-carving.  He  conquered 
numerous  tribes  of  Ethiopians.  His  successor, 
Ilornemnes  deserves  mention  for  the  fact  that  he 
was  unwittingly  the  father  of  Greek  civilization.  It 
was  this  way : Greek  pirates,  or  sailors,  much  the 
same  thing  in  old  times,  had  established  themselves  at 

Sais,  on  the  east 
of  the  Delta,  and 
conducted  the 
Mediterranean 
commerce  of 
Egypt,  being  for 
the  most  part  in- 
dependent and 
free.  Gradually 
they  spread  and 
improved,  enjoy- 
ing the  privilege 
of  intercourse 
with  cultured 
Egypt  for  five 
hundred  years. 
Finally,  at  the 
time  at  which 
we  have  arrived 
they  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  government. 
They  belonged  to  Lower  Egypt,  and  Upper 
Egypt  ruled  the  country.  They  were  driven 
out  as  the  Hebrews  had  been  before  them.  They 
returned  to  Greece,  founded  several  cities  (Boeotian 
Thebes  among  the  number),  and  thus  sowed 
the  seeds  of  Greek  civilization.  Athens  is  sup- 
posed to  owe  its  origin  to  that  second  great 
exodus. 

We  come  now  upon  the  name  which  towers 
above  all  other  Theban  names — Rameses.  The 
first  king  who  bore  that  name  achieved  noth- 
ing, at  least  left  nothing,  which  has  survived  the 
ravages  of  three  chiliades.  His  son,  Oimemep- 
thah,  was  an  industrious  builder,  and  the  inscrip- 
tions upon  the  walls  of  his  structures,  are  very 
useful  in  deciphering  the  religion  of  Egypt. 
The  next  king,  Rameses  II.,  brought  the  The- 
ban dynasty  to  its  highest  glory.  War  and 
architecture,  sculpture  and  painting,  united  in 
making  him  the  most  illustrious  of  all  the  mon- 


RAMESES  THE  GREAT. 


EGYPT  AT  ITS  BEST. 


51 


arclis  the  Nile  can  boast.  ITis  name  is  hardly  less 
imposing  than  that  of  Caesar.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Plhehmen-Meiothph,  Oimempthah  II.,  Osinta,  Ro- 
merer,  and  four  more  kings  bearing  his  own  name, 
and  then  the  glory  of  Thebes  departed,  not  a sud- 
den and  overwhelming  calamity,  like  that  which 
dimmed  the  light  of  Troy  and  Jerusalem,  but  else- 
where, and  with  diminished  luster,  shone  the  star 
of  Egyptian  Empire.  The  last  of  those  kings  was 
a contemporary  of  Priam,  Achilles,  Helen,  and 
Ulysses.  The  period  from  Rameses  the  Great  to 
Raineses  the  last,  was  nearly  two  hundred  years. 

No  nation  of  antiquity  relied  so  much  as  Egypt 
did  upon  the  development  of  its  own  resources  for 
growth  and  splendor.  Indeed,  no  other  nation  ever 
equaled  it  in  this  proud  pre-eminence  until  the 
United  States  of  America  surpassed  it.  The  mar- 
tial spirit  was  not  wanting  even  upon  the  banks  of 
the  Nile.  The  tablets  abound  in  evidences  of  con- 
quest. Rameses  the  Great  seems  to  have  inaugu- 
rated a somewhat  new  policy.  Hitherto  wars  ap- 
pear to  have  been  waged  for  defense,  and  against 
encroaching  neighbors.  But  he  marched  forth  up- 
on a campaign  of  subjugation.  The  carved  and 
painted  walls  of  Theban  temples  portray  victory 
over  the  Ethiopians  and  the  Arabs  not  only,  but 
Tartars,  or  Scythians,  Medes,  Persians,  Syrians, 
Lycians,  and,  in  fine,  the  countries  generally  now 
known  as  Turkey  in  Asia,  and  Russia  in  Asia. 
How  thorough  were  his  conquests  we  cannot  ascer- 
tain, but  they  were  certainly  extensive  enough  to 
give  that  king  rank  among  the  great  soldiers  of 
mankind.  The  art  of  war  must  have  been  much 
the  same  then  as  it  continued  to  be,  down  to  the 
invention  of  gunpowder.  Steel  was  known  and 
used  both  for  offense  and  defense. 

The  population  of  Egypt  at  its  best,  when  the 


glory  of  Thebes  was  brightest,  is  supposed  to  have 
been  about  5,500,000.  This  estimate  is  based  on  the 
registry  of  the  crown  tenants  of  the  military  age. 

The  subjugation  of  Ethiopia  brought  the  gold- 
mines of  that  country  into  the  direct  possession  of 
the  Egyptians.  To  realize  the  importance  of  this, 
one  should  recall  the  situation  of  this  country  before 
and  after  the  Mexican  war.  Prior  to  that  conflict 
the  jirecious  metals  came  into  the  coffers  of  the 
United  States  through  commercial  intercourse,  but 
after  that,  the  mines  of  California  (a  part  of  the 
territory  secured  from  Mexico)  were  worked  to  the 
best  advantage,  and  a new  era  in  prosperity  was  in- 
augurated. Those  ancient  mines  diffused  wealth 
over  the  known  world.  Even  Palestine  sat,  as 
it  were,  under  the  drippings  of  the  Egyptian 
mint,  and  so  astonishing  was  the  increase  of  wealth 
in  Jerusalem,  that  the  chronicles  of  the  Hebrew 
kings  declare  that  gold  was  as  plenty  as  stones  in 
the  streets  of  that  capital  during  the  reign  of 
Solomon.  The  Ophir  of  the  Bible  is  supposed  by 
some  to  have  been  simply  a port  on  the  Red  Sea, 
the  gate  through  which  the  gold  of  Egypt 
poured  into  Palestine  in  exchange  for  the  prod- 
ucts of  that  “ land  flowing  with  milk  and  hon- 
ey.” The  exhaustion  of  those  Nubian  or  Ethio- 
pian mines  had  much,  perhaps  most,  to  do  with  the 
decay  of  Egypt.  We  shall  see  further  on  in  this 
history  how  Spain  derived  advantage  from  the 
mines  of  the  new  world,  only  to  make  its  fall  the 
greater.  The  light  of  three  thousand  years  is  too 
dim  to  admit  of  a close  analysis  of  the  causes  of 
Egypt’s  fall,  but  certain  it  is,  that  its  prosperity  was 
not  abiding,  and  that  by  the  time  the  last  of  the 
Rameses  passed  away,  the  glory  of  Thebes,  which 
had  been  gradually  fading  for  a century  and  a half, 
suffered  a permanent,  but  not  a complete,  eclipse. 


Q_ 


OF  EGYPT 


'jmnmimtmm 


HS 


THE  DECLINE 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Shishank  and  Bubastis — The  Cushite  Period — Commerce  and  Discovery — Assyrian  and 
Persian  Wars — Cambyses  and  his  Work  of  Destruction — Egypt  and  Greece — The  Uni- 
versity at  Heliopolis — Coptic  Justice,  Clothing  and  Dwellings — Domestic  Life  and 
Political  Divisions— A Survey  by-  an  Eminent  Writer. 


ATIONS  do  not  build  monu- 
ments in  honor  of  disaster, 
and  the  lights  which  fall 
upon  the  decline  of  Egypt 
b are  for  the  greater  part  side- 
lights.  The  nation  was  di- 
Tided,  and  the  glory  of 
Thebes  departed  about  950 
B.  C.  Shishank,  of  Bubastis,  in  Low- 
er Egypt,  succeeded  the  dynasty  of 
Raineses,  so  far  as  that  dynasty  had 
succession  in  power.  His  capital  was 
about  sixty  miles  from  one  of  the 
mouths  of  the  Rile.  It  was  very 
near,  if  it  did  not  embrace  in  its  im- 
mediate jurisdiction  the  land  of 
Goshen,  and  was  thus  that  part  of 
Egypt  from  which  the  Jews  derived 
many  of  their  ideas,  being  next  to 
Heliopolis.  The  Urim  and  Thummim  of  the  Hebrew 
priesthood  was  also  worn  by  the  priests  of  Bubastis. 
It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  whole  history  of 
the  fall  of  man  is  of  Egyptian  origin,  and  the  re- 
semblance between  the  laws,  customs  and  rites  of 
that  country  and  of  Palestine  are  striking,  although 
in  many  particulars  there  is  a sharp  contrast,  showing 
that  Moses  was  no  mere  copyist.  The  kings  of  Bu- 
bastis could  not  extend  their  sway  over  the  whole 
country,  although  they  made  some  conquests  abroad. 
Tanes  and  Mendes  were  independent  cities  and  sov- 
ereignties, and  Thebes  was  no  inconsiderable  power 


long  after  it  had  suffered  eclipse.  It  faded  out  so  grad- 
ually that  it  cannot  be  assigned  a date  of  death. 
Shishank  divided  the  temporal  and  the  spiritual 
powers.  The  soldiers  of  the  Bubastis  were  obeyed 
in  the  Thebaid,  but  the  priests  had  no  jurisdiction 
beyond  their  immediate  parishes,  as  the  modern 
term  is. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Shishank,  almost  inter- 
minable civil  war  became  chronic.  No  master- 
spirit arose  to  quell  the  storm.  First  one  city  and 
then  another  would  be  in  the  ascendant,  and  for- 
eign dependencies  threw  off  the  Egyptian  yoke. 
Notable  among  these  secessions  was  Ethiopia,  and 
finally  that  southern  nation  became  the  master  and 
Egypt  the  servant.  Although  independent,  it  was 
Coptic,  and  as  a factor  in  the  development  of  man, 
was  essentially  Egyptian.  It  contributed  no  new 
element  to  civilization.  If,  as  some  suppose,  the 
Ethiopians,  called  also  the  Cushites,  really  ante- 
dated the  Egyptians  in  civilization,  their  subsequent 
career  added  no  lasting  monuments  to  their  glory. 
The  Ethiopians  waged  fierce  warfare  with  other  na- 
tions far  to  the  North,  especially  Assyria,  now 
grown  to  greatness,  but  in  all  the  arts  followed 
the  models  of  Egypt,  feebly  and,  far  off.  At  the 
height  of  its  glory,  the  Nubian  gold-mines  added  to 
the  resources  of  the  kingdom,  and  some  works  still 
stand  to  attest  the  imitation  of  Theban  grandeur, 
notably  the  temple  at  Nap  at  a,  and  the  monarch  of 
Ethiopia  boasted  himself  to  be  the  Avell-beloved  of 
Athor,  a Theban  sroddess.  Sometimes  the  Cushite 


k. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  EGYPT. 


53 


kings  established  their  court  at  Thebes,  later  in 
Memphis,  and  still  later  at  Sais,  in  Lower  Egypt. 
The  Ethiopian  conquerors,  like  the  Normans  who 
took  England,  were  gradually  absorbed,  and  as  Nor- 
mandy was  lost  sight  of,  and  conquered  and  con- 
querors became  unified  as  Englishmen,  so  Cushite 
and  native  Coptic  gradually  merged  in  Egyptians. 
This  Cushite  period,  as  it  might  be  called,  was  not 
without  its  glory.  From  the  Greeks  and  Phoeni- 
cians the  people  learned  navigation  and  caught  the 
spirit  of  enterprise.  The  priests  tried  to  discourage 
all  progress,  and  did  succeed  in  greatly  hampering 
it,  but  some  of  the  monarchs  were  great  and  secular. 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century  before 
the  Christian  era,  Psammeticus  I.  encouraged  in- 
tercourse with  the  Greeks.  He  employed  them  as 
soldiers,  gave  Greek  names  to  his  children,  and  al- 
lowed colonies  from  Greece  to  settle  upon  the  Delta. 
His  son,  Necho  II.,  sent  a fleet  on  a voyage  of  dis- 
covery from  the  Red  Sea,  with  a view  to  circum- 
navigate Africa,  and  see  if  there  were  not  some 
“Northwest”  passage  for  commerce.  The  expedi- 
tion covered  a period  of  three  years.  The  Straits 
of  Gibraltar  were  discovered  and  sailed  through. 
As  far  as  known,  this  was  the  most  far-reaching 
voyage  which  had  ever  been  undertaken  at  that 
time,  and  quite  outstripped  the  “sailor’s  yarn  ” spun 
by  Homer  about  the  wanderings  of  LTysses. 

Necho  carried  on  extensive  wars  with  the  Assyri- 
ans, or,  as  by  that  time  they  deserved  to  be  called, 
Babylonians  or  Chaldeans,  for  Nineveh  had  fallen. 
This  line  of  military  policy  was  carried  on  with  va- 
rying fortunes,  amid  scenes  no  longer  of  much  in- 
terest, until  Cyrus  the  Mede  crushed  the  liberties 
of  Egypt.  What  he  began,  his  son  Cambyses  fin- 
ished. He  thoroughly  overthrew  the  ancient  em- 
pire of  Egypt,  and  henceforth  its  most  ancient 
form  ceased  to  exist.  The  original,  independent 
and  African  nation  was  no  more.  Afterwards 
Cambyses  took  Sais,  captured  King  Psammeticus 
and  over-ran  and  sacked  the  cities.  From  that 
time  on,  the  Egypt  of  the  pyramids  has  had  only 
its  past  to  boast  of,  and  its  ruins  to  glory  in,  and 
its  subsequent  achievements  have  been  mainly  due 
to  foreign  influences. 

It  was  in  the  year  523  B.  C.  that  Cambyses 
marched  his  conquering  barbarians  into  Egypt,  and 
i 332  B.  C.,  that  Alexander  the  Great  invaded  the 
land  of  the  Sphinx.  During  those  two  centuries 

9 ...... 


the  country  was  at  the  lowest  ebb  of  happiness  and 
the  high-water  mark  of  misery.  The  demoniacal 
Cambyses  madly  destroyed  and  desolated  out  of 
wanton  savagery.  The  stupendous  works  of  art  at 
Thebes  and  elsewhere,  were  laboriously  disfigured 
and  defaced.  His  wanton  Medes  and  Persians,  the 
Vandals  of  their  day,  took  special  delight  in  break- 
ing off  the  heads  of  statues,  the  beard  being  held 
in  as  much  veneration  among  them  as  the  “pig- 
tail”is  in  China.  No  inconsiderable  portion  of  the 
destruction  now  witnessed  among  the  ruins  of 
Egypt  is  chargeable  to  them,  especially  during  the 
reign  of  the  mad  Cambyses.  His  immediate  suc- 
cessor, Darius,  was  a mercenary  ruler.  He  cared 
more  for  the  spoils  and  revenue  than  for  malicious 
gratification.  Taken  as  a whole,  that  period  of 
two  hundred  years  was  one  long,  relentless,  and 
desolating  tyranny,  relieved  briefly  during  the  war 
of  Xerxes  with  Greece,  when  the  opportunity  for 
revolt  was  improved,  resulting,  however,  in  no  act- 
ual benefit  to  the  Egyptians. 

That  was  a dreary  period.  Its  details  are  unin- 
teresting in  the  extreme.  It  is  only  from  the  stand- 
point of  general  results  that  it  possesses  significance. 
What  was  really  the  most  important  thing  of  all, 
was  the  fall  of  Egypt  as  a vast  school  house  of  the 
nations.  The  pursuit  of  knowledge  in  that  coun- 
try was  beset  with  exceeding  difficulty,  especially 
for  the  Greek.  The  foreign  student  of  philosophy, 
science,  and  art,  would  need  true  heroism  to  trust 
his  life  in  any  part  of  Egypt,  especially  if  he  were  a 
Greek.  That  was  an  exceedingly  fortunate  thing 
for  Greece  and  the  whole  world.  It  stimulated  and 
developed  the  indigenous  civilization  of  Greece,  and 
contributed  incalculably,  although  indirectly,  to  the 
glory  of  Athens.  The  intellectual  scepter  of  the 
world  passed  from  Coptic  into  Grecian  hands,  never 
to  be  regained.  Henceforth  the  very  glories  of 
Egypt,  if  they  do  not  really  belong  to  Greece,  are  yet 
so  very  Hellenic  as  to  have  a distinctive  type  more 
susrsrcstive  of  Athens  than  of  'Thebes  or  Memphis. 
It  was  during  this  decline  of  Egypt  that  the  univer- 
sity at  Heliopolis  became  the  fountain-head  of  lib- 
eral education  for  the  civilized  world.  The  schools 
of  that  city  cannot  be  dated  in  their  origin,  but  it  is 
known  that  it  was  there  that  Solon,  Pythagoras, 
Plato,  and  the  learned  Greeks  generally,  repaired  to 
study  not  only  “ the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians,”  but 
the  science,  philosophy,  institutions  and  literature 


54  the  decline  of  egypt. 


of  Assyria,  and  the  whole  world  of  existing  civiliza- 
tion. There  the  scholars  of  the  nations  far  and 
near  repaired  for  study,  as  now  they  seek  the  uni- 
versities of  Germany. 

There  are  some  features  of  the  laws  of  the  Coptic 
period  which  merit  attention,  but  which  may  be- 
long to  the  oldest  empire,  for  a common  law  older 
than  any  record  of  it,  is  by  no  means  peculiar  to 
English-speaking  peoples.  The  principle  of  crimi- 
nal law  was  retribution,  not  reform  or  mere  re- 
straint in  the  future.  It  was  “ an  eye  for  an  eye 
and  a tooth  for  a tooth.”  Slaves  were  far  better 
protected  than  children  or  wives.  Forgers  were 
severely  punished.  Imprisonment  for  debt  was  not 
allowed.  The  most  notable  law  was  what  in  Brit- 
ish and  American  law  is  called  “ the  statute  of  lim- 
itations,” carried  to  the  extreme  that  no  debt  could 
be  collected  at  law  unless  it  had  been  acknowledged 
in  writing,  provided  the  defendant  denied  the  ob- 
ligation under  oath. 

The  clothing  of  the  Egyptians  was  mostly  linen, 
the,  women  wearing  a single  garment  extending 
from  head  to  foot;  the  men,  one  of  coarse  texture 
and  somewhat  shorter.  Sandals  were  worn  gen- 
erally, but  the  head  was  bare,  except  that  some- 
thing in  the  way  of  a badge  of  distinction  was 
worn.  The  ordinary  dwelling  was  a small  plot 
of  ground  inclosed  between  four  unroofed  walls. 
A priest  could  marry  only  one  wife,  but  poly- 
gamy was  allowed  to  the  secular  part  of  the  com- 
munity. The  land  belonged  to  the  crown,  the 
priesthood,  and  the  soldiery  in  equal  parts,  the  rev- 
enues of  the  government  coming  from  the  peasants 
on  the  crown  lands.  The  area  of  civilization  was 
not  far  from  eleven  millions  of  acres.  For  politi- 
cal purposes  the  country  was  divided  into  nomcs,  or 
counties,  varying  from  time  to  time  in  number 
from  thirty  to  forty.  There  were  also  township  di- 
visions for  purposes  of  government.  It  may  be 
added  in  conclusion,  that  the  fine  arts  of  this  period 
compare  poorly  with  the  sculpture  and  painting  of 
Greece  ; the  pupil  far  surpassing  the  master. 

Speaking  of  this  period,  an  eminent  historian 
writes:  “ We  now  possess  but  few  traces  of  the 
Egyptian  laws  and  customs  by  which  to  explain  the 
form  of  government ; but  there  are  two  circumstances 
which  throw  some  light  upon  it,  and  prove  that  it 


was  a mixed  form,  between  a monarchy  and  an  aris- 
tocracy. First,  every  soldier  was  a land-owner,  and 
arms  were  only  trusted  to  those  who  had  such  an 
estate  in  the  country  as  would  make  them  wish  to 
guard  it  from  enemies  from  abroad  and  from  ty- 
rants and  tumults  at  home.  These  men  formed  a 
part  of  the  aristocracy.  A second  remarkable  in- 
stitution was  the  hereditary  priesthood.  Every 
clergyman,  sexton  and  undertaker,  every  physician 
and  druggist,  every  lawyer,  writing  clerk,  school- 
master and  author,  every  sculptor,  painter,  and 
land  measurer,  every  magistrate  and  every  fortune- 
teller,  belonged  to  the  priestly  order.  Of  this  sacred 
body  the  king,  as  we  learn  from  the  inscriptions, 
was  the  head ; he  was  at  the  same  time  chief-priest 
and  general-in-chief  of  the  army,  while  the  temples 
were  both  royal  palaces  and  walled  castles  of  great 
strength. 

The  power  of  the  king  must  have  been  in  part 
based  on  the  opinion  and  religious  feeling  of  the 
many ; and  however  selfish  may  have  been  the 
priests,  however  they  may  have  kept  back  knowl- 
edge from  the  people,  or  used  the  terrors  of  the 
next  world  as  an  engine  for  their  power  in  this,  yet 
such  a government,  while  more  strong,  must  have 
been  far  more  free  than  the  government  of  the 
sword.  Every  temple  had  its  own  hereditary  fam- 
ily of  priests,  who  were  at  the  same  time  magis- 
trates of  the  city  and  the  district,  holding  their 
power  by  the  same  right  as  the  king  did  his.  The 
union  between  church  and  state  was  complete. 
But  the  government  must  have  been  a good  deal 
changed  by  Rameses  II.  and  his  father.  After  all 
Egypt  was  united  under  one  scepter,  the  power  of 
the  monarch  was  too  great  for  the  independence  of 
the  several  cities.  The  palaces  built  by  these  kings 
were  not  temples ; the  foreign  tributes  and  produce 
of  the  gold  mines  were  used  to  keep  in  pay  a stand- 
ing army ; and  by  a standing  army  alone  could 
Raineses  have  fought  his  battles  so  far  from  home 
as  in  Asia  Minor  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphra- 
tes. The  military  land-holders  were  wholly  unfit- 
ted for  foreign  warfare.”  There  is  no  plainer  les- 
son in  history  than  this : However  splendid  and 
strong  it  may  seem,  a nation  which  employs  for  its 
defense  foreign  mercenaries,  has  entered  upon  its 
period  of  decline. 


IK 


EGYPT  AND  THE 
GLORY  OF  ALEXANDRIA. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Alexander  and  Alexandria — The  I’ii  yl.e — Papyrus  Making — Alexander  and  Egypt — 
First  of  the  Ptolemies — Alexandrian  Commerce  and  Public  Buildings— The  Muse- 
um—The  Library— The  Ptolemies  and  Science— Alexandrian  Philosophy— The  Mate- 
rial Decline  of  the  City— Alexandrian  Christianity — Theological  Warfare — Zeno- 
bia  in  Egypt — Persian  Ravages — The  Saracen  Invasion. 

__ , 


N the  meteoric  splendor  of 
Alexander,  Greece  may 
well  take  perpetual  pride. 
It  is  none  the  less  true  that 
he  was  by  no  means  a typ- 
ical Greek.  He  belonged 
to  barbaric  Macedonia, 
which  had  little  in  com- 
mon with  classic  Athens,  or  the  cul- 
ture which  has  made  the  lfame  of 
Greece  illustrious.  His  exploits  belong 
indeed  to  another  portion  of  this  his- 
tory, but  we  are  now  about  to  enter  up- 
on a chapter  of  the  past  which  consti- 
tutes the  one  grand  monument  to  his 
His  dazzling  splendors  as  a 
world  conqueror  will  shine  forever,  but 
the  kingdom  was  divided  upon  his  un- 
timely death,  and  fell  into  fragments.  It  was 
saved  from  universal  disgrace  by  the  Ptolemaic  dy- 
nasty, and  the  still  greater  and  more  enduring  gen- 
ius of  Alexandria  (for  there  are  local  as  well  as  per- 
sonal genii).  We  have  seen  Egypt  rise  and  fall, 
being  the  world’s  greatest  academy,  even  in  its  de- 
cline. But  Persian  oppression  and  the  enervating 
influence  of  wealth  had  so  vitiated  the  Coptic  race 
that  it  seemed  incapable  of  recovery.  The  new  pe- 
riod of  Egyptian  greatness  is  more  Hellenic  than 
Coptic.  It  is  Greece  transplanted  in  Egypt,  much 
as  the  glory  of  the  United  States  is  England  trans- 


ported to  America.  For  three  centuries  the  dynasty 
of  the  Ptolemies  endured,  and  for  nine  cen- 
turies, Alexandria  was  the  great  literary  and  scien- 
tific metropolis  of  the  world,  rivaling  in  scholar- 
ship, if  not  original  works  of  genius,  Athens  and 
Rome  at  their  best. 

Hitherto,  in  our  history,  we  followed  the  course 
of  empire  as  marked  out  upon  the  tablets  and 
memorial  stones  of  royal  association,  but  we  may 
now  pass  out  into  the  broader  ocean  of  literature. 
About  the  time  of  the  Persian  invasion,  papyrus 
became  common  and  cheap  in  Egypt,  and  what  is 
more,  the  use  of  letters  took  the  place  of  picture 
writing  with  its  slow  work  and  unsatisfactory  re- 
sults. The  way  was  thus  made  ready  for  Alexan- 
dria with  its  libraries  and  book-lore.  There  are  in 
Europe,  to-day,  no  less  than  ten  thousand  Egyp- 
tian papyri.  But  our  main  concern  is  with  Alex- 
andria, its  kings  and  savants,  its  erudition  and  its 
literature;  in  fine,  the  part  taken  by  it  in  the  devel- 
opment of  man. 

Having  established  his  sway  over  all  Greece  and 
the  Grecian  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  Alexander  led  his 
forces  against  Darius.  His  war  upon  the  Persians 
endeared  him  to  the  Egyptian  heart,  so  that  when 
he  went  thither  he  was  hailed  as  a deliverer.  With 
a quick  eye  to  the  possibilities  of  empire,  he  deter- 
mined to  erect  a city  worthy  to  perpetuate  his  name 
near  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Nile,  where  then 
stood  the  small  village  of  Rhacotis.  The  site  was 


r 


T 


(55) 


9 


s 


56 


EGYPT  AND  THE  GLORY  OF  ALEXANDRIA. 


well  chosen,  and  although  he  never  returned  to 
carry  out  the  plan,  his  idea,  barely  begun  in  his  life- 
time, bore  fruit.  Between  that  little  village  and 
the  island  of  Pharos,  the  water  was  exceptionally 
deep  and  peculiarly  well  adapted  for  the  harborage 
of  ships. 

Alexander  treated  the  Egyptian  prejudices  with 
respect,  instead  of  trying  to  exasperate  and  hu- 
miliate the  people.  His  victories  over  the  Per- 
sians made  secure  his  hold  upon  the  land  of  the 
pyramids,  and  his  reverence  for  Ammon  and  the 
other  deities  of  the  Nile,  made  his  claim  of  sonship 
to  Ammon  a highly  appreciated  compliment.  It 
was  eight  years  after  his  entrance  upon  Egypt  that 
he  died  at  Babylon, 
during  which  period 
very  little  had  been 
done  to  carry  out  his 
plan  beyond  preparing 
the  way  for  it.  His 
half-brother,  Philip 
Arridseus,  was  declar- 


ed by  his  generals, 
assembled  at  Babylon, 
to  be  his  successor. 

But  in  the  course  of  a 
few  years  the  empire 
fell  into  fragments, 
these  generals  dividing 
it  between  themselves. 

The  province  of 
Egypt  fell  to  the  lot 
of  Ptolemy.  From  the 
first,  he  was  virtually 

king  of  the  country,  and  his  dynasty  continued 
with  varying  fortunes,  until  finally  the  imperialism 
of  Rome  absorbed  the  country.  The  city  which  he 
built  and  made  his  capital,  survived  the  dynasty 
with  which  in  glory  it  was  indivisibly  united  for  a 
brilliant  series  of  centuries. 

The  first  of  the  Ptolemies,  B.  C.  322,  was  sur- 
named  Soter,  and  the  last  in  point  of  fact  was  Cleo- 
patra, who  applied  the  fatal  asp  to  her  breast  B.  C. 
30.  The  real  glory  of  Alexandria  faded  gradu- 
ally as  the  light  of  Christianity  obscured  the  bright- 
ness of  pagan  philosophy  and  science.  No  other 
date  can  be  fixed  for  the  final  eclipse  of  its  splen- 
dor so  appropriate  as  the  burning  of  its  marvelous 
and  vast  library  by  the  Arabs,  A.  D.  640.  We 


Light-house  on  the  Pharos. — (One  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the  world.) 


shall  not,  however,  in  this  chapter,  catalogue  the 
kings  who  ruled  in  Alexandria  or  the  emperors  who 
held  it  in  vassalage,  but  endeavor  to  give  an  idea  of 
the  actual  place  held  during  these  years  by  the 
city  which  may  be  said  to  furnish  the  connecting 
link  between  ancient  and  modern  times. 

This  city  combined  commercial  with  educational 
supremacy  and  in  its  palmy  days,  which  were  many, 
had  about  three  hundred  thousand  inhabitants, 
which,  by  the  way,  is  about  its  present  population. 
It  was  laid  out  on  a generous  plan.  The  two  main 
streets  crossed  one  another  at  right-angles  in  the 
middle  of  the  town,  which  was  from  the  first,  three 
miles  long  and  nearly  a mile  wide,  with  streets  wide 

enough  for  carriages. 
Upon  the  neighboring 
island  of  Pharos  was 
erected  (about  three 
centuries  before 
Christ)  a gigantic 
light-house  of  white 
marble,  which  is  class- 
ed as  one  of  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world. 
As  described,  the  early 
city  must  have  been 
peculiarly  modern. 
The  public  buildings 
which  fronted  the  har- 
bor included  a cham- 
ber of  commerce,  and 
beside  the  wharf  and 
cemetery,  there  were 
theaters,  circuses,  race- 
courses, public  parks,  public  libraries,  public  schools, 
and  the  temple  of  Therapis,  which  might  pass  for 
a cathedral.  The  chief  of  all  these  institutions 
was  the  University,  generally  called  the  Museum. 

This  Museum  was  the  home  of  philosophy  and 
learning,  the  resort  of  students  old  and  young.  Its 
great  hall  was  devoted  to  lectures,  and  was  also  used 
as  a dining-room,  for  the  physical  necessities  of  the 
scholars  were  duly  regarded.  The  state  spent  vast 
sums  of  money  in  maintaining  this  institution.  On 
the  porch  and  in  the  spacious  grounds  gathered  “ in 
groups  and  knots  ” the  scholars  and  professors  in 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge.  In  the  old  Coptic  uni- 
versity previously  mentioned,  the  savants  taught 
only  what  was,  strictly  speaking,  “ the  wisdom  of  the 


FT 


I 


EGYPT,  AND  THE  GLORY  OF  ALEXANDRIA.  57 


Egyptians but  this  Hellenic  U niversity  was  truly 
cosmopolitan.  It  drew  knowledge  from  the  whole 
world.  Its  library  was  early  a large  one  and  steadily 
increased  with  the  growth  of  literature. 

It  may  be  well  to  say  here  that  the  Alexandrian 
library  was  fired  three  times,  and  nearly  destroyed 
each  time  ; first  by  Caesar,  when  he  conquered  the 
city ; second  by  Christian  fanaticism,  and  lastly  by 
Mohammedan  fanaticism,  the  loss  being  greater 
upon  each  repetition.  This  vast  repository  of  liter- 
ature was  open  to  the  public  for  reading  and  for 
copying,  and  the  latter  was  an  important  industry 
in  those  days  of  more  thirst  for  knowledge  than 
facilities  for  its  gratification.  The  papyrus  and  the 
scribe  of  those  days  were  the  printing  press  and 
compositor  of  modern  times.  The  first  Ptolemy 
was  a historian  of  no  mean  attainments,  and  the 
last  to  make  that  name  illustrious  was  an  astrono- 
mer second  only  to  Galileo  and  Copernicus.  It  was 
not  bravery  alone  which  was  rewarded  in  Alexan- 
dria, nor  yet  commercial  enterprise.  Neither  was 
under-rated,  but  both  were  held  in  less  repute  than 
scholarship,  art,  and  all  which  the  term  culture 
embraces.  Sculptors,  painters,  poets,  historians, 
linguists,  scientists  of  all  kinds,  and  every  dweller 
upon  the  lofty  table-land  of  intellectual  life,  were 
the  real  aristocrats  of  that  city.  Not  only  was 
Alexandria  a repository  for  all  the  wisdom  of  Greece, 
but  it  embraced  the  body  of  Syrian  and  Assyrian 
learning  and  Jewish  literature.  The  scattered 
writings  of  the  Hebrew  tongue  were  gathered  into 
one  book  and  translated  into  Greek  (for  Alexan- 
dria being  a Grecian  city,  in  fact,  made  Greek  the 
language  of  general  literature).  That  translation 
is  known  as  the  Septuagint,  and  is  identical  with 
our  Old  Testament.  Jesus  Christ  and  others  in  the 
New  Testament,  quoted  from  the  Septuagint,  when- 
ever they  quoted  at  all  from  the  scriptures  of  their 
own  people,  which  shows  that  the  Septuagint  was 
the  version  used  even  in  Judea. 

Never  did  a sovereign  show  more  appreciation  of 
intellectual  superiority,  regardless  of  nationality, 
than  the  founder  of  the  great  house  of  Ptolemy. 
He  lived  familiarly  with  the  learned  men  of  his 
capital,  courting  their  society.  He  was  not  so 
much  their  patron  as  their  friend,  for  lie  did  not 
have  the  offensive  ways  suggested  by  the  term 
“patronize.”  The  list  of  eminent  professors  at 
Alexandria  would  be  a very  long  one,  covering  the 


entire  range  of  intellectual  pursuits.  The  noble 
city  was  an  asylum  for  the  banished  free-thinkers 
of  other  lands.  None  were  more  famous  than  the 
physicians.  Anatomy  was  born  at  Alexandria,  and 
so  indeed  was  natural  history.  Mathematics  was 
brought  to  a still  higher  degree  of  perfection  there 
than  ever  before  attained.  The  study  of  nature  by 
patient  analysis  and  consecutive  observation  was  fair- 
ly begun  there,  without  being  carried  to  any  very 
satisfactory  degree  of  perfection.  There  was  in  the 
Alexandrian  dissecting-rooms  and  zoological  collec- 
tions the  suggestions  of  modern  science,  but  the 
difference  is  that  between  the  gray  of  early  morn 
and  full  sunlight.  Unfortunately,  between  that 
twilight  and  this  daylight  was  the  almost  rayless 
darkness  of  a thousand  years.  When  Alexandria 
fell,  night  overspread  the  world,  its  mantle  being 
finally  lifted  only  by  the  invention  of  printing. 

The  peculiarity  of  Alexandria  as  compared  with 
other  great  cities  of  learning,  ancient  and  modern, 
was  the  paucity  and  insignificance  of  its  original 
literature.  The  copying  business  seemed  to  be  un- 
favorable to  the  development  of  originality.  It  can 
boast  no  Homer,  no  Plato,  no  Virgil,  no  Horace,  no 
Tacitus.  In  the  world  of  ideas,  poetical  or  philo- 
sophical, its  every  contribution  to  literature  might 
perish  without  any  very  serious  loss.  Much  has  been 
said  of  the  Alexandrian  school  of  philosophy,  its 
Neoplatonism  and  its  Agnosticism,  but  these  terms 
suggest  vast  erudition,  with  a singular  barrenness  of 
ideas.  Philo,  the  Jew,  was  second  to  no  Alexan- 
drian in  his  philosophical  ability,  and  his  works  are 
extant  and  accessible  to  English  readers,  but  they 
are  dreary  and  vapid.  The  attempt  to  adapt  Pla- 
tonic thought  to  Hebraic  theology  was  futile.  The 
long  list  of  writers,  prose  and  poetic,  contains  no 
really  great  name.  It  is  not  for  its  productions  of 
genius,  but  for  the  conservation  of  learning,  that 
Alexandria  is  entitled  to  wear  a crown  of  metropoli- 
tan supremacy. 

Its  commerce  continued  with  some  interruptions, 
but  without  eclipse,  until  the  trade  of  India  and  the 
far  Orient  began  to  go  around  the  continent  of  Af- 
rica, instead  of  through  its  northern  portion.  The 
voyage  around  Africa  and  through  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar,  previously  mentioned,  bore'  little  fruit,  at 
least  it  had  no  direct  connection  with  the  discovery 
which  left  Alexandria  stranded  upon  the  desert,  un- 
til the  construction,  or  rather  the  reconstruction,  of 


-71 


the  Suez  Canal  by  DeLesseps,  since  which  time  it 
has  resumed  some  commercial  importance. 

What  has  now  been  said  of  Alexandria  as  a seat 
of  learning,  prepares  one  to  understand  the  part 
taken  by  that  remarkable  city  in  determining  the 
character  of  Christianity,  which  service,  be  it  good 
or  ill,  was  the  final  glory  of  the  city.  The  date  of 
the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  Egypt  is  uncer- 
tain. St.  Mark  has  the  traditional  honor  of  its  in- 
troduction. The  first  opponent  of  Christianity,  the 
father  of  all  who  assail  it  as  unworthy  the  “divinity 
which  doth  hedge  it  about,”  was  Celsus  of  Alexan- 
dria. He  was  answered  by  his  townsman,  Origen. 
That  controversy  partook  of  the  metaphysical  hair- 
splitting so  popular  in  that  university  town.  Hith- 
erto, the  Christians  had  been  content  to  be  practical 
pietists.  The  scholarly  and  scholastic  Alexandrians 
raised  and  discussed  matters  of  opinion,  and  inau- 
gurated tire  terribly  demoralizing  policy  of  excom- 
munication on  dogmatic  ground.  Theology,  as  a 
field  for  dialectic  combat  and  angry  disputation,  was 
born  in  the  Museum,  and  was  the  natural  offspring 
of  the  Alexandrian  school  of  philosophy.  It  was 
there  that  Bishop  Athanasius  insisted  upon  the  di- 
vinity of  Jesus,  and  Presbyter  Arius  denied  it,  car- 
rying the  controversy  so  far  as  to  occasion  the  Ni- 
ce nc  Council  and  Creed,  and  making  a schism  in 
the  church,  over  a creedal  point  quite  foreign  to 
the  simple  thought  of  the  primitive  Christians.  For 
a time  Alexandria  was  the  capital  of  Christianity, 
almost  as  truly  as  Rome  afterwards  became.  But 
that  proud  position  was  only  briefly  held.  When 
Constantine  had  established  his  court  on  the  Bos- 
phorus, the  city  named  in  his  honor  became  the  seat 
of  empire  for  the  Creek  Church,  and  Rome  as  a 
rival  capital,  became  the  metropolitan  see  for  the 
rival  western  church. 

The  opinion  of  Athanasius  was  espoused  in  Rome; 
and  that  of  Arius  in  Constantinople,  and  Alexan- 
dria lost  its  prestige.  Constantine  sought  to  make 
his  urban  namesake  a great  seat  of  learning,  the 
central  point  of  Greek  thought,  and  an  intellectual, 
as  well  as  religious  center  of  influence.  In  this  lie 
so  far  succeeded  as  to  sap  the  life  of  Alexandria. 
What  Roman  conquest  had  hardly  impaired,  and 
Arab  conquest  subsequently  attempted,  the  rivalry 


of  Constantinople  very  nearly  effected.  The  real 
secret,  however,  of  Alexandrian  decay  was  the  un- 
due prominence  given  to  mere  learning  in  distinc- 
tion from  real  thought,  and  polemical  theology  in 
distinction  from  actual  religion. 

In  the  year  A.  D.  270,  occurred  an  interesting 
episode  in  Egyptian  history.  Zenobia,  Queen  of 
Palmyra,  one  of  the  most  interesting  characters  in 
history,  was  acknowledged  by  all  Egypt  as  queen. 
She  made  the  country  a province  of  Syria.  Her 
reign  was  short,  but  its  influence  upon  Upper  Egypt 
permanent.  Two  years  after  her  sovereignty  began, 
she  was  taken  captive  by  a Roman  army  and  car- 
ried in  triumph  to  Rome,  to  spend  the  rest  of  her 
days  in  enforced  retirement. 

The  Coptic  element  still  clung  to  the  idea  of  sep- 
aration from  imperial  Rome  through  Syrian  leader- 
ship. This  movement  failed,  but  the  Copts  of  Up- 
per Egypt  were  fired  with  a quenchless  purpose  to 
break  the  hated  yoke.  When,  at  length,  the  Ro- 
man Empire  was  divided,  Egypt  fell  to  the  lot  of 
the  Eastern  Empire.  That  was  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifth  century.  A century  later,  the 
Persians  having  conquered  a large  part  of  Syria,  in- 
vaded Egypt.  Temple  ravages  were  committed,  but 
the  capital  was  not  taken.  Other  raids  followed, 
but  no  decisive  advantage  was  gained.  The  country 
suffered  terribly  from  the  rivalries  of  Persia  and  the 
Eastern  Empire.  Then  came  the  Saracen.  One 
of  the  first  countries  to  be  conquered  by  the  follow- 
ers of  Islam,  was  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs,  Alexan- 
dria only  offering  serious  resistance.  The  Saracen 
commander  who  won  this  province  was  Amru.  It 
was  under  the  Caliphat  of  Omar.  It  was  by  Amru 
that  the  Alexandrian  library  was  burned  the  third 
time,  in  obedience  to  the  instructions  of  Omar,  who 
said,  “ If  the  books  are  the  same  as  the  Koran  they 
are  useless,  if  not,  they  are  wicked,  therefore  they 
should  be  burned  in  any  case.”  In  this  spirit  did 
the  Saracens  ever  rule  all  Egypt.  It  is  none  the 
less  true,  that  ultimately,  the  treasures  of  Alexan- 
drian knowledge  were  largely  preserved  and  dissem- 
inated in  Europe  by  the  Mohammedans  rather  than 
the  Christians.  The  service  to  civilization  rendered 
by  the  Moors  in  Spain,  might  be  called  without  ex- 
aggeration, Egypt’s  last,  best  gift  to  mankind. 


Al 


58 


EGYPT,  AND  THE  GLORY  OF  ALEXANDRIA. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Egypt,  Geographically  speaking — From  Amru  to  Saladin — The  Mamelukes  and  Turk- 
ish Subjugation — Present  Dynasty — Debt  of  Egypt,  and  its  Political  Consequences 
—Railroads  and  the  Suez  Canal — Cairo,  and  the  Present  Alexandria — The  Nile — 
Natural  Resources— Slave  Trade  and  Education— Present  Population,  Fellahs, 
Copts  and  Turks. 

-Cl 


F all  the  countries  of  the 
world  Egypt  alone  is  the 
same,  geographically  speak- 
ing, “yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever.”  X atural  bounda- 
ries determine  its  area. 
Egypt  As  It  Is,  presents 
the  same  topographical  pe- 
culiarities as  did  the  Egypt  of  the 
Pyramids  and  the  Sphinx.  The  coun- 
try embraced  is  the  lowest  or  northern 
division  of  the  valley  of  the  Xile, 
from  the  lowest  cataract,  latitude 
24°  3'  45"  north,  to  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  latitude  31°  35'.  Measured  on  the 
meridian  line,  its  length  is  450  miles, 
but  making  due  allowance  for  the  windings  of  the 
mighty  river,  its  length  reaches  600  miles.  The 
average  width  is  eight  miles,  the  maximum  width 
being  160  miles.  The  whole  area  of  the  valley,  in- 
cluding the  Delta  of  the  Nile,  is  only  11,351  square 
miles.  There  is  a good  deal  of  semi-desert  country 
included  in  Egypt  proper,  on  either  side  of  the  valley, 
which  swells  the  area  to  175,130  square  miles.  For 
administrative  purposes,  there  are  thirteen  provinces 
or  counties.  The  jurisdiction  of  Egypt,  as  a nation, 
extends  to  some  outlying  regions,  Nubia,  Darfur  and 
a vaguely  defined  territory,  mostly  barren  sands, 
with  occasional  oases. 

Between  the  Egypt  which  Amru  conquered  and 
the  present  nation  of  that  name,  which  came  into 


existence,  politically,  during  this  century,  and  is  now 
subject  to  a novel  subjugation,  retaining  the  sem- 
blance of  independence  without  its  reality,  stretches 
a gulf  which  may  be  sufficiently  spanned  for  our 
purpose  in  few  words;  for  when  Alexandria  fell, 
Egypt  became  once  more  erne  loped  in  “a  darkness 
that  might  be  felt.”  Under  the  Caliphs,  alike  at 
Damascus  and  Bagdad,  it  was  a mere  cipher.  The 
Fatima  dynasty  of  the  Saracen  Empire  gained  pos- 
session of  the  country  in  970,  under  which  Cairo 
was  founded,  and  became,  as  it  has  remained  ever 
since,  the  capital.  That  famous  Paynim,  Saladin, 
who  did  so  much  to  baffle  the  Crusaders,  obtained 
the  sovereignty  of  Egypt,  and  a new  era  seemed 
about  to  dawn  upon  the  land ; but  with  his  death 
the  Empire  was  dismembered,  and  Egypt  again 
lapsed  into  utter  insignificance. 

In  1250  came  the  regime  of  the  Mamelukes. 
They  were  Turkish  or  Caucasian  slaves,  who  became 
so  strong,  being  trusted  with  the  affairs  of  state  by 
their  enervated  masters,  that  they  rose  in  successful 
rebellion,  deposing  the  Sultan  who  feebly  reigned  at 
Cairo.  They  were  never  fully  conquered  until  Na- 
poleon won  the  victory  of  the  Pyramids,  July,  1798. 
The  Ottoman  Empire  succeeded,  however,  in  reduc- 
ing the  country  to  a partial  condition  of  vassalage. 
This  reduction  dates  from  1517,  Selim  being  the 
Ottoman  sovereign  under  whom  the  subjugation  was 
effected. 

The  present  Khedive  (Arabic  for  king),  Mehemet 
Tewfik,  came  to  the  throne  in  1879,  upon  the  abdi- 


Jd 


s A 


60 


EGYPT  AS  IT  IS. 


cation  of  liis  father,  Ismail.  He  is  the  sixth  ruler 
of  the  dynasty  founded  by  that  truly  great  man, 
Mehemet  Ali,  who  was  appointed  governor  of 
Egypt,  as  viceroy  of  the  Sultan  at  Constantinople, 
in  1806.  His  reign  as  a sovereign  began  five  years 
later.  Mehemet  Ali  remained  upon  the  throne  which 
he  himself  reared  until  1848.  His  eldest  son,  Ibra- 
him, died  the  same  year,  and  the  crown  passed  to 
Abbas,  Ali’s  grandson.  He  wore  it  until  1854,  when 
his  uncle,  Said,  a man  nine  years  his  junior,  suc- 
ceeded him.  In  1863  Ismail  came  to  the  throne,  a 
man  of  such  Oriental  extravagance,  both  in  public 


$500,000,000.  The  actual  control  of  the  nation  is 
in  the  hands  of  an  “International  Commission  of 
Liquidation,”  composed  of  seven  members.  The 
present  Khedive  has  an  annual  allowance  of  $750,- 
000  for  himself,  $250,000  for  his  deposed  father, 
and  $350,000  for  other  members  of  the  royal 
family. 

The  railroads  of  that  country  are  the  property  of 
the  state.  They  extend,  all  told,  about  a thousand 
miles.  The  great  public  work  of  Egypt,  belonging 
to  modern  times  and  practical  matters,  is  the  Suez 
canal.  It  has  a total  length  of  ninety-two  miles, 


Cairo. 


improvements  and  personal  or  household  habits, 
that  he  became  a hopeless  bankrupt.  His  abdica- 
tion was  the  result  brought  about  by  the  combined 
pressure  of  British  and  French  creditors.  One  of 
the  prodigalities  of  the  Khedive  was  an  agreement 
to  pay  the  Sultan  an  enormous  tribute  in  exchange 
for  more  perfect  independence,  for  the  indepen- 
dence achieved  by  force  in  1811  left  some  vestiges  of 
vassalage.  In  1866  the  almost  complete  disinthrall- 
ment  was  purchased  by  an  agreement  to  pay  a lib- 
eral annual  tribute  and  furnish  Turkey  in  time  of 
war  a contingent  of  Egyptian  soldiers.  In  every- 
thing else  the  separation  was  absolute. 

The  debt  of  Egypt  at  the  close  of  1880  was  about 


and  is  wide  and  deep  enough  for  the  passage  of 
large  vessels.  The  sidings  serve  the  same  purpose 
as  switches  on  single-track  railroads.  The  number 
of  vessels  which  passed  through  it  in  1879  was  1,477, 
with  a tonnage  of  3,236,942.  It  was  first  opened 
for  business  in  1869.  The  cost,  in  round  numbers, 
of  this  short  canal  was  $100,000,000,  so  difficult  was 
it  to  protect  the  channel  from  the  drifting  sand 
This  canal  was  a triumph  of  French  engineering, 
its  projector  and  constructor  having  been  M.  de  Les- 
seps,  the  indefatigable  head  of  the  Panama  canal 
project  now  being  pushed  for  the  uniting  of  the  two 
great  oceans.  At  the  present  time  the  Suez  canal 
is  under  British  control.  More  than  three-fourths 


L 


EGYPT  AS  IT  IS. 


6 1 


of  the  shipping  which  passed  through  the  canal  dur- 
ing its  first  decade  belonged  to  Great  Britain.  Port 
Said,  on  the  Mediterranean  end  of  the  route,  is  one 
terminus,  and  Suez,  on  the  Red  Sea,  the  other.  A 
new  town,  Ismailia,  came  into  existence  in  connec- 
tion with  the  canal.  None  of  these  towns,  however, 
can  boast  any  real  thrift  and  general  business. 

Egypt  has  only  two  cities  of  any  considerable  size, 
Cairo  and  Alexandria.  They  are  117  miles  apart. 
The  discovery  of  the  passage  to  India  by  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  in  1497,  was  afar  more  serious  blow 
to  Alexandria  than  its  capture  by  Amru.  Its  glory 


tions.  But  it  is  only  in  a commercial  point  of  view 
that  the  Alexandria  of  to-day  is  an  important  city. 

The  population  of  Cairo  is  about  350,000.  It  is 
the  religious  capital  of  Mohammedanism  It  is 
there  that  the  great  university  of  Islam  is  located. 
Not  less  than  ten  thousand  students  assemble  there 
to  study  the  Koran,  and  con  the  priestly  lore  of  the 
Crescent.  Saracenic  architecture  is  exhibited  in  its 
highest  degree  of  perfection  in  its  numerous  mosques 
and  minarets,  the  most  remarkable  of  the  former 
being  the  one  erected  by  Sultan  Tooloon,  in  879. 

An  ancient  Egyptian  proverb  exclaims,  “ What, 


Town  of  Suez. 


had  indeed  departed,  but  it  was  still  an  impor- 
tant mart  of  trade.  The  commerce  of  the  East 
flowed  through  its  port,  and  its  marvelous  light- 
house continued  to  be  the  great  beacon  of  commerce. 
After  Portuguese  enterprise  had  wrought  its  work  of 
revolution  the  city  dwindled  to  a population  of 
0,000  a century  ago.  But  since  then  it  has  received  a 
fresh  lease  of  life.  Ten  years  ago  the  population 
had  reached  220,000.  Besides  the  Pharos,  it  has  a 
breakwater  two  miles  long  which  furnishes  a road- 
stead for  a very  extensive  commerce  between  Eu- 
rope and  India.  From  its  wharfs  are  exported  large 
quantities  of  grain,  sugar,  cotton,  and  other  produc- 


want  ye  wine  who  have  Nilus  to  drink  of  7”  To  no 
other  country  is  any  river  anything  like  as  impor- 
tant as  the  Nile  is  to  Egypt.  This  mighty  stream 
was  long  a profound  mystery  as  to  its  source,  and 
a prolific  source  of  speculation,  no  less  than  a tempt- 
ing field  for  exploration.  It  is  still  somewhat  of  a 
mystery,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  river  is  formed  by 
the  junction  of  the  Blue  and  White  Nile  at  Kliar- 
toom,  the  capital  of  Nubia.  The  elevation  at  that 
point  above  the  level  of  the  sea  is  1188  feet.  After 
flowing  northerly  through  about  two  degrees  of  lat- 
itude, it  receives  a third  and  final  tributary  at  El 
Burner,  called  the  Black  Nile.  From  this  point  it 


7 


s>, 


\ 


k. 


6 2 


EGYPT  AS  IT  IS. 


descends,  in  a round-about  way,  througn  several  lat- 
itudes, forming  the  famous  Cataracts  of  the  Nile, 
the  last  being  at  Assonan,  the  boundary  between 
Nubia  and  Egypt.  For  about  fifteen  hundred 
miles  this  majestic  river  receives  no  tributary.  The 
White  Nile  is  believed  to  be  tire  parent  river.  It 
originates  in  a large  lake,  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  sit- 
uated in  equatorial  mountains. 

The  valley  of  the  Nile,  from  Philae  to  Cairo,  is 
hedged  about  by  chains  of  hills.  The  Delta  proper 
is,  however,  one  dead  level — a plain  without  so  much 


are  found  in  the  desert.  The  crocodile  and  the  hip- 
popotamus rarely  visit  the  lower  Nile.  Wild  hogs 
roam  in  the  marshes  bordering  the  Delta.  Camels, 
donkeys  and  mules  are  raised  in  large  quantities.  The 
principal  crops  of  the  farmers  are,  to  name  them  in 
the  order  of  their  importance,  cotton,  maize,  dur- 
ra,  beans,  wheat,  barley,  rice,  lintels,  lupine,  gar- 
den vegetables,  clover,  sugar-cane,  flax,  hemp,  to- 
bacco, sesame,  opium,  henna,  indigo,  safflower, 
roses,  melons,  oranges  and  bananas.  Sheep  are 
raised  largely,  and  it  is  a great  country  for  poultry. 


Port  Said,  and  the  Northern  End  of  the  Canal. 


as  a hillock.  The  desert  between  the  Nile  and  the 
Red  Sea  is  somewhat  diversified  by  hills.  The  usu- 
al rock  formation  of  the  country  is  limestone,  with 
some  granite  in  the  southern  portion.  The  only 
minerals  found  in  quantities  to  yield  revenue  arc 
salt,  natron  and  n re.  The  plants  which  nature 
produces  without  tillage  usually  have  hairy,  thorny 
exteriors.  The  palm-tree  flourishes  with  very  little 
cultivation.  Oranges,  figs,  and  tamarinds  abound 
and  are  of  an  excellent  quality.  Olive,  mulberry,  and 
poplar  trees  thrive  there. 

Zoologically  speaking,  Egypt  does  not  make  very 
much  of  a showing.  Gazelles,  hyenas,  and  jackals 


The  slave  trade  still  survives  in  Egypt  to  some 
extent,  but  it  is  being  suppressed  gradually,  and 
that  mainly  through  British  influence.  A system 
of  popular  education,  very  imperfect  and  inadequate, 
still  of  vast  advantage  to  the  rising  generation,  has 
been  adopted,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  hope  that 
Egypt  may  once  more  have  a place  among  the  really 
important  members  of  the  family  of  living  nations. 
Of  the  present  population,  a modern  writer  has  accu- 
rately, if  somewhat  floridly,  remarked  : “In  the  ill- 
paid  fellahs  who  cultivate  the  soil  and  work  the 
boats  and  water-wheels,  who  live  in  mud  hovels, 
wearing  very  little  clothing,  we  seethe  unprivileged 


FT 


\ 


EGYPT  AS  IT  IS. 


63 


£l£ 


class,  that  has  labored  under  various  masters  from 
very  early  times,  unnoticed  by  the  historian.  These 
are  the  same  in  the  form  of  the  skull  as  the  Galla 
tribe  of  east  Africa,  and  were  probably  the  earliest 
inhabitants  of  the  valley.  Such  were  the  builders 
of  the  pyramids,  as  we  learn  by  comparing  their 
heads  with  the  great  Sphinx.  They  suffer  under 
the  same  plagues  of  boils  and  blains,  of  lice  and  of 
flies,  as  in  the  time  of  Moses.  Their  bodies  are 
painted  with  various  colors,  pricked  into  their  skin, 
as  they  were  when  the  Israelites  were  forbidden  to 
make  any  marks  on  their  flesh. 

“ In  the  industrious  Copts,  the  Christians  of  the 
villages,  the  counting-house,  and  the  monastery, 
with  skull  and  features  half  European  and  half 
Eastern,  we  have  the  old  Egyptian  race  of  the  Delta, 
the  ruling  class,  such  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Psam- 
metichus  and  Shishank.  Between  Silsilis  and  the 
second  cataract  we  find,  under  the  name  of  Nubians, 
the  same  old  Egyptian  race,  but  less  mixed  with 
Greeks  or  Arabs.  Such  were  the  Nabatae  who  fought 
against  Diocletian,  and  such  in  features  were 
the  kings  of  Ethiopia,  Saba-Cothph,  and  Ergame- 
nes.  We  know  them  by  their  likeness  to  the  stat- 
ues, and  by  their  proud  contempt  of  the  Fellahs. 
They  were  both  zealous  Christians  under  Athana- 
sius; but  Christianity  has  only  remained  among  the 
mixed  race  of  the  Copts. 

“ To  the  east  of  the  Nile,  near  Cosseir,  and  again 
throughout  the  whole  of  Ethiopia  from  Alton  Sim- 
bel  to  Meroe,  are  the  Abalxleh  Arabs,  brave  and 
lawless.  These  were  the  Southern  enemies  con- 
quered by  Rameses,  and  they  often  fought  against 


the  Romans.  They  are  the  owners  of  the  camels  now, 
as  they  used  to  be,  and  are  the  carriers  across  the  sands 
of  the  desert.  To  the  south  of  Syene,  in  the  desert 
between  Ethiopia  and  the  Red  Sea,  are  the  less  civ- 
ilized marauding  Bishareen  Arabs,  the  Blemmyes 
and  Troglodytes  of  the  Greeks.  These  Arabs  seem 
to  be  less  at  home  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  than 
the  Copts  and  the  Nubians.  They  no  doubt  reach- 
ed the  valley  at  some  later  period,  when  the  others 
were  already  settled  there,  and  reached  not  by  pass- 
ing through  Egypt,  but  by  crossing  over  from  the 
Arabian  side  of  the  Red  Sea. 

“ In  Abyssinia  we  find  a people  in  features  and  in 
language  more  Hebrew  than  Arabic.  The  people 
Frementius  found  there  in  the  reign  of  Constantine 
and  the  people  for  whom  the  Ethiopic  version  of 
the  Bible  was  made,  whose  forefathers  readied  the 
country  in  trading  vessels  from  Ezion-geber  in  the 
reign  of  Solomon,  or  earlier. 

“Alexandria  is  still  peopled  with  sullen  Copts, 
clever  Greeks,  shabby-looking  Jews,  with  here  and 
there  a glossy  negro  in  a white  dress.  The  Chris- 
tian monks  live  in  peace  among  the  Moslem  der- 
vishes. The  ruling  class  who  walk  along  the  street 
with  proudest  and  firmest  step  are  the  Turks,  in  gay, 
many-colored  clothing,  while  the  poor  of  the  city,  as 
of  old,  are  the  half-naked,  brown-skinned  Fellahs.” 
To  such  a depth  has  the  ancient  mother  of  civiliza- 
tion fallen.  The  picture  is  not  overdrawn.  To  the 
initial  observation  of  this  chapter,  may  be  appositely 
added,  that  in  comparative  importance  as  a member  of 
the  household  of  nations,  present  Egypt  is  the  great- 
est conceivable  contrast  to  the  Egypt  of  antiquity. 


■yjo. 


ETHIOPIA 

aHD  THE  PH(EN\C\^S 


CHAPTER  IX 


Ethiopian  and  Phcenician  Conjectures— Ethiopia  and  Egypt — Elective  Monarchy  and 
Glimpses  op  Civilization — Christianity— The  Arts  and  Sciences  in  Ethiopia — Modern 
Ethiopia,  or  Abyssinia— Pikenicia,  and  Phcenician  Cities — Tyre  and  Sidon — Commerce 
and  Enterprise— Phcenician  Colonies — The  Arts  and  Industries  op  the  Piicenicians — 
The  Disappearance  op  this  People. 


F the  honored  names  in  the 
list  of  ancient  nations  and 
peoples,  none  are  more  shad- 
owy and  vague  than  Ethiopia 
and  the  Phoenicians.  The 
former  stands  for  a well-de- 
fined region  of  country,  pri- 
marily, but  is  often  confound- 


ed with  Africa  in  general,  and  Egypt 
in  particular ; the  latter,  applied  to  a 
people  who  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
had  an  abiding  habitation.  The  Ethi- 
opians occupied  a land  now  penned  up 
and  isolated,  but  once  the  half-way 
house  between  interior  Africa  and 
India.  There  was,  indeed,  a Phoenicia, 
but  the  Phoenicians  were  free  rovers 
of  the  seas.  Herein  the  two  present  the  sharpest 
possible  contrast ; but  in  the  estimation  of  many, 
they  are  equally  entitled  to  honor ; one  for  origina- 
ting civilization  (an  unsubstantiated  claim  for  Ethi- 
opia), and  the  other  for  its  dissemination.  Books  of 
ponderous  size  and  great  erudition,  if  somewhat  fan- 
ciful in  theories,  have  been  written  to  show  that 
even  Egypt  and  Judea  derived  their  civilization 
from  Ethiopia  or  Cush,  while  whole  libraries  have 
been  published  to  prove  that  the  promulgation  of 
progressive  ideas  must  be  accredited  to  the  enter- 
prising Phoenicians.  Without  going  into  the  dis- 


cussion of  those  speculative  themes,  it  may  be  of 
interest  in  this  chapter  to  familiarize  the  reader  with 
the  lands  and  peoples  suggested  by  the  heading. 

In  that  southeast  region  where  the  sources  of 
the  Nile  have  been  sought,  mountains  abound,  and 
there  are  also  rich  valleys.  Erom  time  immemorial, 
two  distinct  races  have  been  found  there,  the  Ethi- 
opians and  the  Arabs.  The  latter  were  ever  nomads, 
but  the  former  dwelt  in  cities,  possessed  governments 
and  laws,  left  monumental  ruins  distinctively  their 
own.  and  were  once  far-famed  for  their  arts  and  cul- 
ture. The  Nubian  valley  was  once  as  fertile  as  the 
delta  of  the  Nile.  It  is  so  still,  except  as  the  sands 
of  the  adjacent  deserts  have  drifted  on  and  overlaid 
the  original  soil.  Cataracts  impede  navigation  and 
make  a strong  barrier  between  Ethiopia  and  Egypt. 
Caravans  have  always  been  the  dependence  of  Nu- 
bia for  commercial  intercourse.  Camels  and  drom- 
edaries are  river  and  sea  to  that  country.  At  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  Nubian  valley,  the  river 
spreads  itself  and  incloses  numerous  fertile  islands. 
Along  the  entire  length  of  this  valley,  one  may  even 
now  encounter  a succession  of  grand  ruins,  monu- 
ments which  rival  in  beauty  and  exceed  in  sublimity 
the  marvels  of  Thebes.  But  for  all  that,  Ethiopia 
can  give  no  intelligible  account  of  its  youth  and 
usefulness.  Those  monuments  are  dumb.  No  Bo- 
setta  stone  has  unsealed  their  lips.  We  know  from 
Egyptian  records,  that  the  Pharaohs  early  invaded 


71 


(64) 


5|7 


ETHIOPIA  AND  THE  PHCENICIANS. 


65 


the  territory,  subjugated  the  people  and  enriched 
their  own  country  with  the  treasures  of  the  van- 
quished. 

From  scattered  and  brief  mention  here  and  there 
in  the  remotest  ages  of  history,  it  is  evident  that  the 
Ethiopians  were  a warlike  people,  and  at  one  time 
masters  of  the  navigation  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  a part 
of  the  peninsula  of  Arabia.  They  were  indeed  con- 
quered by  Egypt,  but  later,  when  Egypt’s  conqueror, 
Cambyses,  attempted  to  extend  the  sway  of  the 
Medes  and  Persians  to  that  country,  he  failed.  Nat- 
ural barriers  were  more  potent,  however,  than  hu- 
man prowess. 

At  one  period  of  Egyptian  history  the  monarchs 
of  that  country  were  Ethiopians.  This  Cushite  dy- 
nasty furnished  three  kings,  Sabbakon,  Sevechus, 
and  Tarakus,  the  latter  called  in  the  Hebrew  histo- 
ry, Tirhakah.  In  the  reign  of  Psammeticus,  the 
entire  warrior  caste  of  Egypt  migrated  to  Ethiopia 
and  became  the  military  instructors  of  the  people. 

The  Ethiopian  kings  were  elected.  The  electors 
were  the  priests,  for  there,  as  everywhere,  the  church 
sought  to  rule  the  state.  A singular  custom  pre- 
vailed. If  the  ecclesiastics  wanted  a change  in  the 
administration  they  dispatched  a courier  to  the  mon- 
arch with  orders  to  die.  So  potent  was  superstition 
and  priestcraft,  that  this  mandate  appears  never  to 
have  been  resisted  until  as  late  as  the  reign  of  the 
second  Ptolemy.  During  that  sovereign’s  rule  in 
Egypt,  Ergamenes,  of  Ethiopia,  received  orders  to 


1 3 

1 An  Ethiopian  princess  traveling  in  a planKtram,  or  car  drawn  by  ox- 
en. 2 Over  her  is  a sort  of  umbrella.  .3  An  attendant.  4 The  char- 
ioteer or  driver. 

be  his  own  executioner.  But  he  was  a Greek  phi- 
losopher by  education,  and  instead  of  meekly  obey- 
ing, lie  slew  the  priests  and  instituted  a new  religion. 


This  country,  called  also  Meroe,  was  not  averse  to 
female  sovereignty,  if  a stranger  to  female  suffrage. 
More  than  one  queen  ruled  the  land  of  Cush.  The 
Queen  of  Sheba  is  supposed  to  have  been  one  of  the 
number,  and  certain  it  is  that  Candace,  who  made 
war  upon  Augustus  Caesar,  was  one  of  the  most 
illustrious  sovereigns  of  antiquity,  scant  as  is  our 
knowledge  of  her.  She  was  indeed  defeated  by  the 
world-conquering  legions  of  Rome,  but  she  was  able 
to  secure  terms  of  peace  which  were  highly  honora- 
ble, and  in  strong  contrast  with  the  tragic  fate  of 
Cleopatra. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  Ergamenes  introduced 
the  worship  of  Jehovah,  among  other  gods,  for  un- 
der Queen  Candace  (the  second  probably  of  this 
name)  we  find,  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  that 
her  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  as  the  officer  would 
be  called  in  this  country,  traveled  by  chariot  to  Jeru- 
salem for  purposes  of  worship.  The  account  rep- 
resents him  as  reading  the  scriptures  as  he  jour- 
neyed (the  Septuagint,  probably),  and  as  having 
been  converted  to  Christianity  by  Philip. 

Traces  of  the  Christian  religion  are  to  be  found  in 
Ethiopia,  but  the  Ethiopians  took  more  readily  to  the 
worship  of  Islam’s  prophet  than  to  the  fellowship  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  That  once  grand  and  powerful 
country  long  since  lapsed  into  barbarism  and  ceased 
to  possess  interest  or  importance. 

We  cannot  better  close  this  account  of  Ethiopia  in 
its  relations  to  antiquity  than  by  quoting  Dr.  Tay- 
lor’s comments  upon  its  arts,  commerce  and  manu- 
factures: “ The  pyramids  of  Ethiopia,  though  in 
ferior  in  size  to  those  of  Middle  Egypt,  are  said  to 
surpass  them  in  architectural  beauty,  and  the  sepul- 
chers evince  the  greatest  purity  of  taste.  But  the  most 
important  and  striking  proof  of  the  progress  of  the 
people  in  the  art  of  building  is  their  knowledge  and 
employment  of  the  arch.  The  Ethiopian  vasesdepiet- 
ed  on  the  monuments,  though  not  richly  ornamental, 
display  a taste  and  elegance  of  form  that  has  never 
been  surpassed  in  sculpture  and  coloring.  The  edi- 
fices of  Meroe,  though  not  so  profusely  adorned,  rival 
the  choicest  specimens  of  Egyptian  art.  It  was  the 
entrepot  of  trade  between  the  North  and  the  South, 
between  the  East  and  the  West.  It  does  not  appear 
that  fabrics  were  woven  in  Ethiopia  as  extensively 
as  in  Egypt:  but  the  manufactures  of  metals  must 
have  been  at  least  as  flourishing  But  Meroe  owed 
its  greatness  less  to  the  produce  of  its  soil  or  its  fac- 


\ 


ETHIOPIA  AND  THE  PHOENICIANS. 


66 


tories  than  to  its  position  on  the  intersection  of  the 
leading  caravan-routes  of  ancient  commerce.  The 
great  changes  in  these  lines  of  trade,  the  devasta- 
tions of  successive  conquerors,  and  revolutions,  the 
fanaticism  of  the  Saracens,  and  the  destruction  of 
the  fertile  soil  by  the  encroachments  of  the  desert- 
sands,  are  causes  sufficient  for  the  ruin  of  such  a 
powerful  empire.  Its  decline  was  probably  accele- 
rated by  the  pressure  of  the  nomad  hordes,  who  took 
advantage  of  its  weakness  to  plunder  its  defenseless 
citizens.” 


with  England  which  began  early  in  18G8.  In  a few 
months  the  conquest  was  complete,  and  rather  than 
yield  to  Sir  Robert  Napier’s  demand  for  uncon- 
ditional surrender,  Theodore  committed  suicide. 
Early  in  his  reign  he  had  shown  some  high  qualities 
of  statesmanship,  and  inspired  the  hope  that  Ethi- 
opia would  once  more  become  a fairly  prosperous 
country ; but  that  hope  was  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment. Gondar,  the  capital  and  chief  city,  once  had 
a population  of  50,000,  but  now  it  has  hardly  more 
than  one-tenth  of  that  number. 


Coast  of  Tyie. 


The  population  of  Abyssinia,  the  present  Ethio- 
pia, so  far  as  there  is  a modern  country  correspond- 
ing to  ancient  Cush, is  about  12,000,000.  The  com- 
mon  people  tire  industrious  husbandmen,  belonging, 
for  the  most  part,  to  the  Abyssinian  Church,  a branch 
of  Christianity  which  retains  the  Oriental  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision, as  no  less  binding  than  baptism  and  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord’s  Supper.  The  government 
is  an  absolute  monarchy.  In  1855,  Theodore  II. 
was  crowned  king  of  Abyssinia,  and  under  him  the 
country  came  into  considerable  prominence,  lie 
conceived  the  idea  of  conquering  Egypt.  This  really 
chimerical  idea,  and  the  imprisonment  of  certain 
British  subjects,  finally  involved  Theodore  in  a war 


"“7 


Phoenicia  was  an  insignificant  tract  of  land  in  the 
north  of  Palestine,  along  the  coast  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  of  uncertain  extent.  A plain  twenty- 
eight  miles  in  length  and  averaging  about  one  mile 
in  width,  constituted  Phoenicia  proper,  hemmed  in 
between  the  sea  and  the  mountains.  Later,  the  term 
applied  to  a strip  of  country  120  miles  long  and 
some  twenty  miles  wide.  The  modern  Beirut  is 
within  its  limits.  So  were  the  old  cities  of  Byblus, 
Tripolis,  and  Aradnus.  But  the  cities  which  made 
it  illustrious  were  Tyre  and  Sidon,  or  Zidon,  prover- 
bial in  the  days  of  our  Savior  for  their  wickedness. 
Both  were  great  commercial  cities,  less  than  twenty 
miles  distant  from  each  other.  The  modern  name 


ETHIOPIA  AND  THE  PHCENICIANS. 


67 


Q> 

"71 


of  Sidon  is  Saida.  Tyre  is  now  in  utter  ruin.  It 
was  overthrown  by  Alexander  the  Great,  and  its 
destruction  prepared  the  way  for  the  supremacy 
of  Alexandria.  All  the  other  cities  of  Phoenicia 
accepted  the  Grecian  yoke  without  a struggle.  Tyre 
regained  somewhat  its  ancient  prosperity,  but  never 
its  relative  importance.  Its  complete  destruction 
occurred  during  the  Crusades.  The  people  became 
convinced  that  their  position  was  a most  unfortu- 
nate one,  being  especially  liable  to  military  depreda- 
tion, and  so,  as  a Venetian  historian  expresses  it,  “ the 
Tyrians,  one  day  at  vespers,  leaving  the  city  empty, 
without  the  stroke  of  a sword,  without  the  tumult 
of  war,  embarked  on  board  their  vessels  and  sailed 
away,  no  more  to  return.”  That  was  a proceeding 
eminently  in  keeping  with  the  Phoenician  spirit  of 
adventure.  They  had  always  been  a sea-faring  peo- 
ple. 

Thev  dwelt  along  a coast  indented  with  harbors  and 
bays,  well  supplied  with  timber  suitable  to  shipping 
purposes.  The  famous  “Cedars  of  Lebanon  ” belonged 
to,  and  largely  explain  the  maritime  enterprise  of, 
the  Phoenicians.  Their  cities  were  not  parts  of  one 
great  empire,  but  free  and  independent  states,  joined 
together  by  the  loose  tie  of  a confederate  league, 
Sidon  being  the  head-center  at  first,  and  afterwards 
Tyre.  The  people  were  sailors  and  merchants,  and 
the  dividing  line  between  piracy  and  commerce  was 
vague  and  uncertain. 

The  earliest  authentic  history  of  the  Phoenicians, 
is  the  account  of  the  reign  of  Abica  of  Tyre  (B.  C. 
1050).  That  was  in  the  days  of  David.  His  son 
and  heir,  Hiram,  was  a broad-minded  sovereign,  as 
his  negotiations  with  David  and  Solomon  show. 
Under  him.  Tyre  was  the  commercial  capital  of  the 
world.  One  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  Carthage 
was  founded.  It  was  an  offshoot  of  Tyre,  and 


served  an  important  purpose  in  the  westward  exten- 
sion of  commerce.  Its  struggle  with  Rome  for  the 
supremacy  of  the  world  belongs  to  a later  period  of 
this  history. 

Apart  from  that  struggle,  known  as  the  Punic 
Wars,  the  Phoenicians  were  content  to  confine  their 
ambition  to  the  water.  That  was  their  element. 
Of  course  they  had  a large  land  trade,  for  it  was 
necessary  to  their  merchant  marine.  That  trade 
had  three  branches, — the  Arabian,  which  included 
the  Egyptian,  and  that  with  the  Indian  seas ; the 
Babylonian,  or  the  heart  of  Central  Asia  and  North 
India ; the  Armenian,  including  what  would  now  be 
called  Southern  Russia.  What  their  ships  did  was 
to  bridge  the  watery  gulfs,  which  neither  camels  nor 
the  fragile  boats  of  the  Nile  could  cross,  and  thus 
maintained  commerce  between  peoples  otherwise 
isolated  from  each  other.  Vast  caravans  from 
“ Araby  the  Blessed”  brought  frankincense,  myrrh, 
cassia,  gold,  and  precious  stones,  cinnamon,  ivory, 
ebony,  and  similar  merchandise.  Like  the  Jew  of 
to-day,  the  Phoenician  was  to  be  found  wherever 
there  was  money  to  be  made  in  traffic,  and  since 
commerce  is  the  great  agency  in  the  advancement 
of  civilization,  the  corsairs  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  were, 
in  effect,  however  mercenary  their  designs,  the  great 
evangelists  of  antiquity,  missionaries  of  learning 
and  progress.  They  submitted  to  Nebuchadnezzar 
without  serious  resistance,  and  later,  to  Persia,  but 
all  the  while  maintained  commercial  liberty.  The 
payment  of  tribute  was  exacted  and  complied  with. 

All  along  the  Mediterranean,  Phoenician  colonies 
were  established,  and  trading-posts  grew  into  cities. 
These  colonies  were  to  be  found  on  either  shore,  and 
on  mainland  and  island.  They  even  pushed  their  ad- 
venturous keels  through  the  straits  of  Gibraltar,  estab- 
lishing trade  with  the  Britons  and  the  Scandinavians. 


_s> 


At 


THE  JEWS. 


CHAPTER  X. 


A Peculiar  People — The  Fatherhood  of  Abraham — From  Isaac  to  Moses — The  Great  Law- 
giver— The  Period  of  the  Judges — Saul  and  David — Solomon;  King,  Poet  and  Philoso- 
pher— Disunion  and  Subjugation — The  Restoration  and  the  Maccabees — Under  the 
Roman  Rod — The  Destruction  of  Jerusalem — Persecution  in  Dispersion — Improved  Con- 
dition of  the  Jews — Jerusalem  no  longer  their  Dream  of  Paradise. 


IIE  ob  ject  of  this  chapter  is 
to  bring  to  mind  the  more 
important  features  of  scrip- 
tural history,  and  such  ma- 
terial trials  and  experiences 
as  throw  light  thereupon, 
reserving  for  another  con- 
nection that  crowning  glory  of 
the  Jews,  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
mission.  Christianity  belongs  to 
the  present,  albeit  its  roots  draw 
nourishment  from  the  past.  A 
Hebrew  chronological  table  will 
be  found  in  the  Tables  of  Refer- 
ences. 

In  taking  a general  survey 
of  the  whole  world,  past  and 
present,  one  nationality  stands  out  conspic- 
uous for  its  distinctive  characteristics.  The 
Jews  are  that  nationality.  They  are  indeed  “ a 
peculiar  people.”  Despised  and  persecuted,  dis- 
persed and  maligned  for  nearly  two  thousand 
years,  they  remain  steadfast  and  apart,  clinging 
with  tireless  tenacity  to  their  immemorial  customs, 
the  Hebraic  blood  unmixed  and  pure,  always  and 
everywhere.  Wherever  found  (and  they  are  almost 
ubiquitous)  they  are  as  distinctly  “the  children  of 
Israel”  as  if  intermarriage  with  other  nations  were 


an  absolute  impossibility.  With  a history  as  spe- 
cific as  if  it  were  the  record  of  a day,  they  take  us 
back  to  the  very  foundation  of  all  existence,  and 
show  us  the  founder  of  the  nation,  Abraham,  in  his 
relations  to  the  whole  human  family.  He  was  an 


An  Arab  Sheik. 


Arab  Sheik  and  belonged  to  a tribe  of  Bedouin 
shepherds,  which  sacrificed  their  first-born  to  ap- 
pease the  gods  of  their  idolatry.  Abraham,  who 
was  born  about  B.  C.  2200,  enjoined  upon  his  de- 
scendants the  substitution  of  a sacrificial  beast  for 
a human  being,  assuring  them  that  lie  did  so  by  the 
express  command  of  Jehovah,  whom  they  should 
worship  in  all  singleness  of  devotion.  The  story  of 
the  rescue  of  Isaac  by  divine  Interposition  is  told 


FT 


(68) 


Ll 


THE  JEWS. 


69 


with  minuteness,  and  must  have  produced  a pro- 
found impression.  Then,  too,  he  took  care  to  re- 
move to  a region  of  country  remote  from  his  ances- 
tral home.  When,  in  later  time,  the  history  of  the 
Jews  began  to  be  written,  the  record  was  carried 
back  to  the  very  morning  of  creation,  and  each  gen- 
eration given  from  Adam  down,  together  with 
many  details,  such  as  the  sacrifice  of  Abel,  the  wick- 
edness of  the  antediluvians,  the  Deluge,  the  Tower 
of  Babel,  and  other  incidents  too  familiar  to  be 
mentioned  here,  but  all  of  which,  taken  together, 
tended  to  strengthen  the  hold  upon  the  children  of 
Abraham  of  the  religious  changes  instituted,  and 
out  of.  which  the  distinctive  nationality  of  the  Jews 
grew,  by  a gradual  process  of  development.  The 
oneness  of  the  Deity,  and  Abraham’s  abhorrence  of 
human  sacrifices,  may  be  called  the  Joachim  and 
Boaz  of  the  Hebrew  temple,  the  parent  thoughts  of 
the  very  nation  itself.  Isaac  did  not  make  any 
marked  contribution  to  the  nationality.  He  lacked 
the  vigor  and  the  personal  power  of  his  father  Abra- 
ham, and  his  son  Jacob,  or  Israel.  The  latter  saw 


47  /L~  = v*'  tf  uari . q c~\ 


Arrival  of  Jacob’s  Family  in  Egypt. 

his  somewhat  numerous  family,  with  their  vast 
flocks,  comfortably  quartered  on  the  rich  pastures  of 
Lower  Egypt — Goshen — while  one  of  the  sons  was 
prime  minister  of  that  great  kingdom.  That  must 
have  been  a proud  day  for  the  patriarch.  But  he 
was  not  unmindful  of  the  great  mission  of  fidelity 
to  Jehovah  which  his  grandfather  inaugurated,  and 
with  his  dying  breath  he  besought  his  children  to  be 
true  to  the  great  trust  of  nationality  bequeathed  to 
them.  His  eye  of  faith  saw  his  descendants  wend- 
ing their  way  hack  from  Egypt  to  Canaan,  there  to 
make  trial  of  a pure  theocracy.  It  was  four  hun- 
dred years  before  that  hope  was  realized.  Some 
idea  of  what  the  Jews  learned  during  those  centu- 
ries may  be  inferred  from  a perusal  of  Egyptian 


history.  How  much  of  that  time  was  spent  in  sla- 
very we  know  not,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  He- 
brews had  the  full  benefit  of  the  discipline  of  bond- 
age, and  also  of  association  on  terms  of  amity  with 
the  most  civilized  people  then  on  the  globe,  and 
that  by  the  time  they  returned  to  Palestine  they 
were  incomparably  better  prepared  for  the  responsi- 
bilities of  nationality  than  they  would  have  been 
had  they  remained  wandering  shepherds,  dwelling 
in  tents  and  seeking  new  pasturage  as  immediate 
wants  might  dictate. 

Moses  was  a greater  genius  than  Joseph,  or  any 
of  his  ancestors.  He  was  a thorough  scholar,  famil- 
iar with  all  the  learning  of  the  day,  and  the  laws, 
customs,  and  history  of  Egypt.  To  learning  he 
added  reflection.  It  was  not  in  vain  that  he  fed  the 
flocks  of  Jethro  forty  years.  During  those  years  of 
seclusion  he  had  time  for  meditation  and  the  devel- 
opment of  vast  ideas.  When,  at  length,  the  time 
came  for  him  to  lead  the  Hebrews  out  of  bondage, 
he  was  prepared  to  be  their  great  lawgiver.  What- 
ever view  one  may  take  of  inspiration,  it  must  be 
conceded  that  the  preliminary  experience  of  Moses 
was  admirably  adapted  to  prepare  him  for  the  great 
work  in  hand,  and  here  it  may  be  well  to  say  that  it 
would  be  improper  in  a work  of  this  kind  to  enter  at 
all  upon  the  discussion  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Bi- 
ble or  the  special  interposition  of  Providence  in  Jew- 
ish affairs. 

Counting  the  years  of  captivity  in  Babylon,  the 
Hebrew  nation  dwelt  in  Canaan  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred years.  It  was  B.  C.  1450  when  they  crossed 
Jordan  equipped  with  an  elaborate  code  of  laws  and 
system  of  worship.  It  was  to  be  a theocracy,  the 
government  acknowledging  no  king  but  Jehovah, 
the  priesthood  being  the  nearest  approach  to  royalty. 
Moses  was  not  the  founder  of  a dynasty.  From  in- 
fancy to  manhood  the  adopted  child  of  a king’s 
daughter,  he  still  had  no  sympathy  with  the  pomp, 
pageantry  and  luxuries  of  court.  He  tried  to  pre- 
serve the  Hebrews  from  such  an  incubus.  For  a 
few  hundred  years  the  experiment  of  a pure  theoc- 
racy, with  leaders  called  “ Judges,”  worked  well ; at 
least,  it  gave  satisfaction;  but  the  people  finally 
wearied  of  such  Arcadian  simplicity.  There  were 
fifteen  judges,  ending  with  Samuel,  and  including 
one  woman,  Deborah,  and  that  strongest  of  men, 
Samson.  That  was  a period  of  much  conflict  and 
not  much  real  progress.  The  books  of  Joshua  and 


<5" 


THE  JEWS. 


Judges  reveal  to  us  a people  on  the  brink  of  utter 
barbarism,  sunk  in  the  depths  of  ignorance,  and  in 
imminent  danger  of  lapsing  permanently  into  idola- 
try. It  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury before  Christ,  that  Joshua  led  the  people 
across  Jordan,  and  the  last  of  the  eleventh  century 
when  Samuel,  the  last  of  the  judges,  delivered  up 
the  reins  of  government.  To  that  period  belonged 
Deborah  with  her  song,  Gideon  and  his  band,  Jepli- 
thali  and  his  daughter,  and  Samson  the  strong ; all 
so  familiar  to  the  reader  as  to  call  for  only  the  brief- 
est mention. 

The  first  king,  Saul,  was  evidently  chosen  for  his 
great  stature,  while  his  successor,  David,  was  a man 
of  genius.  From  the  character  given  Saul  one  is 
not  surprised  that  lie  failed  to  found  a dynasty. 
David  is  spoken  of  as  a man  after  God’s  own  heart, 
by  which  it  is  not  implied  that  Deity  approved  the 
many  wrongs  he  did,  but  that  lie  was  the  right  kind 
of  man  to  develop  the  rude  Hebrews  into  an  im- 
portant nation,  and  gain  for  that  people  recognition 
among  the  family  of  nations.  It  was  during  the 
reign  of  this  sovereign  that  the  Jews  were  able  to 
secure  diplomatic  connection  with  Egypt,  Phoenicia 
and  other  nations  in  the  vicinity.  David  was  a great 
warrior,  a true  statesman,  and  a good  poet.  He  had 
a versatile  genius.  Some  of  his  psalms  are  too  mil- 
itary and  vehement  to  suit  the  present  taste,  but 
that  he  is  entitled  to  high  rank  in  the  world  of  poe- 
sy is  indisputable.  As  a statesman  he  was  too 
much  devoted  to  his  own  particular  tribe,  Judah,  in 
distinction  from  Israel  as  a whole.  The  dismem- 
berment of  the  kingdom  followed  at  the  death  of 
his  successor  and  son,  Solomon.  The  nation  was 
never  reunited  politically,  but  all  tribal  distinctions 
were  ages  ago  obliterated,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
discriminate  between  the  Jews  proper  and  the  Ten 
Tribes. 

Solomon  was  another  great  genius.  The  prov- 
erbs attributed  to  him  may  be  a collection  of  na- 
tional proverbs,  but  the  song  which  bears  his  name 
attests  the  exuberance  of  his  youthful  imagina- 
tion, while  the  Ecclesiastes  attests  the  profound 
philosophy  of  his  old  age.  The  young  man  who 
could  sing  only  of  love,  and  who  had  every  oppor- 
tunity for  enjoyment,  recorded  in  his  old  age  the 
utter  vanity  of  earth.  He  was  the  great  poet  and 
the  one  philosopher  of  old  Judea. 

From  the  death  of  Solomon  to  the  overthrow  of 


the  independence  of  both  branches  of  the  Hebrew 
nation,  about  four  hundred  years,  the  Jews  do  not 
seem  to  have  made  much  progress.  They  certainly 
made  no  impression  upon  the  outside  world.  It  was 
a constant  warfare  between  monotheism  and  poly- 
theism. The  people  seemed  to  be  infatuated  with 
other  religions,  and  in  perpetual  peril  of  losing  their 
peculiar  ideas,  and  of  merging  in  the  common  herd 
of  idolatry.  But  captivity  in  Babylon  cured  them 
of  all  disposition  to  forsake  Jehovah.  This  was  a 
very  remarkable  fact,  quite  inexplicable,  indeed ; but 
whatever  the  reason,  it  is  certain  that  those  Jews 
who  returned  from  the  captivity  were  cured  of  all 
leaning  towards  other  gods.  A few  of  the  older 
people  could  remember  the  old  city  of  Jerusalem 
with  its  magnificent  temple,  and  the  horrors  of  the 
siege,  the  relentless  cruelty  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
the  sins  for  which  the  people  were  punished.  But 
for  the  most  part,  all  was  new  to  the  restored  peo- 
ple. It  is  thought  by  many  that  the  Jews  had  no 
literature  before  this  time,  that  the  history,  laws, 
and  poetry  of  the  nation  had  been  preserved  and 
handed  down  orally,  but  this  is  not  probable.  It  is 
no  doubt  true,  however,  that  contact  for  two  gener- 
ations with  the  learned  and  polished  Babylonians, 
had  been  of  incalculable  advantage  to  them,  and 
very  likely  portions  of  the  history  were  written  for 
the  first  time  bv  Ezra,  the  scribe.  His  name  is 
borne  by  only  one  book,  and  several  books  are 
anonymous.  He  may  have  written  those,  and  edited 
new  editions,  as  we  say,  of  all  the  Hebrew  literature 
of  that  date,  and  all  but  a few  of  the  minor  proph- 
ets antedated  Ezra. 

Several  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  relate  to  the 
captivity  and  the  restoration,  after  which  the  Bib- 
lical record  is  almost  silent.  Those  of  the  minor 
prophets,  which  belong  to  the  later  period,  throw 
very  little  historical  light.  It  was  in  B.  C.  536, 
that  the  Hebrews  were  authorized  by  Cyrus  to  re- 
turn to  Judea,  and  many  of  them  did  return  under 
the  leadership  of  Zerubbabel.  They  formed  a Per- 
sian province  or  satrapy,  and  so  remained  for  over 
two  hundred  years,  the  high  priests  being  allowed 
to  act  as  governors,  usually.  The  yoke  of  Persia 
was  light.  Alexander  the  Great  received  the  sub- 
mission of  Jerusalem,  and  after  his  death  Ptolemy 
Soter  took  the  city,  carrying  away  one  hundred 
thousand  captives.  Henceforth,  until  the  Romans 
came  into  possession  of  it,  Judea  was  the  prey 


THE  JEWS. 

< I 


of  rival  powers,  now  Egypt  and  now  Syria.  Anti- 
ochus  and  the  Ptolemies  coveted  it,  and  each 
thought  they  had  a claim  upon  it.'  In  B.  C.  1G9, 
Antiochus  Epiphanes  of  Syria  took  and  plundered 
the  city  of  Jerusalem,  massacred  vast  numbers  of 
the  people,  and  desecrated  the  holy  places.  The 
sacrilege  even  more  than  the  cruelties  of  the  Syri- 
an despoilers  aroused  the  national  indignation. 

The  Maccabean  wars  followed,  in  which  the  Jews 
under  the  Maccabees  showed  great  heroism  and 


71 


bloody  massacre  followed.  Herod  was  successful. 
This  inhuman  tyrant  died  in  B.  0.  3,  and  his  suc- 
cessor, Archelaus,  was  the  Herod  who  slaughtered 
the  innocents,  in  the  fiendish  hope  of  killing  the  in- 
fant Jesus.  In  A.  U.  6,  lie  was  banished  for  his 
cruelties.  Then  the  scepter  departed  from  Judea, 
and  the  next  ruler  was  a Roman  Procurator. 
Among  the  latter  rulers  was  Pontius  Pilate.  In 
A.  D.  37,  Agrippa  was  made  king  of  Judea,  but 
upon  his  death,  seven  vears  later,  the  pro-consul  of 


j 

J.  -- 

V'  <v 


Jerusalem,  from  Mount  of  Olives. 


valor.  Under  Judas  Maccabees,  favorable  terms  of 
peace  were  secured,  lasting,  however,  only  a short 
time.  The  Syrian  power  was  irresistible  by  the 
Jews.  When  (B.  C.  r63)  Pompey  the  Great  de- 
manded the  submission  of  the  Jews  to  Roman  sway 
he  was  hailed  as  a deliverer.  But  a few  years  later 
another  Roman,  Crassus,  plundered  the  temple, 
robbing  it  of  vast  treasures.  Troublous  times 
again  prevailed.  The  Asmodean  family  ruled  as 
subject  kings,  and  had  done  so  for  over  one  hun- 
dred years,  but  in  B.  C.  37,  Herod  led  a Roman 
army  in  an,  assault  upon  Jerusalem  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  dethroning  the  ruling  dynasty.  A 


Syria  had  Judea  within  his  jurisdiction,  and  it  has 
been  a part  of  Syria  ever  since. 

In  A.  1).  GO,  a rebellion  broke  out  against  Ro- 
man authority  in  Cassarea,  a city  established  by 
the  Romans  among  the  Jews.  Vespasian  marched 
GO, 000  soldiers  into  Judea  to  quell  the  uprising. 
After  two  years  of  ineffectual  warfare  hostilities 
were  suspended  until  A.  D.  70,  when  Titus,  the  son 
of  Vespasian  (the  latter  being  then  Emperor  of 
Rome)  laid  siege  to  the  city,  and  after  a desperate 
resistance  took  it.  So  stubborn  had  been  the  de- 
fense that  Titus  determined  to  destroy  the  Jews, 
root  and  branch,  lie  razed  their  sacred  city  to  the 


9 


v 


■ef’V 


72 


THE  JEWS. 


ground  and  dispersed  the  people.  From  this  time 
on  they  have  been  a nation  without  a country. 

The  history  of  the  Jews  in  dispersion  is  the  story 
of  cruelty  and  injustice  carried  to  the  utmost  verge. 
Rome  persecuted  them  because  they  were  such  rig- 
id adherents  to  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  all  other  deities.  It  was  the  custom  to 
deify  the  dead  emperors,  and  pay  to  them  certain 
homage,  which  to  a Hebrew  would  be  idolatry.  To 
the  Roman  government,  refusal  to  worship  as  pre- 
scribed by  the  authorities  was  treason.  The  Jews 
were  free  to  worship  their  own  God  in  their  own 
way,  and  the  Roman  mind  could  not  see  why  they 
should  object  to  paying  the  prescribed  respect  to 
the  memory  of  deceased  emperors.  Out  of  this 
state  of  affairs  grew  bloody  persecutions  which  con- 
tinued down  to  the  days  of  Constantine.  The 
Christians  could  appreciate  the  conscientious  scru- 
ples of  the  Hebrews.  Indeed,  they  shared  them, 
and  were  herein  on  a common  level  with  them. 
They,  too,  had  been  persecuted  much  and  often  for 
refusal  to  conform  to  the  religious  requirements  of 
the  .State.  But  none  the  less,  they  proved  more 
cruel  in  their  treatment  of  the  Jews  than  the  pa- 
gans had.  It  was  for  a very  different  reason.  In- 
stead of  being  very  grateful  to  them  for  being  the 
“ peculiar  people”  from  whom  they  had  derived 
their  sacred  book,  their  Deity  and  their  Savior, 
the  Christians  seemed  only  to  remember  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  crucified  at  the  instigation  of  a Jewish 
mob.  That  all  the  patriarchs,  prophets  and  apos- 
tles from  Abraham  to  Paul  were  Jews,  and  even 
the  Lord  himself,  had  no  mollifying  influence.  All 
through  the  ages  the  Jews  were  persecuted  by  the 
Christians,  and  in  this  day  there  is  a strong  popu- 
lar prejudice  against  them  all  over  Christendom, 
on  account  of  one  act  of  mob  violence. 

There  has  been  a gradual  improvement  in  public 
sentiment  towards  the  Jews,  and  for  the  most  part 
the  laws  discriminating  against  them  have  been  re- 


pealed. The  progress  made  by  them  in  attaining 
the  front  rank  in  all  the  higher  walks  of  life  is 
phenomenal.  They  hold  the  purse-strings  of  com- 
merce and  finance  generally,  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  may  be  called  the  bankers  of  the  world. 
There  are  a great  many  Rothschilds  on  a smaller, 
yet  large  scale.  In  music  the  Hebrew  genius  has 
excelled.  In  statecraft  the  children  of  Israel  are 
pre-eminent.  In  every  civilized  and  half -civilized 
land  they  are  a nation  within  a nation,  a people 
within  a people,  neither  seeking  nor  allowing  as- 
similation with  their  neighbors.  There  are  no  in- 
dications of  any  tendency  toward  Gentilism. 

It  may  be  added  that  since  the  rod  of  oppression 
has  been  broken,  the  Israelites  show  no  longing  to 
return  to  Palestine.  On  the  contrary,  they  have 
a keen  scent  for  any  land  “ flowing  with  milk 
and  honey,”  offering  good  opportunities  for  busi- 
ness, and  modern  Canaan  is  sterile  and  uninviting. 
Originally  shepherds,  then  slaves  in  brick-kilns, 
later  farmers,  they  are  now  wholly  given  to  traffic 
and  all  the  different  phases  of  exchange,  with  every 
trace  of  the  agriculturist  obliterated  from  the  na- 
tional character.  It  has  been  justly  observed  by  a 
modern  Hebrew  writer  that  “ the  majority  of  in- 
telligent Israelites  in  the  present  have  long  since 
abandoned  the  work  of  building  up  an  independ- 
ent national  existence  of  their  own.  Their  pa- 
triotism has  been  illustrated  upon  all  the  great 
battlefields  of  this  century.  The  achievement  of 
higher  conditions  of  human  life  they  are  disposed 
to  regard  as  the  fulfillment  of  Messianic  prophecy, 
and  the  furthering  of  this  end  in  intimate  union 
with  their  fellowmen  as  the  highest  dictate  of 
their  religion.”  To  the  United  States  government  is 
due  the  high  honor  of  being  the  first  Christian  na- 
tion to  accord  the  Jews  absolutely  full  and  equal 
rights  before  the  law,  and  the  example  of  this  nation 
was  eminently  helpful  to  them  in  securing  their 
rights  in  other  lands. 


r-  - . ■■■ 

5©# 

m 

gliiiiiiiiimiiiuiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiMiiiiiiiiiiiiniiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiimiHHMiHiiiimiiiijj 

minminiiininuiniiniiuuiiiiimmiimniniHiiiiimniiuuimiuuiiiniiuimuHinMiiiniiiiuiiinaniniiimiinmuinnmr 

HEBREW  LITERATURE  AND  SECTS. 

««nmminninn«Mmiiiiiiiiiniiiiiuiiii«i»imiHliii«'.innnmininiinniiniimiiiiinnilll»mniiimiHni«nmiiiiinHiiiiwwiiiiii“| 

niiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiniiiS 


w 


CHAPTER  XI. 


The  Intangible  in  Jewish  History — The  Hebrew  Bible— The  Septuagint — The  Talmud— 
Saddtjcees  and  Pharisees — Essenes — Testimony'  op  Pliny' — Philo  on  the  Essenes — 
Josephus  on  Jewt?h  Sects— The  Chasidim — Felix  Adler  on  the  Jews  in  Literature 
and  op  To-day. 

S-J* 


‘HE  chapter  immediately 
preceding  the  present  one 
was  devoted  to  the  out- 
ward facts  of  Jewish  his- 
tory, omitting  such  details 
as  belong  more  appropri- 
ately in  the  tabular  state- 
ments yet  to  be  made,  also  reserv- 
ing for  a later  chapter  Christ  and 
Christianity.  The  Founder  of 
our  religion  was  indeed  a Jew  by 
nativity,  but  he  was  also  a part  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  The  Jews 
have  been  and  are  a mighty  pow- 
er in  the  world,  apart  from  their 
nationality  and  the  religion  which 
has  been  adopted  by  the  civilized 
world.  Judaism  must  be  classed 
among  the  supreme  forces  of  mankind.  One 
might  be  entirely  familiar  with  Biblical  and  Chris- 
tian history  without  forming  anything  like  an  ade- 
quate conception  of  Jewish  influence  upon  the  gen- 
eral course  of  events.  While  this  volume  may  well 
pass  by  many  important  matters,  upon  the  suppo- 
sition that  the  reader  will  consult  his  Bible  for  de- 
tails of  Hebraic  history,  there  arc  phases  of  the 
case  which  serve  to  explain  the  otherwise  inexpli- 
cable potency  of  the  Hebrew  nation  upon  which 
the  sacred  record  throws  but  very  little  light.  This 
class  of  facts  will  occupy  our  main  attention  in 


this  connection.  But  upon  the  threshold  of  our 
present  subject  is  the  book  of  books — the  Bible. 

The  Old  Testament  is  held  in  equal  reverence  by 
Jews  and  Christians.  In  each  of  those  great 
churches  some  hold  that  volume  to  be  the  word  of 
God  in  the  fullest  sense,  while  others  see  in  it  simply 
the  most  important  part  of  the  literature  of  a re- 
markable people.  The  Old  Testament,  as  it  is  held 
by  Protestants,  consists  of  thirty-nine  books,  orig- 
inally written  in  Hebrew.  Their  ago  is  uncertain 
in  many  cases.  The  oldest  manuscript  of  the  Old 
Testament  which  is  now  known  dates  from  1106. 
It  is  the  opinion  of  many  learned  scholars  that  the 
laws,  history  and  poetry  of  the  Jews  were  never  re- 
duced to  writing  until  after  the  Captivity.  Others 
again,  contend  that  Moses  left  behind  him  a body 
of  laws,  and  a history  up  to  date,  to  which  anony- 
mous writers  added  from  time  to  time,  and  this  lat- 
ter theory  is  more  consistent  with  the  representa- 
tions of  the  Bible  itself  and  with  what  is  known  of 
the  Jewish  people. 

Among  the  literary  treasures  of  Alexandria  was 
a translation  into  Greek  of  the  Hebrew  Bible.  It 
is  known  as  the  Septuagint,  from  the  tradition 
that  the  translation  was  the  work  of  seventy  per- 
sons. The  quotations  in  the  New  Testament  were 
made,  as  internal  evidence  proves,  from  that  rather 
than  from  any  original  version.  It  varies  only 
slightly  from  the  Hebrew  text. 

Next  in  rank  to  the  Bible  stands,  in  Jewish 


^ • 


(73) 


HEBREW  LITERATURE  AND  SECTS. 


71* 


estimation,  the  Talmud.  This  is  a library  in  itself, 
composed  by  many  writers  through  a long  period 
of  time,  covering  the  entire  range  of  Hebrew 
thought,  spiritual  and  secular,  with  some  grotesque 
attempts  at  science.  For  many  centuries  it  has 
served  as  an  authority  upon  all  matters  of  faith 
and  religious  practice  among  the  Jews,  and  the 
great  business  of  the  educated  priesthood  was  to 
ascertain  and  make  known  the  contents  of  the  Tal- 
mud. It  has  been  compared  to  an  ocean  which 
only  an  expert  mariner  could  navigate,  and  on 
which  the  unskillful  and  inexperienced  would  be 
lost.  As  a bond  of  national  union  the  Talmud  has 
been  a great  power  among  the  Jews  in  the  disper- 
sion and  persecution. 

In  all  the  record,  from  Genesis  to  Malachi,  one 
finds  no  indications  of  sectarianism.  In  the  New 
Testament  we  are  confronted  with  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees  indulging  in  all  the  rancor  of  sectarian 
animosity.  These  sects  seem  to  have  come  into 
existence  between  the  Restoration  ordered  by  Cyrus 
and  the  subjugation  by  Rome.  The  Sadducees 
were  very  conservative,  tenacious  for  the  laws  and 
regulations  of  Moses,  suspicious  of  any  and  every 
thing  not  distinctly  based  on  the  Pentateuch.  The 
Pharisees  were  more  inclined  to  adapt  Mosaic  ideas 
to  current  opinions.  In  time  they  came  to  substi- 
tute traditions  not  only  for  the  more  ancient  law, 
but  for  the  more  modern  thought.  In  the  days  of 
our  Savior  the  chief  difference  between  these  sects 
was  on  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  and  immor- 
tality. The  Sadducees  rejected  both,  finding  no 
warrant  for  either  in  the  books  of  Moses,  while  the 
Pharisees  accepted  and  taught  both,  finding  noth- 
ing against  either  in  Moses  or  the  other  prophets. 
Jesus  was  outspoken  in  criticism  of  both,  but  on 
their  cardinal  point  of  difference  he  was  a Pharisee. 
The  same  was  true  of  Paul,  and  all  the  early  fa- 
thers. Indeed,  so  integral  is  the  doctrine  of  immor- 
tality to  the  Christian  idea  of  religion  that  it  is 
difficult  to  understand  how  a sect  which  rejected 
that  doctrine  could  be  religious  at  all,  and  espe- 
cially how  it  could  be  ranked  as  the  conservative 
or  orthodox  branch  of  the  church.  It  may  be  said 
that  Christianity  has  never  been  Sadducaical,  but 
the  Jews,  as  a general  thing,  are,  and  Pharisaism 
(using  the  term  in  no  offensive  sense)  is  a part  of 
Christianity. 

Another  sect  of  the  Jews,  not  mentioned  in  the 


Bible,  and  long  neglected,  is  deserving  of  far  more 
attention.  We  refer  to  the  Essenes.  That  bril- 
iant  essayist,  De  Quincey,  had  the  temerity  to  pro- 
nounce this  sect  a myth,  or  rather,  a sort  of  for- 
gery. He  may  have  been  sincere,  although  this  is 
open  to  doubt.  However  that  may  be,  the  hypoth- 
esis is  simply  preposterous.  There  are  three  dis- 
tinct and  original  sources  of  Essenic  information, 
namely,  Pliny,  Philo,  and  Josephus.  They  are  not 
entirely  harmonious,  but  differ  only  as  it  would  be 
natural  for  three  writers  to  differ  who  had  widely 
distant  points  of  observation.  Josephus,  being  a 
Jew  who  resided  in  Jerusalem,  had  the  best  means 
of  information ; Pliny,  who  merely  crossed  the 
country,  the  least;  Philo  was  an  Alexandrian  Jew. 

Pliny,  the  elder,  born  in  Verona  twenty-three 
years  after  the  Christian  era  began,  wrote  in  bis 
natural  history  this  passage  : 

“ Lying  to  the  West  of  Aspeltetes,  and  sufficiently 
distant  to  escape  its  noxious  exhalations,  are  the 
Esseni,  a people  that  live  apart  from  the  world,  and 
marvelous  above  all  others  throughout  the  whole 
earth,  for  they  have  no  women  among  them ; to 
sexual  desire  they  are  strangers  ; money  they  have 
none ; the  palm-trees  are  their  only  companions. 

Day  after  day,  however,  their  numbers  are  fully  re- 
cruited by  multitudes  of  strangers  which  resort  to 
them,  driven  thither  to  adopt  their  usages  by  the  tem- 
pests of  fortune,  and  wearied  with  the  miseries  of 
life.  And  thus  it  is  that  through  thousands  of  ages, 
incredible  to  relate,  this  people  eternally  prolonged 
their  existence  without  a single  birth  taking  place 
there,  so  fruitful  a source  of  population  to  it  is  that 
weariness  of  life  which  is  felt  by  others.” 

Except  as  to  the  antiquity  of  the  sect,  Pliny’s  idea 
of  it  was  substantially  correct. 

Philo’s  account  is  as  follows  : 

“ Our  lawgiver  trained  an  innumerable  body  of 
his  pupils  to  partake  of  these  things,  being,  as  I 
imagine,  honored  with  the  appellation  of  Essenes 
because  of  their  exceeding  holiness.  And  they  dwell 
in  many  cities  of  Judea,  and  in  many  villages,  and 
in  great  and  populous  communities.  And  this  sect  is 
not  an  hereditary  or  family  connection  ; for  family 
ties  are  not  spoken  of  with  reference  to  acts  volunta- 
rily performed,  but  it  is  adopted  on  account  of  their 
admiration  for  virtue  and  love  of  gentleness  and  hu- 
manity. At  all  events,  there  are  no  children  among 
the  Essenes  ; no,  nor  any  youths  or  persons  only  just 

5)  \ 


HEBREW  EITERATURE  AND  SECTS. 


entering  upon  manhood.  Since  the  dispositions  of 
all  such  persons  are  unstable  and  liable  to  changes 
from  the  imperfections  incident  to  their  age,  but 
they  are  all  full-grown  m%n,  and  even  already  de- 
clining toward  old  age.  Such  as  are  no  longer  car- 
ried away  by  the  impetuosity  of  their  bodily  passions, 
and  are  not  under  the  influence  of  the  appetites,  but 
such  as  enjoy  a genuine  freedom,  the  only  true  and 
real  liberty.  And  a proof  of  this  is  to  be  found  in 
their  life  of  perfect  freedom. 

“No  one  among  them  ventures  at  all  to  acquire 
any  property  whatever  of  his  own,  neither  house  nor 
slave,  nor  farm,  nor  flocks,  nor  herds,  nor  anything 
of  any  sort  which  can  be  looked  upon  as  the  foun- 
tain or  provision  of  riches,  but  they  bring  them  to- 
gether into  the  middle  as  a common  stock  and  en- 
joy one  common,  general  benefit  from  it  all. 

“ And  they  all  dwell  in  the  same  place,  making 
clubs,  and  societies,  and  combinations,  and  unions 
with  one  another,  and  doing  everything  throughout 
their  whole  lives  with  reference  to  the  general  ad- 
vantage ; but  the  different  members  of  this  body 
have  different  employments  in  which  they  occupy 
themselves  and  labor  without  hesitation  or  cessation, 
making  no  mention  of  either  cold  or  heat  or  any 
change  of  temperature  as  an  excuse  for  desisting 
from  their  tasks.  But  before  the  sun  rises  they  be- 
take themselves  to  their  daily  work,  and  they  do  not 
quit  it  until  some  time  after  it  has  set,  when  they 
return  home  rejoicing  no  less  than  those  who  have  been 
exercising  themselves  in  gymnastic  contests ; for 
they  imagine  that  whatever  they  devote  themselves 
to  as  a practice  is  a sort  of  gymnastic  exercise  of 
more  advantage  to  life  and  more  pleasant  to  both 
soul  and  body,  and  of  more  enduring  benefit  and 
equability,  than  mere  athletic  labors,  inasmuch  as 
such  toil  does  not  cease  to  be  practiced  with  delight 
when  the  age  of  vigor  of  body  has  passed,  for  there 
are  some  of  them  who  are  devoted  to  the  practice  of 
agriculture,  being  skillful  in  such  things  as  the  sow- 
ing and  cultivating  of  lands  ; others  again,  are  shep- 
herds or  cowherds,  and  experienced  in  the  manage- 
ment of  every  kind  of  animal ; some  are  cunning  in 
what  relates  to  swarms  of  hees;  others  again  are  ar- 
tisans and  handicraftsmen,  in  order  to  guard  against 
suffering  from  want  of  anything  of  which  there  is  at 
times  an  actual  need  ; and  these  men  omit  and  de- 
lay nothing  which  is  requisite  to  the  innocent  sup- 
ply of  the  necessaries  of  life. 


75 


“ Accordingly,  each  of  these  men  who  differ  so 
widely  in  respective  employments,  when  they  have 
received  their  wages,  give  them  up  to  one  person 
who  is  appointed  as  the  universal  steward  and  gen- 
eral manager,  and  he,  when  he  has  received  the 
money,  immediately  goes  and  purchases  what  is  nec- 
essary, and  furnishes  with  food  in  abundance,  and 
all  other  things  of  which  the  life  of  man  stands  in 
need.  And  those  who  live  together  and  eat  at  the 
same  table  day  after  day,  contented  with  the  same 
things,  being  lovers  of  frugality  and  moderation, 
and  averse  to  all  sumptuousness  and  extravagance 
as  being  a disease  of  both  body  and  mind.  Not  on- 
ly are  their  tables  in  common,  but  all  their  dress,  for 
in  the  winter  there  are  thick  cloaks  found,  and  in 
the  summer  light,  cheap  mantlps,  so  that  whoever 
wants  one  is  at  liberty,  without  restraint,  to  go  and 
take  whichever  kind  he  chooses,  since  what  belongs 
to  one  belongs  to  all,  and  on  the  other  hand,  what- 
ever belongs  to  all  belongs  to  each  individual. 

“ And  again,  if  any  one  of  them  is  sick,  he  is 
cured  from  the  common  resources,  being  attended 
by  the  general  care  and  anxiety  of  the  whole  body. 
Accordingly  the  old  men,  even  if  they  happen  to  be 
childless,  as  if  they  were  not  only  the  fathers  of 
many  children,  hut  were  even  also  particularly  hap- 
py in  an  affectionate  offspring,  are  accustomed  to 
end  their  lives  in  a most  happy  and  prosperous  and 
carefully  attended  old  age ; being  looked  upon  by 
such  a number  of  people  as  worthy  of  so  much  hon- 
or and  provident  regard  that  they  think  themselves 
bound  to  care  for  them  even  more  from  inclination 
than  any  tie  of  natural  affection. 

“Again,  perceiving  with  more  than  ordinary  acute- 
ness and  accuracy  what  is  alone,  or  at  least  above 
all  other  things,  calculated  to  dissolv  e such  associa- 
tions, they  repudiate  marriage,  and  at  the  same 
time  they  practice  continence  to  an  eminent  de- 
gree ; for  no  one  of  the  Essenes  ever  marries  a wife, 
because  woman  is  a selfish  creature,  arid  one  addict- 
ed to  jealousy  in  an  immoderate  degree,  and  terribly 
calculated  to  agitate  and  overturn  the  natural  in- 
clinations of  a man,  and  to  mislead  him  by  her  con- 
tinual tricks;  for  as  she  is  always  studying  deceitful 
•speeches  and  all  kinds  of  hypocrisy,  like  an  actress 
on  the  stage,  when  she  is  alluring  the  eyes  and 
ears  of  her  husband,  she  proceeds  to  cajole  his  pre- 
dominant mind  after  the  servants  have  been  deceived. 

“And  again,  if  there  are  children,  she  becomes  full 


9 k. 

- Q 

G| 

1 

7 6 HEBREW  LITERATURE  AND  SECTS. 

f 

r 

of  pride  and  all  kinds  of  license  in  her  speech,  and  all 

earth  out  of  a desire  for  ample  revenue,  but  provid- 

the  obscure  sayings  which  she  previously  meditated 

ing  all  things  which  are  requisite  for  the  natural 

in  irony,  in  a disguised  manner,  she  now  begins  to 

purposes  of  life ; for  they  alone  of  almost  all  men, 

utter  with  an  audacious  confidence,  and  becoming 

having  been  originally  po5r  and  destitute,  and  that, 

utterly  shameless,  she  proceeds  to  violence,  and  does 

too,  from  their  habits  and  ways  of  life,  rather  than 

numbers  of  actions  of  which  every  one  is  hostile  to 

from  any  real  deficiency  of  good  fortune,  are  never- 

such  association  ; for  the  man  who  is  bound  under 

theless  accounted  very  rich,  judging  contentment 

the  influence  of  the  charms  of  a woman,  or  of  cliil- 

and  frugality  great  abundance,  as  in  truth  they  are. 

dren  by  the  necessary  ties  of  nature,  being  over- 

“ Among  those  men  you  will  find  no  makers  of 

whelmed  by  the  impulses  of  affection,  is  no  longer 

armors  or  javelins  or  swords  or  helmets  or  breast- 

the  same  person  towards  others,  but  is  entirely 

plates  or  shields ; or  makers  of  arms  or  military 

changed,  having,  without  being  aware  of  it,  become 

engines ; no  one,  in  short,  attending  to  any  employ- 

a slave  instead  of  a freeman. 

ment  whatever  connected  with  war,  or  even 

“ This  now  is  the  enviable  system  of  life  of  these 

to  any  of  those  occupations,  even  in  peace,  which 

Essenes,  so  that  not  only  private  individuals,  but 

are  easily  perverted  to  wicked  purposes ; for  they 

even  mighty  kings,  admiring  the  men,  venerate  the 

are  utterly  ignorant  of  all  traffic,  and  of  all  com- 

sect  and  increase  their  dignity  and  majesty  in  a 

mercial  dealings,  and  of  all  navigation,  but  they 

still  higher  degree  by  their  approbation  and  by  the 

repudiate  and  keep  aloof  from  all  that  can  possibly 

honors  which  they  confer  on  them.” 

afford  any  inducement  to  covetousness  ; and  there  is 

The  foregoing  extract  is  a fragment  of  the  lost 

exercise  to  train  them  toward  its  attainment  all 

works  of  Philo,  preserved  by  the  historian  of  the 

praiseworthy  actions  by  which  a freedom  which  can 

primitive  church,  Eusebius.  It  may  be  found  in 

never  be  enslaved  is  firmly  established. 

the  fourth  volume  of  Yonge’s  translation  of  Philo’s 

“ And  a proof  of  this  is  that  though  at  different 

works.  The  following  excerpt  is  from  Philo’s  essay 

times  a great  number  of  chiefs  of  every  variety  of 

on  “ The  Virtuous  being  also  Free  ” : 

disposition  and  character  have  occupied  their  coun- 

. 

“ Among  the  Persians  is  the  body-  of  the  Magi 

try,  some  of  whom  have  endeavored  to  surpass  even 

[called  in  the  gospel  ‘wise  men  of  the  East’].  More- 

ferocious  wild  beasts  in  cruelty,  leaving  no  sort  of 

over,  Palestine  and  Syria  too  are  not  barren  of  ex- 

inhumanity  unpracticed,  and  have  never  ceased  to 

emplary  wisdom  and  virtue,  which  country  no  slight 

murder  their  subjects  in  whole  troops,  and  have 

portion  of  that  populous  people,  the  Jews,  inhabit. 

even  torn  them  to  pieces,  while  living,  like  cooks,  cut- 

There  is  a portion  of  that  people  called  Essenes,  in 

ting  them  limb  from  limb,  till  they  themselves  be- 

number  something  more  than  four  thousand,  in  my 

ing  overtaken  by  vengeance  of  Divine  justice,  have 

opinion,  who  derive  their  name  from  their  piety, 

at  last  experienced  the  same  misery  in  their  turn  ; 

though  not  according  to  any  accurate  form  of  the 

others  again  having  converted  their  barbarian  fren- 

Greek  dialect,  because  they  are,  above  all  men,  de- 

zy  into  another  kind  of  wickedness,  practiced  an  in- 

voted  to  the  service  of  God,  not  sacrificing  living 

effable  degree  of  savageness,  talking  with  the  people 

animals,  but  studying  rather  to  preserve  their  own 

quietly,  but  through  the  hypocrisy  of  a more 

minds  in  a state  of  holiness  and  piety.  These  men, 

gentle  voice,  betraying  the  ferocity  of  their  real 

in  the  first  place,  live  in  villages,  avoiding  cities  on 

dispositions,  fawning  upon  their  victims  like  treaeh- 

account  of  the  habitual  lawlessness  of  those  who  in- 

erous  dogs,  and  becoming  the  cause  of  irremediable 

habit  them,  well  knowing  that  such  a moral  disease 

miseries  to  them,  have  left  in  all  their  cities  monu- 

is  contact  with  wicked  men,  just  as  a real  disease 

ments  of  their  impiety,  and  hatred  of  all  mankind, 

might  be  from  an  impure  atmosphere,  and  that  this 

in  the  never-to-be-forgotten  miseries  endured  by 

would  stamp  an  incurable  disease  upon  their  souls. 

those  whom  they  oppressed  ; yet  no  one,  not  even  of 

Of  these  men  some  cultivate  the  earth,  and  others, 

those  immoderate  tyrants,  nor  of  the  more  trench- 

devoting  themselves  to  those  arts  which  are  the  re- 

erous  and  hypocritical  oppressors,  was  ever  able  to 

suits  of  peace,  benefit  both  themselves  and  all  who 

bring  any  real  accusation  against  the  multitudes  of 

come  in  contact  with  them,  not  storing  up  treasures 

those  called  Essenes,  or  Holy.  But  even-  one  being 

L 

„ el 

of  silver  and  gold,  nor  acquiring  vast  sections  of 

subdued  by  the  virtue  of  these  men,  looked  up  to 

1© 

(D  ^ 

k. 


HEBREW  LITERATURE  AND  SECTS. 


77 


them  as  free  by  nature,  and  not  subject  to  the 
frown  of  any  human  being,  and  have  celebrated 
their  manner  of  messing  together,  and  their  fellow- 
ship with  one  another  beyond  all  description  in  re- 
spect of  its  mutual  good  faith,  which  is  ample  proof 
of  a perfect  and  very  happy  life.” 

Without  pausing  for  any  comment,  we  append 
now  what  Josephus  says  in  his  brief  epitome  of  the 
three  sects  of  the  Jews : 

“ There  were  three  sects  among  the  Jews  who  had 
different  opinions  concerning  human  actions.  One 
was  called  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees ; another  the 
sect  of  the  Sadducees  ; and  still  another  the  sect  of  the, 
Essenes.  Now  for  the  Pharisees,  they  say  that  some 
actions,  but  not  all,  are  the  work  of  fate,  and  some 
of  them  are  in  our  own  power,  and  that  they  are  lia- 
ble to  fate  without  being  caused  by  fate.  But  the 
sect  of  the  Essenes  affirms  that  fate  governs  all  things 
and  that  nothing  befalls  men  except  with  its  deter- 
mination. And  for  the  Sadducees,  they  take  away 
fate,  and  say  that  there  is  no  such  thing,  and  that 
the  events  of  human  affairs  are  not  at  its  disposal, 
but  they  suppose  that  all  our  actions  are  within  our 
own  power,  so  that  we  are  ourselves  the  cause  of 
what  is  good,  and  receive  what  is  evil  from  our  own 
folly.” 

This  brief  and  metaphysical  comparison  of  the 
sects  is  found  in  the  thirteenth  book  and  fifth  chap- 
ter of  the  Antiquities.  But  it  is  not  all  Josephus 
has  to  say  on  the  subject.  On  the  contrary,  after  a 
digression,  he  devotes  considerable  space  to  the  sub- 
ject, and  with  that  extended  passage  closes  the  full 
presentation  of  the  original  sources  of  Essenic  infor- 
mation. This  final, excerpt  is  as  follows  : 

“ For  there  are  three  sects  among  the  Jews,  the 
followers  of  the  first  of  which  are  the  Pharisees,  the 
second  the  Sadducees,  and  the  third  sect,  which  pre- 
tends to  a severer  discipline,  are  called  Essenes. 
These  last  are  Jews  by  birth  and  seem  to  have  great- 
er affection  for  one  another  than  the  other  sects 
have.  These  Essenes  reject  pleasures  as  an  evil,  but 
esteem  continence  and  the  conquest  over  our  pas- 
sions as  a virtue.  They  neglect  wedlock,  but  choose 
out  other  persons’  children  while  they  are  pliable  and 
fit  for  learning,  and  esteem  them  to  be  of  their  kin- 
dred, and  form  them  according  to  their  own  man- 
ners. They  do  not  absolutely  deny  the  fitness  of 
marriage,  and  the  succession  of  mankind  thereby 
continued  ; but  they  guard  against  the  lascivious  be- 


havior of  women,  and  are  persuaded  that  none  of 
them  preserve  their  fidelity  to  one  man. 

“ These  men  are  despisers  of  riches,  and  so  very 
communistic  as  raises  our  admiration.  Nor  is  there 
any  one  to  be  found  among  them  who  hath  more 
than  another  ; for  it  is  a law  among  them  that  those 
who  come  to  them  must  let  what  they  have  be  com- 
mon to  the  whole  order,  insomuch  that  among  them 
all  there  is  no  appearance  of  poverty  or  excess  of 
riches,  but  every  one’s  possessions  are  intermingled 
with  every  other’s  possessions,  and  so  there  is,  as  it 
were,  one  patrimony  among  all  the  brethren.  They 
think  that  oil  is  a defilement,  and  if  any  of  them  be 
anointed  without  his  approbation  it  is  wiped  off  his 
body ; for  they  think  to  lie  sweaty  is  a good  thing, 
as  they  do  also  to  be  clothed  in  white  garments. 
They  also  have  stewards  appointed  to  take  care  of 
their  common  affairs,  who  every  one  of  them  has  no 
separate  business  for  any,  but  what  is  for  the  use 
of  them  all. 

“ They  have  no  one  certain  city,  but  many  of 
them  dwell  in  every  city ; and  if  any  of  their  sect 
come  from  another  place,  what  they  have  lies  open 
for  them,  just  as  if  it  were  their  own ; and  they  go 
in  to  such  as  they  never  knew  before  as  if  they  had 
been  ever  so  long  acquainted  with  them  ; for  which 
reason  they  carry  nothing  at  all  with  them  when 
they  travel  into  remote  parts,  though  still  they  take 
their  weapons  witli  them  for  fear  of  thieves.  Ac- 
cordingly, there  is  in  every  city  where  they  live,  one 
appointed  particularly  to  take  care  of  strangers  and 
to  provide  garments  and  other  necessaries  for  them. 
But  the  habit  and  management  of  their  bodies  is 
such  as  children  use  when  they  are  afraid  of  mas- 
ters ; nor  do  they  allow  the  change  of  garments  or 
of  shoes  until  they  be  first  entirely  torn  to  pieces  or 
worn  out  by  time.  Nor  do  they  either  buy  or  sell 
anything  to  one  another,  but  every  one  gives  what 
he  hath  to  him  that  wants  it,  and  receives  from  him 
in  turn  of  it  what  may  be  convenient  for  himself  ; 
and  although  there  be  no  requital  made,  they  are 
freely  allowed  to  take  whatsoever  they  want  of 
whomsoever  they  please. 

“ And  as  for  their  piety  towards  God,  it  is  very 
extraordinary ; for  before  sunrise  they  speak  not  a 
word  about  profane  matters,  but  put  up  certain 
prayers,  which  they  have  received  from  their  fore- 
fathers, as  if  they  made  supplication  to  the  sun  for 
rising.  After  this,  every  one  of  them  is  sent  away 


19 

FT 


TIT 


A\ri 


by  their  curators  to  exercise  some  of  those  arts 
wherein  they  are  skilled,  in  which  they  labor  with 
great  diligence  until  the  fifth  hour ; after  which 
they  assemble  themselves  together  again  in  one 
place,  and  when  they  have  clothed  themselves  in 
white  veils,  they  then  bathe  their  bodies  in  cold  wa- 
ter. And  after  this  purification  is  over,  they  every 
one  meet  together  in  an  apartment  of  their  own 
into  which  it  is  not  permitted  to  any  one  of  another 
sect  to  enter,  while  they  go,  after  a pure  manner,  in- 
to the  dining-room  as  into  a certain  holy  temple,  and 
quietly  sit  themselves  down,  upon  which  the  baker 
lays  their  loaves  in  order ; the  cook  also  brings  a sin- 
gle plate  of  one  sort  of  food,  and  sets  it  before  every 
one  of  them  ; but  a priest  says  grace  before  meat, 
and  it  is  unlawful  for  any  one  to  taste  food  before 
grace  be  said.  The  same  priest,  when  he  hath 
dined,  says  grace  again  after  meat ; and  when  they 
begin  and  when  they  end,  they  praise  God  as  He  that 
hath  bestowed  food  upon  them  ; after  which  they 
lay  aside  their  white  garments  and  betake  t hemselves 
to  their  labors  again  until  the  evening;  then  they  re- 
turn home  to  supper  after  the  same  manner,  and  if 
there  be  any  strangers  there  they  sit  down  with 
them.  Nor  is  there  ever  any  clamor  or  disturbance 
to  pollute  their  house,  but  they  give  every  one  leave 
to  speak  in  their  turn  ; which  silence  thus  kept  in 
their  houses  appears  to  foreigners  like  some  tremen- 
dous mystery  ; the  cause  of  which  is  that  perpetual  so- 
briety they  exercise  ; and  the  same  settled  measure 
of  meat  and  drink  that  is  allowed  them,  and  that  such 
as  is  abundantly  sufficient  for  them. 

“ And  truly,  as  for  other  things,  they  do  nothing 
but  according  to  the  injunctions  of  their  curators; 
only  these  two  things  are  done  among  them  at  their 
own  free  will,  which  are  to  assist  those  that  want  it, 
and  to  show  mercy ; for  they  are  permitted  of  their 
own  accord  to  afford  succor  to  those  that  are  in  dis- 
tress ; but  they  cannot  give  anything  to  their  kin- 
dred without  the  curators.  They  dispense  their 
anger  after  a just  manner  and  restrain  their  passion 
They  are  eminent  for  fidelity  and  are  the  ministers 
of  peace.  "Whatever  they  say  also  is  firmer  than  an 
oath,  but  swearing  is  avoided  by  them,  and  they  es- 
teem it  worse  than  perjury,  for  they  say  that  he  who 
cannot  be  believed  without  swearing  by  God  is 
already  condemned.  They  also  take  great  pains  in 
studying  the  writings  of  the  ancients,  and  choose  out 
of  them  what  is  most  to  the  advantage  of  their  soul 


~7\ 


and  body,  and  they  inquire  after  such  roots  and 
medicinal  stones  as  may  cure  their  distempers. 

“ But  now,  if  any  one  hath  a mind  to  come  over 
to  their  sect,  he  is  not  immediately  admitted,  but  he 
is  prescribed  the  same  method  of  living  which 
they  use,  for  a year,  while  he  continues  excluded, 
and  they  give  him  also  a small  hatchet  and  the 
forementioned  girdle  and  the  white  garment.  And 
when  he  hath  given  evidence  during  that  time 
that  he  can  observe  their  continence,  he  ap- 
proaches nearer  to  their  way  of  living,  and  is  made 
a partaker  of  the  waters  of  purification ; yet  is  he 
not  even  now  permitted  to  live  with  them,  for  after 
this  demonstration  of  his  fortitude,  his  temper  is 
tried  two  more  years,  and  if  he  appear  to  be  worthy, 
they  then  admit  him  into  their  society.  And  before 
he  is  allowed  to  touch  their  common  food,  he  is 
obliged  to  take  tremendous  oaths  that  in  the  first  place 
he  will  practice  piety  toward  God,  and  then  that  he 
will  observe  justice  toward  men,  and  that  he  will  do 
no  harm  to  any  one,  either  of  his  own  accord  or  at 
the  command  of  any  one ; that  he  will  always  hate 
the  wicked  and  be  assistant  to  the  good  ; that  he  will 
ever  show  fidelity  to  all  men,  and  especially  to  those 
in  authority,  because  no  one  obtains  the  government 
without  God’s  assistance,  and  that  if  he  be  in 
authority  he  will  at  no  time  abuse  his  authority,  nor 
endeavor  to  outshine  his  subjects  either  in  his  gar- 
ments or  in  any  other  finery ; that  he  will  be  per- 
petually a lover  of  truth  and  propose  to  himself  to 
reprove  those  who  tell  lies ; that  he  will  keep  his 
hands  clean  from  theft  and  his  soul  from  unlawful 
gains ; and  that  he  will  neither  conceal  anything 
from  those  of  his  own  sect  nor  discover  any  of  their 
doctrines  to  others ; no,  not  though  any  one  should 
compel  him  to  do  so  at  the  hazard  of  his  life.  More- 
over, he  swears  to  communicate  their  doctrines  to 
no  one  otherwise  than  as  he  receives  them  himself ; 
that  he  will  abstain  from  robbery,  and  will  equally 
preserve  the  books  belonging  to  their  sect  and  the 
names  of  the  angels  [or  messengers].  These  are  the 
oaths  by  which  they  secure  their  proselytes  to  them- 
selves. 

“ But  for  those  that  are  caught  in  any  heinous 
sins,  they  cast  them  out  of  their  society,  and  he  who 
is  thus  separated  from  them  does  often  die  after  a 
miserable  manner,  for  as  he  is  bound  by  the  oath  he 
has  taken,  and  by  the  custom  he  hath  engaged  in, 
he  is  not  at  liberty  to  partake  of  that  food  that  he 


0 «> 

G\ 

HEBREW  LITERATURE  AND  SECTS.  79 

P 

* 

meets  with  elsewhere,  but  is  forced  to  eat  grass  and 

Romans  gave  abundant  evidence  what  great  souls 

famish  his  body  with  hunger  until  he  perish,  for 

they  had,  in  their  trials,  wherein  they  were  tortured 

which  reason  they  receive  many  of  them  again,  and 

and  distorted,  burnt  and  torn  to  pieces,  and  went 

when  they  are  at  their  last  gasp,  out  of  compassion 

through  all  kinds  of  instruments  of  torment,  that 

to  them,  as  thinking  the  miseries  they  have  endured 

they  might  be  forced  either  to  blaspheme  their  leg- 

until  they  came  to  the  brink  of  death  to  be  sufficient 

islator,  or  to  eat  what  was  forbidden  them ; no,  nor 

punishment  for  the  sins  they  had  been  guilty  of. 

once  to  flatter  their  tormentors,  or  to  shed  a tear ; 

“But  in  the  judgments  they  exercise  they  are 

but  they  smiled  in  their  very  pains,  and  laughed 

most  accurate  and  just,  nor  do  they  pass  sentence  by 

those  to  scorn  who  inflicted  the  torments  upon  them, 

the  vote  of  a court  that  is  fewer  than  a hundred. 

and  resigned  up  their  souls  with  great  alacrity,  as 

And  as  to  what  is  determined  by  that  number,  it  is 

expecting  to  receive  them  again. 

unalterable.  What  they  most  of  all  honor,  after 

“ For  their  doctrine  is  this,  that  the  matter  they 

the  name  of  God  himself,  is  the  legislator  Moses, 

are  made  of  is  not  permanent,  but  that  the  souls  are 

whom  if  any  one  blaspheme  he  is  punished  capitally. 

immortal  and  continue  forever ; and  that  they  come 

They  also  think  it  a good  thing  to  obey  their  elders 

out  of  the  most  subtile  air,  and  are  united  to  their 

and  the  majority.  Accordingly,  if  ten  of  them 

bodies  as  to  prisons,  into  which  they  are  drawn  by 

be  sitting  together,  no  one  of  them  will  speak  while 

a certain  natural  enticement ; but  that  when  they 

the  other  nine  are  against  it.  They  also  avoid  spit- 

are  set  free  from  the  bonds  of  the  flesh,  that  then 

ting  in  the  midst  of  them  or  on  the  right  side. 

they,  as  released  from  a long  bondage,  rejoice  and 

Moreover,  they  are  stricter  than  another  of  the  Jews 

mount  upward.  And  this  is  like  the  opinion  of  the 

in  resting  from  their  labors  on  the  seventh  day,  for 

Greeks,  that  good  souls  have  their  habitations  be- 

they  not  only  get  their  food  ready  the  day  before, 

yond  the  ocean,  in  a region  which  is  neither  op- 

that  they  may  not  be  obliged  to  kindle  a fire  on  that 

pressed  with  storms  of  rain  or  snow  or  intense  heat ; 

day,  but  will  not  remove  any  vessel  out  of  its  place, 

but  that  this  place  is  such  as  is  refreshed  by„the 

or  go  to  stool  thereon ; nay,  on  the  other  days  they 

gentle  breathing  of  the  west  wind  that  is  perpetu- 

dig  a small  pit  a foot  deep  with  a paddle  (which 

ally  blowing  from  the  ocean ; while  they  allot  to 

kind  of  hatchet  is  given  them  when  they  are  first 

bad  souls  a dark  and  tempestuous  den,  full  of  nev- 

admitted  among  them)  and  covering  themselves 

er-ceasing  punishment.  And  indeed,  the  Greeks 

round  witli  their  garments  that  they  may  not  affront 

seem  to  have  followed  the  same  notion  when  they 

the  divine  rays  of  light,  they  ease  themselves  into 

allot  the  islands  of  the  blessed  to  their  brave  men, 

that  pit ; after  which  they  put  the  earth  that  was 

whom  they  call  heroes  and  demigods,  and  to  the 

dug  out  into  the  pit,  and  even  this  they  do  only  in 

souls  of  the  wicked  the  region  of  the  ungodly  in 

the  more  lonely  places  which  they  choose  out  for 

Hades,  where  their  fables  relate  that  certain  persons, 

this  purpose ; and  although  this  easement  of  the 

as  Sisyphus  and  Tantalus  and  Ixion  and  Tityus  are 

body  be  natural,  yet  it  is  a rule  with  them  to  wash 

punished,  which  is  built  on  this  first  supposition 

themselves  after  it  as  if  it  were  a defilement  to  them. 

that  souls  arc  immortal : and  thence  are  those  ex- 

Now  after  the  time  of  their  preparatory  trial  is  over. 

hortations  to  virtue  and  dehortations  from  wicked- 

they  are  parted  into  four  classes,  and  so  far  are  the  jun- 

ness  collected  whereby  good  men  are  bettered  in  the 

iors  inferior  to  the  seniors,  that  if  the  seniors  should 

conduct  of  their  life  by  the  hope  of  reward  after 

be  touched  by  the  juniors,  they  must  wash  them- 

death,  and  whereby  the  inherent  inclinations  of  bad 

selves,  as  if  they  had  intermixed  themselves  with  for- 

men  to  vice  are  restrained  by  the  fear  and  expec- 

eigners.  They  are  long-lived  also,  insomuch  that 

tation  they  are  in,  that  although  they  should  lie  con- 

many  of  them  live  above  a hundred  years,  by  means 

ceaied  in  this  life,  they  should  suffer  immortal  pun- 

of  the  simplicity  of  their  diet ; nay,  as  I think,  by 

ishment  after  their  death.  These  are  the  divine 

means  of  the  regular  course  of  life  they  observe  also. 

doctrines  of  the  Essenes  about  the  soul,  which 

They  contemn  the  miseries  of  life,  and  are  above 

lay  an  unavoidable  bait  for  such  as  have  once  had  a 

pain  by  the  generosity  of  their  minds.  And  as  for 

taste  of  their  philosophy. 

death,  if  it  be  for  them  glory,  they  esteem  it  better 

“ There  are  also  those  among  them  who  under- 

. & 

than  living  always ; and  indeed  our  war  with  the 

take  to  tell  things  to  come  by  reading  the  holy 

19 

^7 

IO  "J 

‘a  ' 

Al 


80 


HEBREW  LITERATURE  AND  SECTS. 


books,  and  using  several  sorts  of  purifications,  and 
being  perpetually  conversant  in  the  discourses  of  the 
prophets ; and  it  is  but  seldom  that  they  miss  in 
their  predictions. 

“ Moreover,  there  is  another  order  of  Essenes, 
who  agree  with  the  rest  in  their  every  way  of  living 
and  customs  and  laws,  but  differ  from  them  in  the 
point  of  marriage,  as  thinking  that  by  not  marry- 
ing they  cut  off  the  principal  part  of  human  life, 
which  is  the  prospect  of  succession ; nay,  rather  that 
if  all  men  should  keep  the  same  opinion,  the  whole 
race  of  mankind  would  fail.  However,  they  try 
their  spouses  for  three  years,  and  if  they  find  they 
have  their  natural  purgations  thrice,  as  trials  that 
they  are  likely  to  be  fruitful,  they  then  actually 
marry  them.  But  they  do  not  use  to  accompany 
with  their  wives  when  they  are  with  child,  as  a dem- 
onstration that  they  do  not  marry  out  of  regard  to 
pleasure,  but  for  the  sake  of  posterity.  Now  the 
women  go  into  the  baths  with  some  of  their  gar- 
ments on,  as  the  men  do  with  somewhat  girded 
about  them.  And  these  are  the  customs  of  this  or- 
der of  Essenes. 

“ But  then,  as  to  the  two  other  orders  first  men- 
tioned, the  Pharisees  are  those  who  are  esteemed 
most  skillful  in  the  exact  explication  of  their  laws, 
and  introduce  the  first  sect.  These  ascribe  all  to 
fate  [or  Providence]  and  to  God,  and  yet  allow 
that  to  act  what  is  right,  or  the  contrary,  is  princi- 
pally in  the  power  of  men,  although  fate  does  co- 
operate in  every  action.  They  say  that  all  the  souls 
are  incompatible,  but  that  the  souls  of  good  men 
only  are  removed  into  other  bodies,  but  that  the 
souls  of  bad  men  are  subject  to  eternal  punishment. 
But  the  Sadducees  are  those  that  compose  the  sec- 
ond order,  and  take  away  fate  entirely,  and  suppose 
that  God  is  not  concerned  in  our  doing  or  not  do- 
ing what  is  evil ; and  they  say  that  to  act  what  is 
good  or  what  is  evil  is  at  man’s  own  choice,  and  that 
the  one  and  the  other  belong  so  to  every  one  that  he 
may  act  as  he  pleases.  They  also  take  away  belief 
in  the  immortal  duration  of  the  soul,  and  the  pun- 
ishments and  rewards  in  Hades.  Moreover, ’the 
Pharisees  are  friendly  to  one  another  and  are  for 
the  exercise  of  concord  and  regard  for  the  public ; 
but  the  behavior  of  the  Sadducees  one  toward  an- 
other is  in  some  degree  wild,  and  their  conversa- 
tion with  those  who  are  of  their  own  party  is  as 


barbarous  as  if  they  were  strangers  to  them.  And 
this  is  what  I had  to  say  concerning  the  philo- 
sophical sects  among  the  Jews.” 

At  the  risk  of  being  somewhat  tedious,  we  have 
presented  absolutely  all  that  is  known  of  the  sect 
of  Jews  wdiose  peculiarities  are  most  strikingly  sug- 
gestive of  Christianity.  In  these  strangely  neg- 
lected excerpts  may  be  found  a key  to  much 
which  would  otherwise  be  inexplicable  in  the 
connection  of  Judaism  with  the  religion  of  modern 
Europe. 

The  Chasidim  is  a modern  sect  of  Jews.  It  is 
numerous  among  Polish,  Hungarian  and  Russian 
Jews,  but  almost  unknown  elsewhere.  It  is  fanat- 
ical in  the  extreme,  and  abject  in  subservience  to 
the  priests.  The  Chasidim  have  been  compared  to 
the  Shakers  in  their  eccentric  religious  practices. 

The  most  important  sect  of  to-day  is  the  Karaites, 
(sons  of  scripture)  dating  from  the  early  part  of 
the  middle  ages.  Once  powerful,  their  numbers 
are  now  insignificant,  their  importance  growing 
out  of  their  intellectual  history.  Rejecting  the 
Talmud,  they  ever  strenuously  maintained  the 
sole  authority  of  “ Moses  and  the  Prophets.”  They 
were  noted  in  a period  of  general  darkness  for  lit- 
erary and  scientific  activity.  Their  literature  has 
been  lost,  in  large  part,  but  very  much  still  remains, 
a proud  monument  to  the  intellectual  capacity  of 
the  Hebrew  nation.  At  present  the  Karaites  are 
almost  extinct,  except  as  found  in  the  Crimea,  where 
they  are  protected  and  prosperous.  Formerly  they 
were  doubly  persecuted,  the  Christians  hating  them 
the  same  as  any  other  Jews,  and  the  Rabbinical  or 
orthodox  Jews  seeing  in  them  heretics  worse  than 
“ Christian  dogs.” 

In  discussing  the  Jews  and  their  place  in  history, 
Felix  Adler  remarks:  “Not  only  has  their  own 
literature  been  opened  to  scientific  study  by  such 
men  as  Zunz,  Geiger,  Munk,  Rappoport,  Luzzato, 
and  others,  but  they  have  rendered  signal  service 
in  almost  every  department  of  science  and  art.  I 
mention  among  the  Philosophers,  M.  Mendelssohn, 
Maimon  Herz ; in  political  economy,  Ricardo  and 
LaSalle ; in  literature,  Borne,  Heine,  Auerbach, 
Grace  Aguilar ; in  music,  Mendelssohn,  Bartholdy, 
Meyerbeer,  1 1 alevy ; among  the  prominent  statesmen 
of  the  day,  Disraeli,  Lasker,  Cremieux,” — and,  he 
might  have  added,  Gambetta. 


TC 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Assyrian  Antiquity — Ninl’3  and  Semiramis — Senacherib  and  Sardanapalis — Description  op 
Nineveh — Clay  Libraries — Babylon;  Its  Hanging  Gardens  and  Temple  op  Belus— 
Babylonian  History — Alexander  and  Babylon — Recent  Archeological  Discoveries — 
Syria  in  its  First  Period — Syria  under  the  Selucid.e — Modern  Syria  and  Syriac. 


ORDING  to  Hebraic  his- 
tory, the  primitive  king- 
dom of  the  world  was  As- 
syria. Nimrod  was  the 
first  to  establish  monarchy 
in  the  place  of  the  patri- 
archal form  of  government, 


and  of  the 
cities  hav- 
ing a place 
in  history, 

Nineveh 
was  the 
first.  That 
city  and 
Babylon,  among  the 
most  memorable  in  an- 
tiquity, both  belonged 
to  Assyria.  That  king- 
dom is  supposed  to 
have  been  formed 
about  two  thousand  and  two  hundred  years  before 
our  present  era.  Assyria  proper  corresponded  very 
nearly  to  the  present  Koordistan.  The  term,  how- 
ever, lias  lieen  used  in  a loose  way  to  apply  to  a vast 
and  shifting  area  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Tigris.  The  name  itself  is  derived  from 


Asshur,  a son  of  Shem,  and  the  chief  god  of  the 
Assyrian  idolatry.  There  are  archaeological  reasons 
for  supposing  that  the  Assyrians  were  Semites. 
Their  features  in  sculpture  are  Jewish  and  Arabic 
in  resemblance. 

Ninus  is  the  name  of  one  of  the  early  and  more 
illustrious  of  the  Assyrian  kings.  lie  was,  perhaps, 

the  founder  of  Nin- 
eveh, the  previous 
capital  being  now 
lost  entirely.  If 
history  and  tradi- 
tion do  not  slan- 
der him,  this  king, 
like  the  “sweet 
singer  of  Israel,” 
was  guilty  of  the 
monstrous  crime  of 
choosing  for  the  fa- 
vorite of  his  harem 
the  wife  of  one  of 
his  brave  soldiers. 
It  is  not  charged  that  the  Assyrian  monarch  caused 
the  death  of  the  despoiled  husband.  This  Bath- 
sheba  of  Nineveh  was  the  famous  Semiramis; 
long  one  of  the  more  august  figures  in  history. 
Recent  research  has  greatly  dimmed  the  luster 
of  her  renown,  or  rather,  east  suspicion  upon 


A\<5 


ilS: 


-ti- 


82 


ASSYRIA  AND  SYRIA. 


the  flattering  accounts  of  early  historians.  But  if 
the  latter  may  be  at  all  trusted,  she  was  indeed  a 
helpmeet  to  Ninus  during  his  life,  accompanying 
him  in  war,  and  counseling  with  him  at  all  times  on 
all  matters  of  state.  When  lie  died  Semiramis  as- 
sumed the  administration  as  regent.  To  her  Assyria 
is  said  to  owe  Babylon.  If  so,  she,  not  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, could  truthfully  say,  “ Behold,  is  not  this 
great  Babylon  which  I have  budded.”  Under  her 
it  became  great  and  metropolitan,  but  not  the  capi- 
tal. She  was  a woman  of  war,  and  is  represented 
by  Herodotus  as  having  “ led  her  conquering  legions 
far  and  near.” 

The  next  Assyrian  monarch  of  renown  was  Se- 
nacherib,  who  began  to  reign  about  700  B.  C.  He 
fought  successfully  with  the  Egyptians,  the  Israel- 
ites and  the  Philistines.  It  was  by  his  father,  Sar- 
gon,  that  Babylon  was  made  a part  of  Assyria,  and 
it  was  by  Senacherib  that  the  captivity  of  the  ten 
tribes  was  effected.  The  number  of  the  captives  is 
computed  at  200,000.  He  built  a most  superb  pal- 
ace in  Jjmeveh  which  Bayard  has  unearthed  in  its 
ruins.  Nineveh  reached  the  culmination  of  its  ar- 
chitectural glory  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury. It  was  near  the  close  of  this  century  (the  ex- 
act date  is  unknown)  that  it  was  destroyed.  The 
governor  of  the  province  of  Babylon,  assisted  by  the 
Scythian  hordes  from  the  North,  captured  and  de- 
stroyed it.  The  last  king  of  Nineveh  was  Sardan- 
apalus,  renowned  (whether  justly  or  not  is  open  to 
dispute)  for  effeminacy.  He  was  wholly  abandoned 
to  the  pleasures  of  the  seraglio.  When  besieged  in 
his  capital,  he  is  said  to  have  raised  a huge  funeral 
pyre,  placed  his  numerous  wivfs  and  costly  treas- 
ures upon  it,  and  then  with  his  own  hand  applied 
the  torch.  This  done,  he  mounted  the  pile  himself, 
and  fittingly  perished.  With  him  the  Empire  of 
Assyria  went  down  forever  and  Nineveh  became  a 
ruin.  The  scepter  of  empire  passed  to  Babylon. 

Nineveb  was  on  the  Tigris  distant  nearly  three 
hundred  miles  from  Babylon.  It  was  more  than  a 
city  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term.  It  was  a col- 
lection of  fields  as  well  as  houses,  designed  to  be  a 
walled  community,  capable  of  withstanding  any  and 
every  kind  of  siege.  It  was  fifteen  miles  long  and  nine 
miles  wide.  It  is  believed  that  the  houses  were  built 
separately,  and  each  had  very  considerable  ground. 
The  walls  were  two  hundred  feet  high,  and  so  -wide 
that  three  chariots  driven  abreast  could  pass  along 


-71 


the  top.  Making  all  due  allowance  for  extrava- 
gance of  statement,  it  is  certain  that  Nineveh  was  a 
very  marvelous  city. 

The  clay  of  that  region  made  excellent  bricks. 
Early  the  art  of  writing  was  introduced  and  the 
potter  was  the  publisher  of  that  day  and  land. 
The  soft  bricks 
were  indented 
with  the  words 
of  the  author, 
and  then  those 
m a nu  script 
bricks  were 
kilned  and  thus 
preserved.  Of 
late  years  vast 
quantities  o f 
these  earthen 
books  have 
been  brought  to  light,  and  many  of  them  translated. 
For  historical  purposes  they  are  not  very  satisfac- 
tory, mythological  creations  being  so  interwoven 
with  actual  fact  as  to  defy  critical  dissection. 

In  the  plain  of  Shinar,  about  sixty  miles 
south  of  Bagdad,  where  now  stands  the  little 
village  of  Ilillah,  once  stood  the  magnificent 
Babylon,  the  metropolis  of  Chaldea.  It  was  about 
fourteen  miles  in  extent  on  each  of  its  four 
sides.  The  river  Euphrates  ran  through  it.  Raw- 
linson  believes  it  to  have  been  the  most  magnificent 
city  of  the  old  world.  Isaiah  calls  it  “ the  glory  of 
kingdoms,  the  beauty  of  the  Chaldee’s  excellency.” 
Its  most  notable  feature,  accounted  one  of  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world,  was  the  series  of  so-called 
hanging  gardens  within  its  walls.  Those  gardens 
consisted  of  terraces  raised  one  above  the  other  to 


an  immense  height  on  pillars,  well  floored  with  cem- 
ent and  lead,  and  covered  with  earth  in  which  the 
most  beautiful  shrubs  and  trees  were  planted.  Im- 
memorial in  its  origin,  the  city  was  completed  by 
Nebuchadnezzar  of  Biblical  fame.  It  was  a brick 
city,  naphtha  and  bitumen  taking  the  place  of  lime. 
The  most  remarkable  structure  of  Babylon  was  the 
temple  of  Belus.  The  following  is  the  description 
of  it:  “The  temple  of  Belus  was,  at  its  founda- 
tion, a furlong  in  length,  and  about  the  same  in 
breadth  ; its  height  is  said  to  have  exceeded  six  hun- 
dred feet,  which  is  more  than  that  of  the  Egyptian 
pyramids.  It  was  built  in  eight  stories,  gradually 


£> 


s 

' 


0 


ASSYRIA  AND  SYRIA.  83 


diminishing  in  size  as  they  ascended.  Instead  of 
stairs,  there  was  a sloping  terrace  on  the  outside  suf- 
ficiently wide  for  carriages  and  beasts  of  burden  to 
ascend.  Nebuchadnezzar  made  great  additions  to 
this  tower,  and  surrounded  it  with  smaller  edifices, 
inclosed  by  a wall  somewhat  more  than  two  miles 
in  circumference.  The  whole  was  sacred  to  Bel  or 
Belus,  whose  temple  was  adorned  with  idols  of  gold 
and  all  the  wealth  that  the  Babylonians  had  ac- 
quired by  the  plunder  of  the  East.” 

The  earliest  authentic  record  of  the  Babylonians 
goes  back  to  B.  0.  747.  They  were  an  offshoot 
from  the  Chaldeans  who  dwelt  among  the  moun- 
tains of  Taurus  and 
Caucasus.  They  were 
employed  originally  as 
mercenaries  by  the  As- 
syrians. That  has  al- 
ways proved  a danger- 
ous experiment,  fre- 
quently ending,  as  in 
this  case,  in  the  ultimate 
overthrow  of  the  em- 
ploying power  by  the 
employes.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  Egyp- 
tian solar  year  with  the 
accession  to  the  Baby- 
lonian throne  of  Nabo- 
nasar,  merely  fixes  a 
date  (B.  C.  747).  Noth- 
ing noteworthy  occur- 
red, however,  except  that 
under  that  ruler,  nor  yet  under  his 
successors.  Prior  to  the  overthrow  of  Nineveh, 
Babylon  was  the  seat  of  a satrap  rather  than  a king. 
The  first  real  sovereign  was  Nabopolasar,  the  fa- 
ther of  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  latter  raised  the  em- 
pire to  its  supreme  glory.  lie  extended  widely  its 
area  and  the  grandeur  of  Babylon.  The  book  of 
Daniel  furnishes  about  all  the  history  we  have  of 
the  empire  from  that  date  to  its  complete  submis- 
sion, supplemented  by  some  references  of  a histori- 
cal character  in  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel. 

There  is,  however,  a break  in  the  record  which 
can  be  supplied  in  its  meager  outlinesfrom  another 
source.  So  far  as  the  Biblical  record  goes,  it  would 
be  a waste  of  space  to  reproduce  it,  so  familiar  and 
accessible  is  it.  But  Belshazzar  did  not  immediate- 


ly succeed  Nebuchadnezzar.  Between  them  inter- 
vened the  regency  of  Queen  Nitocris,  who  held  the 
reins  of  government  during  the  strange  insanity  of 
the  great  king.  Besides  her  were  E vilmerodach,  who 
was  slain  and  succeeded  by  his  brother-in-law,  Neri- 
glosar,  whose  son  was  dethroned  for  his  despotism, 
and  the  lawful  dynasty  restored  in  the  person  of  the 
young  and  dissolute  Belshazzar,  whose  feast  on  the 
very  night  his  capital  was  taken  and  himself  slain, 
is  known  to  all. 

As  we  write,  brilliant  successes  in  Assyrian  archas- 
ology  are  reported.  In  1880  an  expedition  was  or- 
ganized to  search  for  tablets,  or  brick  books,  on  the 

site  of  Babylon.  It  was 
under  the  charge  of 
Hormuzd  Rassam.  An 
account  from  a source 
usually  authentic,  states 
that  Rassam  has  un- 
earthed “a  perfect  treas- 
ure trove  of  relics,  con- 
taining some  traditions 
that  date  before  the 
flood.”  The  account 
proceeds  thus : 

“ Among  his  discov- 
eries are  the  account- 
books  of  the  great  fi- 
nancial officers  of  the 
Babylonian  Empire, 
who  farmed  the  public 
revenues,  this  ancient 
syndicate  being  known  as  the  house  of  Beni  Egibi ; 
fragments  of  the  history  of  Babylon  to  the  time  of 
the  capture  of  the  city  by  Cyrus ; royal  personal  rec- 
ords made  by  Cyrus  and  by  Alexander  the  Great,  who 
was  consigned  so  summarily  by  Hamlet  to  the  bung- 
hole  of  a beer-barrel ; a record  of  the  gardens  of  King 
Merodach  Caladan,  who  had  sixty-three  parks  in 
Babylon ; and  several  inscriptions  made  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar himself,  which  may  throw  some  light 
upon  his  bucolic  experiences  in  the  grass. 

“Besides  the  records,  Rassam  has  discovered  ex- 
tensive hydraulic  works  which  were  used  to  water 
the  hanging  gardens ; the  ruins  of  the  observatory 
tower  of  the  great  temple  of  Nebo,  containing  beau- 
tiful specimens  of  vitrified  bricks  which  have  always 
been  a puzzle  to  the  scientists  ; the  ruins  of  the  city 
of  Cutha,  containing  a temple  that  was  restored  by 


Hanging  Gardens  of  Babylon. 


calendraic  adoption 
twelve 


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e 


84  ASSYRIA  AND  SYRIA. 


Nebuchadnezzar ; another  city,  not  yet  identified,  at 
a place  known  by  the  Arabs  as  the  Mounds  of  Deyr ; 
and  still  another  city  which  the  records  showed  to 
be  the  ancient  Sippara.  These  two  cities  Rassam 
believes  to  be  the  cities  of  Sepharvaim,  mentioned 
in  the  Book  of  Kings.” 

The  London  Times  gives  the  following  interesting 
particulars  concerning  these  two  cities  : 

“ The  first  three  lines  of  the  largest  of  the  foun- 
dation records  bring  our  speculative  thoughts  to  a 
focus  and  center  our  minds  on  the  traditions  of  one 
of  the  most  ancient  cities  of  Chaldea : ‘ To  the 

Sun-god,  the 
great  lord, 
dwelling  in 
Bit-Parr  a, 
which  is  within 
the  City  of  Sip- 
para.’ Here, 
then,  we  have 
restored  to  us 
the  ruins  and 
records  of  a 
city  whose  tra- 
ditions go  back 
to  the  days  be- 
fore the  flood, 
w hen  pious 
Xisuthrus,  by 
order  of  his 
god, £ buried  in 
the  city  of  Sip- 
para of  the  Sun 
the  history  of  the  beginning,  progress,  and  end  of 
all  things’  antediluvian.  And  now  we  recover, 
twenty-seven  centuries  after  they  were  buried,  the 
records  of  the  pious  restorers  of  this  ancient  temple. 
Such  a discovery  as  this  almost  makes  us  inclined 
to  dig  on  in  hopes  of  finding  the  most  ancient 
records  buried  there  by  the  Chaldaic  Noah.  There 
are  many  points  of  history  raised  by  this  inscrip- 
tion, but  it  will  suffice  to  say  that  from  the  earli- 
est days  of  Babylonian  history  the  city  of  ‘ Sippara 
of  the  Sun  ’ was  a prominent  center  of  social  and 
religious  life.” 

Evidently  the  mysteries  of  antiquity,  as  hidden 
beneath  the  debris  of  Babylon  the  Great,  afford  a 
tempting  field  for  exploration. 

Had  Alexander  the  Great  lived  to  a good  old  age, 


Babylon  would  have  had  a second  and  perhaps  more 
glorious  career,  but  the  untimely  death  of  that  great 
conqueror  was  fatal  to  her  reconstruction.  Ptole- 
my carried  out  the  Alexandrian  idea  in  Egypt,  but 
the  old  capital  of  “ the  Chaldees’  excellency  ” rap- 
idly fell  into  ruins,  and  the  jackals  do  indeed  “ cry 
in  their  desolate  houses,  and  wild  hounds  in  their 
pleasant  palaces.” 

Syria  is  not  a very  definite  term,  but  was  gen- 
erally used  to  designate  not  only  the  present 
Syria  but  Mesopotamia  also,  and  a part  of  Asia 
Minor.  Damascus  was  the  capital  of  the  kingdom 

of  Syria,  a city 
at  least  as  old 
as  Abraham. 
The  desert  of 
Syria  was  not 
far  off,  on  the 
oasis  of  which 
were  built 
Tadmor  and 
Palmyra. 
Baalbec,  one  of 
the  most  inter- 
esting cities  in 
ruins  to  be 
found  any- 
where, was  all- 
ot her  Syrian 
city.  The  coun- 
try was  often 
divided  into 
numerous  pet- 
ty states,  and  as  a nation  achieved  no  honor. 
King  David  was  successful  in  war  against  sev- 
eral Syrian  states.  It  was  near  to  the  close  of 
Solomon’s  reign  that  Damascus  was  founded.  Its 
founder  was  Rezor,  who  had  been  a slave  origin- 
ally. He  succeeded  in  building  up  a power 
which  was  a formidable  foe  to  Israel  for  several 
centuries,  but  that  was  about  all.  The  most 
powerful  king  of  Syria  was  Benhadad.  The  Jews 
and  Israelites,  after  the  secession  of  the  Ten  Tribes, 
were  often  at  war,  and  Syria  was  sometimes  a party 
to  their  quarrels.  During  the  reign  of  Ahaz  at  Jeru- 
salem, the  Syrians  joined  the  Israelites  in  war  upon 
the  former,  who  sought  .the  protection  of  Tiglath- 
pileser,  of  Assyria.  Judea’s  extremity  was  Assyria’s 
opportunity,  and  Damascus,  which  threatened  to 


\ 


ASSYRIA  AND  SYRIA. 


rival  Nineveh,  was  destroyed.  With  it  fell  the  king- 
dom of  Syria,  to  be  lost  sight  of  until  after  the  dis- 
memberment of  the  Macedonian  Empire,  when  it 
once  more  was  a name  and  a power. 

The  second  period  of  Syrian  history  began  with 
the  victory  of  Seleucidae  over  the  satrap  of  Persia 
and  Medea  (B.  0.  312)  and  continued  until  the  Bo- 
man  Empire  swallowed  up  the  kingdom,  two  hun- 
dred years  later.  He  built  up  a strong  kingdom  and 
his  son  Antiochus  strengthened  it  still  more.  The 
permanent  capital  of  this  new  Syria  was  Antioch. 

The  Ptolemies,  as  we  have  seen,  made  themselves 
a mighty  factor  in  the  world’s  progress ; but  the  Se- 
leueidae  did  nothing  worthy  of  note.  It  is  true  that 
the  Christians  were  first  called  such  in  Antioch,  but 
that  city  never  exerted  any  very  remarkable  influ- 
ence in  the  religious  world,  and  the  second  Syrian 
kingdom  may  be  dismissed  with  the  observation 
that  it  is  suggestive  of  the  fact,  that  nations,  like 
individuals,  may  be  so  very  commonplace  as  to  be 
beneath. notice.  During  the  period  of  the  Crusades 
Syria  suffered  terribly.  In  1517  Sultan  Selim  con- 
quered it,  and  it  has  ever  since  remained  a part  of 
the  Ottoman  Empire,  except  from  1832  to  1841, 
when  it  was  under  Egyptian  rule.  It  now  forms  a 
portion  of  the  three  pashalics,  Aleppo,  Damascus, 
and  Sidon,  and  has  a population,  inclusive  of  the 
nomadic  Arabs,  of  about  2,000,000,  most  wretched- 
ly governed,  and  eking  out  a scant  subsistence  upon 
a soil  exhausted  by  improvident  tillage. 

The  term  Assyria  long  ago  ceased  to  have  a place 
in  the  actual,  in  distinction  from  the  historical 
world,  but  the  Syria  of  to-day  is  that  portion  of 
Turkey  in  Asia  which  lies  between  latitudes  31° 
and  37°  2'  north,  skirting  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  from  the  Gulf  of  Iskanderoon  to  the  Isth- 
mus of  Suez,  with  an  area  estimated  at  60,000 
square  miles,  although  the  eastern  and  southern  ex- 


85 


tensions  are  indefinite.  It  includes  Palestine  with 
its  many  mountains,  towns,  rivers,  lakes  and  other 
places  rendered  sacred  by  Hebrew  history  and  tra- 
dition. It  is  the  land  of  the  Bible,  and  the  oriental 
customs,  costumes  and  general  mode  of  life  of 
Biblical  times  may  still  be  found  there.  Man  has 
changed  less  than  nature,  for  fields  once  fertile  are 
now  sterile.  The  great  difficulty  is  the  scarcity  of 
water.  The  soil  is  light  and  sandy,  easily  rendered 
a victim  of  drouth.  Wheat,  barley  and  beans  are 
the  chief  products.  Figs,  olives  and  mulberries 
thrive  in  many  parts  of  Syria,  and  are  the  staple 
fruits  of  the  land.  Peaches,  pomegranites,  oranges, 
lemons,  grapes,  apricots  and  almonds  are  also  grown 
there.  Jackals,  hyenas,  antelopes,  wild  swine  and 
wolves  are  the  pest  of  Syria,  while  camels,  asses, 
horses,  sheep,  goats  and  cattle  are  the  main  domes- 
tic animals.  There  are  some  Christians  and  a few 
Jews  among  the  native  population,  but  for  the  most 
part  Mohammedanism  is  the  prevailing  religion.  The 
language  now  mainly  in  use  is  Arabic.  The  old 
Syriac,  or  Aramaic,  has  nearly  died  out.  Modern 
Greek  is  understood  and  largely  used  on  the  coast. 
The  Syriac  is  a dialect  of  Shemitic  language  known 
to  us  through  a Christian  literature  extending  hack 
to  the  second  century  of  our  era,  and  which  flour- 
ished until  the  Saracen  Empire  arose,  and  the  Cross 
gave  way  to  the  Crescent.  A great  deal  of  primi- 
tive Christian  literature  is  preserved  in  that  lan- 
guage. But  the  most  notable  distinction  of  the 
Syriac  is  its  ancient  versions  of  the  New  Testament. 
It  also  has  at  least  two  very  old  versions  of  the  Old 
Testament.  In  determining  the  correct  text  of  the 
sacred  volume  these  venerable  manuscripts  are  of 
inestimable  importance.  The  Syriac  language  is  in 
itself  a curious  monument  of  repeated  conquests, 
containing  as  it  does  a great  many  words  of  Greek, 
Persian,  Latin,  Arabic  and  Tartar  origin. 


T is  the  peculiarity  of  Per- 
sia that  it  has  hovered  per- 
petually upon  the  border 
of  civilization,  neither  con- 
tributing to  it  nor  deriving 
benefit  from  it.  From  the 
earliest  times  to  the  pres- 
ent day  it  has  been  in  in- 
tellectual isolation.  Having  much  that 
was  good,  it  has  strangely  lacked  the 
assimilating  faculty.  It  conquered 
Egypt,  overthrew  Babylon,  and  sub- 
dued the  Greek  cities  of  Asia  Minor, 
yet  it  remained  substantially  the  same. 
Its  area  varied  with  the  fortunes  of 
war,  but  its  national  character  under- 
went no  radical  alteration.  And  even 
when  the  sword  of  Islam  revolutionized 
the  religion  of  Persia,  the  people  remained  as  they 
had  been  from  the  earliest  times,  half  barbaric  and 
half  civilized,  all  after  their  own  fashion. 

The  early  records  of  Persia  are  merely  the  wild 
dreams  of  fable  and  poetry.  The  earliest  authen- 
tic account  of  that  nation  relates  to  the  wars  of  Cy- 
rus, Cambyses,  Darius,  Xerxes  and  Mithridates,  of 
which  we  hear  enough  for  the  purposes  of  this  vol- 
ume in  connection  with  Egypt,  Greece  and  Pome. 
Persia  deprived  the  first  of  independence,  the 


second  of  existence  itself,  but  sought  in  vain  to  con- 
quer the  third  and  fourth.  It  can  only  boast  that, 
notwithstanding  Alexander’s  victories  and  the  her- 
oism of  Marathon,  Thermopylae,  and  Salamis,  the 
Greeks  did  not  destroy  Persia;  they  simply  pre- 
served their  own.  Mithridates  did  not  crush  or  even 
check  Roman  conquest,  but  his  kingdom  main- 
tained its  own  individuality  and  independence,  sur- 
viving the  fall  of  Rome  no  less  than  the  decay  of 
Athens.  The  Persian  dynasties,  whether  Arelue- 
menidae,  Arsacidae,  or  Sasanidae,  do  not  concern  the 
world  of  progress,  but  they  held  their  own  for  near- 
ly twelve  hundred  years,  falling  only  before  the 
fanaticism  of  the  Koran. 

Ancient  Persia  was  only  about  three  hundred 
miles  long  and  two  hundred  wide,  between  the  In- 
dian Ocean  and  the  Persian  Gulf.  It  is  a moun- 
tainous country  and  not  very  fertile.  It  suffers 
severely  from  drouth.  It  was  a good  place  to  raise 
predatory  warriors,  also  to  excite  poetic  fanev  and 
religious  emotions,  but  a very  poor  place  to  culti- 
vate a happy  community  and  develop  a wholesome 
state  of  society. 

By  the  aid  of  Cuneiform  inscriptions,  the  brick 
libraries  of  Assyria,  and  other  sources  of  informa- 
tion, some  genuine  history  has  been  arrived  at. 
Darius  Hvstaspes,  who  came  to  the  throne  in  B.  (’. 
521,  reduced  the  kingdom  to  political  order.  Before 


Persian  Isolation — Early  History  and  Wars — Physical  Aspects  and  Conditions— Darius, 
Parthia  and  Rome — Zoroaster  and  the  Magi — The  Zenda  Vesta  and  the  Parsees — 
Summary'  of  the  Persian  Bible — Comparative  Antiquity — God,  Satan  and  Immortality 
—Modern  Persia— Persian  Literature. 


k. 


PERSIA,  PARTHIA  AND  THE  ZENDA  VESTA. 


87 


his  day,  the  Medes  and  Persians  were  two 
neighboring  tribes  of  Assyrians,  who,  by  uniting 
their  forces,  had  been  able  to  subdue  kings  and 
build  up  a great  empire  loosely  held  together.  From 
his  reign  may  be  dated  the  consolidated  and  organ- 
ized kingdom. 

Among  the  more  imposing  ruins  of  antiquity 
must  be  numbered  Persepolis,  supposed  to  have 
been  founded  by  this  Darius.  It  was  wantonly  de- 
stroyed by  Alexander  the  Great. 

Darius  Hystaspes  divided  the  country  into  nine- 
teen satrapies,  or  provinces,  each  holden  for  the 
purpose  of  certain  fixed  tribute  and  ruled  by  a sa- 
trap who  was  virtually  absolute,  so  long  as  he  paid 
his  taxes  in  full. 

The  central  govern- 
ment  maintained 
some  authority  as  a 
safeguard  against 
refusal  to  pay  the 
assessments.  There 
was  indeed  a period 
during  which  Persia 
seemed  dead,  the 
victim  of  Alexan- 
der's genius,  but  it 
was  only  stunned. 

The  dynasty  of  Da- 
rius Hystaspes  did, 
it  is  true,  go  down  after  two  centuries,  but  in  less 
than  one  hundred  years  the  Parthians  under 
Arsaces  revolted,  and  another  Persian  dynasty 
was  founded  which  remained  in  power  about 
450  years,  Mithridates  belonging  to  that  dynasty. 
During  that  period  the  empire  was  usually  called 
Parthia.  The  Parthians  were  a tribe  of  Ayrian 
neighbors  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  to  whom 
they  were  early  subjected,  and  with  whom  they 
became  identified.  The  change  of  name  of  the 
kingdom  was  mainly  due  to  the  dynastic  change. 
The  Parthians  were  often  at  war  with  Rome,  nei- 
ther gaining  decisive  victories.  It  is  thought  that 
if  Julius  Caesar  hail  lived  a few  years  longer  he 
would  have  annexed  Parthia  or  Persia  to  the  Ro- 
man Empire. 

The  real  interest  in  Persian  history  relates  to 
Zoroaster  and  the  Zenda  Vesta.  All  else,  except  as  it 
lias  already  been  suggested,  may  well  lie  passed  over 
in  silence,  as  a period  of  war  and  intrigue  having 


no  vital  connection  with  the  great  current  of  events. 
The  ancient  Greeks  attributed,  and  the  modern 
Parsees  still  attribute  (the  latter  being  those  who 
still  hold  the  Zenda  Vesta  to  be  the  revelation  of 
God)  the  authorship  of  the  sacred  book  of  old  Per- 
sia to  Zoroaster.  He  was  a great  philosopher  and 
religious  teacher.  The  age  in  which  he  lived  is  un- 
known, and  conjectures  vary  widely.  All  the  inci- 
dents of  his  life,  as  recorded,  were  mythical.  He 
was  a native  of  Bactria,  a country  in  Central  Asia, 
having  the  city  of  Bactria  for  its  capital.  It  was 
the  home  of  the  Magi  or  “ wise  men  ” to  whom 
reference  is  made  in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew.  A 
deputation  of  Magi,  guided  by  the  star  of  Bethle- 
hem, paid  their  re- 
spects to  the  infant 
Jesus  in  his  manger 
cradle. 

The  Zenda  Vesta 
was  the  Bible  of 
Persia  under  the 
olden  kings.  When 
Alexander  overran 
Asia,  the  ancient 
religion  fell  into  de- 
cline, and  the  Par- 
thians systematical- 
ly suppressed  it. 
Many  of  the  books 
or  parts  were  lost  forever,  but  when  the  Per- 
sian dynasty  of  Sassanidae  came  to  the  throne,  no 
effort  was  spared  to  restore  “ the  good  book  ” in  its 
entirely.  When  the  Mohammedans  took  Persia 
and  compelled  the  people  to  substitute  the  Koran 
for  the  Zenda  Vesta,  the  more  devout  and  res- 
olute fled  to  Bombay,  Surat,  and  elsewhere, 
taking  their  religion  and  their  literature  with 
them.  They  are  known  now  as  Parsees,  and 
to  them  is  the  world  greatly  indebted  for  the 
preservation  of  all  that  was  really  worth  pre- 
serving in  Persia. 

Oriental  scholars  think  that  the  oldest  portions 
of  this  work  cannot  be  placed  later  than  B.  C. 
1500.  It  was  added  to  from  time  to  time,  but  the 
great  bulk  of  it  was  collected  together,  it  is  sup- 
posed, about  a thousand  years  later.  It  con- 
sists of  twenty -one  parts  called  Nosks,  each 
containing  a vesta  and  zend,  that  is,  an  orig- 
inal text  and  commentary  thereon.  Only  a 


vy 


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l£. 


88 


PERSIA,  PARTHIA  AND  THE  ZENDA  VESTA. 


very  small  part,  chiefly  the  Vendidad,  is  extant. 
The  names  and  summaries  are  as  follows: 

1.  Setudar. — (Praise  worship)  containing  the 
praise  and  worship  of  the  Yazatas,  or  angels. 

2.  Setudgar.-—  Prayers  and  instructions  to  men 
about  good  actions : chiefly  those  enjoining  one  an- 
other to  assist  his  fellowman. 

3.  Vahista-Mathra. — On  abstinence,  piety,  and 
religion. 

4.  Baglia. — An  explanation  of  religious  duties, 
how  to  guard  against  hell  and  reach  heaven. 

5.  Dam-dat. — Knowledge  of  this  and  a future 
life,  revelations  of  God  con- 
cerning heaven,  earth,  water, 
trees,  fire,  men  and  beasts. 

On  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  and  the  passing  "of  the 
Bridge  Chin  vat. 

6.  Nadar. — On  astron- 
omy, astrology,  geography, 
etc. 

7.  Pacham. — What  food 
is  allowed  or  prohibited. 

8.  B ' atus  h in  i. — (Fifty 
chapters,  only  thirteen  extant 
at  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great)  treated  of  kings  and 
high  priests. 

9.  Banish. — (Sixty  chap- 
ters extant  at  the  time  of 

Alexander.)  The  code  of  The  visit  of 

laws  for  kings ; also,  on  the  sin  of  lying. 

10.  Koshusarub. — On  metaphysics,  natural  phi- 
losophy, and  divinity. 

11.  Vishtasp  Nosh. — On  the  conversion  of  King 
Gushtasp  and  propagation  of  religion. 

12.  Chidrusht. — On  the  nature  of  divine  things, 
obedience  due  to  kings,  agriculture,  and  the  reward 
of  good  actions. 

13.  Safand. — On  the  miracles  of  Zoroaster. 

14.  BaghanYesh. — Praise  of  high,  angel-like  men. 

15.  Iarasht. — On  human  life;  why  some  are 
born  in  wealth  and  others  in  poverty. 

16.  Nayarum. — Code  of  law ; what  is  allowed, 
what  prohibited. 

17.  Husparum. — On  medicine  and  astronomy. 

18.  Domasarub. — On  marriages,  and  treatment 
of  animals. 

19.  Husharum. — Civil  and  criminal  law. 


20.  Vendidad. — Removal  of  uncleanness  of  ev- 
ery description,  from  which  great  defects  arise  in 
the  world. 

21.  Hadohlit. — On  the  creation ; its  wonders. 

The  Zenda  Vesta  is  supposed  to  be  the  oldest  of 

all  hterary  works,  at  least  of  the  Aryan  race,  with 
one  exception,  and  that  exception  is  the  Rig.  Vida 
of  India.  The  latter  is  believed  to  have  been  pro- 
duced before  the  great  Aryan  family  began  its  mi- 
gration from  India,  and  when  the  Sanscrit  was  the 
common  language  of  all  the  many  Aryan  nations.* 
The  Zenda  Vesta  is  more  spiritual.  Instead  of  de- 
ifying natural  objects,  it 
spiritualizes  worship.  It 
must  have  produced,  or  been 
produced  by,  a great  relig- 
ious reformation. 

The  cardinal  doctrine  of 
this  Persian  faith  was  the  ex- 
istence of  two  mighty  spir- 
its, good  and  evil,  God  and 
Satan.  The  personality  of 
the  devil  was  not  distinctly 
taught  by  Zoroaster,  who  be- 
lieved in  a great  first  cause, 
the  primal  good,  and  an  evil 
tendency.  But  the  region 
with  which  his  name  is  iden- 
tified is  thoroughly  dualistic, 
as  much  so  as  the  scene  in 
the  wise  Men.  the  Garden  of  Eden  and  the 

book  of  Job.  The  relics  of  the  Zenda  Vesta 
contain  some  sublime  poetry,  and  eminently  Christ- 
like  prayers.  The  belief  in  a future  existence 
of  personal  consciousness  is  a prominent  feature 
of  the  Zoroastrian  religion.  The  Jews  were 
brought  in  contact  with  this  religion  during 
their  captivity,  and  borrowed  from  them  the  word 
Paradise,  for  as  found  in  the  New  Testament, 
it  is  a Persian  word.  The  sect  of  the  Pharisees, 
with  their  firm  belief  in  immortality,  may  be 
claimed  as  the  result  of  intercourse  of  the  Jews 
with  the  Persians.  In  the  Persian  theology  the 
spirit  of  good  is  called  Ormuzd  ; of  evil,  Ahritnan. 
In  its  present  form  the  religion  of  ancient  Persia 
sees  in  these  two  personages  merely  principles,  ten- 
dencies, and  laws  of  being. 

The  Persia  of  to-day  is  one  of  the  most  unhappy 

* For  the  Aryans,  see  chapter  on  India. 


(5" 


a 


V 


PERSIA,  PARTHIA  AND  THE  ZENDA  VESTA. 


89 


k 


kingdoms  on  the  earth.  In  distress  and  misery  the 
Persians  are  sadly  pre-eminent.  The  government 
is  an  absolute  monarchy.  The  king,  or  shall,  knows 
no  authority  but  his  personal  caprice.  The  present 
ruler,  Nassr-ed-Din,  revels  in  wealth  while  his  sub- 
jects starve  by  the  thousands.  The  area  of  the 
kingdom  is  648,000  square  miles,  a large  part  of 
which  is  an  arid  desert.  There  are  not,  on  an 
average,  more  than  seven  persons  to  a square  mile, 
and  still  the  population  is  excessive.  The  taxes  are 
levied  on  the  plan  of  squeezing  from  the  producing 
class  all  they  .can  possibly  endure  and  live,  often 
more  than  that.  There  are  four  cities  of  consider- 
able size,  Tauris  or  Tabreez,  Teheran,  Mershed,  Is- 
pahan and  Yezd.  Ispahan  is  the  capital.  There 
are  eight  thousand  villages  in  the  country.  In  1873 
the  Shah  visited  Europe  and  much  good  was  an- 
ticipated therefrom,  but  he  was  too  brutish  to  profit 
by  his  observations.  The  prevailing  religion  is  Mo- 
hammedanism. There  are  not  more  than  seven  thou- 
sand followers  of  Zoroaster  left.  They  are  called 
Parsees.  The  severity  of  Mohammedan  persecution 
drove  the  persistent  Parsers  into  exile.  Many  of 
them  found  asylum  in  India.  The  Armenian  and 
Nestorian  Christians  are  somewhat  numerous  in 
some  parts  of  Persia.  The  native  name  for  the 
country  is  Iran.  The  best  feature  of  Persia  is  its 
educational  facilities.  There  are  numerous  colleges 
for  the  upper  classes  in  which  Persian  and  Arabic 
literature  are  cultivated,  and  many  of  the  common 
people  can  read.  The  literature  of  the  language  is 
rich,  especially  in  poetical  works.  But  in  the  rise 
of  the  Saracen  Empire,  the  Persia  which  had  so 
long  maintained  itself  in  its  essence  uncontamin- 
ated and  unbroken,  was  lost  forever.  The  old 
name  exists  and  some  of  the  national  traits,  but 
the  blight  of  Islam  was  complete  and  irremediable. 

The  poets  of  Persia  deserve  high  rank.  The  pres- 
ent poet-laureate  of  the  Shah,  Hakim  Kaani,  is  said 
to  have  a rare  command  of  language  and  rhythm, 
and  to  be  worthy  to  rank  with  the  best  authors  of 


the  day.  The  first  rank  among  the  poets  of  Persia 
belongs  to  Rudaki.  Whole  lines  are  in  the  highest 
degree  classic.  He  was  born  blind.  Omar  Kheiy- 
ane,  a great  poet,  astronomer  and  mathematician, 
was  the  author  of  a work  called  Aljebr  u el  Mukabi- 
leli,  or  the  science  which  still  bears  the  name  Alge- 
bra, which  he  gave  it.  He  was  an  extreme  free- 
thinker in  religion.  Anwari  is  another  famous  name 
in  Persian  classics.  His  “ Divan,”  or  collected 
works,  has  been  lithographed  at  Zebris  during  the 
present  reign.  Saadi,  who  flourished  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  has  never  been  excelled  for  the  pur- 
ity and  elevation  of  his  sentiments.  His  fancy 
soared  among  the  stars  of  the  most  sublime  ideas  of 
ethics.  His  “ Rose-Garden,”  a charming  collection 
of  moral  tales  in  prose  and  verse,  has  been  trans- 
lated into  English,  and  is  one  of  the  choice  volumes 
of  the  world’s  best  literature.  But  the  supreme 
poet  of  Persia  was  Shems  ed-Din  Mohammed,  bet- 
ter known  by  his  nom  de  plume  of  Hafiz.  He  was 
born  at  Shiraz  early  in  the  fourteenth  century.  He, 
too,  was  a bold  free-thinker  who  worshiped  beauty 
rather  than  the  Deity  of  any  creed,  and  his  inter- 
pretations of  human  sentiment  in  its  diverse  forms 
give  him  a place  among  the  immortal  bards  of  the 
ages.  His  tomb  is  an  object  of  veneration  to  nu- 
merous visitors,  and  time  only  adds  to  the  popular- 
ity of  his  lyrics. 

Persian  literature  is  also  rich  in  works  on  morals 
and  science,  and  in  prose  fictions.  “ The  modern 
Persians,”  says  Palmer,  “ like  other  oriental  na- 
tions, have  been  stimulated  into  intellectual  activity 
in  recent  times  by  communications  with  the  West, 
and  the  result  has  been  a number  of  useful  works 
on  educational  and  scientific  subjects  have  been 
translated  from  the  European  languages.  The  old 
standard  authors,  however,  still  hold  their  ground, 
and  are  studied  with  as  much  ardor  as  ever.  Judged 
from  a literary  point  of  view,  the  Persian  intellect 
is  brilliant,  volatile  and  vivacious,  and  not  unlike,  in 
national  characteristics,  the  French.” 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Pre-eminence  of  Greece — The  General  Grecian  Peculiarity— The  Age  of  Fable  and 
Poetry' — Political  Divisions  of  the  Territory — Grote  and  Schliemann— The  Heroic 
Age  aijd  Hercules — Theseus,  the  Amazons  and  Medea— The  Trojan  Heroes — Homer’s 
Portrayal  of  the  Heroic  Age — The  Siege  of  Troy' — The  City  Taken — The  Wanderings 
of  Ulysses — The  Closing  Scene. 


\ A 


N the  desert  of  antiquity- 
stands  that  beautiful  oasis, 
Greece,  forever  green  and 
fertile  in  the  products  of 
genius.  We  may  admire 
the  martial  splendor  of 
Alexander,  the  dauntless 
heroism  of  Marathon  and 
Thermopylae,  the  statesmanship  of  Peri- 
cles, and  the  naval  splendors  of  Salanns, 
but  it  is  to  her  poets  and  philosophers, 
her  art  and  her  oratory,  that  Greece  owes 
the  crown  of  fadeless  glory  which  encir- 
cles the  Hellenic  brow  and  makes  the 
subject  upon  which  we  enter  with  this 
chapter  replete  with  interest.  That 
little  rock-bound  southeastern  penin- 
sula of  Europe  is  linked  in  proud  pre- 
eminence with  the  civilization  of  the  entire  continent. 
For  a long  time  it  was  the  only  civilized  portion  of 
Europe.  Everywhere  else  the  barbarian  held  un- 
disputed sway  for  centuries  after  the  Hellenes  had 
mastered  “ the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  ” and  bet- 
tered their  instructions. 

Hard  by  Africa  and  Asia  both,  with  ample  har- 
bors and  productive  soil,  the  country  was  well 
adapted  to  be  the  home  of  a great  if  not  a numer- 


ous people.  The  term  Greek  really  includes  not 
only  the  dwellers  on  that  peninsula,  as  we  shall  see, 
but  numerous  colonies  established  on  adjacent 
islands  and  mainland.  To  trace  in  detail  the  growth 
and  decay  of  each  petty  state  in  Greece  proper, 
even,  would  be  tedious  and  unprofitable.  The  aim 
is  to  make  plain  the  subject  in  its  entirety,  and  ena- 
ble one  to  clearly  apprehend  the  place  belonging  to 
the  Greeks  in  the  world  of  the  past.  It  may  be  re- 
marked here  that  the  Alexandrian  age  of  Egypt 
was,  as  has  been  shown,  more  Grecian  than  Coptic, 
and  that  having  once  entered  the  stream  of  prog- 
ress, the  Hellenic  waters  never  ceased  to  give  color 
and  character  to  the  whole  body,  much  as  the  Miss- 
issippi river  is  essentially  the  Missouri  after  their 
waters  commingle  and  flow  together  into  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

Much  which  long  passed  for  Grecian  history  is 
now  known  to  be  wildly  fabulous,  and  some  tilings 
gravely  condemned  as  fiction  have  been  shown  by 
later  research  to  have  been  actual.  In  the  critical 
work  which  exposed  the  legendary  and  mythical 
character  of  supposed  history,  the  late  Mr.  Grote 
took  the  lead,  and  for  the  rescue  of  actual  facts 
from  the  reproach  of  being  unreal,  the  world  is 
supremely  indebted  to  Schliemann.  Between  what 
one  tore  down  and  the  other  built  up, — dug  up, 


SC 


V*  <5" 


(90) 


c. 


GREECE  AND  HERO  WORSHIP.  9 1 


rather, — the  dark  places  of  Grecian  history  have  been 
made  bright  with  intelligence.  The  first  great  name 
in  Greece  is  that  of  Homer,  and  Schliemann  has 
shown  that  his'  Trojan 
war  was  not  the  vagary 
of  inventive  genius, but 
the  veritable  siege  of  a 
veritable-  city.  How- 
ever much  freedom  the 
poet  allowed  his  muse, 
his  subject  was  histori- 
cal. Troy  was  no  myth, 
and  in  monumental 
ruins  may  be  read  the 
story  of  “ the  wrath  of 
Achilles.”  And  if  Ho- 
mer had  a substratum  of  history  for  his  heroes,  so, 
no  doubt,  had  the  great  dramatists  of  Greece  whose 
grand  conceptions  fill  a large  space  in  the  intellec- 
tual world.  It  would  be  vain,  however,  to  attempt 
the  separation  of  truth  and  fiction,  and  more  prof- 
itable to  view  all  those  characters  in  a poetic  light, 
as  we  do  Hamlet,  King  Lear  and  Hiawatha. 

From  first  to  last  Greece  was  divided  into  numer- 
ous states,  generally  independent  of  eacli  other,  and 
sometimes  at  war.  The  union  of  those  common- 
wealths was  confederate  rather  than  federal,  and 
when  brought  to  its  strongest  point  was  really  a 
partnership  at  will.  The  doctrine  of  “ state  sover- 
eignty” was  never  disputed.  Homer  may  be  said 
to  furnish  the  key  of  the  entire  political  history  of 
the  Greeks,  when  he  introduces  us  to  Achilles  sulk- 
ing in  his  tent,  and  the  allies  powerless  to  coerce  his 
active  co-operation  in  the  war  then  in  progress,  and 
for  which  he  had  enlisted.  It  was  not  until  he  vol- 
untarily buckled  on  his  shield  and  drew  his  rusty 
sword  from  its  scabbard,  that  he  led  his  terrible 
myrmidons  into  battle,  slew  the  mighty  Hector,  and 
paved  the  way  for  the  fall  of  Troy.  It  is,  of  course, 
idle  to  speculate  as  to  the  probable  course  of  history 
had  the  Greeks  been  one  nation.  Perhaps  the  glo- 
ries of  Greece  and  Rome  would  both  have  unified. 

It  may  be,  on  the  other  hand,  that,  like  the  Ger- 
many of  the  first  half  of  the  present  century,  it 
owes  much  of  its  literary  importance  to  its  political 
insignificance,  and  that  national  greatness  would 
have  dwarfed  the  intellectual  growth  of  the  people. 
The  age  of  Grecian  barbarism,  midway  between 
primitive  savagery  and  the  civilization  which  could 


produce  a Homer  and  the  long  line  of  subsequent 
splendor,  is  called  the  Heroic  age.  Not  that  it  was 
really  more  grand  than  any  other  similar  age  in 
other  lands,  but  the  poets  took  up  the  faintly  out- 
lined characters,  weaving  about  them  ideal  person- 
alities, combining  the  rugged  originals  with  a sub- 
limation purely  fanciful.  This  heroic  period  is  not 
definite  in  chronology,  but  generally  designates  the 
time  from  B.  C.  1400  to  B.  C.  1200.  The  first  of 
these  is  Hercules,  whose  marvelous  exploits  would, 
if  true,  prove  him  to  have  been  indeed  a demigod. 
He  was  a knight-errant,  succoring  the  weak,  subdu- 
ing tyrants,  and  performing  labors  most  prodigious. 
The  Greeks  of  the  period  before  his  day  are  called 
Pelasgians.  Hercules  was  a Phoenician  by  blood. 


He  was  born  in  Thebes,  not  the  grand  old  city  of 
the  Nile,  but  the  town  of  that  name  in  Greece 
founded  by  Cadmus  the  Phoenician.  He  traveled 
far  by  land  and  water.  The  Straits  of  Gibralter 
were  his  pillars.  His  proverbial  labors  were  under- 
taken in  expiation  of  the  murder  of  his  wife  and 
children,  committed  in  a fit  of  rage ; at  least,  that  is 
the  more  usual  explanation  of  those  labors.  These 
labors  were  twelve  in  number,  the  chief  being  the 
slaying  of  the  Nemean  lion,  one  of  the  hydra  with 
nine  heads ; cleansing  the  stables  of  King  Augeas 
who  had  a herd  of  three  thousand  oxen  whose  stables 
had  not  been  cleansed  for  thirty  years ; stealing  the 
girdle  of  Ilippolyta,  the  queen  of  the  Amazons,  and 
the  apples  in  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides,  the  gift 
of  the  goddess  Earth  to  Juno  011  the  occasion  of 
her  marriage  with  Jove.  His  final  labor  was  bring- 


Horaer. 


7T 


92 


GREECE  AND  HERO  WORSHIP. 


iug  Cerberus,  the  watch-dog  of  hell,  from  the  nether 
world.  The  shirt  steeped  in  the  blood  of  Nessus, 
which  caused  his  death  in  awful  agony,  was  sent  to 
him  by  his  wife,  who  was  inflamed  with  causeless 
jealousy.  The  garment  burned  into  his  flesh  and 
could  not  be  gotten  off  without  taking  the  flesh 
with  it.  All  these  exploits  and  experiences  are  in 
constant  use  for  illustrations. 

Next  to  Hercules  in  heroic  eminence  was  The- 
seus, the  pride  of  Athens.  Ilis  name  brings  up  the 
familiar  bed  of  Procustes,  or  the  stretcher.  It  was 
of  iron.  All  travelers  who  fell  into  his  hands  were 
placed  upon  it.  If  they  were  longer  than  the  bed 
they  were  chopped  off,  if  shorter,  they  were 
stretched.  This  eccentric  landlord  was  placed  upon 
his  own  bedstead  by  Theseus  and  made  to  accept 
his  own  hospitality.  Theseus  made  war  upon  those 
illustrious  females,  the  Amazons,  as  Hercules  had 
before  him.  Greek  sculpture  was  fond  of  repre- 
senting the  battles  of  the  Amazons,  and  to  the  end 
of  time,  women  who  boldly  stand  up  for  their  rights, 
undaunted  by  masculine  opposition,  will  be  known 
as  Amazons.  Theseus  has  figured  more  upon  the 
histrionic  stage  than  Hercules.  We  catch  a shad- 
owy glimpse  of  this  hero  in  history.  His  shade  flits 
across  the  stage  of  statecraft,  but  only  to  disappear 
in  the  clouds  of  antique  dust. 

The  heroic  age  is,  for  the  most  part,  the  story  of 
the  Trojan  heroes  and  those  associated  with  them. 
Homer  was  not  alone  in  treating  this  subject.  On 
the  contrary,  his  accounts  are  tantalizing,  and  what 
he  omitted  the  tragedians  sought  to  supply.  Ho- 
mer introduces  us  to  the  Greeks  on  the  plain  before 
the  doomed  city,  and 
during  the  Iliad  never 
once  wanders  from  that 
charmed  spot.  The 
Odyssey  treats  only  of 
the  w anderi n g s of 
Ulysses.  Of  what  went 
before  and  followed 
after,  we  know  nothing,  /if 
except  as  others  fur- A 
nishedthe  information.  \ 

Between  all,  the  ac-  Meneiaus. 

count  is  quite  full.  An  attempt  will  now  be  made  to 
narrate  all  the  important  features  of  this  great  pic- 
ture of  the  heroic  age  and  its  apotheosis  bv  genius. 

Paris,  the  handsome  son  of  Priam,  King  of  Troy, 


paid  a visit  to  Meneiaus,  King  of  Sparta.  He 
abused  the  hospitality  of  his  royal  friend  by  eloping 
with  his  beautiful  wife,  Helen.  The  injured  hus- 
band sent  tidings  of  his  wrong  to  the  different 


Iphigenia. 

chiefs  of  Greece,  inviting  them  to  join  in  avenging 
the  outrage.  The  appeal  met  with  a cordial  response. 
All  were  willing  to  go  except  Ulysses  of  Ithaca.  He 
had  just  married  a wife,  and  still  more  recently  be- 
come a father.  Not  wanting  to  leave  the  lovely  Penel- 
ope and  the  infant  Telemachus,  he  pretended  to  be 
crazy,  but  the  trick  was  detected,  and  the  trickster 
joined  them  in  the  expedition.  A vote  was  taken 
on  the  question  of  who  should  be  generalissimo. 
The  choice  did  not  fall  upon  the  venerable  Nestor, 
the  brave  Achilles,  or  the  crafty  Ulysses,  but  upon 
the  magnificent  Agamemnon.  To  insure  success 
and  safety,  the  commander-in-chief  resolved  to  offer 
in  sacrifice  his  own  daughter,  Iphigenia.  A goddess 
interposed  and  saved  the  girl,  leaving  a hind  upon 
the  altar  as  a substitute.  One  may  see  in  this  story 
a resemblance  to  the  less  tragic  incident  commem- 
orative of  Hebrew  substitution  of  a sheep  for  a hu- 
man being.  But  Agamemnon,  unlike  Abraham, 
supposed  his  child  had  perished.  So  did  the  mother, 
Clytemnestra,  who  thereupon  conceived  deadly  ha- 
tred for  her  husband,  a hatred  that  made  her  false 
to  her  marriage  vows,  and  cost  him  his  life  upon  his 
return  from  the  war.  But  to  proceed.  On  their 
way  to  Troy  the  fleet  attacked  an  innocent  people 
and  despoiled  them.  Among  the  victims  taken 
captive  was  the  beautiful  maiden,  Briseis.  The  girl 
was  allotted  to  Achilles,  but  coveted  bv  Agameni- 


"7T 


^JT 


GREECE  AND  HERO  WORSHIP. 


93 


non.  The  latter,  exerting  his  superior  authority,  took 
her  to  himself.  Thereupon  Achilles  withdrew  from 
the  general  camp  and  began  his  immortal  “ sulks.’’ 
The  war  dragged  its  weary  length,  battle  after  bat- 
tle being  fought  without  decisive  advantage  on 
either  side,  until,  finally,  a friend  of  Achilles, 
Patroclus,  was  slain,  when  the  great  sulker  forgot 
his  grievance  and  made  short  work  of  the  Trojans. 

The  Greeks  were  still  unable  to  enter  the  city. 
To  drive  the  warriors  within  the  gates  was  all  that 
they  could  do.  Then  it  was  that  the  craft  of  Ulys- 
ses achieved  its  greatest  triumph.  At  his  sugges- 
tion a huge  wooden  horse  was  made  and  filled  with 
the  flower  of  the  army.  The  Greeks  then  set  sail 
as  if  tired  of  the 
enterprise.  Troy  was 
exultant  over  the 
raising  of  the  siege, 
and  fell  into  the 
trap.  Sallying  forth 
to  view  the  relics  of 
the  camp,  great  curi- 
osity was  excited  by 
the  wooden  horse. 

The  people  conclud- 
ed to  bring  it  into 
the  city  as  a trophy. 

A Trojan  priest,  by 
the  name  of  La- 
ocobn,  tried  to  dis- 
suade them  from  this  madness.  “ I fear  the  Greeks,” 
he  said,  “even  when  they  offer  gifts.”  Hardly 
had  he  spoken  thus,  accompanied  by  his  two 
sons,  when  two  monstrous  sea-serpents  came  ashore, 
making  straight  for  the  priest  and  his  sons,  whom 
they  strangled,  and  the  popular  cry  was  that  the 
gods  were  angered  by  his  opposition.  With  enthu- 
siasm, if  hard  work,  the  horse  was  brought  within 
the  walls.  Previous  to  this,  Ulysses  and  I homed  had 
crept  into  the  town  and  stolen  an  image  of  Minerva, 
called  the  Palladium,  which  was  the  safety  of  the 
city.  The  silly  Trojans  flattered  themselves  that 
they  now  had  a substitute  for  the  Palladium.  At 
night  when  all  was  still,  the  men  cut  their  way  out 
of  their  equine  box,  set  fire  to  the  city,  and  opened 
the  gates  to  their  friends  who  had  quietly  sailed 
back.  The  fall  of  Troy  was  thus  brought  about  by 
strategy  and  not  by  bravery.  The  slaughter  was 
terrible  and  relentless.  Those  who  escaped  the 


sword  were  sold  into  slavery,  including  the  surviv- 
ors of  the  royal  family.  A few  fled  under  the  lead- 
ership of  AEneas,  who,  according  to  Virgil,  was  the 
father  of  Rome.  Helen’s  crime  was  condoned  by 
her  husband  with  whom  she  returned  to  Sparta. 
Throughout,  she  is  represented  as  passive  in  the 
extreme. 

Varied  were  the  experiences  of  the  heroes.  Achil- 
les had  already  been  slain,  shot  in  the  heel  (his  only 
vulnerable  spot)  by  a poisoned  arrow  from  the 
shaft  of  the  cowardly  and  mean  Paris.  The  mur- 
der of  Agamemnon  upon  the  threshold  of  his  own 
palace  was  a favorite  theme  of  the  tragedians,  and 
the  sorrows  of  his  children  furnished  occasion  for 

illustrating  the  piti- 
lessness of  fate.  But 
Ulysses  was  the  real 
hero  after  the  fall  of 
Troy.  He  wandered 
in  many  lands.  Ho- 
mer represents  him 
visiting  every  land 
known  to  the  Greeks, 
real  and  fabulous, 
and  experiencing  all 
sorts  of  dangers.  He 
even  went  to  the 
infernal  regions  and 
returned. 

The  first  country 
visited  which  was  purely  fabulous  and  has  always 
been  fraught  with  poetic  interest  was  the  land 
of  the  lotus-eaters.  The  food  of  the  people  was 
the  lotus-plant,  the  effect  of  which  was  perfect 
contentment  witli  present  surroundings.  It  was 
with  difficulty  that  Ulysses  could  drag  his  com- 
panions on  shipboard.  They  next  arrived  at  the 
island  home  of  the  Cyckqxs, — giants  who  dwelt 
in  caves  and  had  a fondness  for  human  flesh.  One 
of  these  monsters,  Polyphemus,  devoured  several 
Greeks.  The  wily  chief  got  him  under  the  influ- 
ence of  wine,  put  out  his  eye  (for  he  had  only  one, 
and  that  in  the  center  of  his  forehead).  After  that 
it  was  easy  to  escape  from  the  cave  and  the  island. 
The  island  of  King  vEolus  was  touched  upon 
next.  This  monarch  was  intrusted  witli  the  custo- 
dy of  the  winds,  kept  in  bags.  He  treated  the  dis- 
tinguished traveler  witli  deference  and  at  parting 
gave  him  a bag  of  wind.  The  sailors  were  so  curi- 


LL 


94 


GREECE  AND  HERO  WORSHIP. 


ous  to  know  what  was  in  the  sack  that  they  untied 
it,  whereupon  a furious  hurricane  arose,  blowing  the 
ship  back  to  the  island,  and  exposing  them  all  to 
great  peril.  Not  long  after  the  ship  came  to  the 
iEgean  Isles,  where  the  daughter  of  the  sun,  Cir- 
ce, dwelt.  She  was  a potent  sorceress,  able  by  her 
enchantment  to  turn  men  into  swine.  She  prac- 
ticed her  arts  upon  a part  of  the  crew.  By  the  aid 
of  Mercury,  Ulysses  succeeded  not  only  in  resisting 
her  influence  but  in  compelling  her  to  disenchant 
his  companions.  They  were  most  hospitably  enter- 
tained after  that,  and  it  is  broadly  intimated  that 
Ulysses  was  quite  content  to  stay  with  the  fair  en- 
chantress. But  dalliance  came  to  an  end  at  last, 
and  the  crew  once  more  set  sail  for  home. 

The  story  of  the  Sirens  belongs  to  this  won- 
derful journey,  as  do  Scylla  and  Charybdis.  The 
Sirens  were  mystic  maidens  who  could  sing  so 
sweetly  that  to  hear  them  was  to  be  drawn  towards 
them  by  an  irresistible  impulse.  They  were  on 
land,  and  if  the  sailors  and  companions  of  the 


Ulysses  Tied  to  the  Mast. 

great  Greek  attempted  to  swim  ashore,  they  would 
surely  perish.  Ulysses,  having  been  warned  by  the 
goddess  Circe,  caused  himself  to  be  bound  to  the 


mast,  and  told  his  companions  to  fill  their  ears  with 
wax.  Those  who  did  so  escaped  the  enchantment, 
while  those  who  did  not  lost  their  lives.  Scylla  was 
a rock  and  Charybdis  a whirlpool  near  together, 
between  which  he  was  obliged  to  sail.  A slight 
variation  either  way  from  the  roadstead,  and  all 
would  have  been  destroyed. 

It  was  such  hairbreadth  escapes  as  these  which 
fill  the  pages  of  the  Odyssey,  and  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  puerility  of  the  early  Greek  knowl- 
edge of  the  world.  Homer  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a Greek  of  Asia  Minor,  but  even  those  enter- 
prising colonists  were  illy  acquainted  with  the  rest 
of  mankind.  We  cannot  stop  to  tell  all  the 
prodigious  experiences  of  the  wanderer.  Reaching 
home  as  last,  after  an  absence  of  twenty  years,  he 
found  his  faithful  Penelope  cunningly  dodging  the 
matrimonial  question.  A crowd  of  suitors  sought 
her  hand  (for  she  was  a “rich  widow”).  She  prom- 
ised to  select  one  among  the  number  as  soon  as  she 
had  finished  weaving  the  garment  then  in  her  loom. 
By  day  she  worked  industriously,  and  in  the  silence 
of  the  night  unraveled  what  she  had  woven  during 
the  day.  Ulysses  pretended  to  be  a beggar,  and  as 
an  old  tramp  presented  himself  at  the  dining-room 
door  of  his  own  palace,  where  the  suitors  were  feast- 
ing at  his  expense.  When  they  were  well  plied  with 
wine  he  drew  his  sword  and  made  terrible  havoc 
among  them. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  world  takes  leave  of  the 
heroic  age  of  Greece  witli  the  spectacle  of  that  first 
of  Enoch  Ardens  heaping  in  indiscriminate  slaugh- 
ter the  gang  who,  under  the  pretext  of  courting 
his  supposed  widow,  were  literally  eating  him  out  of 
house  and  home.  One  bids  farewell  to  this  last  of 
the  heroes  feeling  that  lie  was  more  moved  by 
the  prodigality  of  his  insolent  guests  than  by 
the  constancy  of  his  ideal  wife,  the  ever-praised 
Penelope. 


\ a 
IL 


Tv 


S 6 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Actual  in  Fabulous  Wars — Spartans  and  Messenlans— TnE  Four  Great  Wars  of 
Greece — Asia  Minor  and  Crcesus — The  Persians  and  the  Ionians— The  Invasion  of 
Greece  by  the  Persians — The  Glories  of  Marathon— Thermopyl.e  and  its  Heroic  De- 
fense— Salamis  and  the  Flight  of  Xerxes — Themistocles  and  the  Ingratitude  of  Repub- 
lics— The  Peloponnesian  War — The  Genius  of  Pericles — Philip  of  Macedon — Alexander 
the  Great— Roman  Conquest  of  Greece — Siege  of  Athens— Modern  Greek  Heroism. 


•} 

1IUS  far  our  history  lias 
not  dealt  very  much  in  hu- 
man butchery,  nor  do  we 
intend  that  it  shall,  except 
as  the  same  may  be  neces- 
sary to  the  unfolding  of 
the  progress  of  the  world 
from  savagery  to  genuine  civiliza- 
tion. In  the  case  of  Greece,  her 
historians  seemed  to  think  the 
blood-stained  footprints  of  war 
would  interest  posterity  vastly 
more  than  the  domestic  life,  the 
poetry,  the  art,  the  philosophy,  and 
the  social  institutions  of  the  peo- 
ple. To  find  the  most  elaborate 
details  of  the  almost  interminable 
civil  wars  of  Greece,  one  has  only 
to  turn  to  Herodotus,  Thucydides  or  kindred  his- 
torians of  later  date.  They  tell  all  about  them,  but 
the  far  more  important  and  interesting  class  of  in- 
formation alluded  to  must  be  searched  for  in  the 
by-ways  of  knowledge.  The  average  history  of 
Greece  is  mainly  devoted  to  the  exploits  of  armies. 
The  field  of  real  interest  is  a narrow  one,  however. 
The  Trojan  war  belongs  to  history,  it  is  true,  in  its 
general  outlines,  but  all  the  surviving  details  apper- 


tain  to  the  heroic  age,  the  fabulous  and  the  poetic. 
In  the  gray  of  the  morning  all  was  misty,  and 
Homer’s  blind  eyes  saw  gods  watching  over  and 
assisting  godlike  men,  engaged  in  the  business  and 
pastime  of  cutting  each  other’s  throats. 

The  first  historic  war  of  Greece  was  waged  be- 
tween  the  Spartans  and  the  Messenians.  Around 
that  series  of  struggles,  romance  and  poetry  have 
thrown  no  robe  of  beauty.  For  it  has  been  woven 
no  royal  purple,  no  cloth  of  gold.  Many  details 
have  been  preserved,  but  they  add  little,  if  anything, 
to  the  valuable  store  of  human  knowledge.  Those 
two  peoples  dwelt  as  neighboring  states  on  the 
Peloponnesus.  They  were  of  one  stock — Dorians. 
But  they  were  unlike  by  the  time  they  rose  above 
the  obscuring  hills  of  time.  Messenia  was  a much 
better  country  than  Lacedaemonia.  It  produced 
better  crops  and  better  people.  But  Lacedaemonia 
had  Sparta,  and  Sparta  had  Lycurgus.  As  a mili- 
tary community  the  Spartans  were  the  superior,  and 
with  the  usual  meanness  of  uncivilized  people,  the 
stronger  continually  encroached  upon  the  weaker, 
and  provoked  war.  A chronic  state  of  belligerency 
existed  between  them.  Even  when  the  fire  seemed 
dead,  it  only  smouldered.  There  were  three  Messe- 
nian  wars,  with  the  dates,  B.  0.  743-724  ; 085-668  ; 
464—455,  covering  a period  of  about  three  centuries, 


k. 


96 


HISTORIC  WARS  OF  GREECE. 


and  active  hostilities  during  forty-five  years,  all  told. 
Finally,  in  the  latest  set-to,  lasting  nine  years,  the 
Messenians  were  not  only  conquered,  as  usual,  but 
wiped  out.  It  was  a war  of  extermination.  “ When 
Greek  meets  Greek,  then  comes  the  tug  of  war.” 
The  better  but  weaker  people  were  driven  from 
Peloponnesus,  disappearing  forever  as  a distinctive 
people  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  leaving  behind 
them  little  else  than  the  record  of  their  calamity. 

Passing  by  trivial  outbreaks  of  hostility,  we  may 
say  that  the  great  historic  wars  of  the  Greeks,  ex- 
clusive of  the  Messenian,  were  four,  namely,  the 
Persian,  the  Peloponnesian,  the  Macedonian  and 
the  Roman.  Each  one  of  these  had  an  important 
bearing  upon  the  great  events  of  world-wide  interest. 
We  have  named  them  in  their  chronological  order. 
The  first  began  in  Asia  Minor,  but  was  none  the 
less  Greek,  and  ultimately  extended  to  Greece.  It 
may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the  fall  of  Croesus 
(B.  C.  546),  and  closed  with  Cimon’s  defeat  of  the 
naval  and  military  forces  of  the  Persians  in  the 
battle  of  Eurymedon  (B.  C.  465),  a period  of  eighty- 
one  years.  The  Peloponnesian,  or  great  civil  war 
of  Greece,  began  in  B.  C.  431  and  continued  with 
hardly  any  cessation  of  hostilities  for  twenty-seven 
years.  Macedonia  began  to  be  a power  in  the  world 
during  the  reign  of  Philip,  the  father  of  Alexander 
the  Great.  He  began  the  interference  with  the 
affairs  of  Peloponnesus,  B.  0.  344.  His  greater  son 
closed  his  prodigious  career  B.  C.  323,  and  with  his 
death  terminated  the  really  brilliant  military  career 
of  Greece.  The  fourth  war  in  the  present  list,  the 
one  with  Rome,  was  little  more  than  the  gradual 
absorption  of  Greece  and  the  Greeks  round  about, 
111  the  universal  empire  of  the  Eternal  City.  The 
first  conflict  of  Greek  and  Roman  arms  was  in 
B.  C.  214,  and  in  B.  C.  146  the  supremacy  of  Rome 
over  Greece  ceased  to  be  disputed  or  resisted.  Such 
are  the  boundaries  of  our  present  theme. 

The  Greeks  were  a people  of  wonderful  enterprise. 
They  sent  out  colonies  without  number.  The 
population,  in  excess  of  what  was  convenient  and 
desirable,  “went  west,”  only  “out  west”  was  really 
“down  east  ” Unless,  indeed,  as  some  think, 
the  Greek  settlements  on  the  mainland  were  the 
older  of  the  two.  However  that  may  be,  it  is 
undeniable  that  crossing  to  the  opposite  shore, 
they  built  cities  and  developed  states  with  mar- 
velous fecundity.  The  fatherland  laid  claim  to 


no  sovereignty  over  the  swarms  which  went  out  from 
the  parent  hive,  and  the  best  of  feeling  prevailed. 
While  these  colonies  were  flourishing  in  wealth  and 
culture,  there  grew  up  a somewhat  important  king- 
dom further  inland — Lydia.  The  colonial  cities 
were  free  marts  of  commerce,  like  the  cities  of  Hol- 
land and  Germany,  which  formed  the  Hanseatic 
League  and  of  which  we  shall  speak  at  a later 
period.  Not  content  with  further  enlargement 
toward  the  East,  Lydia,  like  Russia,  was  impatient 
for  a seaboard.  Croesus,  the  Lydian  king  whose 
wealth  has  been  proverbial,  and  is  so  still,  came  to 
the  throne  in  B.  C.  560.  He  laid  siege  to  Ephesus, 
one  of  the  Grecian  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  and  soon 
took  it.  He  treated  the  citizens  so  leniently  that  he 
had  very  little  difficulty  in  extending  his  sway,  in  a 
patriarchal  way,  over  the  whole  of  Asia  Minor.  For 
a tribute,  small  to  those  commercial  cities,  but  enor- 
mous to  him,  he  agreed  to  respect  their  rights  and 
defend  them,  too.  The  cities  and  the  monarchy  sus- 
tained some  such  relations  to  each  other  as  vassals 
and  baron  in  the  feudal  system.  His  enormous ' 
wealth  became  known  and  laid  him  liable  to  attack. 
About  that  time  Cyrus  the  Great  came  on  the  stage 
of  imperial  action.  He  was  a Persian,  but  he  held 
the  scepter  of  Medea  as  well,  the  latter  being  a 
great  kingdom.  Cyrus  moved  upon  Croesus,  and 
before  the  opulent  monarch  could  utilize  his  re- 
sources Lydia  became  a province  of  Persia,  and  thus 
the  Greek  and  the  Persian  were  brought  face  to  face 
for  the  first  time.  Croesus  had  the  means  to  procure 
powerful  if  not  invincible  help.  He.  sent  his  am- 
bassadors to  Sparta  and  an  alliance  was  formed, 
but  before  the  aid  could  arrive  all  was  over. 

Cyrus  would  have  had  the  ready  allegiance  of  the 
Greek  cities,  had  he  been  content  to  guarantee  the 
continuance  of  the  mild  sway  of  the  Lydian  sover- 
eign ; but  his  demand  was  “ unconditional  and  im- 
mediate surrender.  ” To  this  they  would  not  con- 
sent. He  deputized  his  lieutenants  to  complete  the 
subjugation  of  Asia  Minor.  It  was  not  a difficult 
task.  Nor  was  the  Persian  yoke  heavy  or  irksome, 
and  the  sovereignty  of  Persia  was  soon  acknowl- 
edged throughout  Asia  Minor. 

Cyrus  was  ambitious  of  bagging  larger  game  than 
Lydia,  and  as  for  Greece,  he  knew  no  more  about  it 
than  a Tartar  does  of  Australia.  He  besieged  Baby- 
lon, and  it  fell.  The  exploits  of  himself  and  of  his 
son  Cambyses  in  Egypt  lmve  already  been  men- 


's 


■3. 


-t- 


HISTORIC  WARS  OF  GREECE. 


97 


tioned.  It  was  not  until  Darius,  the  successor  of 
Cambyses,  came  to  the  throne,  that  Greece  attracted 
Persian  attention.  A trivial  accident  was  the  spark 
which  kindled  the  flame  of  that  great  war.  At  that 
time  Darius  had  a magnificent  empire.  It  ex- 
tended from  the  HUgean  Sea  to  the  Indian  ocean, 
and  from  the  steppes  of  Russia  in  Asia,  to  the  cata- 
racts of  the  Nile.  The  idea  of  his  being  seriously 
mindful  of  little  Greece,  would  have  seemed  to  him 
absurd.  One  day  he  sprained  his  ankle  while  out 
hunting.  There  happened  to  be  a Greek  physician 
within  call,  named  Democedes,  and  he  was  summoned 
to  dress  the  wound,  which  he  did  so  skillfully  that  the 
king  insisted  upon  retaining  him  as  his  family  doc- 
tor. His  favorite  wife,  Queen  Atossa,  was  treated 
by  Democedes,  and  so  satisfactorily,  that  she  con- 
ceived a desire  to  *»ve  Greek  maids  to  attend  her, 
comb  her  hair  and  make  her  dresses.  To  please  her, 
the  doctor  was  sent  to  Greece,  under  escort,  to  procure 
the  damsels.  His  companions  were  instructed  to  find 
out  all  they  could  about  the  country,  and  their 
report  may  be  said  to  have  introduced  Greece  to 
Pei’sia,  and  been  the  beginning  of  the  relations  be- 
tween those  two  countries.  It  was  not  imme- 
diately productive  of  results.  Had  all  the  states  of 
Greece  adopted  and  adhered  to  the  “ Monroe  doc- 
trine, ” as  the  policy  of  non-intervention  with 
the  affairs  of  other  nations  is  called,  they  might  have 
been  spared  war  with  the  great  empire  of  Asia.  But 
the  Athenians  undertook  to  meddle  with  the  affairs 
of  that  continent,  as  friends  of  the  Ionians,  and  to 
resent  an  insolent  threat  by  Persia.  Athens  was  by 
that  time  a powerful  state  witli  a very  formidable 
navy.  Sardis,  the  capital  of  Lydia,  one  of  the  twenty 
satrapies  of  Persia,  was  taken  by  the  Ionians  and  the 
Athenians.  Darius  was  more  indignant  with  the  in- 
termeddlers from  Athens  than  with  the  others,  who 
had  been  gradually  drawn  into  the  rebellion  by  a 
train  of  circumstances  which  furnished  some  excuse 
for  their  uprising.  The  success  of  the  combined  inva- 
sion and  its  result  loosened  the  hold  of  Darius  upon 
all  Asia  Minor.  If  the  victors  had  been  sustained 
by  reinforcements,  they  might  have  been  successful 
in  defying  the  power  of  Persia.  But  they  were  not. 
Athens  was  content  to  drop  the  matter,  and  asked 
only  to  be  “ let  alone.  ” Having  made  a brilliant 
sortie,  for  that  was  about  all  it  amounted  to,  the 
Athenians  were  disposed  to  go  home  and  there  let  it 
end.  But  not  so  with  Darius.  He  found  it  no 


very  hard  matter  to  reduce  the  Ionians  and  such 
other  subjects  as  had  been  incited  to  rebellion  by 
their  example.  It  took  several  years,  however,  to 
compass  that  end.  When  it  came,  all  traces  of  free- 
dom were  obliterated,  and  those  once  independent 
cities  became  in  reality  subject  to  a despotic  power. 

The  king  then  pursued  his  revenge  to  the  mother 
country.  He  sent  an  army  under  Mardonius  through 
Thrace  into  Greece.  The  Macedonians,  through 
whose  country  he  had  to  pass,  made  it  very  un- 
pleasant for  the  invaders.  The  Persians  were  so 
crippled  that  they  thought  it  prudent  to  go  back 
and  recruit,  first  punishing  severely  their  guerilla 
assailants.  That  was  in  B.  C.  492. 

Two  years  later  a greater  force  came  over.  This 
time  a far  different  course  was  pursued,  and  devas- 
tating as  they  went,  the  Persians  steered  their  way 
by  water  for  Attica.  It  was  a mighty  armament. 
Of  course  the  details  given  are  colored,  because  we 
have  only  the  Greek  version  of  them.  The  army 
landed  on  the  plain  of  Marathon,  in  the  bay  of 
which  the  Persian  fleet  found  anchorage.  That 
plain  is  now  one  of  the  most  memorable  spots  in  all 
history ; made  so  by  Greek  valor  on  the  present 
occasion.  It  is  one  of  the  few  level  regions  of  any 
extent  in  Attica,  being  about  five  miles  in  length 
and  two  in  breadth.  Two  days’  march  and  the  army 
would  be  before  the  walls  of  Athens,  and  it  is  al- 
most certain,  that  if  that  march  had  been  made,  the 
city  which  had  the  honor  of  being  the  literary  and 
artistic  capital  of  the  classic  world  would  have 
fallen,  its  mission  of  culture  still  far  from  complete. 
It  is  supremely  ridiculous  to  say  of  most  battles, 
that  upon  their  results  the  fate  of  ages  and  peoples 
was  staked,  but  in  this  instance  such  was  the  case. 

The  Athenians  were  equal 
to  the  emergency.  They 
boldly  met  the  invaders. 
The  battle  of  Hastings  was 
a repetition  of  the  battle 
of  Marathon,  only  with 
reversed  results.  William 
of  Normandy  conquered 
the  Saxons,  Harold  falling 
with  his  kingdom,  but  Mil- 
Miitiadcs.  tiades,  the  hero  of  Mara- 

thon, was  successful.  His  handful  of  brave  Athe- 
nians rushed  forward  to  the  attack  so  furiously  that 
they  soon  drove  the  enemy  to  their  ships.  Their  gal- 


S' 


98  HISTORIC  WARS  OF  GREECE. 


lant  impetuosity  caused  a pause  and  made  the  victory 
complete.  They  had  no  allies.  It  was  Athens  against 
the  countless  hordes  of  barbarism.  About  ten  thou- 
sand European  freemen  repelled  the  attack  of  at 
least  half  a million  of  Asiatics.  That  was  the  first 
real  meeting  of  the  two  continents  in  hostility  upon 
a scale  of  continental  importance.  The  Spartans 
were  on  their  way  to  Marathon,  but  Miltiades  needed 
no  “ night  or  Bliicher  ” to  help  him  win  his  Water- 
loo. It  is  a melancholy  reflection  that  the  hero  of 
this  victory,  more  brilliant  than  Waterloo  or  the 
Wilderness,  died  in  prison  not  long  after,  his  con- 
finement aggravating  a wound  he  received  in  an  un- 
successful attempt,  sub- 
sequent to  Marathon,  to 
enlarge  the  dominion  of 
Athens.  His  fate  con- 
tributed largely  to  the 
proverbial  idea  of  the  in- 
gratitude of  republics. 

The  Persians  were  ex- 
asperated rather  than 
discouraged  by  the  for- 
tunes of  Marathon. 

Darius  resolved  to  take 
a revenge  worthy  his 
magnificence.  An  execu- 
tive officer  in  distinction 
from  a man  of  war, 
he  was  equal  to  great 
achievements,  in  preparation  at  least,  for  a clash 
of  arms.  But  before  he  had  completed  his 
necessary  arrangements  death  called  him  away. 
That  was  in  B.  C.  485.  Xerxes,  the  son  of  the 
favorite  wife  already  mentioned,  took  his  place 
upon  the  throne.  lie  had  other  matters  of  im- 
portance to  attend  to,  and  it  was  four  years  more 
before  the  Persians  were  ready  to  renew  the  offen- 
sive. The  king  proposed  to  accompany  the  expedi- 
tion in  person.  The  point  of  crossing  selected  was 
the  narrow  strip  of  water,  the  Hellespont,  where  the 
two  continents  come  nearly  together.  A bridge  was 
built  across  it.  That  was  a great  work,  attended 
with  exceeding  difficulties.  The  army  of  invasion 
was  provided  with  a vast  fleet,  as  well  as  all  con- 
ceivable facilities  for  operation  by  land.  With  a 
show  of  fairness  the  monarch  sent  embassadors  to 
the  different  states  of  Greece  to  demand  submission. 
The  expression  of  compliance  with  this  demand  was 


by  sending  back  earth  and  water.  Several  of  the 
smaller  states  complied,  and  the  disposition  to  actu- 
ally resist  was  confined  to  Athens  and  Sparta.  The 
latter  seemed  to  remember  the  glories  of  Marathon 
in  a noble  spirit  of  emulation,  rather  than  a mean 
spirit  of  envy.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  B.  C.  480  that 
Greece  was  invaded,  and  in  a few  months,  two  more 
battles,  hardly  less  memorable  than  Marathon,  were 
fought,  one  by  land  and  the  other  on  the  sea,  the 
first,  Thermopylae,  being  the  everlasting  glory  of 
Sparta,  the  second,  Salamis,  adding  another  star  to 
the  Athenian  crown. 

Thermopylae  was  a narrow  pass,  through  which 
the  mighty  army  had  to 
march,  in  gaining  a foot- 
hold of  advantage.  Its 
defense  was  intrusted  to 
Leonidas,  king  of  Sparta, 
and  his  squad — for  it  was 
hardly  more  than  that — 
consisted  of  three  hun- 
dred Spartans,  with  their 
Helots,  or  serfs,  and 
about  twenty-five  hun- 
dred men,  gathered  from 
other  cities  of  Greece. 
The  latter  proved  to  be 
of  no  real  assistance.  On 
one  side  was  one  of  the 
largest  armies  ever  in 
array  anywhere  or  at  any  time,  and  on  the  other 
a small  battalion.  Had  the  position  of  the  de- 
fenders been  approachable  only  on  one  side,  as 
generally  siqiposed,  the  resistance  would  have  been 
effectual,  but  there  was  a weak  point,  a secret  path, 
by  which  the  enemy  could  flank  them.  A traitor 
(not  a Spartan)  betrayed  that  decisive  secret  to  the 
Persians.  When  they  learned  that,  the  Spartans 
knew  that  they  could  not  hope  to  keep  back  the 
assailing  horde.  They  would  not  surrender,  neither 
would  they  fly.  The  post  of  danger  which  their 
country  had  assigned  them  was  held  with  an  unfal- 
tering heroism.  Leonidas  and  his  brave  three  hun- 
dred only  thought  of  selling  their  lives  as  dearly  as 
they  could.  The  slaughter  which  they  produced 
was  prodigious,  for  the  number  engaged  in  it.  They 
fell  like  the  old  guard  at  Waterloo,  with  their 
faces  to  the  foe,  and  their  swords  fairly  glutted 
with  blood.  Xerxes  gained  possession  of  the  pass. 


Pass  of  Thermopylae. 


► 


lLu 


HISTORIC  WARS  OF  GREECE. 


99 


and  so  far  as  mere  men  was  concerned,  had  suffered 
no  crippling  loss.  But  a grand  moral  effect  was  pro- 
duced. The  Greeks  were  fired  with  a heroic  patri- 
otism seldom  displayed  by  any  people.  The  Persians 
marched  upon  Athens,  which  they  found  very  nearly 
deserted,  and  after  a short  check,  took  possession  of 
it,  and  wrought  their  barbaric  will.  Fortunately, 
that  was  before  the  statesmanship  of  Pericles,  and 
the  genius  of  Praxiteles  and  other  artists  and  archi- 
tects, had  made  it  the  marvel  of  the  world.  The 
people  had  been  removed  with  all  their  movables, 
and  scattered  to  places  of  safety.  Thermopylae  was 
to  Greece  at  that  time  much  what  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill  was  to  the  Americans  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  and  the  taking  of  Athens  did  Xerxes 
no  more  good  than  the  taking  of  Washington  did 
the  British,  in  the  second  war  between  England  and 
the  United  States. 

The  decisive  battle  of  the  Persian  war  was  still 
to  be  fought,  and  that  by  water.  And  now  the  far- 
sighted wisdom  of  Athens  was  displayed.  Ever 
since  the  battle  of  Marathon,  the  return  of  the  Per- 
sians had  been  anticipated,  and  the  greatest  Athe- 
nian of  his  time,  Themistocles,  had  been  unsparing 
and  untiring  in  making  preparation  to  meet  the 
enemy  upon  the  element  which  separated  the  two 
countries.  The  revenues  of  the  state,  derived  mainly 
from  mines,  which  had  been  divided  among  the 
citizens,  he  induced  the  people  to  appropriate  to 
the  construction  of  a navy.  There  were  a few 
other  Greek  navies  of  small  dimensions,  but  the 
Athenian  only  was  really  formidable.  Themistocles 
had  to  use  a great  deal  of  diplomacy  to  get  the  Per- 
sians to  venture  everything  upon  a naval  engage- 
ment, but  he  finally  succeeded.  The  Grecian  fieet 
was  massed  at  Salamis,  and  Xerxes  ordered  it  to  be 
surrounded  and  cut  to  pieces.  That  order  was  pre- 
cisely what  Themistocles  wanted,  for  it  afforded  ap- 
portunity  for  doing  something  decisive.  The  bat- 
tle was  not  a long  one.  The  Persian  fleet  was  a 
vast,  unwieldy,  and  soon  panic-stricken  mol)  of 
boats,  and  the  well-trained  triremes  of  Athens  cut 
them  down  like  grass.  It  was  Marathon  upon  the 
sea.  The  terrified  monarch,  as  he  beheld  the  en- 
gagement from  a lofty  throne  on  the  Grecian  shore, 
caught  the  mania,  and  fearing  that  he  might  he 
hemmed  in  and  lost  utterly,  made  haste  to  regain 
the  Hellespont  and  recross  it.  Themistocles  secret- 
ly spurred  him  on  by  reports  sent  to  him  by  pre- 


tended traitors.  The  great  Athenian  judged  that 
if  the  Persians  fled  from  the  country  in  terror,  they 
would  never  again  seriously  menace  the  liberties  of 
Greece,  and  he  was  right.  Some  further  feeble  at- 
tempts were  made  in  that  direction,  but  nothing  was 
done  having  in  it  any  real  menace  and  peril.  Never 
again  had  Greece  occasion  to  fear  Eastern  enemies, 
and  when  the  two  nations  next  appear  before  us  the 
brave  defenders  are  no  less  brave  if  less  honorable 
assailants,  and  Persia  is  on  the  defensive. 

The  fate  of  Themistocles  was  hardly  less  sad  than 
that  of  Miltiades.  He  did  not  die  in  prison,  but  he 
was  banished  and  became  a pensioner  upon  the 
bounty  of  the  son  and  successor  of  Xerxes,  Artax- 
erxes.  Of  the  three  heroes  of  the  Persian  war, 
only  Leonidas  was  spared  the  pangs  inflicted  by  an 
ungrateful  people.  He  fell  upon  the  field  of  glory. 

The  father  of  the  Athenian  navy,  the  Nelson  of 
antiquity,  in  his  last  days  gave  still  further  empha- 
sis to  the  ingratitude  of  republics.  In  all  commu- 
nities which  are  really  free,  there  is  a wide  range  for 
the  pendulum  of  popular  favor,  and  the  favor  of 
one  hour  may  turn  to  disfavor  in  the  next.  In  this 
country  this  fact  is  constantly  being  illustrated. 
But  there  is  this  difference  in  Greek  and  American 
popular  sentiment.  Its  loss  in  the  former  case  was 
banishment  or  death  ; in  the  latter  it  is  merely  ad- 
verse criticism,  traduction  perhaps,  and  relegation 
to  private  life.  The  spirit  of  party  ran  higher  and 
went  further  then  and  there  than  now  and  here. 
Even  Aristides,  surnamed  the 
Just,  was  banished  simply 
because  the  people  wearied 
of  his  monotonous  goodness, 
and  when  the  crisis  at  Sala- 
mis came,  he  was  found  with 
his  countrymen,  working  to- 
gether with  his  old  rival, 

Themistocles,  for  the  com- 
mon cause.  The  glory  of 
Greece,  and  especially  of  Ath- 
ens, would  have  been  more  brilliant  in  all  these  ages 
if  the  surviving  heroes  of  the  great  Persian  wars 
had  not  suffered  the  vengeance  of  party  politics. 

The  next  great  war  of  Greece  was  the  Peloponne- 
sian war.  It  was  entirely  Grecian  and  yet  had 
some  connection  with  the  Persian  invasion.  The 
latter  developed  vast  military  prowess,  for  even  af- 
ter Salamis  it  was  necessary  to  keep  up  a powerful 


'S 


\ 


IOO 


HISTORIC  WARS  OF  GREECE. 


army  -of  defense.  It  was  several  years  before  the 
danger  of  another  invasion  was  over,  and  still 
longer  before  the  fear  of  it  subsided.  To  be  pre- 
pared for  the  worst,  the  Athenians  and  Spartans 
agreed  to  live  together  in  peace  for  at  least  thirty 
years.  That  truce  was  born  of  fear  lest  the  “ bar- 
barian ” should  again  swoop  down  upon  them.  It 
was  scrupulously  observed.  In  the  meanwhile,  both 
states  flourished  and  became  far  stronger  than  ever 
before.  The  expiration  of  the  truce  found  Greece 
on  a military  footing,  for  the  repulsion  of  a foe  whose 
reappearance  had  by  that  time  ceased  to  be  appre- 
hended. With  nothing 
particular  to  do  (for 
Greece  was  not  ambitious 
for  foreign  conquest)  the 
two  great  rival  states 
were  not  long  in  coming 
to  blows  after  the  truce 
had  lapsed.  There  has 
been  a great  deal  of 
learned  explanation  of 
the  causes  of  the  war 
which  now  began  (called 
the  Peloponnesian),  but 
the  real  explanation  is 
found  in  the  one  word — 
jealousy.  Athens  wanted 
to  be,  and  really  ought 
to  have  been,  the  political 
capital  of  Greece  then, 
as  she  is  now.  Sparta 
would  consent  to  nothing 
of  the  kind,  and  each  had  its  sympathizers.  For 
twenty-seven  years  the  conflict  was  maintained,  and 
it  was  as  inglorious  as  the  other  was  glorious.  The 
genius  of  Thucydides  as  a historian,  and  especially 
as  a writer  of  eloquent  orations  which  were  never 
delivered,  lias  thrown  around  it  a halo,  and  given 
it  an  undue  prominence.  It  began  in  the  year  B.  C. 
431,  and  the  Athenians  finally,  in  B.  C.  405,  submit- 
ted to  terms  of  peace  which  left  the  States  of  Greece 
sustaining  to  each  other  substantially  the  same  “state 
rights”  relation  as  they  did  originally,  except  that 
Sparta  now  claimed  a certain  supremacy,  an  advan- 
tage it  lacked  the  statesmanship  to  retain  and  turn 
to  much  real  benefit. 

We  pass  over  this  period  without  going  into  de- 
tails. They  are  not  important  enough  to  justify  it. 


The  glory  of  that  era  was  indeed  great,  but  it  was 
not  military.  The  civil  genius  of  Pericles  and  the 
intellectual  grandeur  of  others  of  whom  we  are  yet 
to  speak,  have  contributed  incalculably  to  the  splen- 
dor of  classic  antiquity.  But  Pericles  died  in  the 
third  year  of  the  war,  and  Sparta  really  added  no 
luster  to  the  glories  of  Thermopylae,  by  preparing 
the  way  as  she  did  for  the  subjugation  of  all  Pelo- 
ponnesus, herself  included,  by  the  semi-Hellenic 
Alexander  of  Macedonia,  upon  whose  wars  we  now 
enter. 

It  was  not  until  Greece  had  been  sorely  rent  by 
inter-state  wars  and  had 
degenerated,  politically 
speaking,  into  a jargon  of 
petty  and  rival  national- 
ities, that  Macedonia 
came  upon  the  stage.  The 
real  founder  of  the  Mace- 
donian Empire  was  not 
Alexander,  but  his  father, 
Philip.  The  son  carried 
out  the  vast  scheme  of 
his  royal  sire.  Both  died 
young.  Philip  was  only 
forty-seven  years  of  age 
when  cut  down  by  assas- 
sination. He  had  reigned 
twenty-three  years,  and 
was  on  the  eve  of  making 
war  upon  Persia.  Begin- 
ning as  the  sovereign  of  a 
half  barbaric  kingdom  be- 
yond the  pale  of  Greek  civilization,  he  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  divided  and  hbstile  condition  of 
the  different  states,  also  of  the  extreme  bitterness 
of  party  feeling  in  the  republic,  to  extend  his 
influence.  Gradually,  by  cunning  diplomacy, 
downright  bribery,  and  military  genius,  he  ex- 
tended his  kingdom  until  at  length  he  had  gained 
ascendancy  over  all  Greece.  Some  states  he  treated 
with  deferential  respect,  but  all  had  to  bow  to  his 
sway,  or  at  most,  dared  not  openly  antagonize 
him.  Then  he  made  known  his  purpose.  He  an- 
nounced himself  as  the  champion  of  the  Greek  cause 
against  Persia.  He  called  for  men  and  means  to 
carry  on  an  aggressive  war.  Great  enthusiasm  pre- 
vailed. Had  he  lived  he  might  have  achieved  uni- 
versal empire.  But  as  he  entered  a theater,  just 


Alexander  the  Great. 


£ 


HISTORIC  WARS  OF  GREECE. 


IOI 


prior  to  his  intended  departure  for  Persia,  one  Pau- 
sanias,  who  had  a private  grievance,  cut  him  down. 

Alexander  was  then  only  twenty  years  of  age,  but 
he  had  already  distinguished  himself  in  battle,  and 
was  at  once  chosen  to  succeed  his  father  at  the  head 
of  the  Grecian  expedition  against  Persia.  There 
were  some  dissenters.  His  right  to  the  crown  of 
Macedonia  was  not  disputed,  but  his  headship  of  the 
confederate  states  of  Greece  was.  He  had  some 
hard  fighting  on  Grecian  soil  before  he  could  set  out 
for  Asia.  Thebes  of  Boeotia  was  the  most  stubborn 
of  the  free  cities.  He  had  to  raze  her  to  the  very 
ground.  “ The  boy  of  Pella,”  as  lie  was  derisively 
called,  could  not  under- 
take foreign  conquest 
until  he  had  completely 
established  home  rule. 

He  was  not  the  con- 
queror of  Greece,  albeit 
the  destroyer  of  one  of 
her  great  cities.  He 
made  an  example  of 
Thebes  to  show  what 
he  might  do,  sparing 
Athens  to  show  the 
paternity  of  his  gov- 
ernment, if  only  firm 
and  secure. 

Alexander  came  to 
the  throne  in  B.  C. 

436,  and  two  years  later 
set  out  for  Asia,  leaving  Greece,  as  it  proved, 
forever.  He  had  an  army  of  only  30,000  foot 
and  5,000  horse.  With  that  small  band  he  under- 
took the  conquest  of  the  world,  for  the  empire 
which  he  was  to  assail  ruled  the  whole  civilized 
world,  outside  of  Greece  and  its  offshoots,  and  the 
Asiatic  portion  of  the  latter.  It  is  true  that  many 
Greeks  preferred  Persian  friendship  to  Macedonian 
supremacy,  and  while  the  great  soldier  was  fighting 
for  Greek  civilization,  as  he  professed  and  as  the 
event  proved,  Antipater,  who  had  been  left  in 
charge  of  Alexander’s  affairs  at  home,  found  it  hard 
work  to  maintain  his  ground.  But  Alexander 
freely  supplied  him  with  “the  sinews  of  war”  from 
the  rich  booty  of  Persian  plunder,  and  so  well  did 
the  vicegerent  use  his  means,  that  the  scepter  of 
Macedon  was  more  *potent  throughout  Greece  in 
the  absence  than  in  the  presence  of  Alexander. 


To  follow  the  swift  course  of  the  warrior  who 
ranks  with  Caesar  and  Napoleon  as  one  of  the 
three  greatest  soldiers  of  all  time,  would  be  foreign 
to  our  purpose.  Wherever  he  went  victory  fol- 
lowed. He  met  Darius  and  his  army  upon  the  open 
field,  and  it  was  Marathon  and  Salamis  over  again. 
The  vast  army  was  routed  in  a battle  near  Issus  in 
B.  C.  333,  and  a second  and  still  larger  army  was 
defeated  two  years  later  near  Arbela.  During  the 
intervening  two  years  he  had  taken  Tyre,  received 
the  homage  of  Egypt,  and  cast  about  “ for  more 
worlds  to  conquer.  ” After  the  second  battle  he  was 
undisputed  master  of  all  the  Persian  empire,  but 

not  ready  by  any  means 


to  stay  his  victorious 
course.  He  pressed  on 
to  India,  everywhere 
victorious.  He  would 
probably  have  pushed 
on  to  the  utmost  verge 
of  the  Orient,  but  final- 
ly he  was  obliged  to 
turn  back.  The  sol- 
diers who  were  invinci- 
ble in  battle  were  stub- 
born in  refusing  to  go 
any  farther.  He  found 
the  hardships  from 
thirst  and  hunger  on 
the  return  march  more 
terrible  than  “ an  army 
with  banners.  ” When  he  had  returned  to  Susa,  he 
married  the  daughter  of  Darius,  and  then  began  at 
Babylon  the  reconstruction  of  bis  empire,  evidently 
intending  to  make  that  city  his  capital.  But  hardly 
had  he  begun  this  work,  when  he  fell  a victim  to  fe- 
ver. He  was  only  thirty-three  years  of  age,  and  un- 
like Philip,  he  had  no  son  old  enough  to  take  up  and 
complete  his  designs.  His  empire  fell  to  pieces,  and 
his  grand  idea  of  llellenizing  the  East  (for  he  had 
evidently  entertained  such  an  idea,  even  if  he  had 
formed  no  definite  plan)  was  never  carried  out,  ex- 
cept in  fragments.  Alexandria,  whose  glory  has 
been  dwelt  upon  in  a previous  chapter,  may  be  taken 
as  a suggestion  of  the  stupendous  scheme  which 
would  have  been  undertaken  had  his  life  been 
spared. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  premature 
death  of  Alexander  was  a greater  calamity  to  Asia 


\ 


7 


HISTORIC  WARS  OF  GREECE. 


than  any  other  event  in  all  history.  Greek  civiliza- 
tion would  have  been  established  from  the  dEgean 
Sea  to  the  Indian  ocean,  instead  of  being  confined 
in  its  transplanting,  to  a small  area.  Not  that 
that  vast  region  would  have  been  thoroughly  per- 
meated by  it,  of  course,  but  that  the  Macedonian 
arms  had  plowed  furrows  through  Southern  Asia  in 
which  the  seeds  of  civilization  would  doubtless  have 
been  planted,  and  brought  forth  fruit  of  incalcula- 
ble importance.  But  if  one  were  to  consider  only 
what  Alexandria  became  in  the  world  of  thought,  it 
must  be  conceded  that  Alexander  at  least  doubled 
the  power  over  mankind  of  the  Greek  intellect. 

The  Roman  conquest  of  Greece  was  brought  about 
largely  by  the  dissensions  of  the  Greeks  themselves, 
especially  by  hostilities  between  the  Aclneans  and 
the  iEtolians.  Philip  of  Macedonia  (the  last  of  the 
line)  entered  into  an  alliance  with  Hannibal  against 
the  Romans,  and  shared  the  fate  of  Carthage  in 
point  of  subjugation,  although  the  treatment  of 
Greece  by  the  Romans  was  always  generous  and 
chivalrous.  Philip  declared  war  against  the  Ro- 
mans in  B.  C.  216,  and  in  B.  C.  146  occurred  the 
battle  of  Leucopetra,  which  completed  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  last  of  the  Greek  Leagues,  the  Achaean, 
and  henceforth  Greece  was  under  the  yoke  of 
Rome.  The  Senate,  and  afterwards  the  emperors, 
treated  the  fatherland  of  their  own  civilization  with 
exceptional  kindness.  It  was  not  until  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire  placed  its  cruel  foot  upon  the  Greek 
neck,  that  all  free  institutions  and  popular  rights 
were  disregarded.  As  Schmitz  well  expresses  it, 
“ Greece,  though  conquered  by  the  arms  of  the  Ro- 
mans, subdued  them  in  turn  by  its  vast  superiority 
in  the  arts  and  in  literature.  The  Romans  them- 
selves owned  that  they  were  the  humble  disciples  of 


Greece  ; and  that  country  in  which  we  first  meet  in 
its  full  development  with  all  that  is  noble  and 
beautiful  in  man,  is  still  the  perennial  spring  at 
which  we  and  all  future  generations  may  refresh 
our  minds  and  drink  intellectual  inspiration.  ” 

Such  are  the  really  great  and  historic  wars  of 
Greece,  but  struggles  of  a later  date  deserve  notice. 

Modern  Greece  achieved  independence  through 
the  sword.  After  the  Turks  were  defeated  by  the 
Christians  at  Vienna  in  1684  Greece  was  ravaged 
by  the  Venetians  under  Francesco  Morosini.  In 
1687  Athens  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Christians. 
Terrible  was  the  destruction  incident  to  that  siege. 
The  Greeks  were  hardly  a party  to  the  conflict,  it 
being  a part  of  the  war  between  the  Venetians  and 
the  Turks,  but  none  the  less  were  Greek  statuary 
and  architecture  the  victims  of  the  struggle.  The 
Turks  stored  powder  in  the  Parthenon,  which  ex- 
ploded with  desolating  effect.  That  triumph,  so 
dearly  won,  was  lightly  esteemed,  and  soon  Greece 
once  more  groaned  under  the  Turkish  yoke. 

The  war  of  Independence  began  in  1821,  and  the 
last  battle  of  that  war  was  fought  in  Bceotia  in  Oc- 
tober, 1829.  In  the  first  battle  of  this  series  Prince 
Alexander  Ypselantes  was  defeated,  but  in  the  last 
his  brother  Demetrius  won  a brilliant  victory  over 
the  Turk.  It  will  be  seen  from  a later  chapter 
that  Grecian  nationality,  as  it  now  exists,  rests  upon 
foreign  intervention,  but  it  is  none  the  less  true  that 
the  Greeks  of  this  nineteenth  century  fought  for 
independence  with  a valor  and  heroism  worthy  of 
Marathon  and  Thermopylae,  and  that  Marco  Botzar- 
is,  if  not  Demetrius  Ypsilantes,  deserves  to  rank 
with  the  foremost  warriors  of  that  people  who  could 
boast  a Miltiades,  a Leonidas,  a Themistocles  and 
an  Alexander. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

State  Eights  in  Greece — Lycurgus  and  his  Laws — The  Spartan  Monarchy — Republicanism 
and  the  Laws  of  Draco — Solon  and  Athens — The  Constitution  and  its  Leading  Rea 
tures — Solon  and  Lycurgus  Compared — Clenisthenes  and  Democracy — Pericles,  the 
Statesman  and  his  General  Influences — The  Pour  Leagues  and  Games— Their  Char- 
acter and  Influences — The  Power  of  the  Leagues — The  Delphic  Oracle  and  Pythia 
the  Priestess. 


REECE  was  indeed  the  vic- 
tim of  what  in  this  country 
might  be  called  the  Calhoun 
doctrine,  but  she  was  not 
withoutgreat  statesmen.  The 
science  of  government  was 
carried  to  a high  degree  of 
perfection,  although  upon  a 
small  scale.  A “ pent-up  Utica  ” did, 
it  is  true,  contract  the  powers  of  the 
lawgivers,  but  they  achieved  greatness, 
and  deserve  the  prominence  of  a chap- 
ter devoted  to  their  exclusive  consider- 

The  first  if  not 

the  lawgivers  was  Lycurgus.  'f  ' " ' 

In  the  Homeric  poems  we  see 

statecraft  hardly  above  tribal  jjp i > jdy 

chieftainship.  Lycurgus,  who 

had  probably  been  a student 

of  law  in  Egypt,  gave  to  Sparta 

a body  of  laws,  or  system  of  ■ X 

government,  which  ultimately 

raised  it  to  the  supremacy,  not  Lycurgus. 

only  over  the  other  Dorian  states  of  Peloponne- 


sus, but  over  the  whole  of  Greece.  It  was  not 
the  aim  of  Lycurgus  to  make  the  people  happy 
or  virtuous,  but  the  state  strong.  The  date  of  his 
work  is  uncertain.  Some  place  it  as  early  as  B.  C. 
1100,  others  as  late  as  B.  C.  880.  The  latter  is  sup- 
ported by  the  better  authorities.  The  age  of  Homer 
and  Hesiod  is  from  B.  C.  900  to  B.  C.  800.  Obvious- 
ly, then,  the  name  Lycurgus  stands  rather  for  a 
body  of  laws  borrowed  largely  from  the  Delta,  than 
for  an  individual.  Not  that  it  was  entirely  an  exotic 
by  any  means,  but  that  the  indigenous  root  was  fer- 
tilized by  the  loam  of  the  Nile.  It  was  claimed  for 
the  laws  of  Lycurgus,  as  for  those  of  Moses,  that 
they  were  the  direct  gift  of  Deity,  and  both  were 
written  upon  tables  of  stone.  Like  Moses,  too,  he  is 
supposed  to  have  gone  off  by  himself  to  die,  hoping 
thereby  to  strengthen  the  authority  of  his  enact- 
ments. The  territory  tributary  to  Sparta,  forming 
with  it  the  State  of  Lacaonia,  was,  according  to  Plu- 
tarch, divided  into  39,000  sections,  of  which  9,000 
were  given  to  as  many  landed  aristocrats  of  the  city, 
and  the  rest  to  free  subjects  of  the  state ; but  these 
details  are  not  historically  correct.  It  is  only  ascer- 
tainable that  the  land  was  divided  among  the  people 
in  such  a way  as  to  form  three  distinct  castes,  name- 
ly, the  Dorians  of  Sparta ; their  serfs,  or  Helots ; and 


13 


.. 


104 


STATECRAFT  IN  GREECE. 


the  subject  people,  or  peasantry,  of  the  provincial 
district.  All  political  power  was  monopolized  by 
the  aristocracy  of  the  city.  Deprivation  was  also 
exemption  and  privilege  to  some  extent,  for  the  peas- 
antry were  also  the  merchants  and  manufacturers 
of  the  country,  and  were  not  considered  to  be  in  the 
perpetual  service  of  the  state,  as  the  aristocracy  were. 
The  latter  were  wholly  given  to  politics  and  war. 
The  Helots  were  treated  with  the  utmost  severity. 
Thev  were  “fixtures”  and  could  not  be  sold  off  the 


priests  and  chief  justices,  but  not  sovereigns  in  any 
proper  sense  of  the  term.  Courage  was  the  one 
virtue  held  in  unlimited  esteem.  It  was  the  deifi- 
cation of  the  martial  spirit.  The  story  told  of  the 
Spartan  youth  who  stole  a fox,  is  doubtless  fabu- 
lous, but  eminently  characteristic.  Rather  than 
disclose  what  he  had  done,  he  allowed  the  fox,  which 
was  hidden  in  his  breast,  to  gnaw  his  vitals.  To 
steal  was  all  right,  but  to  be  caught  at  it  or  found 
The  commerce  of  the  country 


out  in  it  all  wrong. 


OLD  ATHENS  AS  VIEWED  FROM  PIRJiUS. 


farm  or  the  household.  They  were  serfs,  but  not 
slaves.  A people  who  were  unsparing  in  rigor  to- 
ward themselves,  would,  as  a matter  of  course,  be 
pitiless  in  their  treatment  of  subordinates.  The  real 
reins  of  government  were  held  by  the  senate,  as  in 
the  republican  days  of  Rome,  but  royalty  was  main- 
tained in  theory. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  Spartan  monarchy  was, 
that  two  kings  occupied  the  throne,  a custom  sup- 
posed to  have  arisen  from  the  fact  that  Aristode- 
mus  left  twin  sons.  These  two  kings  corresponded 
to  the  two  consuls  of  Rome.  The  kings  were  chief 


was  quite  limited.  Iron  was  the  only  currency,  and 
it  is  said  that  this  financial  policy  was  adopted  and 
maintained  for  the  purpose  of  discouraging  business 
enterprise.  This  restriction  applied,  however,  only 
to  the  higher  class  and  the  city.  The  provincials 
were  left  free  in  their  traffic. 

Evidently,  the  spirit  of  the  heroic  age  was  per- 
petuated at  Sparta  as  nowhere  else,  although  in 
the  Homeric  verse  no  special  pre-eminence  was  given 
to  that  state.  Helen  was  indeed  the  queen  of  that 
kingdom,  but  her  husband,  Menelaus,  was  bv  no 
means  the  hero  of  the  war.  His  brother,  Asramem- 


(0 


to 

FT 


STATECRAFT  IN  GREECE. 


io5 


non,  at  as  the  chief,  elected  to  that  position  by  the 
suffrages  of  his  peers.  But  in  historic  times  the 
heroic  age  survived  mainly  in  Sparta,  and  that,  on 
account  of  the  martial  character  of  her  constitu- 
tion. In  all  the  states  of  Greece  except  Sparta,  roy- 
alty was  abolished  about  the  same  time,  and  at  a 
very  early  day,  and  in  Sparta  even,  the  semblance 
only  remained.  By  far  the  most  important  of  these 
states  was  Athens,  or  Attica ; the  latter  being  the 
name  of  the  territory.  The  people  are  generally 
called  Athenians,  sometimes  Ionians,  but  rarely  At- 
ticans.  Theseus  is  said  to  have  given  the  Athenians 
their  first  political  institutions.  He  divided  the 
people  into  three  classes ; the  aristocracy,  the  hus- 
bandmen, and  the  artisans,  the  two  latter  classes 
having  no  voice  in  the  government.  A new  consti- 
tution was  given  to  the  state  by  Draco,  B.  C.  624. 
His  was  the  first  written  law  of  Attica.  It  is  pro- 
verbial for  its  severity  and  is  said  to  have  been  writ- 
ten in  blood.  The  evident  design  of  this  conserva- 
tive law-maker  was  to  re.press  the  rising  power  of 
the  common  peojfie  and  conserve  the  “vested  rights” 
of  the  favored  few.  His  personal  unpopularity,  un- 
der the  operation  of  his  code,  was  such  that  he  had 
to  seek  safety  in  flight.  The  popular  discontent 
found  expression  in  sedition  and  strife.  Finally, 
after  a turbulent  and  futile  struggle  for  existence, 
the  legislation  of  Draco  succumbed  and  gave  place 
to  the  laws  of  Solon,  a legislator  so  wise  that  his 
name  is  a standing  synonym 
for  statesmanship. 

Enriched  in  intelligence 
and  purse  by  foreign  travel 
and  commerce,  Solon  also 
had  the  advantage  of  military 
prestige.  He  called  to  his  aid 
Epimenides  of  Crete,  a far- 
famed  sage.  He  imposed  re- 
straints upon  the  profuse 
expenses  of  the  temple  and 
funeral  obsequies.  That  was 
Epimenides’  part  of  the  reform 
ments  did  not  go  to  the  roots  of  things.  The  great 
trouble  was  the  unjust  distribution  of  land.  The  aris- 
tocracy held  the  more  fertile  plains,  and  derived  the 
chief  advantage  from  agriculture,  without  doing  any 
of  the  work.  The  unrest  was  so  great,  and  the  dissat- 
isfaction witli  the  code  of  Draco  so  general,  that  in 
B.  0.  594,  Solon  was  made  Archon  with  ample 


Solon. 

but  these  improve- 


authority  to  revise  the  laws.  He  was  constituted  a 
constitutional  convention  and  legislature,  all  in  one. 
He  did  not  abuse  his  opportunity.  He  was  the  first 
George  Washington  of  history.  His  first  work  was 
to  abolish  imprisonment  and  slavery  for  debt.  He 
also  reduced  the  rate  of  interest,  and  virtually  scaled 
down  debts  by  debasing  the  coin.  Solon  was  a 
friend  of  the  poor  without  being  a demagogue.  He 
abolished  capital  punishment,  except  for  murder. 
He  admitted  foreigners  to  citizenship.  He  was, 
perhaps,  the  father  of  naturalization  laws,  the  first 
great  protector  of  immigration.  He  conciliated  the 
rich  by  requiring  a property  test  in  suffrage.  The 
people  were  divided  into  four  classes  according  to 
property  qualifications,  with  a graduated  scale  of 
rights  and  privileges.  He  thus  put  a premium  up- 
on enterprise  in  business.  The  property  available 
for  political  elevation,  however,  was  realty.  The 
magistrates,  to  whatever  class  belonging,  were  re- 
sponsible to  the  whole  people,  and  not  merely  to 
their  own  classes.  There  were  two  legislative  bodies, 
one  being  the  Council  of  Four  Hundred,  corre- 
sponding to  our  Senate,  and  the  other,  the  Areop- 
agus, corresponding  to  a New  England  town-meet- 
ing, or  Russian  Mir.  The  latter  certainly  existed 
before  his  day,  however  it  may  have  been  with  the 
former,  but  it  was  modified  by  him,  and  set  in  its 
place  as  one  of  the  institutions  of  popular  sover- 
eignty. The  ordinary  public  assembly  was  held 
once  a month,  the  number  necessary  to  a quorum 
not  being  definitely  fixed,  but  six  thousand  was  re- 
garded as  a small  meeting. 

Solon  devised  a curious  way  to  supervise  and  hold 
in  check  the  radicalism  or  carelessness  of  the  Are- 
opagus. Instead  of  a supreme  bench  composed  of 
a few  elderly  lawyers,  with  the  power  of  nullifica- 
tion by  which  they  could  set  aside  a law  as  uncon- 
stitutional, ho  provided  a supreme  court  consisting 
of  six  thousand,  with  authority  to  set  aside  any  pop- 
ular enactment  inconsistent  with  the  established  or- 
dinances of  the  state.  He  did  not  attempt,  how- 
ever, to  prevent  all  alterations.  He  devised  a 
plan  for  amending  the  constitution  which  was  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  the  one  which  now  prevails  in 
this  country.  At  the  first  popular  assembly  each 
year,  one  member  of  the  body  politic  had  a right  to 
propose  a change  in  the  established  laws.  At  the 
third  ordinary  meeting  the  subject  was  brought  up 
again  and  a committee  appointed  by  lot  from  the 


~7\ 


106 


STATECRAFT  IN  GREECE. 


supreme  court,  or  heliaea  of  6,000,  to  investigate  the 
matter  and  decide  upon  its  adoption  or  rejection. 
This  variation  from  the  prevailing  system  of  this 
country,  does  not  go  to  the  heart  of  the  matter 
Solon  may  be  called  the  father  of  flexible  constitu- 
tions. He  contemplated  no  distinctions  between 
judge  and  jury,  nor  a body  of  professional  law- 
yers. Demosthenes,  the  greatest  of  all  advocates 
and  prosecutors,  was  a “ layman.”  A body  of  arbi- 
trators (men  over  sixty  years  of  age)  was  created  to 
try  private  law-suits,  and  from  the  decision  rendered 
no  appeal  could  be  taken.  For  public  offenses, 
crimes,  the  law  provided  the  council  of  Areopagus, 
and  this  criminal  court  was  conducted  with  all  the 
solemnities  of  oaths.  A majority  convicted,  but  if 
there  was  a tie  vote,  the  herald  cast  “ the  vote  of 
Athena  ” in  favor  of  acquittal,  on  the  principle  that 
the  accused  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  doubt. 

Lycurgus  was  far  more  specific  in  his  code  than 
Solon  was.  The  greater  of  these  two  statesmen 
left  much  to  the  authority  of  the  people.  He  must 
have  been  thoroughly  democratic,  a Jefferson  rather 
than  a Hamilton.  His  code  began  to  take  cogni- 
zance of  the  individual  at  sixteen,  but  up  to  that 
age  the  child  was  subject  exclusively  to  parental 
authority.  From  sixteen  to  eighteen  the  Athenian 
youth  was  obliged  to  submit  to  the  training  of  the 
gymnasium,  a school  for  both  brain  and  brawn.  At 
eighteen  he  was  regarded  as  having  reached  major- 
ity, and  was  an  “ infant  ” no  longer.  He  could  hold 
property  and  vote,  although  full  citizenship  was  not 
attained  before  the  twentieth  year.  Military  service 
was  required  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  sixty. 
As  regards  women,  Solon  sought  to  curb  licentious- 
ness and  extravagance,  rather  than  to  elevate  the 
sex  and  enlarge  its  sphere,  in  the  modern  sense  of 
the  term.  His  ideal  woman  was  a domestic  drudge, 
pure  and  simple.  He  was  not,  however,  inclined  to 
require  the  women  to  stay  at  home  quite  so  closely 
as  they  were  obliged  to  do  at  a later  period  in  the 
history  of  Athens.  His  code  was  designed  to  amel- 
iorate somewhat  the  hardships  of  a slave.  He  en- 
couraged the  maintenance  of  a strong  navy  for  the 
protection  of  commerce.  Solon  is  supposed  to  have 
died  B.  C.  559. 

Clenisthenes  introduced  some  important  changes 
in  the  Athenian  constitution  half  a century  later, 
which  increased  the  power  of  the  people,  but  he 
displayed  no  genius  for  statecraft  at  all  compara- 


ol 


ble  to  that  of  the  great  names  mentioned.  Aristi- 
des and  Themistocles  were  great  political  lawyers  in 
their  day,  as  were  Ephialtes,  who  deprived  the  Are- 
opagus of  a great  deal  of  its  power,  and  Thucydi- 
des, who  was  the  leader  of  the  aristocracy,  and 
Alcibiades,  a subsequent  leader  of  the  popular  party. 
But  none  of  these  politicians  deserve  rank  with  Ly- 
curgus and  Solon.  The  only  other  name  in  Greek 
annals  worthy  of  association  with  them  is  that  of 


Pericles  and  Aspasia. 


Pericles  whose  name  and  fame  can  not  be  disasso- 
ciated from  Aspasia,  the  beautiful,  accomplished 
and  brilliant  companion  of  his  joys  and  labors. 
He  was  not  so  much  a great  law-maker  as  a 
great  executive  officer.  His  genius  was  equal  to 
theirs,  and  was  as  truly  a glory  to  statecraft. 
Pericles  rose  to  eminence  upon  the  ruin  of  Miltiades, 
of  whom  we  heard  in  connection  with  Marathon. 
Of  the  hero  of  that  most  glorious  victory  of  Grecian 
arms,  it  is  enough  to  say  here  that  he  was  inclined 
to  absolutism  in  government,  and  fell  a victim  to 
the  strength  of  the  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty. 
Pericles  was  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  democ- 
racy, although  of  the  most  aristocratic  descent.  He 
sought  to  accomplish  two  objects ; first,  to  make 
Greece  one  nation,  with  Athens  as  its  political  and 
commercial  capital ; and  second,  to  make  the  repub- 
lic a government  by  the  people,  rather  than  a gov- 
ernment by  and  for  an  oligarchy.  He  provided 
compensation  for  public  service,  such  as  serving  on 
the  jury  and  even  for  attending  the  worship  of  the 
gods.  He  also  gave  employment  to  the  poor  out 
of  the  treasury  of  the  public.  It  was  in  his  day 
that  Athenian  art  reached  its  loftiest  heights,  and 
the  Grecian  glory  shone  brightest.  He  was  the  first 


STATECRAFT  IN  GREECE. 


107 


and  the  last  broadly  national  statesman  of  Greece. 
Lycurgus  was  a Spartan,  Solon  an  Athenian,  Alex- 
ander a barbarian,  Pericles  a Greek,  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  the  term. 

Pericles  succeeded  in  making  his  views  so  far  un- 
derstood and  appreciated  at  Athens,  that  he  was  the 
master  spirit  of  Attica  until  the  day  of  his  death, 
but  he  could  not  carry  out  his  general  plan.  Sparta 
adhered,  with  the  tenacity  of  South  Carolina,  to  the 
doctrine  of  state  sovereignty  and  hostility  to  central- 
ization. War  ensued,  in  the  course  of  which  Peri- 
cles died.  In  that  great  struggle,  the  Peloponnesian 
war,  Athens  stood  for  the  doctrine  of  the  union  of 
Greece  (not  its  preservation,  but  its  establishment), 
and  in  the  failure  of  the  national  party,  a death- 
blow was  given  to  the  political  supremacy  of  Greece 
in  the  intellectual  world.  Pericles  sought  by  state- 
craft, rather  than  by  force,  to  unify  the  Greeks. 
What  he  could  not  do,  Alexander  might  have  done, 
but  showed  no  disposition  to  do.  Had  he  lived  to 
reconstruct  Greece,  he  might  have  consolidated  it 
into  one  nation,  but  it  would  have  been  on  the 
Macedonian,  rather  than  on  the  Athenian  plan. 
His  ambition  was  military  and  had  foreign  conquest 
as  its  chief  aim,  while  the  greater  Pericles  tried  to 
develop  Greece  to  the  fullest  possible  extent.  A 
higher  statesmanship  could  not  be  conceived,  at 
least  no  higher  ideal  has  ever  been  realized.  Al- 
though he  failed  to  carry  out  his  plan  in  all  its 
grandeur,  he  succeeded  in  developing  at  Athens  a 
splendor  which  has  never  been  equaled  anywhere 
else  in  all  that  makes  real  culture.  To  this  day  no 
city  in  literature  or  art  can  seek  higher  honor  than 
to  be  called  a Modern  Athens.  The  statesmanship 
of  Pericles  rendered  possible  those  matchless  attain- 
ments in  esthetic  civilization. 

Looking  at  the  matter  from  an  American  point  of 
view,  there  could  hardly  be  anything  more  incon- 
gruous, than  to  couple  the  political  associations  of 
independent  states  composed  of  kindred  people,  with 
the  pastimes  of  that  people.  If  in  writing  of  the 
United  States,  one  should  devote  a chapter  to  “ Fed- 
eral Relations  and  Base  Ball,”  the  inference  would 
be  that  the  writer  was  either  idiotic  or  insane. 
They  represent  the  extremes  in  point  of  importance. 
With  us,  the  “National  game”  has  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  nationality.  But  the  Greeks  were 
a very  different  people  from  ourselves.  Their  na- 
tional games  were  not  played  by  a few  hired  men. 


gazed  upon  by  spectators  who,  for  the  most  part, 
would  scorn  to  take  part  in  the  game,  even  though 
assured  of  the  championship.  On  the  contrary,  the 
pastimes  of  the  Greeks  had  a rank  and  significance, 
giving  to  them  a really  first-class  position,  even  in 
universal  history.  They  brought  all  sections  togeth- 
er on  a common  and  really  national  level.  Taken 
collectively,  they  form  the  true  Panhellenia  ( Pan 
being  the  Greek  for  all),  and  to  omit  them  would  be 
to  overlook  a fundamental  feature  of  the  national 
life  of  the  Greeks. 

There  were  four  leagues  or  confederacies  in  Greece 
at  different  times : the  Arcadian,  the  Amphictrionic, 
the  Achaean  and  the  iEtolian.  The  games  were  also 
four  : the  Olympic,  the  Isthmian,  the  Nemean  and 
the  Pythian.  There  were  other  similar  games,  only  on 
a smaller  scale,  in  other  parts  of  Greece,  sustaining 
to  the  great  games  much  the  same  relation  that  a 
county  fair  does  to  an  inter-state  or  international 
exposition. 

To  these  festive  occasions,  any  Greek  was  welcome, 
and  was  guaranteed  immunity  from  assault,  going 
and  coming,  however  hostile  any  state  through  which 
he  traveled  might  be  to  the  state  of  which  he  was 
a citizen.  None  but  pure  Hellenists  could  com- 
pete in  any  of  these  games.  Even  Alexander  the 
Great  was  denied  the  privilege,  although  in  later 
years  Tiberius  and  Nero,  Roman  Emperors,  bore 
off  Olympian  prizes.  The  different  names  of  the 
four  great  games  were  suggested  by  their  location, 
the  first  being  on  the  plain  of  Olympia,  the 
second  on  the  isthmus  of  Corinth,  the  third  on 
the  Nemean  plain,  and  the  fourth  at  Pythia. 

The  games  were  all  alike  in  main  feature,  only 
that  the  first  was  the  chief.  There  were  chariot 
races,  foot  races  and  other  athletic  sports,  literary 
entertainments  and  music.  They  blended  worship 
with  physical  and  intellectual  gymnastics.  The 
prizes  had  no  intrinsic  value,  being  a wreath  of 
laurels  or  other  leaves,  but  they  were  esteemed  more 
highly  than  gold,  and  proved  incalculably  stimula- 
tive to  the  culture  of  body  and  mind.  The  Greeks 
reckoned  time  by  the  ( llympic  games,  which  occurred 
once  in  four  years.  The  founding  of  these  games 
dates  back  of  history  and  is  shrouded  in  mystery, 
but  the  historic  period  of  their  existence  extends 
over  a thousand  years,  namely,  from  about  B.  C. 
050  to  A.  I).  450,  when  the  influence  of  the 
Christian  church  secured  their  abolition.  They 


A 


k. 


108 


STATECRAFT  IN  GREECE. 


T| 


had,  however,  declined  seriously  before  that  time. 

Of  the  leagues  of  Greece,  tlie  most  important  was 
the  Amphictyonic,  whose  origin  was  mythical.  There 
were  several  Amphictyons,  or  conventions,  but  the 
Amphictyon  met  at  Delphi  in  the  spring,  at  An- 
thela  in  the  autumn,  a town  within  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae,  where  stood  a temple  of  Delmeter.  Its 
objects  were  twofold, — to  guard  the  temple  of  Apollo, 
at  Delphi,  and  to  restrain  the  mutual  violence  among 
the  states  belonging 
to  the  confederacy. 

The  latter  object  was 
not  attained  to  any- 
thing like  a satisfac- 
tory extent.  The  tem- 
ple, however,  was  pre- 
served with  religious 
sacredness.  Its  oracle 
was  held  in  the  very 
highest  esteem  by  the 
Greeks  everywhere, 
and  later,  by  the  Ho- 
mans, but  its  immedi- 
ate custody  was  in- 
trusted to  the  citizens 
of  Delphi.  The  chief 
city  of  Delphi,  Crissa,  View  of  Delphi  and 

was  utterly  destroyed  by  the  allied  forces  of 
Greece,  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ,  for 
the  practice  of  extortion  upon  the  visitors  to 
the  Delphic  Oracle.  For  ten  years  that  holy  war 
was  waged.  The  oracles  were  generally  couched 
in  the  most  obscure  language,  and  were  given  out 
by  a chief  priestess  called  the  Pythia.  The  temple 
was  a vast  treasure-house.  It  was  sometimes  de- 
spoiled, or  in  part  depleted,  but  such  levies  were  con- 
sidered as  sacrilegious  in  the  highest  degree.  It  was 
not  till  Christianity  displaced  the  classic  superstitions, 
that  this  oracle  ceased  to  exert  a powerful  influence. 

The  mountain  at  the  foot  of  which  the  Delphic 
oracles  were  uttered  is  in  some  respects  the  most 
famous  in  the  world.  It  was  sacred  in  the  classic 
era  to  the  muses.  Thence  the  sacred  Nine  were 


fabled  to  take  their  flights,  and  Mount  Parnassus 
yielded  inspiration  to  the  poet.  To  climb  its 
rugged  heights,  drink  of  its  springs,  and  breathe  its 
rare  and  exhilarating  air,  filled  the  mind  with  poet- 
ical fancies.  With  Helicon,  Cithaeron  and  Parnassus, 
it  nearly  enclosed  the  Boeotian  valley.  Not  as  lofty 
as  Pelion  and  Ossa,  nor  so  august  as  Olympus,  it  is 
none  the  less  true  that  surrounding  it  cluster  asso- 
ciations which  render  it  one  of  the  most  memorable 

peaks  on  the  globe. 
One  of  the  so-called 
Homeric  hymns  gives 
the  legendary  account 
of  the  founding  of  this 
temple : Apollo  slew 
upon  that  spot  a ter- 
rible dragon,  then 
guided  thither  a Cre- 
tan ship,  directing  the 
crew  of  it  to  estab- 
lish themselves  there- 
“ The  whole  land,” 
said  they,  “is  bare  and 
desolate,  and  whence 
shall  we  get  food?”  To 
this  Apollo  replied, 
“Foolish  men,  stretch 
forth  your  hands  each  day  and  slay  each  day  the  rich 
offerings,  for  they  shall  come  to  you  without  stint 
or  sparing,  seeing  that  the  sons  of  men  shall 
hasten  hither  to  learn  my  will.  Only  guard  ye  well 
the  temple  I have  reared,  for  if  ye  deal  rightly,  no 
man  shall  take  away  your  glory ; but  if  ye  speak 
lies  or  do  iniquity,  if  ye  hurt  the  people  who  come 
to  my  altar  and  make  them  go  astray,  then  shall 
other  men  rise  up  in  your  place  and  ye  shall  be 
thrust  out  forever.”  This  legend  was  the  strongest 
possible  safeguard  against  personal  violence  to 
visitors ; but  so  cunningly  deceptive  were  the  re- 
sponses of  that  oracle  that  Delphic  came  to  be 
a synonym  for  statements  capable  of  various 
interpretations  and  utterly  elusive  of  definite  un- 
derstanding. 


Mount  Parnassus. 


T*T 


a 


HE  term  “ classic  ” was  used 
originally  to  designate  the 
surviving  Greek  and  Roman 
literature.  It  is  often  used  to 
designate  the  more  perma- 
nent and  valuable  portion  of 
our  own  or  any  other  litera- 
ture. In  attempting  to  give 
an  idea  of  the  subject  in  hand  for 
this  chapter,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
adopt  the  method  admitting  of  the 
greatest  brevity.  There  are  no 
less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  names  in  the  list  of  Greek 
} classics.  Some  of  these  authors  are 
known  to  us  only  in  brief  fragments, 
quotations  found  in  later  writings. 
A few  are  merely  alluded  to,  and  the 
name  itself  may  designate  a class  rather  than  an  in- 
dividual. There  are  six  which  belong  to  the  age  of 
fable,  and  may  be  as  mythical  as  the  Muses,  namely, 
Orpheus,  Eumolpus,  Tbamyris,  Olen,  Ghrysothemis, 
and  Philammon.  The  fragments  which  remain  and 
are  attributed  to  them  may  be,  and  probably  are,  the 
waifs  from  a traditional  folk-lore. 

The  first  historic  name  is  that  of  Homer.  Fora 


long  time  his  personality  was  in  dispute,  and  even 
now  seven  cities  claim  his  birth.  He  was  a native 
of  the  isle  of  Scio  or  Asia  Minor,  but  none  the  less 
a Greek.  He  was  the  father  of  Ejjic  poetry,  and 
paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  none  the  less  true, 
that  an  Asiatic  wrote  the  oldest  European  work 
(prose  or  poetry)  extant.  He  may  well  be  called  the 
father  of  European  literature.  For  a long  time, 
probably  for  centuries,  his  Iliad  and  Odyssey  were 
preserved  by  being  memorized  and  repeated  on  fes- 
tive occasions.  The  people  held  those  marvelous 
stories  of  gods  and  men  mingling  in  the  affairs  of 
earth,  in  much  the  same  reverence  that  a devout 
worshiper  of  Jehovah  and  Jesus  does  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testaments,  and  we  find  Plato  opposed  to 
the  reading  of  Homer  in  the  public  schools  of  his 
ideal  republic  on  that  very  account.  The  nature  of 
these  stories  has  been  stated  under  the  head  of  the 
“ Heroic  Age.  ” St.  Augustine  well  said  of  Homer, 
“ he  stands  alone  and  aloft  on  Parnassus,  where  it  is 
not  possible  now  that  any  human  genius  should  stand 
with  him,  the  father  and  prince  of  all  heroic  poets,  the 
boast  and  the  glory  of  his  own  Greece,  and  the  love 
and  admiration  of  mankind.”  Some  fifty  hymns, 
once  attributed  to  him,  have  been  pronounced  by 
later  scholarship  apocryphal.  His  name  will  remain 


CHAPTER  X VII. 

The  Term  Classic  and  Traditional  Authors — Homer  and  his  place  in  Literature — Hesiod, 
HSsop  and  Other  Epic  and  Didactic  Poets — Sappho,  Pindar,  and  the  Lyrists — The 
Drama — The  Dramatists  and  Attica— HSschelus — Sophocles  and  Euripides — Aristophanes 
and  Greek  Comedy — Greek  Prose — Herodotus — Zenophon — Plato,  Aristotle  and  Philo- 
sophical Literature— Demosthenes  and  Oratory  in  Literature— The  Immortal  Twelve. 


I IO 


GREEK  CLASSIC  LITERATURE. 


•v  ®. 


embodied  in  the  hearts  of  men  to  the  end  of  time. 
Another  great  name  in  Greek  literature  is  Hesiod. 
Born  in  Boeotia,  he  was  an  Asiatic  Greek  by  descent. 
He  lived  about  900  years  before  Christ.  He  sang 
in  dull,  prosaic  verse,  of  the  evils  of  his  times,  and 
the  grotesque  theogony  of  Greece  was  set  to  music 
in  a clumsy  fashion.  His  works  are  not  much  read, 
nor  do  they  deserve  to  be.  His  “ Works  and  Days” 
is  a tedious  bucolic.  He  is  classed  as  the  earliest, 
but  by  no  means  as  the  first,  of  didactic  poets.  In 
this  list  of  elaborate  poets,  epic  and  didactic,  figure 
Arctinus  of  Miletus,  Lesches  of  Lesbos,  Agias  of 
Traezen,  Eumelus  of  Corinth,  and  Strasinus  of  Cy- 
prus, whose  produc- 
tions have  been  lost. 

Under  the  head  of 
elegiac  and  iambic 
poets,  are  mentioned 
eight  names,  vary- 
ing in  date  from  B. 

C.  720  to  B.  C.  594, 
nothing  remaining 
from  any  of  them, 
of  any  consequence, 
except  zEsop,  who  is 
supposed  by  Plu- 
tarch to  have  been 
born  in  B.  C.  620, 
but  who  is  now  gen- 
erally regarded  as  a 
myth.  The  fables 
which  bear  his  name 
are  believed  to  have 
been  imported  from 
India  and  Egypt, 
for  the  most  part,  some  few  being  indigenous  to 
the  soil.  They  are  certainly  the  very  essence  of 
common  sense,  generally  read  in  these  days  in  Latin 
or  English  prose. 

The  next  order  or  school  of  Greek  poetry  was  the 
lyric.  Several  names,  unworthy  of  more  than  mere 
reference,  survive  in  fragments.  Two  names  stand 
out  conspicuous,  Sappho  and  Pindar.  Only  frag- 
ments remain  of  the  former,  and  a small  part  of 
the  works  of  the  latter.  Sappho  was  a woman  of 
Lesbos,  born  in  B.  C.  610.  She  had  a wonderfully 
gifted  mind,  and  was  the  first  to  raise  her  sex  to  liter- 
ary eminence.  The  Lesbian  women  were  much  given 
to  study  and  culture.  The  loss  of  her  writings 


is  greatly  to  be  deplored.  Her  only  peer  in  an- 
cient lyrics  was  Pindar  of 
Cynocephalae,  a village  near 
Thebes.  He  was  born  in  B.  C. 

517.  Undoubtedly  he  was  the 
greatest  poet  in  his  time  of 
antiquity,  and  it  is  a matter 
of  rejoicing  that  some  of  his 
verse  is  still  extant,  although 
the  greater  and  probably  the 
better  part  perished  utterly. 

We  have  now  forty-five  of 
his  odes.  He  had  sublimity,  elegance,  energy  and  pa- 
thos in  a high  degree. 

We  come  now  to 
the  drama.  For- 
tunately much  more 
of  the  Greek  drama 
remains  than  of  the 
minor  poems.  Three 
great  names  stand 
out  second  only  to 
Homer,  and  among 
the  dramatists  of  the 
world  second  only  to 
Shakspeare.  They 
are  zEschylus,  Soph- 
ocles and  Euripides. 
The  others  simply 
swell  the  catalogue 
of  Greek  authors, 
without  contribut- 
ing to  the  value  of 
extant  classic  litera- 
ture. The  drama 
may  be  called  a Greek  invention,  and  it  was 
not  until  Shakspeare’s  appearance  upon  the  stage, 
that  anything  at  all  approaching  the  original 
models  in  merit  was  produced,  and  the  continental 
critics  were  slow  in  admitting  the  “Bard  of  Avon,” 
because  he  disregarded  the  Greek  pattern.  The 
Semitic  families  had  no  drama,  properly  speaking. 
The  Greek  drama  is  distinctively  Attic.  zEschylus 
and  Euripides,  Sophocles  and  Aristophanes,  were 
all  born  in  Attica.  The  times  of  Pericles  witnessed 
the  highest  dramatic  attainment. 

zEschylus,  a soldier  of  Marathon -and  Salamis, 
wrote  seventy  tragedies,  of  which  seven  remain.  He 
was  the  “ Father  of  Tragedy.”  For  his  impiety  he 


GREEK  CLASSIC  LITERATURE. 


Ill 


was  banished.  Genius  is  rarely  popular  when  it 
deals  with  theology,  and  the  Greek  drama  was  es- 
sentially religious.  His  greatest  work  extant  is 
“ Prometheus  Bound.”  It  represents  the  Supreme 
Being  as  infinitely  indignant  at  Prometheus  for  being 
compassionate.  Seeing  man  in  his  emergence  from 
the  brute,  capable  of  making  some  use  of  fire,  yet 
destitute  of  it,  he  introduced  that  primitive  element 
of  civilization.  Zeus  had  him  bound  to  a rock,  and 
every  day  a vulture  gnawed  at  his  vitals,  and  at 
night  they  were  restored  only  to  keep  up  the  eternal 
procession  of  agony.  There  is  an  awful  sublimity  in 
this  tragedy.  It  has  been  compared  to  the  Hebraic 
account  of  the  way  man  was  first  set  upon  the  path 
of  knowledge  by  the  influence  of  Satan,  who  thence- 
forth was  cursed  with  the  enmity  of  the  very  race 
he  had  initiated  into  knowledge.  Others  have  com- 
pared Prometheus  in  his  sublime  philanthropy  (for 
he  knew  what  fate  awaited  him)  to  Jesus  on  the 
cross.  Two  of  the  three  original  Promethean 
trilogy  have  been  lost.  The  story  of  Agamemnon’s 
sacrifice  of  his  daughter  Iphigenia,  the  revenge  of 
Clytemnestra  therefor,  and  the  awful  revenge  of 
Orestes,  the  son  of  Agamemnon,  upon  his  mother, 
for  the  murder  of  the  great  king  when  he  returned 
from  Troy,  are  all  set  forth  by  iEschylus.  The  doc- 
trine of  fate,  terrible,  relentless,  and  hopeless,  is  set 
forth  with  lurid  vividness.  Sophocles,  who  was  ten 
years  the  junior  of  AEschylus,  was  less  bold  and  vig- 
orous, but  more  beautiful  and  exquisite.  He  also 
was  a soldier,  but  his  military  record  was  not  bril- 
liant. He  wrote  one  hundred  and  thirteen  tragedies. 
Seven  only  have  survived  to  us.  His  “ CEdipus  Ty- 
rannus  ” is  the  most  famous  of  his  tragedies,  but 
there  is  a depth  of  pathos  in  “Antigone,”  “CEdipus 
at  Colonos,”  and  “ Electra,”  which  could  hardly  be 
surpassed.  Euripides,  born  only  five  years  later, 
was  an  aristocrat,  as  his  dramas  plainly  indicate. 
He  wrote  at  least  seventy-five  tragedies,  some  say 
ninety-two,  eighteen  of  which  are  now  extant.  They 
are  mostly  devoted  to  the  exploits  of  the  heroic  age. 
Thus  we  have  from  three  dramatists  born  in  Athens 
or  its  suburbs,  within  the  same  generation,  at  least 
two  hundred  and  fifty-eight  tragedies,  of  which  there 
are  now  extant  thirty-two. 

Comedy  among  the  Greeks  took  the  place  some- 
what of  the  press.  It  was  personal  and  related  to 
current  men  and  measures.  They  pleased  the  many 
by  their  flings  and  stings,  directed  against  the  con- 


spicuous few.  The  Athenians  had  no  newspapers  to 
lampoon  public  men,  but  they  had  a vast  out-door 
theater  which  held  thirty  thousand  people.  The 
price  of  admission  Avas  seven  cents.  The  theatrical 
season  was  during  the  months  of  December,  Janu- 
ary, February  and  March.  The  solemn  aAvfulness 
of  the  tragedies  was  relieved  by  the  commedians, 
avIio  Avere  the  hornets  of  society,  to  use  an  illustra- 
tion suggested  by  one  of  the  best  surviving  comedies. 
The  list  of  comedy  contains  the  names  of  ten  dram- 
atists, but  no  play  of  any  in  the’ list  has  survived, 
except  eleA'en  of  the  fifty-four  plays  of  Aristophanes, 
avIio  Avas  born  in  Athens  B.  C.  444.  About  a cen- 
tury before  his  time,  flourished  three  noted  Avriters 
of  comedy : Epicharmus,  Phormio  and  Dinolochus. 
A little  later  came  Chionides  and  Cratinus.  Aris- 
tophanes had  tAVO  brilliant  cotemporaries,  Eupolis 
and  Crates.  In  these  extant  comedies  we  have 
sharp  criticisms  of  Pericles,  broad  caricatures  of 
Socrates,  the  first  ridicule  of  woman’s  rights,  and 
revolting  pictures  of  social  corruption. 

We  turn  iioav  to  prose.  The  earliest  trace  of  this 
style  of  composition  is  Periander  of  Corinth  (B.  C. 
627).  He  ruled  that  city  for  more  than  forty  years. 
His  edicts  Avere,  some  of  them,  reduced  to  writing. 
They  Avere  long  since  lost.  The  names,  and  in  some 
cases,  a feAV  fragments,  are  preserved  of  twenty  writ- 
ers of  Greek  prose,  during  the  period  from  the  days 
of  Periander  to  the  birth  of  the  drama.  Two  of 
these,  Thales  and  Pythagoras,  deserve  mention. 
They  wrought  grandly  in  the  domain  of  philosophy. 
The  former  studied  faithfully  in  Egypt,  and  may  be 
said  to  have  established  the  connection  between 
Coptic  knowledge  and  Hellenic  wisdom.  There  Avere 
a few  historians  in  that  early  period,  but  Herodotus 
was  the  first  to  Avrite  any- 
thing really  Avorthy  that 
designation.  He  was  born 
at  Halicarnassus  in  484. 

Tie  Avas  a narrator  of  what 
he  saw  and  heard,  credu- 
lous and  unsophisticated. 

He  traveled  almost  every- 
where, and  in  his  Avorks, 
happily  extant,  he  dAvells 
upon  the  countries  he  vis- 
ited, rather  than  upon  per- 
sonal experiences.  He  was  a model  pen  photog- 
rapher. It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  world  lost 


H POAO  T OC 

Herodotus. 


- V 


<5. 


I 12 


GREEK  CLASSIC  LITERATURE. 


nothing  in  the  extinction  of  the  so-called  historical 
works  of  those  who  went  before  him.  Indeed,  Greek 
prose  seems  to  have  been  exceedingly  fortunate  in 
the  “ survival  of  the  fittest.”  Next  to  Herodotus, 
and  greater  than  he  in  intellectual  power  and  liter- 
ary skill,  stands  Thucyd- 
ides, the  inventor  of  phil- 
osophical history.  He  was 
an  Athenian  of  the  aristo- 
cratic class.  His  history 
of  the  Peloponnesian  war 
is  a masterpiece,  and  that 
more  from  the  elaborate 
political  speeches  embod- 
ied in  it  than  for  the  his- 
tory itself.  It  is  safe  to 
say,  that  until  within  a 
hundred  years,  no  superior 
historian  was  ever  produc- 
ed. He  preserved  the  martial  exploits  and  political 
controversies  of  those  times,  forgetful  of  the  people 
in  the  every-day  affairs  of  life. 

A long  list  of  other  military  historians  might  be 
given,  the  wars  of  Alexander  the  Great  having  been 
a favorite  theme,  but  those  works  perished  long  ago, 
except  only  the  writings  of  Xenophon,  an  Athenian, 

who  was  born  in  B.  G. 
444.  He  was  a volumin- 
ous writer,  a friend  and 
disciple  of  Socrates,  his 
productions  being  of  two 
distinct  classes,  historical 
and  philosophical.  His 
Anabasis  relates  to  the 
expedition  of  the  Greeks 
of  Asia  Minor  who  ac- 
companied Cyrus  the 
Y ounger,  in  his  ill-starred 
expedition  to  Babylon,  and  especially  of  their 
retreat,  which  his  elegant  Greek  has  rendered 
immortal.  No  classic  prose  is  more  widely  read 
as  a text-book  than  the  Anabasis.  Xenophon’s 
philosophical  works  have  at  their  head  “ The 
Memorabilia  of  Socrates,”  a series  of  dialogues 
between  the  supreme  philosopher  and  his  pupils.  It 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that  “ The  Memorabilia,” 
“The  Economics,”  “The  Banquet  of  the  Philos- 
ophers,” and  “ The  Apology  of  Socrates,”  all  from 
the  pen  of  Xenophon,  are  to  his  great  teacher  much 


what  the  four  Gospels  are  to  Jesus  Christ.  If  Plato 
was  his  St.  Paul,  Xenophon  was  all  his  evangelists 
in  one.  Neither  Jesus  nor  Socrates,  those  great 
founders  of  distinct  schools  of  thought,  ever  wrote 
a word,  but  were  particularly  fortunate  in  their 
literary  friends.  Plato  will  always  stand  at  the  very 
front  of  philosophical  writers.  His  works  were 
voluminous  and  in  the  form  of  dialogues.  They 
display  the  subtlety  and  power  of  analysis,  for  which 
the  Greeks  were  pre-eminent.  They  are  exceedingly 
profound  and  hard  to  understand.  His  ideal  re- 
public, “ The  Atlantis,”  is  the  model  of  all  the  ideal 
states  in  literature,  and  by  hundreds  of  communi- 
ties started  by  dreamers  of  Utopia.  It  is  commun- 
istic in  its  fundamental  principle.  It  makes  the 
state  everything,  the  individual  nothing.  Even  the 
family  was  to  be  wiped  out,  and  in  its  place  was  to 
be  sterpiculture,  on  the  same  scientific  basis  as  “ pedi- 
greed” cattle  and  horses  are  raised.  It  was  not  until 
two  thousand  years  later  that  any  serious  attempt 
was  made  to  carry  out  the  Platonic  theory.  It  was 
witli  him  and  his  admirers  a mere  theory,  a curious 
speculation.  He  was  born  at  Athens  in  B.  C.  429, 
making  him  forty  years  younger  than  Socrates,  and 
about  that  much  older  than  Aristotle,  who,  with 
him  and  Socrates,  rank  as  the  three  great  philos- 
ophers of  the  classic  age.  It  was  not  until  Bacon’s 
genius  dawned  upon  the  world  that  they  had  a peer 
in  any  land  or  time.  A Macedonian  by  birth,  an 
Athenian  by  education,  Aristotle  has  left  us  most 
erudite  and  philosophical  disquisitions  on  logic, 
metaphysics,  physics,  ethics,  rhetoric  and  poetry  as 
an  art. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  only  one  more  branch  of 
literature.  There  are  some  noted  names  in  philos- 
ophy, which  do  not  belong  in  a literary  resume. 
This  remaining  branch  of  prose  classics  is  oratory. 
Eloquence  is  one  of  the  great  features  of  Greek 
literature.  The  heroes  of  Homer,  and  the  politi- 
cians and  generals  of  Thucydides,  were  all  ora- 
tors. Republican  institutions  favor  the  develop- 
ment of  the  art  of  persuasiou.  The  list  of  Greek 
orators  whose  fame  has  come  down  to  us  contains 
eleven  names,  all  except  one  being  Athenians. 
That  solitary  exception  was  Dinarchus,  a Corinthi- 
an. He  was  educated,  however,  at  Athens,  and  re- 
sided there,  and  is  generally  numbered  among  “ the 
Attic  Canon.  ” Judging  from  the  few  addresses 
preserved,  lie  was  hardly  deserving  the  title  of  ora- 


GREEK  CLASSIC  LITERATURE. 


I I 


tor.  Antiphon  (B.  C.  479)  must  have  been  a great 
criminal  lawyer,  for  although  there  was  no  distinct 
profession  of  law,  the  orators  were,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  lawyers,  as  well  as  politicians.  About 
ten  years  later  came  Andocides,  whose  three  excel- 
lent orations  are  admirable  in  their  simplicity. 
A decade  later  still  came  Lysias.  He  was  a very 
prolific  writer  of  public  addresses.  Mention  of  him 
is  frequently  made  in  ancient  writings,  and  his  sur- 
viving orations  show  him  to  have  been  a man  of 
marvelous  power.  Isocrates,  twenty  years  later, 
was  a teacher  of  oratory,  rather  than  an  orator. 
He  was  too  timid  to  exercise  his  art  freely.  In  this 
connection  may  be  mentioned  the  fact,  that  about 
the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  the 
first  treatises  on  rhetoric  and  oratory  known  to 
have  been  written  in  the  Greek  language,  were  pro- 
duced in  Sicily  by  Corax,  Tisias  and  Gorgias,  the 
latter  having  transported  the  art  to  Athens,  and 
founded  the  first  school  of  eloquence  and  composi- 
tion in  Attica  and  Greece  proper.  Besides  Isocrates 
there  was  Isseus,  who  did  much  as  a professor  of  elo- 
cution. Machines,  of  whose  orations  we  have  only 
three,  was  a cotemporary  and  rival  of  Demosthenes. 
Cicero  and  Quintilian  pronounced  him  almost  equal 
to  Demosthenes.  Hyperides  (B.  C.  39G)  was  also 
compared  with  Demosthenes.  We  have  no  speci- 
mens of  Iris  eloquence. 

The  one  supreme  name  in  Greek  oratory  not 
only,  but  in  the  entire  art  of  eloquence,  is  the  one 
last  mentioned.  Demosthenes  was  born  in  the  Attic 
town  of  Paeonia,  B.  C.  385.  He  had  some  seri- 
ous natural  defects  of  speech  to  overcome.  1 1 is 
first  attempt  at  oratory  was  a failure.  But  he 
was  not  discouraged.  His  physical  infirmity,  stam- 
mering, was  overcome,  or  turned  to  positive  advan- 
tage. His  powers  of  persuasion  were  almost  irri- 


Demosthenes. 


sistible,  even  with  a people  as  intelligent  as  the 
Athenians.  He  was  a master  of  invective.  His 
orations  against  Philip, 
the  father  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  have  been  for 
more  than  two  thousand 
years,  a syonym  for  in- 
vective discourse.  “ Phi- 
lippics” is  the  familiar 
name  for  that  class  of 
orations.  His  series  of 
speeches  called  “ Con- 
cerning the  Crown,”  are 
admirably  judicious  and 
lofty  iu  tone.  We  have  sixty  of  his  addresses,  and 
they  have  been  of  incalculable  importance  as  mod- 
els of  oratory,  studied  and  practical  in  all  civilized 
lauds  almost  ever  since  they  were  pronounced.  A 
coward  in  battle,  he  was  a true  hero  in  debate,  and 
a wise  counselor.  The  claims  and  merits  of  Demos- 
thenes, as  they  have  come  to  be  estimated  by  the 
settled  judgment  of  mankind,  may  be  stated  thus: 
1.  Purity  in  ethical  character ; 2.  Intellectual 

mastery  of  the  subject  in  hand ; 3.  The  magic 

force  of  felicitous  language,  thanks  partly  to  his 
own  genius,  and  partly  to  the  matchless  beauty  of 
the  Greek  tongue ; 4.  Freedom  from  all  bombast, 
concise,  fluent,  sweet  and  impressive. 

Having  taken  a hasty  glance  at  Greek  literature, 
we  may  sum  up  by  giving  the  list  of  extant  authors, 
upon  whom  rests  the  fame  of  that  literature,  and 
who  will  continue  to  be  read  and  admired  in  all 
ages : Homer,  Pindar,  rEschylus,  Sophocles,  Eurip- 
ides and  Aristophanes ; Herodotus,  Thucydides, 
Xenophon,  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  Demosthenes. 
They  are  the  immortal  twelve  of  Greek  classic  liter- 
ature. 


ft.  * 

[jpn 

IL=Ei 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 


The  Greeks  and  Abstruse  Thought — Thales  and  Pythagoras— Socrates  and  His  Philosophy 
— Plato  and  Aristotle — Their  Place  in  Philosophy— Epicureans  and  Stoics — The  Cynics — 
Pyrrho  and  Skepticism — Neoplatonism — The  Uses  op  Greek  Philosophy — Painting  and 
Sculpture — The  Laocoon  and  Oly'mpian  Zeus — Praxiteles  and  Phidias — The  Parthenon 
and  the  Acropolis — The  Three  Orders  op  Grecian  Architecture— Indebtedness  op  Rome 
and  the  Rest  op  the  World  to  Grecian  Architecture — The  Elgin  Marbles. 


T is  safe  to  say  that  the 
philosophy  of  the  Greeks 
embraces  all  ancient  philos- 
ophy, if  not  the  germs  of  all 
modern  secular  speculation. 
The  Egyptians  and  the  pro- 
found thinkers  of  India 
were  theologians.  Their  problems  were 
more  religious  than  metaphysical.  The 
latest  intellectual  development.in  Egypt 
was  a growth  from  Hellenistic  seed.  In 
treating  of  Alexandria,  some  reference 
was  made  to  philosophy  and  philosophers, 
but  in  taking  a view  of  philosophy  in 
its  entirety,  it  must  be  conceded  upon 
the  threshold  that  the  glory  and  the  fea- 
tures of  abstract  thought  belong  to  that 
marvelous  people, the  Greeks.  It  was  not 
until  Bacon  revolutionized  philpsophy,  that  any  really 
independent  and  important  step  was  taken  outside 
tyie  Greek  limitations.  Medieval  scholastics,  Abelard 
the  orthodox  and  Bruno  the  heretic,  were  none 
of  them  philosophers.  The  more  than  royal  line 
which  began  with  Thales  of  Miletus,  and  closed  with 
Proclus  of  Alexandria,  held  sway  in  speculative 
thought,  unrivaled  and  almost  undisturbed,  fading 
out  at  last  through  sheer  exhaustion.  The  period 


of  this  dynasty  was  about  a thousand  years,  for 
Thales  was  born  in  B.  C.  636,  and  Proclus  in  A.  D. 
412.  To  present  within  the  compass  of  one  chapter 
the  history  of  such  a period  and  phase  of  intellectual 
activity,  is  the  task  now  in  hand. 

Thales  founded  a school,  or  class  of  philosophers, 
who  were  determined  to  solve  the  mystery  of  origin. 
He  saw  in  water  the  all-pervasive  element,  the  sub- 
stratum of  things.  Some  of  his  disciples  substituted 
fire  for  water ; others  air.  The  greatest  of  these 
early  searchers  after  the  First  Cause  was  Pythagoras. 
He  it  was,  probably,  who  enriched  Greek  thought  with 
Egyptian  science,  especially  mathematics.  It  was 
hoped  by  using  “ the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians”  as 
a ladder,  to  climb  into  heaven  and  discover  the 
supreme  mystery  of  earth.  Pythagoras  taught  the 
transmigration  of  the  soul,  the  eternal  procession  of 
existence,  in  ever-varying  forms.  With  all  the  help, 
however,  of  Egypt,  the  Greeks  made  very  little  prog- 
ress before  the  days  of  Socrates.  The  enthusiastic, 
persistent,  and  profound  study  of  abstractions,  was  a 
wonderful  discipline.  For  that  long  period  the 
Greek  mind  was  being  trained  in  a gymnasium  of 
thought.  Aside  from  the  mental  discipline  derived, 
no  benefits  resulted.  The  direct  fruit  of  all  that 
long  labor  was  sophistry,  the  use  of  reason  and  logic 
as  an  exhibition  of  intellectual  skill.  Had  the  entire 


A 


(T  h) 


& 


> 9 


k. 


GREEK  PHILOSOPHY  AND  ART 


n5 


fruitage  stopped  there,  the  Greek  philosophy  would 
have  been  an  unmitigated  failure.  But  it  did  not. 

The  training  of  the  mind  for  so  long  a time 
culminated  in  producing 
Socrates,  who  was  born 
in  Athens  B.  C.  470.  He 
found  philosophy  a jum- 
ble of  negations  and 
pretentious  assumptions. 

The  learned  looked  down 
with  lofty  contempt  upon 
the  common  people,  who 
saw  in  occurrences  the  in- 
terposition of  a personal 
deity.  As  regards  the  Socrates, 

popular  theories  of  cause  and  effect,  the  philosophers 
were  infidels.  Socrates  agreed  with  them  in  their 
denials,  but  was  not  content  to  rest  in  mere  nega- 
tion. In  the  “ Clouds,”  Aristophanes  ridicules  the 
substitution  of  “ ethereal  rotation”  for  deity,  much 
as  an  orthodox  clergyman  of  to-day  denounces  the 
substitution  of  evolution  for  creation  ; but  that  sub- 
stitution was  not  the  distinctive  peculiarity  of  Soc- 
rates; by  any  means.  He  taught,  rather,  that  the 
study  of  Nature  was  a waste  of  time.  “Man, know 
thyself,”  was  his  motto.  He  was  the  father  of  de- 
ductive philosophy,  and  with  him  also  began  an  era 
of  accuracy  in  thought  and  expression.  He  was  fond 
of  leading  his  pupils  to  see  their  ignorance  and  ap- 
preciate definiteness  of  ideas.  His  method  was  by 
questioning  them.  The  term  “Somatic”  is  suggestive 
of  interrogation  points.  But  appreciation  of  igno- 
rance and  a start  in  the  direction  of  knowledge,  had 
for  their  final  object,  moral  instruction.  He  was  a 
philosophical  moralist.  So  important  was  this  latter 
work  that  it  has  been  said  that  “ individual  con- 
science and  personal  decision  date  from  the  epoch 
of  Socrates,  and  their  growth  from  that  time  is  the 
progress  of  the  world-history.”  lie  was  a man  of 
very  marked  eccentricities.  Plain,  ill-shapen  and 
outspoken,  he  was  utterly  indifferent  about  dress. 
His  wife,  Xantippe,  had  no  patience  with  his 
dreamy  indifference  to  practical  matters,  and  has 
come  down  to  the  world  pilloried  as  the  great  scold. 
No  doubt  she  had  cause  for  her  impatience.  He 
was  too  indolent  to  even  write  out  his  views,  leaving 
that  to  Plato  and  Xenophon,  who  either  contented 
themselves  with  developing  the  Socratic  ideas,  or 
were  so  very  modest  that  they  attributed  to  their 


teacher  ideas  which  were  really  their  own.  In  his 
old  age,  the  great  teacher  was  accused  of  not  wor- 
shiping the  popular  gods,  but  instituting  a religion 
of  his  own,  and  consequently  of  corrupting  the 
youth.  He  was  found  guilty  and  condemned  to 
suffer  death  by  poison.  A cup  of  hemlock  was  pre- 
sented to  him.  He  drank  the  deadly  poison  with 
composure,  and  died  in  the  serenity  of  an  upright 
life.  He  was  seventy-one  years  of  age.  His  life- 
work  had  been  completed,  and  the  loving  and  gifted 
disciples  who  revered  his  memory  embalmed  his 
thoughts,  and  made  them  the  rich  inheritance  of 
mankind. 

Plato  and  Socrates  are  so  interlinked,  that  the 
Socratic  and  Platonic  philosophies  are  substantially 
one  and  indivisible,  except  upon  points  too  minute 
for  observation  at  long  range.  Of  his  works,  as 
literary  productions,  this  is  not  the  place  to  speak, 
and  the  same  remark  holds  good  of  Aristotle.  Both 
are  conspicuous  in  Greek  classic  literature.  Both 
escaped  the  melancholy  fate  of  Socrates,  but  neither 
shrank  from  his  conception  of  truth,  while  both 
were  even  more  revolutionary  than  the  great  mar- 
tyr of  pure  reason.  Plato  could 
boast  his  descent  from  Solon,  and 
his  love  was  so  immaculate,  his 
philosophy  so  ethereal  and  majes- 
tic, that  his  countrymen  came  to 
revere  him  as  the  son  of  a virgin 
and  a god.  The  doctrine  of  the 
immaculate  conception  has  been 
applied  to  the  most  illustrious 
men  of  many  lands.  He  was 
born  at  Athens  in  B.  C.  430.  He 
was  said  to  be  the  son  of  Apollo. 
Ariston,  betrothed  to  his  mother, 
Perictione,  was  warned  in  a dream,  to  delay  the 
nuptials  until  the  birth  of  the  divinely  begotten 
child.  His  life  was  long  and  sad,  being  “ sickbed 
o’er  with  the  pale  cast  of  thought.  ” Aristotle,  a 
Thracian  by  birth,  was  born  B.  C.  384.  He  was 
something  of  a scientist.  He  combined  ethics  and 
metaphysics  with  physics.  The  three  supreme 
names  in  philosophy  represent  a gradual  increase  in 
the  domain  of  thought.  Socrates  created  moral 
philosophy.  Plato  inquired  into  all  truth.  Aris- 
totle was  hardly  less  anxious  in  the  search  for  facts, 
as  well  as  for  virtue  and  truth.  He  saw  in  knowl- 
edge the  basis  of  wisdom,  and  had  some  apprecia- 


k. 


1 1 6 


GREEK  PHILOSOPHY  AND  ART. 


tion  of  the  relations  of  the  tangible  to  the  intan- 
gible. He  was  the  tutor  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
and  the  especial  object  of  study  by  the  scholastics 
of  the  medieval  age. 

The  most  practical  phases  of  Greek  philosophy 
are  suggested  by  the  terms  Epicurean  and  Stoic. 
These  contrasting  views  or  theories  of  wise  living 
were  and  are  practical.  The  exact  statement  of 
Platonic  and  Aristotelian  philosophies,  would  lead 
one  to  an  illimitable  plain,  abounding  in  incompre- 
hensible subtleties.  But  the  distinctive  ideas  of  the 
Epicure  and  the  Stoic  are  easily  stated  and  under- 
stood. The  former  has  been  somewhat  misrepresent- 
ed, still,  the  popular  notion  of  epicureanism  is  sub- 
stantially correct.  To  make  the  most  and  the  best  of 
this  life  by  the  enjoyment  of  its  good  things,  is  the 
highest  wisdom,  according  to  the  epicurean  school, 
while  stoicism  teaches  that  the  best  way  to  avoid 
misery  is  to  be  indifferent  to  the  happenings  of  life. 
One  sees  the  wisdom  of  making  the  most  and  the 
best  of  the  positively  good,  while  the  other  sees  the 
wisdom  of  being  so  fortified  against  the  inevitable 
evil  as  to  endure  it  with  calmness.  Both  are  right 
in  what  they  teach  directly,  while  both  are  wrong 
in  the  denials  into  which  they  naturally  drifted. 

The  founder  of  epicureanism,  Epicurus,  was  born 
B.  0.  342,  died  B.  C.  272.  He  was  a noted  teacher 
in  Athens.  His  voluminous  writings  have  per- 
ished, but  his  doctrines  are  known.  He  believed 
in  moderation  and  sobriety,  hut  happiness  was 
his  highest  ideal.  Philosophy  he  regarded  as  the 
art  of  life,  not  the  art  of  truth  in  the  abstract, 
herein  differing  from  both  Plato  and  Aristotle. 
The  founder  of  the  sect  of  Stoics,  Zeno,  was  a na- 
tive of  Cyprus.  The  date  of  his  birth  is  not  known. 
He  became  a lecturer  on  philosophy  at  Athens, late 
in  life,  the  spot  where  his  pupils  gathered  being 
the  stoa  or  porch,  whence  the  name.  He  fixed  his 
thoughts  on  virtue  as  the  supreme  good.  “ Be  vir- 
tuous and  you  will  be  happy*”  is  stoicism ; “ Be 
happy  and  you  will  be  virtuous,”  epicureanism.  In 
their  determination  to  avoid  effeminacy  the  stoics 
affected  stolidity.  The  Romans  had  no  taste  for 
the  metaphysics  of  the  philosophers,  but  the  prac- 
tical issue  raised  by  these  conflicting  theories,  ap- 
pealed to  the  Roman  mind,  and  the  great  thinkers  of 
Rome  were  either  Epicureans  or  Stoics,  mostly  the 
latter.  From  the  days  of  Brutus  to  those  of  Mar- 
cus Aurelius,  the  austerity  of  stoicism  met  with  es- 


pecial favor  iu  Rome.  Its  ideal  man  was  the  typi- 
cal Roman.  In  other  words,  if  one  were  to  picture 
to  one’s  self  the  realization  of  Zeno’s  philosophy,  he 
would  be  “ the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all.  ” 

Another  famous  sect  of  philosophers  at  Athens 
was  the  Cynics.  The  term  has  come  to  mean  any- 
body who  has  become  soured  and  disgusted,  critical 
and  weary  of  life  and  all  its  belongings.  The  rep- 
resentative Cynic  was  a Stoic  who  made  an  ostenta- 
tious show  of  contempt  for  the  world.  Virtue  was 
a sort  of  warfare  carried  on  by  the  mind  against 
the  body.  Serene  contempt  was  intensified  into 
virulent  hatred.  Diogenes  with  his  tub,  and  grim 
sneer  at  everybody  and  everything,  was  the  typical 
Cynic.  To  make  a virtue  of  insolent  criticism  and 
censure,  was  cynicism  two  thousand  years  ago,  as 
now.  It  was  Diogenes  who,  being  seen  with  a lighted 
candle  at  noonday,  was  asked  what  he  was  looking 
for  and  answered,  “ I seek  an  honest  man.”  But 
the  Cynics  did  some  good.  They  attacked  all  with 
indiscriminate  rancor,  and  some  of  the  absurdities 
of  the  philosophers  received  beneficent  excoriation, 
especially  the  theories  of  the  skeptics,  who  placed 
abstract  logic  above  the  demonstrations  of  facts. 

Mention  has  now  been  made  of  the  more  illus- 
trious philosophers  of  the  classic  age,  and  their 
distinctive  ideas  presented.  Century  after  cen- 
tury, the  incomparable  intellect  of  the  Greek 
nation  sought  the  solution  of  life’s  deeper  prob- 
lems, without  the  aid  of  either  religion  or  science. 
There  was  a little  faith  and  a very  little  science, 
but  not  enough  of  either  to  be  perceptible  in 
influence.  At  last  the  effort  was  given  up. 
Various  changes  of  base  were  made,  but  all  to 
no  purpose.  From  Thales  down,  all  failed  to  arrive 
at  conclusions  which  were  really  satisfactory.  Even 
Socrates,  Plato,  and  Aristotle,  failed  in  giving  per- 
manent satisfaction.  At  last  the  Greeks  became 
utterly  tired  of  the  whole  domain  of  philosophy, 
and  in  place  of  this  or  that  belief,  came  to  almost 
total  disbelief.  Skepticism  prevailed  over  all. 
“ There  is  no  absolute  criterion  of  truth,”  said 
Pyrrho,  the  father  of  the  skeptics.  Socrates  ad- 
mitted his  ignorance,  hut  was  confident  that  the 
search  for  knowledge  would  be  richly  rewarded; 
Pyrrho,  who,  as  a soldier  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
had  been  in  India  and  Egypt,  and  knew  something 
of  all  philosophies,  pronounced  the  riddles  of 
philosophy  insoluble.  There  was  much  reluctance 


~7U 


4 


<a 


GREEK  PHILOSOPHY  AND  ART. 


IX7 


to  accept  his  views,  but  finally,  in  what  was 
called  the  New  Academy  at  Athens,  of  Arcesilaus 
and  Carneades,  agnosticism  prevailed.  Arcesilaus 
was  a disciple  of  Aristotle,  as  was  Carneades  a 
century  later,  having  been  born  in  B.  C.  213.  With 
him  the  race  of  philosophers  seemed  to  become 
extinct.  And  so  far  as  Greece  was  concerned,  it 
died  forever. 

Greek  culture,  however,  saw  a rival  of  the  spirit 
of  philosophy  in  Alexandria.  In  that  intellectual 
capital  of  the  world,  an  attempt  was  finally  made  to 
solve  the  problems  of  philosophy  by  the  aid  of 
religion.  Philo  is  the  most  prominent  name  in  this 
connection.  Neoplatonism  it  was  called.  Accept- 
ing the  doctrine  that  reason  is  impotent  to  meet  the 
demand,  Philo  and 
his  school  offered 
the  aid  of  faith, 
especially  the  in- 
tense piety  of  the 
Hebrew  nation.  He 
was  a Jew  of  Greek 
education.  He  be- 
lieved he  saw  in 
the  “ thus  saitli  the 
Lord”  of  his  people 
the  missing  link  in 
Philosophy.  He  was 
born  a few  years  be- 
fore Christ.  It  was 


not  long  before 


The  Acropolis  at  Athens  as  it  was. 


Neoplatonism  and  Christianity  were  jostled  against 
each  other,  both  eager  to  turn  to  advantage 
tiie  confession  of  philosophy  that  it  could  not  solve 
the  mystery  of  truth.  Plotinus  is  the  great  name 
in  this  conflict.  In  the  Gospel  of  John  with  its 
deification  of  the  “ Word,”  may  be  seen  the  influence 
of  Neoplatonism  upon  the  church,  especially  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  The  last  of  the  Neo- 
platonists,  Proelus,  was  born  A.  D.  412.  He  showed 
the  power  of  Christianity  more  than  Protinus  did. 
He  tried  to  save  philosophy  by  liberal  concessions; 
but  to  no  purpose.  It  was  doomed,  and  with  his 
death  was  buried,  ceasing  to  be  a real  power  in  the 
world,  until  Bacon  gave  it  a scientific  tendency. 

It  was,  then,  the  province  of  t he  Greeks  to  show 
that  philosophy  cannot  produce  satisfactory  results 
upon  any  other  than  a scientific  basis.  It  tried 
ever\r  conceivable  theory,  and  whatever  the  dis- 


tinctive idea,  and  alike  with  and  without  religion, 
it  fell  short  of  producing  intellectual  content,  and 
its  grand  glory  is  the  claim  it  may  justly  lay  to  the 
high  honor  of  having  stimulated  inquiry. 

The  Greeks  were  no  less  prominent  in  art  than 
in  philosophy.  They  excelled  equally  in  painting, 
sculpture  and  architecture.  From  the  nature  of  the 
case  the  works  of  the  painters  have  perished.  Apelles, 
whose  portraits  were  the  admiration  of  his  country- 
men, was  a cotemporary  of  Alexander,  whose  por- 
trait he  painted.  Nothing  remains  to  testify, 'first 
hand,  to  the  merit  of  Greek  art  with  the  brush  and 
easel.  But  what  Greek  genius  wrought  in  stone  has 
not  wholly  disappeared. 

Praxiteles,  who  flourished  at  Athens  late  in  the 

fourth  century  be- 
fore Christ, has  been 
called  the  head  of 
the  Attic  school.  He 
worked  in  marble 
and  bronze  both, 
chiefly  in  the  for- 
mer. His  subjects 
were  mythological. 
Venus,  Cupid  and 
Apollo  were  favorite 
subjects  with  him. 
He  has  been  called 
“ the  sculptor  of 
the  beautiful.”  As 
the  sculptor  of  the 
grand,  the  highest  honor  belongs  to  Phidias,  who 
flourished  in  the  splendid  era  of  Pericles  and  his 
no  less  brilliant  Aspasia  (B.  C.  500).  The  colossal 
statue  of  Zeus  at  the  temple  of  Olympia,  in  Flis, 
classed  as  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world, 
was  the  work  of  his  brain  and  hand.  It  was  in  gold 
and  ivory.  It  occupied  its  more  than  royal  throne 
until  A.  1).  475,  when  it  was  destroyed  by  fire.  An 
imitation  of  the  head  is  preserved  in  the  Vatican 
museum,  and  that  is  all  that  remains  to  us  of  that 
prodigy  of  art.  Phidias  put  the  best  work  of  his 
life,  however,  into  the  Parthenon  and  the  other 
temples  of  the  Acropolis  of  Athens.  That  citadel 
was  not  only  adorned  with  the  temple  of  Athena, 
but  of  the  Erechtheum  and  other  temples.  It  was 
no  less  the  treasury  of  Greek  art  than  the  strong- 
hold of  the  capital.  Speaking  of  Phidias,  Mr. 
Frothingham  remarks:  “He  was  a man  of  lofty 


GREEK  PHILOSOPHY  AND  ART 


soul,  majestic  intellect,  consummate  knowledge  of 
the  principles  of  Ins  art,  and  wonderful  skill  in  de- 
sign. The  buildings  that  crowned  the  Acropolis  at 
Athens  are  believed  to  have  been  erected  under  his 
direction,  and  much  of  the  work — how  much  can- 
not be  known — may  be  ascribed  to  his  hand.  The 
great  statue  of  Athena  in  the  Parthenon,  of  gold,  ivory 
and  precious  stones,  was,  there  is  little  room  to 
doubt,  executed  by  him.”  Numerous  bronzes  of  great 


Ionic  order  was  somewhat  ornate.  It  dates  as  far 
back,  probably,  as  the  Doric,  but  seems  to  have  been 
less  used.  The  third  and  most  elaborately  carved 
order  was  the  Corinthian,  which  was  not  introduced 
until  the  Alexandrine  age.  It  was  never  the  pre- 
vailing order  in  fashion  in  Greece,  to  which  rank  it 
rose,  however,  in  Rome.  “The  Greeks,”  says  Mor- 
gan, “ were  not  great  builders,  but  they  were  supreme 
architects.”  It  is  equally  true  that  the  Romans  were 


THE  PARTHENON. 

Constructed  of  Pentelic  Marble,  under  the  direction  of  the  celebrated  sculptor  Phidias,  dedicated  to  Minerva,  438  II. 


merit  are  traditionally  associated  with  the  name  of 
Phidias. 

The  term  architecture  is  derived  from  the  Greek, 
and  means  “ chief  art,”  and  such  was  the  Grecian 
estimate  of  the  building  art.  The  supreme  editice 
of  antiquity,  in  beauty  if  not  in  sublimity,  was  the 
Parthenon,  which  is  conceded  to  be  the  type  of  per- 
fection in  construction.  It  was  not  a large  building, 
being  only  228  feet  long  and  101  feet  wide.  The 
material  used  was  the  finest  white  marble.  It  was 
painted  within  and  without.  It  dates  from  B.  C. 
440.  The  architects  were  Ictinus  and  Callicrates. 
It  belongs  to  the  Doric  order  of  architecture.  Ruins 
of  Greek  temples  show  three  orders,  the  Doric  being 
the  most  common  and  most  severely  simple.  The 


not  great  architects,  but  magnificent  builders.  The 
Greek  ideas  of  architecture  were  carried  to  grander, 
if  less  exquisite  results,  in  Rome  than  in  Athens,  and 
the  Pantheon,  built  at  Rome  about  thirty  years  before 
Christ,  was  not  only  Greek  in  name  (Pantheon 
meaning  in  that  language  a temple  for  all  the  gods) 
but  it  was  Grecian  in  its  essential  characteristics. 
Indeed,  almost  all  public  architecture  in  Europe  and 
America,  except  the  Gothic,  may  be  said  to  attest 
the  excellency  of  Greek  genius  in  that  department 
or  art  and  industry. 

The  Parthenon  was  despoiled  from  time  to  time, 
but  much  of  its  statuesque  wealtli  survived  until  a 
comparative  late  day,  in  the  ruined  temple,  but  was 
at  last  carried  off  to  England  by  Lord  Elgin,  and 


V 


GREEK  PHILOSOPHY  AND  ART. 


A 


ll9 


deposited,  in  the  British  museum.  Those  treasures 
of  art  are  known  as  the  “ Elgin  Marbles,  ” and  in 
them  may  be  seen  the  subtle  and  refined  artistic 
genius  of  the  Greek  civilization. 

One  of  the  best  known  and  most  remarkable 
pieces  of  statuary  in  the  world  is  the  Laocoon  of 
three  Rhodian  artists,  Agesander,  Achenodoras  and 
Polydorus.  It  is  based  on  a Trojan  tradition,  best 
told  by  Virgil  in  his  yEnead.  A priest  of  that  city 
opposed  the  introduction  into  Troy  of  the  wooden 
horse,  when  he  and  his 
two  sons  were  slain  by 
two  great  serpents  from 
the  sea,  which  the  Trojans 
seeing,  accepted  as  a sign 
from  Heaven  that  the 
priest  had  given  unright- 
eous counsel.  It  might 
be  noticed  that  the  cen- 
tral figure  is  much  larger 
in  proportion  than  the 
sons.  The  former  is  the 
chief  merit  of  this  incom- 
parable work  of  art. 

In  his  history  of  art, 

De  Forest  characterizes 
Greek  art  as  follows : 

“ The  first  plastic  works 
of  Greece  were  undoubted- 
ly marked  with  a strong 
Oriental  impress.  They 
were  the  creations  of  the 
artisan  rather  than  of  the  artist,  and  consisted  of 
sumptuous  decoration  applied  to  armor,  household 
utensils,  and  the  like.  The  description  of  Achilles’ 
shield,  in  the  Iliad  gives  us  an  idea  of  the  splendor 
of  this  kind  of  work.  The  first  representations  of 
the  gods  were  symbolic,  a stone  or  a piece  of  wood ; 


and  the  earliest  complete  images  were  of  wood. 
These  wooden  idols  were  very  rude,  but  were  con- 
sidered specially  sacred,  even  in  later  times.  They 
were  supplied  with  elaborate  wardrobes,  and  were 
dressed  and  washed  by  regular  attendants.  Metal 
statues  and  clay  images  of  the  gods  were  introduced 
toward  the  close  of  the  archaic  period  of  Greek 
art.” 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  interested  in  the 
techniques  of  architecture  we  append  what  De 

Forest  says  in  his  history 
of  art  about  the  lintel  or 
entablature  of  a Greek  or- 
der. “ It  has,”  he  observes, 
“three  members, — the 
architrave,  or  principal 
beam,  which  rests  directly 
upon  the  capital  of  the  col- 
umns ; the  frieze,  or  orna- 
mental band ; and  the  pro- 
jecting cornice  which  pro- 
tects the  frieze  and  archi- 
trave, as  the  capital  pro- 
tects the  column  from  the 
inclemencies  of  the  weath- 
er. The  column  is  also 
divided  into  three  parts, — 
the  base,  which  is  an  ex- 
pansion of  the  shaft,  hav- 
ing the  same  relation  to 
it  that  the  foot  has  to  the 
human  figure ; the  shaft 
or  upright  support;  and  the  capital  or  bearer, 
which  has  been  likened  to  a hand  spread  out 
to  receive  the  weight  of  the  architrave.  The 
pediment  or  gable  is  the  triangular  space  at  either 
end  of  a building  between  the  cornice  of  the 
entablature  and  the  cornice  of  the  sloping  roof.” 


GROUP  OF  THE  LAOCOON. 


k. 


1 

j GREEK  AND  ROM 

AN  MYTHOLOGY. 

A 

3]  ; 

CHAPTER  XIX. 


Hf 

m 10 

**  1 

rn 

m 0 

Greek  and  Roman  Names — The  Origin  of  Classic  Myths — Jupiter  and  Celestial  Heredity 
—War  in  Heaven — Division  of  the  Spoils — The  Amours  of  the  Gods — The  Chief  Divin- 
ities AND  THEIR  ALLOTMENTS — MINOR  DUTIES — OLYMPUS — THE  MYTH  AND  DETAILS  OF  CRE- 
ATION and  the  Fall  of  Man — Classic  Story  of  the  Deluge — Phaeton  and  his  Presump- 
tion— Deification  of  Love — Pegasus  and  Poetry' — Centaurs  and  Other  Monsters — The 
Riddle  of  the  Sphinx — Orpheus  and  Eurydice — Ignorance,  Credulity  and  Skepticism. 


N nothing  else  are  Greek 
and  Roman  annals  and 
ideas  so  similar  as  in  my- 
thology. Nearly  all  the 
deities  of  Roman  idolatry, 


MOUNT  OLYMPUS. 


as  known  to 
us  through 
Latin  liter- 
ature, were 
transferred 
from  Ath- 
ens to  Rome 
Avith  hardly 
any  other 
change than 
that  of  names.  Cro- 
nos was  called  Saturn ; 

Zeus,  Jupiter  or  Jove; 

Poseidon,  Neptune; 

Ares,  Mars ; Hephaes- 
tos,  V ulean ; Hermes, 

Mercury ; Hera,  Juno  ; 

Athena,  Minerva ; Artemis,  Diana ; Aphrodite,  Ve-  I is  obvious,  that  natural  and  ethical  meanings  can  be 


nus ; Hestia,  Vesta ; Demeter,  Ceres ; Dionysius, 
Bacchus;  Phoebus,  Apollo;  Letus,  Latona.  The 
Roman  names  are  commonly  used  and  Avill  be  em- 
ployed usually  in  this  chapter. 

It  lias  been  said  that  with  Homer  and  Hesiod  the 
formation  of  the  myths 
Avas  finished,  and  that 
Avith  the  drama  and 
philosophy,  desintegra- 
tion  and  unbelief  be- 
gan, the  personalities 
vanishing  into  the  thin 
air  of  symbols  of  ideas. 
It  has  been  claimed  by 
some  that  the  old 
myths  Avere  born  of  nat- 
ural phenomena,  and 
designed  to  teach  les- 
sons in  natural  history. 
Others  again  insist  that 
moral  ideas  underlie 
the  stories  of  the  gods. 
These  theories  are  often 
advocated  at  ith  great 
skill  and  ingenuity.  It 


STv” 


(I2°) 


•vfs 


A 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 


I 2 I 


put  into  them,  and  the  myths  made  to  do  important 
service  by  way  of  illustration ; but  there  is  no  good 
reason  to  suppose  that  any  philosophical  basis  can 
be  discovered  historically  for  the  gods  of  Greece  and 
Rome.  They  grew  up  gradually  out  of  the 
ooze  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  and  all  attempts 
to  etherealize  that  mud  are  futile.  As  well  try  to 
establish  the  identity  of  the  alluvia  of  the  Nile  and 
the  manna  of  the  wilderness.  The  home  of  the 
gods  was  Mount  Olympus  and  their  king  was  Jupi- 
ter. He  was  elected  to  that  position  by  the  suf- 
frage of  his  brothers  and  sisters.  The  Greek  mind 
would  not  allow  the  doctrine  of  “ the  divine  right 
of  kings,”  even  in  heaven.  Jupiter  was  indeed  called 
“ the  father  of  gods  and  men,”  but  it  was  no  such 
paternity  as  the  Jews  attribute  to  Jehovah,  and  the 
Christians  to  the  Deity  of  their  worship.  Jupiter 
was  surely  the  elder  son  of  Saturn,  and  the  latter 
the  youngest  son  of  Uranus,  or  Heaven,  who  was 
the  son  of  Earth,  eldest  child  of  Chaos,  the  latter 
being  the  real  father  of  gods  and  men,  the  great 
First  Cause.  Thus  we  see  that  Jupiter  was  the 
great-great  grandson  of  the  divine  parent  of  all 


things. 


The  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  caught  a 


faint  glimpse  of  a celestial  chain  of  heredity. 

The  first  active  display  of  heavenly  energy  defin- 
itely conceived  in  this  mythology  bears  a striking 
resemblance  to  the  war  in  heaven,  described  so 
minutely  by  the  greatly  praised  and  sometimes  read 
“ Paradise  Lost,”  of  Milton,  only  the  rebels  of  the 
old  myths  won  the  battle.  Jupiter,  his  brothers  and 
sisters,  so  runs  the  story,  rose  in  rebellion  against 
their  father  and  the  older  deities,  called  Titans.  The 
battle  was  fierce  and  desperate.  At  last  the  Titans 
were  vanquished,  and  cast  down  into  hell,  or  Tar- 
tarus, from  which  they  will  emerge  in  some  remote 
future,  something  as  Satan  is  promised  release  from 
the  same  place  of  torment,  for  the  space  of  a thou- 
sand years. 

Having  won  the  world  by  conquest,  the  victors 
divided  the  spoils.  Jupiter  took  heaven,  or  Olym- 
pus, where  the  gods  reside,  Neptune  the  ocean,  and 
Pluto,  Hades,  the  home  of  departed  spirits.  Un- 
fortunately for  the  peace  of  mankind,  the  Earth 
was  what  is  called  a free  zone, — a vast  common 
held  by  the  gods  in  sociage.  The  principle  of  evil, 
the  Ahriinan  of  the  Persians,  the  Satan  of  the 
Jews,  the  Siva  of  the  Hindoos,  and  the  Loki  of 
the  Scandinavians,  does  not  appear  in  classic  my- 


Jupiter. 


tliology.  Any  such  deity  would  be  superfluous.  All 
the  gods  are  bad,  differing  more  in  capacity  than  in 
disposition.  Jupiter’s  high  domain  was  no  less  tur- 
bulent than  the  ocean,  and  there  was  not  repose 
even  in  the  dreary  desolation  of  the  netherworld. 

Jupiter  was  a notori- 
ous rake.  His  life,  as 
written  by  the  poets,  was 
that  of  a divine  Don 
Juan.  His  wife,  Juno, 
was  jealous,  constant- 
ly watching  him,  and 
wreaking  revenge  upon 
the  victims  or  fruits 
of  his  amours.  The  de- 
tails of  ancient  mythol- 
ogy are  too  vile  to  be 
read,  especially  as  portrayed  by  the  Latin  poets.  The 
older  Greeks  were  less  indecent  in  their  narrations. 
But  at  its  best,  the  mythology  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  was  a seething  caldron  of  impurity.  Nu- 
merous were  the  demi-gods,  or  semi-gods,  as  they 
might  better  be  termed,  for  in  Greek  myths,  as  in 
antediluvian  times,  “the  sons  of  God”  made  love 
to  the  “ daughters  of  men.”  Among  the  Greeks  and 
the  Romans  religion  and  morals  had  no  connection. 
That  feature  of  religion  so  very  prominent  in 
Christianity  and  Buddhism  is  almost  entirely  want- 
ing in  classic  mythology,  this  deficiency  showing 
itself  with  especial  emphasis  in  the  love  intrigues  of 
the  Olympic  deities. 

The  rank  and  sphere  of  Jupiter,  Neptune,  and 
Pluto,  have  already  been  stated.  Apollo  was  the 
god  of  music,  physics,  poetry,  and  the  arts.  The 
nine  Muses,  the  especial  patrons  of  poetry,  were  un- 
der his  rule.  The  chariot  of  the  sun  was  his,  and 
he  alone  could  guide  it.  Mars  was  the  god  of  bat- 
tle. Vulcan  was  the  blacksmith  and  general  arti- 
san of  heaven.  Mercury  was  the  messenger  of  the 
gods,  also  the  deity  of  commerce  and  thievery. 
Bacchus  was  the  god  of  wine.  Venus  was  the  god- 
dess of  love,  and  a female  of  decidedly  loose  morals. 
She  was  wedded  to  Vulcan,  who  was  lame  and  unat- 
tractive. Minerva  was  the  goddess  of  wisdom,  espe- 
cially in  war.  She  sprang  full  armed  from  the 
brain  of  Jupiter.  Diana  was  the  goddess  of  the 
chase.  iEolus  was  the  god  of  the  wind,  Momus  of 
laughter,  and  Ceres  of  fruit  and  grain.  Vesta  was 
one  of  the  older  goddesses,  and  was  the  guardian  of 


7 


| 


<3. 


122 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 


domestic  virtue.  She  was  rather  Roman  than 
Greek  in  her  origin,  and  the  same  is  true  of  Janus, 
who  had  two  faces  and  was  the  deity  of  peace. 
His  temple  at  Rome  was  always  open  in  time  of 
war,  and  was  closed  only  three  times  during  a pe- 
riod of  seven  centuries.  Latona  was  the  goddess 
of  night,  and  Aurora  of  morning.  The  Earth  was 
sometimes  personi- 
fied as  Cybele,  some- 
times as  Rhea,  and 
sometimes  as  Ops. 

Themis  was  the  god- 
dess of  law  and  jus- 
tice, and  Nemesis  of 
retribution.  These 
Avere  the  principal 
deities  and  their  sev- 
eral allotments.  Be- 
sides these  there 
were  the  gods  of  the 
rivers,  the  woods,  and 
the  rural  deities  wit  h- 
out  number.  Pan 
Avas  an  illustrious 
woodland  deity,  in- 
terested in  shep- 
herds, fishermen  and 
fowlers.  lie  was  half 
man  and  half  goat. 

He  was  a famous 
musician.  The  sa- 
tyrs Avere  also  half 
man  and  half  goat. 

Nymphs  Avere  beau- 
tiful female  attend- 
ants upon  the  great 
goddesses.  They 
Avere  sometimes  call- 
ed Naiads  or  Nere- 
ids. Echo  was  one 
of  their  number. 

The  Fates  Avere  three  sisters,  daughters  of  Chaos,  and 
presided  over  the  destinies  of  mortals.  The  Furies 
Avere  also  three  sisters,  and  Avere  employed  in  making 
both  the  living  and  the  dead  miserable.  Pluto,  the 
god  of  Hades,  has  been  mentioned.  There  Avere  three 
Judges  of  the  dead,  Minos  being  chief  justice.  In 
passing  from  Earth  to  Hades,  the  soul  had  to  cross 
the  river  Styx  in  the  boat  of  a miserly  old  fcrry- 


THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  GODS 


man  called  Charon.  The  Christian  conception  of 
a heaven  for  the  good  and  a hell  for  the  bad  Avas 
only  dimly  outlined  in  classic  mythology.  Hades 
was  the  place  of  all  departed  souls,  but  some  found 
existence  there  pleasant,  or  at  least  free  from  pain, 
Avliile  others  Avere  subjected  to  different  degrees  of 
unhappiness.  The  abode  of  the  gods  Avas  on  the 

summit  of  Mount 
Olympus,  in  Thessa- 
ly. The  deities  had 
their  individual 
homes,  but  all,  when 
convened  by  their 
sovereign  Jupiter, 
repaired  to  the  pal- 
ace of  his  celestial 
highness, where  there 
av  a s feasting  and 
merriment. 

Ambrosia  Avas 
their  food  and  nectar 
their  drink.  The 
cup-bearer  Avas  the 
lovely  goddess  Hebe, 
or  the  beauteous  boy, 
stolen  for  that  pur- 
pose from  Earth, 
Ganymede.  Apollo 
tAvanged  his  lyre 
amid  the  feast  and 
the  nine  Muses  sang 
responsively.  At 
sundoAvn  the  deities 
retired  to  their  own 
respective  abodes. 
Their  houses  Avere 
of  brass,  built  by 
Vulcan. 

Among  the  Titans 
Avas  Epimetheus.  In 
accordance  Avith  au- 
thority given  him  from  on  high,  he  created  the  ani- 
mals of  the  earth.  Man  Avas  his  last  and  favorite 
Avork.  He  asked  his  brother  Prometheus,  Avho  had 
some  supervisory  connection  Avith  creation,  to  help 
him  secure  to  man  supremacy.  Thereupon  the 
daring  Titan  lighted  a torch  at  the  sun  and  gave 
fire  to  men.  That  supreme  gift  greatly  incensed  the 
gods,  but  none  the  less  proved  an  inestimable  boon 


Jx> 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 


12' 


to  the  human  family.  For  his  impiety,  as  it  was 
called,  Prometheus  was  bound  to  a rock  where  a 
vulture  ate  his  ever-renewing  vitals.  This  myth 
furnished  the  groundwork  of  the  highest  tragedy 
of  Greek  literature. 

The  story  of  Pandora  and  her  box  is  a variation  of 
the  Promethean  story.  It  is  said  that  to  furnish  the 
first  woman,  Pandora  was  made  of  material  contrib- 
uted by  each  god,  and  corresponding  to  the  charac- 
teristics of  each.  She  seemed  a perfect  being.  Epi- 
metheus  was  delighted  with  such  an  addition  to  the 
world.  But  Prometheus  warned  him  that  J upiter 
meant  mischief  by  his  seeming  fair  bounty.  And 
so  it  proved.  In  his  work  of  creation  Epimetheus 
had  carefully  rejected  all 
bad  material,  and  put  it 
in  a refuse  box.  To  keep 
that  closed  forever,  would 
protect  man  from  evil, 
but  to  open  it,  would  be 
to  let  loose  upon  the 
world  all  evil.  Of  course 
Pandora  was  so  very  cu- 
rious to  know  the  con- 
tents of  that  box  that  one 
day  she  lifted  the  lid, 
when  out  flew  the  con- 
tents, to  torment  and 
distract  mankind. 

The  story  of  the  fall 
of  man,  not  only,  but  of 
the  flood,  is  clearly  trace- 
able in  classic  mythology.  The  only  survivors  of 
that  deluge  were  Deucalion  and  his  wife  Pyrrha, 
a pious  and  God-fearing  couple.  After  the  waters 
had  subsided  they  proceeded,  in  obedience  to  an 
oracle,  to  people  the  world  by  casting  stones  behind 
them,  those  thrown  by  the  man  becoming  men, 
those  thrown  by  the  woman  becoming  women. 
The  new  race  was  hardy,  but  far  inferior  to  the 
antediluvians. 

The  passion  of  love  is  variously  brought  out  by 
mythology.  Venus  was  the  goddess  of  love  in  its 
fullest  sense,  but  besides  her  were  Psyche  and  Cupid. 
The  former  was  the  goddess  of  the  spiritual  ele- 
ment in  love,  without  its  physical  expression.  Cupid 
was  the  son  of  Venus,  a mischievous  boy,  roaming 
about  with  his  bow  and  arrow,  shooting  whom  he 
would,  and  whom  he  wounded  was  sure  to  fall  in  love 


DEUCALION  AND  PYRRHA. 


with  the  next  person  met  of  the  opposite  sex.  Thus 
his  own  mother  one  day  wounded  herself  with  one  of 
Cupid’s  arrows,  and  in  consequence  became  so  enam- 
ored of  an  earthly  boy,  Adonis,  that  she  found  no 
pleasure  in  heaven,  but  wooed  the  unresponsive  lad. 
He  was  unmindful  of  all  her  charms,  being  wholly 
given  to  the  pleasures  of  the  chase.  At  last  a wild 
boar  ended  the  life  of  Adonis. 

“ The  Muses  nine”  were  not  the  only  mythologi- 
cal embodiment  of  the  classic  idea  of  the  poetical 
faculty  as  a divine  gift.  Those  famous  sisters  dwelt 
on  Mount  Helicon,  and  drank  of  the  fountain  Hip- 
pocrene.  Minerva  presented  to  them  the  winged 
horse  Pegasus,  upon  which,  if  one  rode,  he  would 

soar  aloft  among  the 
creations  of  fancy.  This 
horse  appears  in  several 
myths,  especially  in  the 
slaying  of  the  Chimaera. 
That  horrid  monster 
breathed  fire  and  raised 
havoc  in  Lycia.  Beller- 
ojihon,  mounted  on  the 
winged  horse,  undertook 
to  slay  the  ravaging  drag- 
on, and  did  so.  But  when, 
later,  the  slayer  of  the 
Chimaera  attempted  to 
fly  upon  Pegasus  to  heav- 
en, Jupiter  sent  a gad- 
fly, which  so  worried  the 
horse  with  wings  that  he 
threw  his  aspiring  rider,  who  became  lame  and  blind 
from  the  fall. 

The  centaurs  were  monsters  with  the  heads  of 
men  and  the  bodies  of  horses.  They  were  sometimes 
admitted  to  the  society  of  men.  On  one  occasion 
they  were  invited  to  a marriage  feast,  and  when 
under  the  influence  of  wine  offered  violence  to 
the  bride.  A fierce  combat  followed,  known  in 
sculpture  and  poetry  as  the  battle  of  the  Lapithae 
and  Centaurs.  But  one  of  the  Centaurs,  Chiron, 
was  renowned  for  his  wisdom  and  goodness.  At 
death  Zeus  placed  him  among  the  stars.  Chiron 
was  famous  for  his  skill  in  prophecy,  poetry  and 
medicine.  Apollo  is  said  to  have  intrusted  to  his 
care  the  infant  YEsculapius,  who  stands  in  le- 
gend ary  annals  as  the  great  physician. 

The  Pygmies  were  a nation  of  dwarfs.  They 


I24 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY. 


once  came  upon  Hercules  asleep,  and  prepared  to 
attack  him  as  if  he  were  a city  with  walls.  The 
Griffin,  or  Gryphon,  was  a monster  with  the  body  of 
a lion,  the  head  and  wings  of  an  eagle,  and  a back 
covered  with  feathers.  It  was  the  guardian  of  hid- 
den treasures,  especially  of  the  gold  of  India.  The 
Sphinx  of  Greece  was  a cruel  monster  with  the  body 
of  a lion  and  the  head  of  a woman.  It  infested  the 
highway  near  Thebes.  All  passers-by  were  asked 
by  the  Sphinx,  “ What  animal  is  that  which  in  the 
morning  goes  on  four  feet,  at  noon  on  two,  and  in 
the  evening  on  three?”  None  could  guess  the  riddle 
until  CEdipus  replied,  “ Man,  who  in  childhood  creeps 
on  hands  and  knees,  in  manhood  walks  erect,  and 
in  old  age  with  a staff.”  Her 
riddle  guessed,  the  Sphinx 
plunged  into  the  sea  and 
was  seen  no  more  forever. 

Phaeton  was  ambitious 
to  drive  the  chariot  of  the 
sun,  his  father,  Apollo,  or 
Phoebus.  The  sire  finally 
consented.  The  car  of  day 
made  a perilous  trip  around 
the  world, inandout  among 
the  heavenly  bodies.  For  a 
time  all  went  well.  The 
horses  darted  up  the  vault- 
ed sky  at  a furious  rate.  In 
a luckless  moment  Phae- 
ton glanced  down  to  earth 
and  lost  self-control.  The 
reins  fell  from  his  hands.  The  horses  darted  madly 
off  into  space,  setting  fire  to  mountains,  cities  and  the 
world  generally.  Had  not  Jupiter  taken  pity  on  the 
earth,  utter  ruin  would  have  been  inevitable.  He 
launched  a thunderbolt  at  Phaeton,  hurling  him  to 
earth,  sacrificed  to  save  the  world  which  was  being 
destroyed  for  his  folly.  The  ambition  of  the  youth 
was  noble,  but  it  was  none  the  less  necessary  that  he 
should  pay  the  penalty  of  his  presumption. 

Orpheus  and  Eurydice  are  familiar  mythological 
characters.  Orpheus  was  the  son  of  Apollo  and  the 
Muse  Calliope.  He  could  play  the  lyre  so  very  charm- 
ingly that  he  drew  to  him  the  very  beasts  of  the  field, 
who  were  softened  and  made  gentle  by  the  influence 
of  his  music.  He  was  wedded  to  the  nymph  Euryd- 
ice. Soon  after  their  marriage,  which  was  pre- 
sided over  by  Hymen,  the  god  of  wedlock,  she 


was  wandering  with  her  sylvan  companions  in  the 
woods  when  a serpent  bit  her  foot.  She  died  of  the 
wound.  The  disconsolate  husband  sought  his  love 
in  Hades.  He  sang  his  grief  in  tones  so  melancholy 
that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  shed  ghostly  tears,  and 
so  did  even  the  Furies.  All  the  regions  below  were 
stirred  with  sympathy.  Finally  Pluto  consented 
that  the  tender  Orpheus  should  take  back  his  bride, 
but  on  one  condition — he  should  not  look  back  in  all 
his  ascent  to  the  upper  world.  In  a moment  of  for- 
getfulness he  turned  to  look  at  his  fair  companion 
limping  along  behind  him.  That  moment  she  van- 
ished into  thin  air,  saying,  “Farewell,  a last  fare- 
well.” In  vain  he  lingered  and  sought  for  Eurydice. 

At  length  he  returned  to 
earth  alone  and  disconso- 
late. All  thoughts  of  love 
were  now  abhorrent  to  him, 
until  in  death  he  was  re- 
united to  his  lost  wife. 

The  common  people  of 
Greece  always  had  confi- 
dence in  the  national  dei- 
ties as  actual  personages, 
and  the  stories  told  about 
them  were  implicitly  be- 
lieved. But  the  educated 
class  seems  to  have  seen 
in  the  popular  mythology 
a series  of  allegories  or 
downright  fables,  more  cu- 
rious than  solemn.  In 
Rome,  even  the  common  people  came  to  doubt 
the  reality  of  their  religion,  and  the  educated 
class  looked  upon  it  as  the  invention  of 

their  ancestors,  and  more  especially  of  the  Greeks, 
whose  intellectual  superiority  was  held  in  highest 
respect.  Actual  faith  in  the  myths  of  the.  old 
Greeks,  fading  out,  left  a blank  in  which  Chris- 
tianity could  inscribe  its  tenets  without  the  ne- 
cessity of  first  eradicating  deep-rooted  theologi- 
cal convictions.  Mythology  may  be  called  the 
half -brother  of  the  heroic  element 'in  Greek  his- 
tory. 

It  is  a curious  fact  that  Christian  Europe  culti- 
vated belief  in  the  classic  deities  as  spiritual  reali- 
ties, only  they  were  held  to  he  demons,  or  devils. 
This  was  the  general  opinion  of  Christendom  until 
about  a century  ago. 


“PHAETON." 


< r 


■£> 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENTS 


The  Senility  op  the  World— Outer  Greece — Rhodes  and  its  Colossus — Halicarnassus  and 
its  Mausoleum — Diana  op  Ephesus — Syracuse  and  Archimedes — Ionian  Islands — Crete 
— Cyprus — Prom  Mauritania  to  Albion — Scandia,  Sarmatia,  Dacia  and  Thrace — Scythia 
and  India— Arya,  the  Cradle  op  Civilization — Ptolemy  and  his  Geography — The  Ptol- 
emaic System,  or  the  Three-pold  World  op  the  Ancients. 


£ 


"HE  lands  thus  far  visited 
in  the  course  of  this  histo- 
ry form  very  insignificant 
parts  of  the  present  world. 
Some  of  the  nations  have 
disappeared  altogether,  liv- 
ing, if  at  all,  only  in  “ a 
good  diffused,”  or  in  a de- 
crepitude which  is  a living  death. 
But  Rome,  with  all  its  vicissitudes, 
is  a very  important  part  of  the  ac- 
tual life  of  to-day.  Standing,  there- 
fore, at  the  division  line  between  the 
old  nations  which  have  upon  them 
^ every  mark  of  senility,  if  they  are 
not  actually  in  the  grave,  and  the 
one  nation  of  antiquity  which  re- 
newed its  youth  at  the  fountain  of 
ecclesiastical  authority,  it  may  be  well  to  pause  for 
a survey  of  the  world  of  the  ancients. 

This  old  world  contained  many  Greek  cities  and 
colonies,  some  of  whom  have  thus  far  escaped  the 
attention  to  which  their  importance  entitles  them. 
We  will  visit  those  places  of  interest  and  then  fur- 
nish a key  to  the  accompanying  map. 

Within  ten  miles  of  the  Asiatic  coast  lies  the 
island  of  Rhodes,  with  an  area  of  420  square  miles, 
with  a population  of  135,000.  Its  main  town  bears 
the  same  name.  That  citv  dates  from  B.  C.  408. 


N— ^ 

At  the  entrance  of  one  of  its  harbors  once  stood  the 
Colossus  of  Rhodes  (see  frontispiece)  one  of  the 
seven  wonders  of  the  world.  It  was  a brazen  statue 
of  Apollo,  supposed  to  date  from  B.  0.  280.  It  was 
105  feet  in  height.  Tradition  says  that  ships 
in  full  sail  passed  between  its  huge  legs.  It  could 
be  ascended  by  a winding  staircase.  In  B.  C.  224 
an  earthquake  overthrew  it.  Its  fragments  were 
still  preserved  as  late  as  A.  D.  672.  The  execution 
of  that  stupendous  work  of  art  is  attributed  to 
Charus  of  Lindus. 

Not  far  from  Rhodes,  upon  the  mainland  of  Asia, 
Stood  the  Greek  city  of  Halicarnassus.  It  was 
thoroughly  Greek  in  language  and  culture,  but  truly 
Persian  in  political  character.  It  was  ruled  for  a 
long  time  by  a line  of  princes  who  were  loyal  to 
the  Persian  crown.  The  most  noted  of  these 
was  Mausolus  (see  frontispiece)  whose  tomb  is  an- 
other of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  It  was 
erected  by  his  widow,  Artemisia,  in  B.  C.  353.  Pli- 
ny described  it  minutely.  Like  the  Colossus  of 
Rhodes,  it  was  the  victim  of  an  earthquake,  but 
that  elemental  destruction  was  far  from  complete. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  the  Knights  of  Rhodes  took 
possession  of  the  city  and  desecrated  the  tomb.  4 
Later  the  Turks  used  the  stones  for  other  purposes 
to  such  an  extent  that  for  a long  time  the  very  site 
was  in  doubt. 

Passing  northward  from  Halicarnassus,  one  ar- 


±L 


1 2 6 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


rives  at  Ephesus,  one  of  the  most  important  of  the 
historic  cities  of  the  Ionian  Confederation.  It  was 
the  supposed  birthplace  of  the  goddess  Diana, 
and  there  stood  still  an- 
other of  the  seven  wonders 
of  the  world,  the  temple 
of  Diana  (see  frontispiece). 
According  to  Herodotus, 
Hercules  founded  the  city 
B.  C.  1250.  That  wondrous 
temple  was  fired  in  B.  C. 
356  by  Erostratus,the  youth 
who  had  an  insane  thirst 
for  notoriety.  The  actual 


destruction  of  the  temple, 
and  the  consequent  decay 
of  the  city,  was  the  work 
of  Goths  in  A.  D.  262.  Re- 
cent excavations  have  dis- 
closed the  foundations 
of  three  distinct  temples 
built  upon  the  same  site. 

The  last  temple  of  Diana 
was  164  feet  wide,  343 
feet  long,  with  100  mas- 
sive columns,  some  of 
which  were  carved  most  ornately 


SYRACUSE 

A Christian 

church  was  established  at  Ephesus  in  the  apostolic 
age,  to  which  St.  Paul  addressed  one  of  his  most 
characteristic  epistles,  and  it  was  there  that  the 
great  apostle  narrowly  escaped  being  mobbed  for 
preaching  the  gospel,  the  cry  of  the  mob  being, 

“ Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians  ! ” 

Syracuse  was  once  a very  flourishing  Greek  city 
of  Sicily.  Its  prosperity  began  when  the  Romans 
gained  possession  of  the  rest  of  the  island,  which 
had  been  settled  largely  by  the  Phoenicians.  That 
change  in  the  condition  of  Syracuse  grew  out  of 
the  first  Punic  war,  which  settled  the  question  of 
supremacy  between  Rome  and  Carthage.  Without 
anticipating  the  chapter  devoted  to  that  struggle,  it 
may  be  said  that  in  B.  C.  275  the  Roman  power  es- 
tablished the  rule  in  Syracuse  of  Heiron  II.,  an 
ally  of  Rome,  and  that  under  this  king  the  city 


prospered  greatly.  Its  population  was  immense  and 
its  public  buildings  magnificent.  But  in  the  second 
Punic  war  Syracuse  allied  itself  with  Rome,  a fatal 
mistake.  The  city  was  besieged.  For  a long  time 
the  defense  was  impregnable,  thanks  to  Archimedes, 
that  prodigy  of  mathematics  and  mechanics  ; but 
in  B.  C.  212  the  city  fell,  Archimedes  himself  being 
slain  in  the  wild  havoc  of  the  sack.  It  is  now  a 
city  of  imposing  ruins. 

Along  the  western  and  southern  coast  of  Greece 
extends  a chain  of  islands,  containing  in  all  1041 
square  miles.  They  are  called  the  Ionian  islands, 
of  which  the  largest  is  Corfu.  From  immemorial 
time  the  people  were  Greeks.  The  total  population 

of  the  cluster  is  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand.  Politically  they 
have  been  subjected  to  a 
great  many  vicissitudes, 
but  finally,  in  1864,  they 
were  annexed  to  Greece, 
much  to  their  satisfaction. 

Crete,  or  Candia,  is  one 
of  the  more  famous  is- 
lands of  the  Mediterra- 
nean. It  is  150  miles  long 
and  from  6 to  35  miles  in 
width.  In  the  midst  of 
it  rises  Mount  Ida,  famous 
in  classic  mythology  as 
the  retreat  of  the  Mino- 
taur. It  is  supposed  to  have  contained  a popula- 
tion of  over  a million  at  one  time,  but  has  now  only 
about  200,000.  From  1866  to  1869  the  Cretans 
were  at  war  with  the  Turks,  demanding  annexation 
to  Greece.  They  were  subdued  after  a most  des- 
perate struggle.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that  Crete 
was  the  very  cradle  of  European  civilization. 
Tradition  makes  Minos  its  ruler  at  one  time.  It 
was  a part  of  Phoenicia  once,  but  a Greek  colony 
was  early  planted  there,  which  entirely  supplanted 
the  Phoenician  settlement. 

Cyprus  is  another  Greek  island  of  about  the  size 
and  population  of  Crete.  It  is  44  miles  south  of 
Cape  Annonone,  in  Anatolia,  and  about  the  same 
distance  west  of  Syria.  As  a naval  point  it  is  of 
very  great  importance.  The  Turks  took  possession 
of  it  in  the  sixteenth  century,  keeping  it  until  the 
present  decade,  when  the  “ Sick  Man”  was  compelled 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  I27 


to  surrender  it  to  England.  Cyprus  lias  almost 
always  been  under  foreign  rule.  It  is  rich  in 
ruins  and  its  mines  of  relics  have  been  very  indus- 
triously worked,  yielding  prolific  stores  of  coins, 
pottery  and  other  evidences  of  buried  civiliza- 
tions. These  relics  attest  the  existence,  under 
Phoenician,  Assyrian,  Greek,  Persian,  and,  later, 
Egyptian  rule,  of  great  wealth  and  high  culture. 

We  turn  now  from  Outer  Greece,  as  it  might  be 
called,  to  the  large  divisions  of  the  world  of  the 
Ancients.  The  map  which  accompanies  this  chap- 
ter will  be  our  guide  in  what  remains. 

The  term  Mauritania  was  used  to  designate  the 
little-known  northwestern  portion  of  Africa, 
as  Libya  Interior, 

Ethiopia  Interior, 

Ethiopes,  Hesperia 
and  Fortunate  Isles 
were  names  for  un- 
explored and  dimly 
conceived  portions 
of  the  same  conti-  - 
nent.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the 
Ancients  had  no 
idea  whatever  of 
Southern  Africa, 
and  none  of  any 
real  intelligence  of 
any  portion  of  Af- 
rica outside  of  Ethiopia  proper,  Egypt,  and  the 
southern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  sea.  If  their 
ships  passed  beyond  the  pillars  of  Hercules  the 
prows  were  turned  northward  rather  than  southward. 
Hibernia,  the  present  Ireland,  was  mentioned  by 
Aristotle,  Pliny,  Ptolemy  aud  some  others,  but  none 
of  them  seemed  to  have  any  real  information  in  re- 
gard to  it.  Albion  (England)  signifies  “ White 
island,”  suggested,  perhaps,  by  the  Cliffs  of  Kent. 
No  doubt  the  Phoenicians  knew  something  of  En- 
gland, but  no  part  of  the  British  Islands  came  into 
any  vital  relations  to  the  rest  of  the  world  until 
Agricola  established  there  the  rule  of  Rome. 

Scandia,  or  Scandinavia,  derived  no  prominence 
whatever  until  the  medieval  age.  Those  bold  pirates 
of  the  northern  waters  never  entered  the  Mediterra- 
nean in  ancient  times,  nor  were  they  disturbed  in 
their  own  homes  by  men  from  the  civilized  South. 
The  vast  region  between  the  Baltic  and  the  Black 


Sea,  and  from  the  Vistula  to  the  Volga,  called  Sar- 
matia,  was  also  an  almost  wholly  unknown  land, 
even  to  the  Romans  of  the  declining  empire.  It  ex- 
tended southward  to  Dacia,  the  home  of  the  Daci, 
a warlike  people  who  are  supposed  to  have  gone  from 
Thrace  northward  as  early  as  the  time  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  but  of  whom  we  really  hear  nothing  un- 
til about  the  time  our  Christian  era  began,  when 
the  Romans  undertook  their  conquest.  It  was  over 
a hundred  years  before  the  Daci  were  really  subdued. 
Thrace  was  the  border-land  between  Greek  and  bar- 
barian, or  rather,  the  barbaric  and  thoroughly  non- 
Hellenistic  portion  of  Greece.  The  Macedonians 
were  only  semi-Greek,  and  the  Thracians  had  no 

part  or  lot  in  that 
superb  civilization. 
At  the  present  time 
Thrace  is  infested 
by  a people  nearly 
as  rude  and  uncul- 
tured as  their  an- 
cestors of  the  re- 
motest day. 

Germania,  Gaul, 
Italia,  and  Hispa- 
nia  are,  as  the  read- 
er readily  recogni- 
zes, the  Germany, 
France,  Italy,  and 
Spain  and  Portu- 
gal of  to-day.  They  were  the  rudest  of  savages  all 
through  the  old-world  period. 

Turning  to  Asia,  we  find,  besides  Asia  Minor,  Ara- 
bia, Media,  Persia  and  Syria  (of  which  we  have  heard 
or  will  hear  distinctively,  and  which  were-,  in  time,  the 
seats  of  great  civilizations),  India,  Scythia  and  Arya. 
The  former  tempted  Alexander,  through  whom  some 
very  slight  knowledge  of  the  country  was  derived 
by  the  Greeks,  but  for  nearly  all  purposes  of 
definite  knowledge  and  real  communication  it  was 
an  unknown  world,  and  one  to  which  the  historians 
of  antiquity  very  rarely  so  much  as  refer.  Scythia 
was  the  original  name  for  the  indefinite  region 
north,  east  and  south  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the 
Sea  of  Aral.  It  was  hardly  a geographical  term, 
being  vaguely  applied  to  the  hives  whence  swarmed, 
from  time  to  time,  hordes  of  barbarians.  Much 
of  Russia,  especialiy  in  Asia,  was  vaguely  desig- 
nated Scythia,  aud  if  a band  of  savage  raiders  in 


a 


G> 


.. 

±>L 


128 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


old  times  would  not  be  otherwise  identified,  they 
were  called  Scythians,  or  Gauls,  according  to  the 
direction  from  which  they  came. 

From  a strictly  ancient  point  of  view,  no  name 
on  the  map  referred  to  (given  on  the  preceding  page) 
would  be  less  important  than  Arya ; but  in  view  of 
modern  philological  discoveries  it  assumes  very 
great  importance.  It  was  the  home  of  the  Sanskrit- 
speaking people  of  India,  the  Ayran  race,  from 
which  has  sprung  the  Indo-Germanic  races,  or 
nearly  the  entire  civilized  world  of  to-day.  The 
higher  classes  of  India  are  Aryans,  and  so  are  the 
Persians,  and,  as  has  been  well  remarked,  “ also  the 
whole  of  the  extensive  family  whose  forefathers 
once  inhabited  central  Asia,  whence  they  migrated  in 
search  of  pastures  new,  some  going  southeast  to 
India,  some  northward  or  northwestward  to  Russia, 
and  others  westward  to  Asia  Minor,  thence  to 
southern  and  central  Europe.  ” It  will  be  seen  that 
according  to  this  opinion,  based  on  a scientific  study 
of  comparative  philology,  Arya  was  the  cradle  of 
the  Greek,  the  Roman,  the  Brahmin  and  the 
Yankee.  In  the  Sanskrit  tongue,  Arya  means 
“ agricultural,  ” “ respectable,  ” and  “ honorable.” 

Such  was  the  ancient  knowledge  of  geography. 
The  wisdom  of  antiquity  on  that  subject  was 
summed  up  by  Ptolemy  of  Alexandria,  not  one  of 
the  thirteen  kings  of  Egypt  who  had  their  capital 
there,  but  Claudius  Ptolemseus,  who  flourished  in 


the  middle  of  the  second  Christian  century.  His 
Geographia  represented  that  a great  inland  sea  was 
formed  by  the  coast  of  Africa,  extending  eastward 
until  it  joined  the  coast  of  Asia.  He  thought  the 
world  extended  east  and  west  170°,  instead  of  120°. 
Geography  was  largely  a speculative  instead  of  a 
scientific  study,  from  the  earliest  time  until  after 
the  globe  had  been  circumnavigated.  Ptolemy 
set  forth  what  had  been  known  for  centuries,  and 
it  was  not  until  the  fifteenth  century  that  his  work 
became  antiquated. 

To  the  ancients  the  earth  was  the  center  of  the 
universe.  Their  idea  of  astronomy,  called  the 
“ Ptolemaic  system,”  was  that  the  sun  and  moon 
revolved  around  the  earth,  and  that  beneath  this 
world  of  ours  were  the  infernal  regions  of  gods  and 
spirits,  while  in  the  azure  above  were  lands  fairer  than 
the  eye  of  man  ever  beheld.  In  a word,  the  World 
of  the  Ancients  was  a vast  edifice  with  three  stories. 
There  was  no  uniformity  in  the  ancient  ideas  of  the 
world  below  and  above  us.  The  modern  distinctions 
of  hell  and  heaven  were  not  sharply  and  uniformly 
outlined.  To  Homer  and  the  Greeks  the  nether 
world  was  gloomy  and  painful ; to  Virgil  and  the 
Romans  it  was  not  wholly  so.  In  a general  way, 
however,  it  may  be  said  that  the  ancient  theory  was 
that  this  earth  was  intermediate, ' in  happiness 
or  misery,  as  well  as  in  position,  between  the  two 
spiritual  worlds  of  their  imaginations. 


Mim: 

AND  THE] 


MODERN  GREECE 


GREEK  CHURCH 


eminent  historian  lias  well 
remarked  that  “there  seems 
to  be  something  in  the  Ro- 
man rule  which  brought 
death  to  the  Greek  spirit.” 
When,  therefore,  in  tracing 
historic  wars  of  Greece  we 
followed  the  fortunes  of  the 
Greeks  to  the  period  of  Roman  conquest, 
we  m ay  fairly  be  said  to  have  reached  the 
end,  in  an  important  sense,  of  Ancient 
Greece.  From  that  time  until  our  own 
century,  that  unhappy  country  was  the 
prey  of  misery  and  oppression.  There 
was  no  Medieval  Greece.  For  two  chil- 
iads the  land  was  obscured.  Its  history 
could  be  written  with  minuteness,  but  with  no  profit. 
Greek  thought  permeated,  if  itdid  not  dominate,  the 
intellectual  world,  but  apart  from  philosophy/includ- 
ing speculative  theology,  poetry  and  general  litera- 
ture, all  was  blank.  Modern  Greece  is  indeed  insig- 
nificant, still  it  is  a distinct  national  entity.  To 
trace  in  outline  the  course  of  events,  from  a Gre- 
cian point  of  view,  from  the  great  conquest  to  the 
present  day,  and  then  set  forth  the  actual  condition 
of  Greece  now,  together  with  an  account  of  the 
Greek  church,  will  be  our  object  in  this  connection. 


The  original  policy  of  Rome  was  to  respect,  to  a 
most  remarkable  degree,  the  political  sentiments  of 
the  Greeks.  In  B.  0.  196,  Flaminius  proclaimed  the 
liberty  of  Greece.  Nine  years  later,  after  some  fur- 
ther conquests,  rendered  necessary,  from  the  Roman 
standpoint,  by  rebellion,  the  Aclnean  League  was 
crushed,  but  in  B.  C.  147,  Sparta  and  Corinth  were 
allowed  independence,  but  still  there  was  no  con- 
tentment. Such  was  the  state  of  things  at  Corinth 
that  the  Roman  policy  was  suddenly  and  radically 
changed.  The  year  B.  C.  146  saw  that  superb  city 
laid  in  ashes,  its  treasures  of  art  scattered  and  de- 
stroyed, and  Greece  blotted  out,  to  be,  henceforth, 
merely  the  Roman  Province  of  Acliaia.  To  Cor- 
inth may  thus  be  attributed  the  dubious  honor  of 
occasioning  the  great  calamity  of  Greece.  For 
this  reason  specific  mention  of  that  city  has  been 
reserved  for  this  chapter. 

Corinth  is  situated  fifty  miles  from  Athens,  on 
the  isthmus  bearing  the  same  name.  The  place  on 
which  it  is  located  is  sterile  and  volcanic,  but  the 
city  commands  all  the  passes  between  the  Pelopon- 
nesus and  Northern  Greece,  making  it  an  excellent 
point  for  commerce,  especially  in  ancient  times.  It 
was  the  gateway  of  the  two  seas,  Ionian  and  yEgc- 
au,  the  emporium  of  Eastern  and  Western  traffic. 
The  city  of  Corinth  usually  allied  itself  with  the 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Decat  op  the  Destructible — From  Greece  to  Achaia — Corinth,  Ancient  asd  Modern — 
Byzantine  and  Moslem  Rule — The  Venetians  and  the  Parthenon — The  Greek  Revolu- 
tion, Byron  and  Botzaris — Intervention  op  the  Great  Powers — The  Monarchy  Estab- 
lished— Kings  and  the  Constitution — Present  Government  op  Greece — Condition  op 
the  Country — Greek  Church  and  Greece — Greek  Church  Elsewhere— Characteristics 
op  this  Church — Farewell  to  the  Greeks. 


k 


1 3° 


MODERN  GREECE  AND  THE  GREEK  CHURCH. 


Spartans  as  against  the  Athenians,  but  some  time 

P'  after  the  Peloponne- 
sian war  it  took  up 
the  sword  against 
Sparta  in  what  was 
called  the  Corinthian 
War,  which  ended  in 
the  renewal  of  friend- 
ly relations.  Its  wealth 
made  it  a great  cen- 
ter of  art.  The  mer- 
chant princes  were 
Corinthian  capital.  liberal  patrons  of 

sculpture  and  painting.  If  Boston  is  the  Athens 


than  five  thousand  inhabitants.  When  the  Ro- 
man Empire  fell  asunder  and  the  Byzantine  Em- 
pire rose  to  supremacy  in  the  East,  Greece 
became  a part  of  it,  remaining  under  the  sway 
of  the  Emperor  at  Constantinople  until  the 
fourth  Crusade  (1203),  when  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
Frankish  princes.  For  two  centuries  and  a half 
the  Dukedom  of  Athens  was  a speck  on  the  map 
of  the  East,  and  hardly  more. 

On  the  fall  * of  Constantinople  (1453)  Greece 
passed  under  the  Moslem  rod.  In  1687  the  Chris- 
tian League,  under  Venetian  leadership,  besieged  and 
took  Athens.  A few  years  later  the  Venetians 
were  driven  out,  and  the  Moslem  once  more  had 


ANCIENT  CORINTH. 


of  America,  Corinth  was  the  New  York  of  Greece. 
Besides  sculpture  and  painting,  the  city  was  no- 
ted for  the  splendor  of  its  architecture.  Indeed, 
the  most  elaborate  order  of  ancient  architecture  was 
the  Corinthian  order,  especially  the  capital.  Numer- 
ous temples  and  palatial  residences  embellished  the 
city  until  Roman  vandalism  laid  them  low.  The 
principal  monument  now  remaining  is  the  citadel, 
situated  on  the  hill  Acrocorinthus.  The  view  from 
that  citadel  is  one  of  the  most  magnificent  in  the 
world.  A few  columns  exist  in  ruins  in  other  parts 
of  the  city,  mournfully  elegant  in  their  tale  of  fall- 
en grandeur.  The  present  city  is  a village  of  less 


possession  of  Greece.  From  that  time  until  the 
successful  termination  of  the  Greek  rebellion  the 
despotism  of  the  Turk  kept  the  country  in  a most 
deplorable  condition  of  subjugation. 

The  war  for  Grecian  independence  began  in  1821. 
It  was  a remarkable  struggle.  The  sympathies  of 
the  civilized  world  were  enlisted  in  behalf  of  the 
country  which  had  been  so  long  the  garden  of  civ- 
ilization. Money  and  men  were  contributed  from 
far  and  near.  The  most  notable  volunteer  from 
without  was  Lord  Byron,  the  poet.  He  had  drunk 
deep  at  the  fountain  of  Greek  inspiration,  and 
thither  he  went  to  help  in  the  deliverance  of  Mod. 


V 


"MV 


MODERN  GREECE  AND  THE  GREEK  CHURCH. 


I3I 


ern  Greece  from  Turkish  tyranny.  He  repaired  to 
one  of  the  Ionian  isles,  and  met  his  death  at  Misso- 
longhi,  January  5,  1824. 

During  the  year  1822  the  island  of  Scio  witnessed 
a most  horrible  massacre  by  the  Turks,  the  popula- 
tion being  reduced  from  120,000  to  16,000  inhab- 
itants. The  Greeks  achieved  some  brilliant  victo- 
ries by  sea,  and  the  next  year  a small  band  of  Greek 
patriots  fell  upon  the  Turkish  camp  at  Carpenesion, 
putting  to  the  sword  800  Turks,  with  a loss  on  their 
side  of  only  50,  but  among  the  number  was  their 
gallant  leader,  Marco  Botzaris,  whose  heroism  was 
the  final  glory  of  the  historic  wars  of  Greece. 

But  in  1825  the  superior  numbers  of  the  Moslem 
forces,  led  by  the  indomitable  Ibrahim  Pasha  of 
Egypt,  crushed  out  the  revolution,  for  the  time. 
Finally  the  Great  Powers,  England,  France  and 
Russia,  interposed  by  diplomacy.  The  Allies  pro- 
posed that  Greece  should  constitute  a tributary 
province,  with  the  right  to  choose  its  own  govern- 
ors. Greece  was  willing  to  accept  these  terms,  but 
the  Ottoman  Empire  rejected  them  with  scorn. 
The  war  then  became  a naval  one  between  the  Al- 
lies and  the  Turks,  resulting,  as  was  inevitable  it 
should  result,  in  the  almost  total  destruction  of  the 
Turkish  fleet.  It  may  be  said  that  from  this  time 
the  Sultan  has  been,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term, 
“ The  sick  man  of  the  East.”  The  “ Eastern  ques- 
tion” became  a troublesome  problem  at  once.  It 
was  not  desired  to  weaken  the  Turkish  Empire  too 
much.  For  two  years  the  Allies  were  uncertain 
what  to  do  with  their  “ white  elephant.”  In  the 
meanwhile  there  continued  to  be  some  fighting  be- 
tween the  original  belligerents. 

In  1828  the  Allies  decided  to  create  Greece  an  in- 
dependent kingdom,  offering  the  crown  to  Prince 
-John  of  Saxony.  He  declined  to  accept  it.  The 
offer  was  then  made  to  Prince  Leopold  of  Saxe- 
Coburg.  lie  accepted  conditionally,  the  conditions 
not  being  satisfactory  to  the  Guardian  Powers.  He 
was  nominal  king  of  Greece,  however,  until  1830. 
Otho,  second  son  of  Louis  of  Bavaria,  was  ten- 
dered the  crown,  after  much  delay  and  negotiation. 
In  1833  ho  assumed  the  reins  of  government,  nom- 
inally, for  he  was  only  eighteen  years  of  age  at  the 
time.  The  capital  at  that  time  was  Nauplia,  a 
small  and  inconsequential  Peloponnesian  city.  In 
1835  the  capital  was  removed  to  Athens,  where  it 
has  ever  since  remained,  and  of  right  belongs.  At 


the  same  time  Otho  assumed  full  control  of 
the  government.  The  people  demanded  a con- 
stitution, with  all  the  popular  rights  implied. 
This  demand  became  so  imperious  and  menacing  that 
in  1843  the  king  complied.  That  was  an  important 
revolution,  achieved  without  bloodshed.  Affairs 
moved  on  with  tolerable  smoothness,  the  king 
yielding  partial  obedience  to  the  constitution,  until 
one  day  in  October,  1862,  when  he  and  his  queen 
returned  from  a short  excursion  among  the  islands 
of  the  vEgcan  sea,  the  royal  yacht  was  met  at  Sala- 
mis  by  a deputation  of  citizens,  and  the  king  in- 
formed that  his  services  were  no  longer  needed. 
He  took  passage  in  a British  man-of-war  for  Ven- 
ice, and  thence  proceeded  to  Bavaria,  to  be  lost 
henceforth  from  public  view. 

The  people  held  an  election  for  king,  resulting 
in  the  choice  of  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  a 
younger  brother  of  Alexandria,  Princess  of  Wales. 
He  accepted  on  condition  that  the  Ionian  Islands, 
which  had  constituted  a nominal  republic,  under 
British  protection,  since  1814,  should  be  an- 
nexed to  the  kingdom.  This  condition  was  accept- 
able to  all  the  parties  in  interest.  The  new  king 
was  crowned  George  I.,  and  assumed  the  reins  in 
October,  1863,  proving  an  acceptable  sovereign. 
He  may  be  said  to  have  established  a dynasty. 
His  queen,  Olga,  is  a member  of  the  royal  fam- 
ily of  Russia. 

The  population  of  Greece  in  1879,  was  1,679,775. 
The  legislative  power  is  vested  in  a representative 
chamber  called  The  Boule,  elected  by  manhood  suf- 
frage for  the  term  of  four  years.  The  Boule  meets 
annually.  The  number  of  this  body  varies  with  the 
population.  Under  the  present  census  it  is  188.  In 
the  exercise  of  executive  functions  the  king  has  a 
cabinet  of  eight  responsible  ministers.  Ministerial 
changes  are  frequent,  for  popular  favor  in  Greece  is 
precarious.  The  education  of  the  people  is  receiving 
considerable  attention,  but  the  masses  are  still 
densely  ignorant.  Not  half  the  men  can  read,  nor 
more  than  one-tenth  of  the  women.  All  the  able- 
bodied  young  men  are  liable  to  military  service,  as  in 
Germany.  About  one-half  of  the  people  are  agri- 
culturists, and  yet  not  more  than  one-sixth  of  the 
area  is  under  cultivation,  and  agriculture  is  in  a very 
backward  state.  Greece  can  boast  only  seven  miles 
of  railroad.  That  connects  Athens  with  the  port  of 
Piraeus.  The  country  is  almost  roadless,  and  com- 


132  MODERN  GREECE  AND  THE  GREEK  CHURCH. 


munication  exceedingly  difficult,  except  by  water. 
The  principal  production  is  currants,  which  are 
dried  and  exported  in  large  quantities ; certainly  a 
most  “ lame  and  impotent  conclusion  ” of  Grecian 
greatness. 

The  Greek  church  is  indeed  the  church  of  Greece, 
but  the  two  terms  are  widely  different,  in  import ; 
Greece  sustaining  to  the  church  named  in  its  honor 
no  such  relation  as  Rome  does  to  the  Roman  hier- 
archy. The  modern  Greeks  are,  for  the  most  part, 
members  of  the  orthodox  branch  of  the  Greek  church. 
The  papists  and  other  Christians  in  the  country 
number  only  a few  thousand;  the  Jews  about  2,500, 
and  the  Mohammedans  less  than  a thousand.  Re- 
ligious toleration  is  guaranteed  by  the  constitution. 
Nominally  the  Greek  clergy  owe  allegiance  to  the 
Patriarch  at  Constantinople,  but  practically  the 
control  of  ecclesiastical  matters  in  that  kingdom  is 
vested  in  a permanent  council,  called  the  Holy 
Synod,  consisting  of  the  Metropolitan  of  Athens, 
and  four  archbishops  and  bishops,  who  during  office 
reside  at  the  capital.  It  is,  virtually,  a strictly  na- 
tional church. 

The  full  name  of  the  Greek  church  is  “ the  Holy 
Oriental  Orthodox  Catholic  Apostolic  Church,  ” the 
term  “ Catholic”  being  alike  claimed  by  the  Greek, 
Roman,  and  English  churches,  although  usually  ap- 
plied only  to  the  Roman.  The  Greek  church  has 
no  unbroken  history  with  sharply  defined  outlines, 
as  the  Roman  and  the  Protestant  churches  have.  It 
may  truly  be  called  the  mother  church.  Nearly  all 
the  region  visited  by  the  Apostles  belongs  to  it,  so 
far  as  it  is  Christian  at  all.  The  language  of  the 
creeds,  liturgies  and  theological  literature  of  this 
community  is  the  Greek,  whatever  the  popular  lau- 
guage  of  the  laity  may  be.  The  numerical  strength 
of  this  church  is  estimated  at  80,000,000,  or  about 
one-half  that  of  the  Roman  or  the  Mohammedan 
churches,  and  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  the  Pro- 
testants. It  is  divided  into  three  branches — the  Or- 
thodox, under  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  with 
the  subordinate  patriarchates  of  Alexandria,  Jeru- 
salem and  Antioch ; the  orthodox  church  in  Rus- 
sia, under  the  Permanent  Holy  Synod  of  St.  Peters- 
burg and  the  Czar ; and  third,  the  church  in  Greece. 
There  is  a very  considerable  portion  of  the  church 
which  acknowledges  the  authority  of  the  Pope  of 
Rome,  which  yet  clings  to  Greek  church  usages  and 
ideas.  They  are  called  United  Greeks,  and  are 


scattered  through  Turkey,  Hungary,  Galacia,  Tran- 
sylvania, and  found  even  in  Russia.  The  Nesto- 
rians,  Jacobites,  Armenians,  Maronites  and  other 
Eastern  “ heretics,”  are  the  Protestants  of  the  Ori- 
ent, in  an  ecclesiastical  point  of  view. 

We  will  quote  on  this  subject  from  that  very 
learned  scholar,  Philip  Scliaff : “ The  history  of 

the  Greek  church,”  he  says,  “ is  not  disfigured  by 
bloody  tribunals  of  orthodoxy  like  the  Spanish  in- 
quisition, nor  systematic  and  long-continued  perse- 
cutions, like  the  crusades  against  the  Waldenses,  Al- 
bigenses  and  Huguenots,  with  the  infernal  scenes  of 
St.  Bartholomew’s  massacre.  Yet  the  Greek  church 
of  old  has  mercilessly  expelled  and  exiled  the  Arian, 
Nestorian,  Eutychian  and  other  heretics,  persecu- 
ted the  Paulicians,  and  modern  Russia  rigidly  pro- 
hibits secession  from  the  orthodox  national  church, 
and  all  the  children  of  mixed  marriages  where  one 
parent  belongs  to  it,  must  be  baptized  and  educated 
in  it.  ” He  might  have  added  that  there  was 
never,  anywhere  or  in  any  age,  more  cruel  and 
heartless  persecution  than  that  practiced  by  the 
Greek  Church  of  Russia  during  the  present  genera- 
tion, in  the  treatment  of  Roman  Catholic  nuns  in 
Poland.  Dr.  Schaff  characterizes  the  Greek  church 
as  “ a Patriarchal  oligarchy  in  distinction  from  the 
papal  monarchy.  ” Instead  of  being  forbidden  to 
marry,  as  in  the  Romish  communion,  the  Greek 
priests  are  compelled  to  marry.  There  are  some 
Greek  monks,  like  the  community  at  Athos,  but 
monasticism  is  not  a prominent  feature  of  the 
church.  So  there  is  oracular  confession  of  the  laity 
to  the  clergy,  but  not  so  markedly  as  in  the  Papal 
church.  Baptism  with  the  Greeks  is  by  immersion, 
and  that  three  consecutive  times.  The  old  Greek 
calendar,  which  is  eleven  days  behind  the  new  style 
introduced  by  Pope  Gregory  XIII.,  is  still  retained, 
notwithstanding  the  serious  inconvenience  of  thus 
differing  in  the  computation  of  time  from  all  other 
Christian  countries.  The  late  Dean  Stanley  char- 
acterized the  Greek  worship  as  “ a union  of  barbaric 
rudeness  and  elaborate  ceremonialism.” 

And  now  we  take  our  final  leave  of  the  Greeks  to 
enter  upon  the  career  of  the  great  nation  of  anti- 
quity which  alone  can  be  compared  with  the  Gre- 
cian in  importance  to  the  world.  Fundamen- 
tally and  essentially  unlike,  they  have  sucli  fellow- 
ship in  pre-eminence  that  each  may  well  be  called 
the  counterpart  of  the  other. 


7T 


■ tc  ♦ i ti  <£ 


mwm 


ANCIENT  ITALY  AND  PRIMITIVE  ROME 


Buid’s-ete  View  of  the  City  of  Rome — The  Peninsula  of  Italy — Mountains  and  Rivers 
— Races  and  Cities — Latium  and  Alba  Longa  Compared — Legends  and  History — 
HJNEAS  AND  THE  FAMOUS  TWINS — THE  FOUNDING  OF  ROME — THE  RAPE  OF  THE  SABINES— 

The  Reign  of  Numa — The  Tarquins— Etruria — Primitive  Agrarianism— Lucius  and  Tul- 
lia— Roman  Colonial  Policy — The  Public  Highways — Taiiquin  the  Proud  and  the  Le- 
gends of  his  Day — The  Last  of  the  Legendary  Kings. 


E have  been  picking  our  way 
through  the  intricacies  of  a 
history  which  is  the  record 
of  one  people  and  many 
states ; now  we  enter  upon 
a history  which  is  the  rec- 
ord throughout  of  one 


state  and  many 
peoples.  The  states 
of  Greece  at  many 
points  of  time  were 
literally  innumer- 
able, and  to  follow 
the  political  divis- 
ions of  Greece,  not 
to  say  the  Greeks, 
would  be  both  impossible  and 
unprofitable,  but  Rome  grad- 
ually grew  from  a little  vil- 
lage to  an  intercontinental 
Empire.  From  the  days  of 
Homer,  whose  grand  epic  has 
a historical  basis  and  value, 
down  to  the  mergence  of 
.Greece  in  Rome,  is  about  a ancient 

thousand  years,  and  Roman  history  covers  sub- 
stantially the  same  length  of  time,  as  does  also 
the  history  of  philosophy  and  many  other  epochs. 
Without  magnifying  fanciful  resemblances,  we  may 


ask  the  reader  to  note  the  apparent  tendency  of 
mankind  to  run  in  cycles  of  a chiliad,  or  in  mil- 
lenniums. The  empire  of  Rome,  from  its  inception 
to  its  fall,  stood  a little  longer  than  that,  but  not  much 
longer,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  second  empire, 
at  Constantinople,  sometimes  called  the  Greek  or 
Byzantine  Empire,  but  which  was,  in  point  of  fact, 
a continuation  of  the  Roman. 

Pliny  justly  observed, 
“ Rome  is  the  mistress  of 
the  world  and  the  metropolis 
of  the  habitable  earth,  des- 
tined by  the  gods  to  unite, 
civilize  and  govern  the  scat- 
tered races  of  men.”  With- 
out anticipating  events  and, 
as  it  were,  taking  ofl:  the 
edge  of  the  reader’s  appetite, 
it  may  be  well  to  make  a geo- 
graphical study  of  this  seat 
of  empire. 

The  site  of  Rome  is  these 
seven  hills : Palatinus,  Ger- 
malus,  Velia,  Fagutal,  Op- 
pius,  Cespius,  Subura.  There 
were  four  parts,  or  wards,  from  the  earliest  time, 
namely,  Esquilina,  Coelina,  Palatina  and  Suburbana. 
Three  times  was  it  nearly  destroyed  by  fire, — first,  by 
the  Gauls ; second,  under  (if  not  by),  Nero ; and  third, 


ROME. 


"7TT 


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( 1 3 3 ) 


(3 ^ ^ 9 


I34  ANCIENT  ITALY  AND  PRIMITIVE  ROME. 


during  the  reign  of  Titus, — each  time  being  rebuilt  on 
a grander  and  better  scale.  The  population  amount- 
ed to  2,000,000,  at  times.  The- Tiber  flows  through 
it  from  north  to  south,  and  empties  into  the  Medi- 
terranean sea  fourteen  miles  below  the  city.  Five 
bridges  span  it.  A wall  twelve  miles  long  encircles 
the  city.  The  present  city  is  mostly  on  the  plain 
known  as  the  Campus  Martius,  the  hills  being 
nearly  deserted.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  original 
Romans  knew  very  little  of  the  world  beyond  their 
rustic  burg.  They  were  rude  barbarians.  Gradu- 
ally, as  their  early  traditional  history  shows,  the  hor- 
izon of  their  knowledge  broadened,  and  the  penin- 
sula of  Italy  became  known  to  them.  They  traced 
geographical  lines  with  their  swords,  learning  of 
other  tribes  and  states  as  they  came  into  hostile 
contact  with  them.  The  army  of  the  Potomac, 
under  the  late  Gen.  Burnside,  was  sometimes  called 
“Burnside’s  Geography  Class,”  and  every  Roman 
army  was  in  effect  a class  in  geography,  teaching 
the  whole  city  as  well  as  learning  themselves,  prac- 
tical lessons  in  that  branch  of  study.  And  theirs 
was  not  a mere  seaside  knowledge.  Thorough  and 
practical  was  the  information  gained. 

The  peninsula  of  Italy  has  an  area  of  about 
93,600  square  miles,  including  all  the  country  south 
of  the  Alps.  The  Greeks  called  the  land  Hespe- 
ria. The  Apennines  are  a chain  of  mountains  ex- 
tending almost  the  entire  length  of  Italy.  The 
Alban  Hills  have  been  called  “the  central  sanctu- 
ary of  the  Latin  nations.”  Mons  Sacer  was  a hill 
near  Rome.  Vesuvius  is  the  most  famous  peak  in 
Italy.  That  volcano  was  in  a quiescent  state  many 
centuries,  but  in  the  year  79  occurred  the  terrible 
eruption  which  whelmed  in  utter  ruin  two  magnifi- 
cent cities,  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  and  a 
smaller  town,  Stabiae,  still  more  remote.  Besides 
the  Tiber,  Italy  has  her  famous  rivers,  the  Po,  the 
largest  of  the  peninsula,  and  the  Rubicon,  the 
northern  boundary  of  Italy  proper,  rendered  im- 
mortal by  Caesar.  Along  these  and  other  rivers  are 
fertile  plains,  and  in  some  of  the  mountains  rich 
deposits  of  minerals. 

The  different  races  of  old  Italy  were  five,  not 
counting  the  Romans,  who  absorbed  them  all : the 
Pelasgi,  the  Osci,  the  Sabelli,  the  Umbri  and  the 
Etrusci.  The  first  dwelt  in  the  southeast  and  may 
have  come  originally  from  Greece  ; the  second  were 
central ; the  third  spread  over  the  western  slopes, 


and  included  the  powerful  Samnites ; the  fourth 
held  sway  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Tyrrhene  Sea, 
and  from  the  mouths  of  the  Po  to  those  of  the  Ti- 
ber ; the  fifth,  the  Etruscans,  were  a distinct  and 
powerful  nation  who  made  encroachments  upon  all 
the  others  and  built  up  a powerful  state,  possessing 
many  attributes  of  true  greatness.  Our  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  them,  however,  is  mainly  confined 
to  such  fugitive  glimpses  as  Roman  history  affords 
in  its  early  and  uncer- 
tain period.  We  know 
that  Etruria  was  a con- 
federacy of  twelve  in- 
dependent states,  Tor- 
quinii,  Veii,  Volsinib 
and  Clusium  being  the 
more  important.  To 
conquer  these  states  and 
destroy  the  cities,  was 
the  work  of  centuries. 

Latium  was  the  old  term  applied  to  a region 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Tiber,  east  by  the 
Marsi  and  Samnium,  and  southwest  by  the  Tyr- 
rhene Sea.  Besides  Rome,  it  included  Tivoli,  Ostia, 
Tusculum  and  Alba  Longa,  the  latter  being  the 
parent  city  of  Rome. 

Of  Magna  Grsecia  and  the  Italian  islands  known 
to  the  Greeks,  an  account  has  already  been  given, 
and  we  are  now  prepared  to  explore  the  archives  of 
the  Rome  of  traditional  kings. 

The  story  elaborated  by  Virgil,  of  the  founding  of 
what  became  the  Roman  state  by  a band  of  Trojan 
refugees,  may  have  some  truth  in  it.  There  was 
certainly  nothing  improbable  in  the  supposition,  but 
it  has  no  place  in  actual  history.  The  founding  of 
Rome  as  a city  by  Romulus  and  his  brother 
Remus  is  hardly  less  poetic  and  fanciful  than  the 
exploits  of  zEneas,  but  until  a comparatively  recent 
date,  it  was  supposed  that  a veritable  history  of 
Rome  existed  from  the  birth  of  those  wolf-suckled 
twins  to  the  extinguishment  of  the  Western  Em- 
pire. The  truth  is,  however,  that  for  about  one- 
half  of  that  period,  the  history  is  legendary. 

The  more  notable  persons  and  events  in  Roman 
history  have  been  so  critically  investigated  that 
there  is  hardly  the  shadow  of  a shade  of  real  fact 
left.  It  is  not  until  we  come  down  to  Scipio,  mid- 
way between  the  two  ends,  that  we  encounter  a fa- 
mous Roman  of  whose  actual  life  we  have  historic 


Vicinity  of  Rome. 


k 


G> 


ANCIENT  ITALY  AND  PRIMITIVE  ROME. 


*35 


data.  Early  Roman  history  has  a deep  interest, 
nevertheless,  and  an  inestimable  value,  for  with  all 
its  untrustworthiness  in  detail,  it  fairly  represents 
the  spirit  of  early  Rome,  and  explains  the  phenom- 
enal growth  of  a small  town  into  the  most  far- 
reaching  empire  the  world  ever  saw.  It  will  not  be 
our  purpose  to  point  out  the  probable  history,  in 
distinction  from  romance,  in  the  records  of  those 
times,  for  it  could  not  be  done  with  any  degree  of 
accuracy,  and  if  done,  would  be  unsatisfactory.  It 
is  enough  to  call  attention  to  the  general  fact  at  the 
outset,  partly  to  guard  against  attaching  too  much 
importance  to  details,  and  partly  as  an  explanation 
of  the  proposed  disregard  of  all  the  details  given  of 
that  period,  except 
those  which  possess 
value  in  throwing 
light  upon  the  Roman 
character.  A pure 
fiction  often  has  a 
positive  and  great  im- 
portance in  a histor- 
ical point  of  view. 

The  story  of  William 
Tell,  for  example,  may 
be,  as  now  claimed,  a 
myth,  but  it  none  the 
less  fairly  represents 
the  Swiss  struggle  for 
liberty.  Again,  George 
Washington’s  “ little  hatchet”  never  cut  down  a 
parental  cherry-tree,  but  the  story  none  the  less 
fairly  illustrates  the  truthfulness  of  “ the  father  of 
his  country.”  With  this  much  prefatory  to  our 
narrative,  we  proceed. 

yEneas,  having  finally  reached  Latium  (Italy) 
notwithstanding  the  buffetings  of  Juno,  had  the 
good  fortune  and  consideration  to  marry  a royal 
maiden,  and  so  became  a ruler  in  a small  way.  Ilis 
son,  Ascanius,  or  lulus,  founded  Alba  Longa,  and  a 
dynasty  which  held  sway  for  three  hundred  years, 
without  traditions,  till  two  brothers  of  the  royal 
household,  Numitor  and  Amulius,  quarreled.  The 
successful  brother  thought  to  perpetuate  his  family 
title  by  committing  the  only  child  of  his  brother, 
Rhea  Silva,  to  a nunnery.  She  took  the  veil,  as  we 
would  call  it  in  our  day,  as  a vestal  virgin,  by  which 
vow  she  bound  herself  to  perpetual  virginity.  But 
in  those  far-away  days,  fate  was  not  balked  by  any 


The  Wolf-suckled  Twins. 


little  thing  like  that.  The  god  of  war,  Mars,  visited 
her  by  night,  and  the  result  of  that  divine  favor  was 
the  ever-famous  Romulus  and  Remus.  Of  course 
the  royal  uncle  was  horrified,  and  had  no  idea  of  ac- 
cepting the  theory  of  the  immaculate  conception.  He 
caused  the  twins  to  be  exposed,  and,  as  he  supposed, 
cut  short  in  their  career  at  once.  But  the  friendly 
Tiber  bore  them  to  the  foot  of  the  Palatine  in  safety, 
and  a she-wolf  nourished  them.  With  the  blood  of 
Mars  and  the  milk  of  a wolf  coursing  through  their 
veins,  they  were  in  a fair  way  to  become  good 
fighters,  as,  indeed,  befitted  the  founders  of  a 
mighty  empire. 

The  king’s  shepherd,  all  unconscious  of  the  ori- 
gin of  the  foundlings, 
took  them  home  and 
reared  them  as  his 
own.  In  due  time 
they  became  leaders 
of  petty  clans  among 
their  fellows,  and  their 
prowess  came  to  the 
knowledge  of  their  de- 
throned grandfather. 
The  mystery  of  their 
parentage  was  also 
ascertained.  Then  the 
young  men  rallied 
their  associates,  made 
war  upon  the  usurper, 
slew  him,  and  received  from  their  grateful  grandfa- 
ther a tract  of  land.  The  legend  runs  that  Romulus 
built  a wall  for  a city,  and  that  Remus,  in  derision, 
jumped  over  it,  whereupon  the  irate  brother  slew  him. 
When  the  Romans  were  in  deep  affliction,  ages  later, 
they  remembered  with  unavailing  horror,  that  the 
foundations  of  their  city  were  cemented  with  frater- 
nal blood,  albeit  Romulus  tried  to  carry  it  off 
bravely  by  exclaiming,  “ So  perish  all  who  dare  to 
climb  these  ramparts.” 

Having  a city,  he  wanted  inhabitants.  The  out- 
laws and  desperadoes  of  the  vicinity  gathered  within 
the  inclosure.  It  was  a cave  of  Adullum.  The 
gang  (for  such  they  really  were)  soon  felt  the  need 
of  female  society,  and  their  chief  tried  to  negotiate 
for  wives,  but  to  no  purpose.  The  outlaws  who  had 
rallied  about  his  standard  were  not  looked  upon 
witli  favor  as  sons-in-law.  Not  to  be  baffled  by  re- 
fusal, he  hit  upon  a ruse.  He  announced  a public 


7T 


ANCIENT  ITALY  AND  PRIMITIVE  ROME. 


136 


festival  in  honor  of  a god,  a sort  of  pagan  camp- 
meeting,  and  invited  his  neighbors.  They  came, 
bringing  their  families  with  them,  suspecting  no 
treachery.  At  a given  signal,  the  bachelors  of 
Rome  seized  every  man  a woman,  and  fled  within 
the  inclosure.  That  was  the  famous  Rape  of  the 
Sabines.  It  was  not  long  before  the  outraged  com- 
munity rallied  to  the  rescue  and  revenge.  They 
made  good  headway,  and  would  probably  have  de- 
stroyed the  city  at  one  blow  had  not  the  women 
themselves  interfered.  Having  found  that  the  “ in- 
tentions ” of  the  robbers  were  “ honorable,”  they 
rushed  between  the  combatants  and  made  peace 
between  them.  The  Sabines  seemed  quite  ready  to 
ratify  the  enforced  nuptials,  since  those  most  inter- 
ested were  satisfied  with  the  arrangement.  Hence- 
forth the  Sabines  and  Romans  became  one  people. 

The  next  king  after  Romulus  was  Numa  Poin- 
pilius,  a Sabine.  He  has  come  down  to  us  in  tradi- 
tion as  a real  statesman  and  philosopher,  a man  of 
learning,  albeit  not  above  practical  deception.  To 
give  the  laws  which  he  promulgated  special  sanc- 
tion., he  pretended  to  have  received  them  by  divine 
inspiration,  the  nymph  Egeria  having  been  con- 
sulted by  him  in  her  grotto.  To  him  are  ascribed 
the  religious  institutions  of  the  city.  It  is  claimed 
that  to  him  belongs  the  honor  of  putting  an  end  to 
human  sacrifices  at  Rome.  His  successor  was  Tul- 
lius Hostilius,  a Roman  chosen  by  the  Sabines. 
His  career  was  one  of  carnage  and  strife.  For 
something  over  one  hundred  years,  the  monarchs 
were  elected  by  the  senators,  and  by  slow  degrees 
the  territory  tributary  to  Rome  was  enlarged. 

The  first  real  dynasty  was  the  house  of  Tarquin. 
The  founder  of  it,  Lucius  Tarquinius  Priscus,  is 
represented  to  have  been  an  adventurer,  the  son  of 
a Greek  father  and  Etruscan  mother,  the  tutor  or 
guardian  of  the  infant  son  of  the  fourth  elective 
king.  He  abused  his  position  to  supplant  his  ward. 
Rome  is  supposed  to  have  been  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  years  old  when  Tarquin  came  to  the 
throne.  From  his  reign  date  the  earliest  public 
buildings  and  works.  Etruria  was  the  first  Latin 
state  to  acquire  some  civilization,  and  when  Rome 
had  advanced  far  enough  to  be  a little  civilized,  the 
inference  was  that  an  Etruscan  king  had  done  it. 
To  him  is  attributed  that  gigantic  sewer,  Cloaca 
Maxima,  which  is  still  extant.  Many  of  the  cos- 
tumes and  customs  of  Rome  are  said  to  have  been 


introduced  at  this  time  from  Etruria,  including 
the  triumph,  lictors,  fasces,  chairs,  curule,  and  per- 
haps the  toga. 


CJoaca  Maxima  (in  its  present  condition,  1881). 

Tarquin  was  succeeded  by  his  son-in-law,  Servius 
Tullius.  To  him  is  accredited  the  honor  of  en- 
larging the  city  to  the  full  size  it  maintained 
during  the  days  of  the  republic,  a city  indeed, 
witli  its  four  quarters,  the  Palatine,  the  Suburban, 
the  Cceline,  and  the  Esquiline,  and  as  many  tribes 
or  wards.  The  outside  territory  he  divided  into 
twenty-four  tribes,  or  townships.  These  in  turn* he 
divided  into  classes  and  centuries.  He  was  a friend 
of  the  people,  especially  in  the  distribution  of  the 
land.  And  now  for  the  first  time  crops  to  the  sur- 
face the  jealousies  and  animosities  between  the  ple- 
beians and  the  patricians,  the  great  division -line 
between  the  parties  during  the  era  of  the  republic. 
From  the  first,  the  land  question,  or  agrarianism,  as 
it  was  afterwards  called,  was  the  great  issue  at 
stake,  much  as  the  relative  powers  of  the  United 
States  and  the  several  states  have  been  funda- 
mental to  the  politics  of  this  country  from  Wash- 
ington’s administration  down.  The  good  king  was 
not  allowed  to  finish  his  career  in  peace.  He  was 
ruthlessly  slain,  and  in  his  place  was  installed  Lu- 
cius, his  son-in-law,  a tool  of  the  aristocracy.  The 
reader  will  not  fail  to  note  the  prominence  given  to 
sons-in-law  in  primitive  Roman  traditions. 

This  Lucius  seems  to  have  had  an  atrocious  wife. 
She  first  slew  her  husband  and  sister  that  she  might 
marry  her  brother-in-law,  and  then,  when  the  ill- 
gotten  husband  threw  the  aged  king  down  the  pal- 
ace stairs,  she  drove  her  chariot  over  his  prostrate 
body.  This  monstrous  dame  bore  the  mild  name 
of  Tullia.  She  must  have  been  the  Eve  of  the 
Borgias.  Lucius  found  Rome  one  of  the  forty- 
seven  petty  Latin  states,  which  met  together  on  the 
Alban  Mount  to  worship  Jupiter,  having  the  'slight- 


S) 


e. 


ANCIENT  ITALY  AND  PRIMITIVE  ROME. 


Tradition  presents  only  one  more  royal  name : 
Tarquin  the  Proud.  Many  curious  romances  clus- 
ter around  his  name,  or  rather  his  supposed  reign. 
He  was  not  a romantic  character  himself.  Brutus, 
who  espoused  the  cause  of  the  people,  and  who  was 
the  pride  of  the  illustrious  family  who  disappeared 
with  the  assassination  of  Caesar,  or  rather  the  battle 
of  Philippi,  simulated  idiocy  to  escape  the  mur- 
derous enmity  of  Tarquin.  The  immediate  occa- 
sion of  the  uprising  of  the  people  was  the  pathetic 
tragedy  of  Lucretia.  She  was  compelled  at  the 
point  of  the  sword  to  submit  to  the  lust  of  Sextus, 
the  son  and  heir  of  the  king.  She  was  the  fairest 
and  most  virtuous  of  wives.  She  made  a statement 
of  the  case  the  next  day  to  her  husband  and  father, 
and  then  stabbed  herself  in  their  presence.  Her 
dead  body  was  carried  to  the  Forum,  her  tale  of 
wrong  insufferable  rehearsed,  and  the  people  ad- 
jured to  rise  against  the  tyrant.  The  appeal  was 
successful  and  the  dynasty  overthrown,  never  to  be 
restored.  That  was  B.  C.  509,  and  for  nearly  five 
centuries  thereafter  Rome  was  a republic.  All  in 
vain  the  dethroned  Tarquin  sought  to  recover  the 
kingdom,  assisted  by  Etruscan  intervention.  Lars 
(King)  Porsena  of  Clusium  tried  to  crush  the  free- 
dom of  Rome,  but  he  signally  failed.  He  marched 
his  soldiers  to  the  Tiber,  and  thought  to  cross  the 
bridge  which  would  have  made  him  master  of  the 
situation,  but  Iloratius  Codes  defended  it  so  gal- 
lantly, that  the  Romans  had  time  to  cut  it  down 
before  the  enemy  could  cross.  After  staying  an 
army  in  its  course,  this  prodigy  in  arms  plunged 
into  the  river  and  safely  swam  to  the  oppo- 
site side. 

Porsena’s  ineffectual  efforts  were  not  exhaustive. 
Servius  Tarquin  seems  to  have  been  able  to  rally 
other  Latin  allies.  The  noted  battle  of  Lake  Re- 
gillus,  near  Alba,  belonged  to  this  struggle.  We  are 
told  that  the  Roman  general,  Valerius,  vowed  a 
temple  to  Castor  and  Pollux  in  the  crisis  of  this 
battle,  and  that  presently  two  youths  of  eminent 
beauty  and  stature  were  seen  fighting  on  white 
horses  in  front  of  the  Romans,  and  turning  the 
enemy  to  flight.  Finally  Servius  was  slain,  and  his 
uncrowned  father  eked  out  a miserable  old  age  at 
the  court  of  the  tyrant  of  Cumae.  We  hear  no  more 
of  the  Tarquins  nor  of  crowns  until  the  Caesars. 


est  possible  bond  of  union.  To  his  reign  is  assigned 
the  supremacy  of  Rome  over  all  of  them,  besides  the 
extension  of  Roman  sway  to  some  other  parts  of 
Italy.  Lucius  is  supposed  to  have  come  tc  the 
throne  when  the  city  was  two  hundred  and  twenty 
years  old,  B.  C.  534. 

He  was  the  first  to  establish  a Roman  colony.  By 
his  day  the  city  began  to  be  troubled  with  an  excess 
of  population,  and  very  likely  the  popular  clamor 
for  land  had  a good  deal  to  do  with  the  coloniza- 
tion policy.  Greek  colonies  were  bound  to  the 
mother  country  by  no  political  ties,  but  the  colo- 
nies sent  out  by  Rome  were  an  integral  part  of  the 
nation  itself.  They  were  subject  and  provincial,  but 
as  much  a part  of  the  Roman  kingdom,  republic  or 
empire,  as  the  case  might  be,  as  the  states  of  this 
Union  are  which  have  been  admitted  since  the  fed- 
eration of  the  original  thirteen  states.  The  people 
were  Roman  citizens  as  truly  as  if  they  lived  on 
Capitoline  Hill.  The  principle  of  representation 
was  not  allowed  in  the  Roman  government,  and 
consequently  the  communities  living  in  or  near 
Rome  had  a decided  advantage.  It  is  as  if  an 
American  citizen  were  obliged  personally  to  appear 
at  Washington  city  to  have  a vote  in  national  poli- 
tics. This  advantage  was  not  great,  but  the  colo- 
nies remained  loyal  to  their  national  allegiance,  and 
thereto  may  be  attributed  in  a very  large  measure 
the  expansion  of  the  little  village  of  outlaws  into  a 
nation,  extending  from  the  British  Isles  to  the  far 
Orient. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  political  constitu- 
tion which  bound  the  parent  city  and  her  colonial  off- 
spring together,  was  the  road  system,  which  was  as 
old  apparently  as  the  first  colony.  Between  the 
city  and  the  colony  was  built  a broad  and  perma- 
nent highway,  having  for  its  primary  object  the 
establishment  of  military  connection.  Either 
could  readily  come  to  the  assistance  of  the  other  in 
case  of  attack.  Some  of  those  old  roads  are  still 
extant,  and  almost  intact.  They  bespeak  a very 
considerable  degree  of  civilization.  These  roads,  if 
not  a fortunate  accident,  attest  a prescience  in 
statecraft  unparalleled  in  all  history,  prior  to  the 
British  policy  by  which  a small  island  became  the 
supreme  empire,  and  of  which  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  speak  hereafter. 


J37 


o 


3 


SEMI-HISTORIC  ROME 


Republicanism  in  Rome — Fikst  Consuls — Rivalry  op  Classes — Establishment  op  Tribunate 
—Agrarianism  and  the  Plebs — Cincinnatus  and  Dentatus — Virginius  and  Virginia — 

CORIOLANUS  AND  HIS  PRIDE — GREEK  AND  ROMAN  IDEALS  COMPARED — LATIUM— INVASION  OP 
the  Gauls — The  Gauls  and  Latins— Rome  and  Italy. 


E shall  hear  no  more  of  kings. 
That  grandest  of  all  Ro- 
mans, Julius  Caesar,  was 
assassinated  on  the  mere 
suspicion  of  kingly  ambi- 
tion. In  the  popular  mind 
of  to-day,  emperor  is  a 
more  imposing  title,  sug- 
gestiveof  more  real  power,  than  that  of  king, 
but  originally,  it  was  little  different  from 
consul  or  president  for  life.  The  strug- 
gle through  which  Rome  passed  in  displac- 
monarchy  with  republicanism,  must 
have  been  a long  and  desperate  one,  more 
terrible  by  far  than  the  legends  represent, 
else  the  entire  people,  from  patrician  to  ple- 
beian, would  not  have  had  such  profound  and  lively 
repugnance  to  monarchy.  That  repugnance  was 
the  one  bond  of  fellowship  among  all  classes.  How- 
ever high  party  spirit  and  animosity  might  run,  there 
were  no  royalists  in  Rome.  Civil  wars,  dictators, 
and  every  possible  experience  came,  without  so 
much  as  suggesting,  apparently,  a resort  to  mon- 
archical institutions,  and  the  first  serious  apprehen- 
sion of  such  a resort  did  not  come  until  some  four 
hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  last  of  the  Tar- 
quins.  The  principle  of  republicanism  could  hard- 


ly have  a firmer  hold  upon  a nation  than  it  had 
upon  Rome  during  the  consular  period.  In  this  im- 
mediate connection,  it  is  proposed  to  bring  out  the 
more  interesting  and  important  facts  and  legends 
of  the  republic  during  the  centuries  of  merely  tra- 
ditional history,  from  the  expulsion  of  the  Tar- 
quins  to  the  first  Punic  war. 

The  first  Consuls  of  Rome  were  Junius  Brutus 
and  Tarquinius  Collatinus.  The  name  given  to  the 
latter  shows  the  shadowy  uncertainty  of  the  history 
of  that  day,  and  suggests  that  perhaps,  the  over- 
throw of  monarchy  was  gradual.  There  had  by  that 
time  grown  up  some  considerable  commerce,  and 
commercial  law  began  to  be  a prominent  feature. 
Evidently  the  early  Romans  had  no  pity  for  insol- 
vent debtors,  and  enacted  rigorous  penalties  for  the 
enforcement  of  business  contracts.  The  rich  and 
the  poor  formed  the  two  parties  in  the  state,  during 
the  misty  morning  hours  of  the  Republic.  The 
patricians  tried  to  perpetuate  themselves  as  a landed 
aristocracy,  while  the  plebeians  insisted  upon  a fair 
share  of  the  realty,  and  less  severe  penalties  for  un- 
fortunate poverty.  Twice  during  the  first  half  cen- 
tury of  the  republic  it  was  necessary  to  appoint  a 
dictator,  or  absolute  autocrat  of  the  state,  to  con- 
centrate the  entire  force  of  the  nation  as  against 
hostile  neighbors.  In  all  such  emergencies,  the 


(138) 


3 


« 


SEMI-HISTORIC  ROME. 


139 


rivalries  of  parties  and  factions  were  forgotten,  but 
only  to  revive  as  soon  as  the  military  necessity  for 
harmony  was  removed. 

The  first  noteworthy  romance  (for  such  it  must 
be  called)  of  the  Republic  occurred  in  the  year 
B.  C.  495,  when  the  first  Appius  Claudius  was  one 
of  the  consuls,  and  the  popular  Servilius  the  other. 
By  that  time  the  party  feeling  was  so  strong  that 
the  plebs  refused  to  take  up  arms  to  repulse  an  in- 
cursion of  the  Volsci,  until  solemnly  promised  the 
redress  of  their  wrongs.  The  enemy  having  been 
driven  back,  the  senate  refused  to  carry  out  the 
agreement.  Another  dictator  was  appointed  to 
negotiate  terms  of  reconciliation,  for  the  plebeians 
threatened  civil  war,  and  the  senate  was  frightened. 
This  dictator  sent  Menenius  Agrippa  to  negotiate 
peace.  He  is  said  to  have  narrated  to  them  the 
famous  fable  of  the  mutiny  of  the  eyes,  ears, 
hands,  etc.,  against  the  belly,  which  finally  termin- 
ated in  the  conclusion  by  all  the  members,  that  each 
was  necessary  to  the  whole.  This  view  seems  to  have 
been  shared  by  both  factions  at  Rome,  for  the  Sen- 
ate made  liberal  concessions  to  the  common  people, 
and  henceforth  there  was  a gradual  enlargement  of 
popular  rights,  with  only  rare,  infrequent  and  tem- 
porary reactions  in  favor  of  the  aristocracy. 

It  was  perhaps  as  the  result  of  this  popular  up- 
rising, sometimes  called  “ the  secession  of  the  Mons 
Sacer,”  that  the  institution  of  the  Tribunatus  was 
established.  The  tribunes  were  magistrates  charged 
with  the  duty  of  conserving  and  advancing  the  in- 
terests of  the  common  people.  The  two  consuls 
were  supposed,  originally,  to  represent  both  parties, 
but  the  aristocratic  element  having  gained  the  con- 
sular ascendancy,  the  plebeians  insisted  upon  hav- 
ing two  tribunes.  The  first  selections  were  Sicinius 
and  Brutus  (the  frequency  of  the  latter  name  being 
suggestive  of  the  legendary  character  of  our  in- 
formation). The  office  of  tribune  survived  and  had 
its  uses  in  accordance  with  its  original  plan,  long 
after  the  expansion  and  wealtli  of  Rome  had  ena- 
bled all  classes  of  the  citizens  to  be  patricians. 
“ When,”  says  a great  Roman  historian,  “ after  the 
vast  conquest  of  Rome,  the  struggle  of  classes  lay 
no  longer  between  patricians  and  plebeians,  but  be- 
tween the  aristocracy,  or  the  nobles,  and  the  hetero- 
geneous populace  which  constituted  the  mass  of  the 
citizens,  this  institution  supported  again  the  cause 
of  the  multitude,  and  secured  its  final  triumph  in  the 


establishment  of  the  empire.  The  emperors  them- 
selves assumed  the  name  and  office  of  the  tribunes, 
and  as  such  claimed  a legal  prerogative  for  the  pro- 
tection of  popular  rights,  and  they,  in  their  turn, 
converted  their  prerogative  to  an  instrument  for 
admitting  the  provinces  into  the  privileges  of  the 
city,  and  transforming  all  the  subject  races  of  the 
empire  into  Roman  citizens.”  Surely  the  seces- 
sion of  the  sacred  mountain  was  one  of  the  most 
important  revolutions  of  all  history,  however  in- 
significant it  may  have  seemed  at  the  time,  and 
however  legendary  may  be  our  information  as 
to  its  details. 

The  land  question  assumed  especial  prominence 
in  the  infancy  of  the  Republic.  Agrarian  laws  were 
passed  during  the  consulate  of  Spurius  Cassius, 
B.  C.  493,  amid  great  opposition  from  the  patricians. 
The  great  excitement  on  this  subject  was  much  la- 
ter, however,  when  the  Gracchi  came  forward  as  the 
leaders  of  the  popular  cause.  There  were  two  kinds 
of  land  held  by  the  aristocracy,  and  none  by  the 
poorer  class.  What  was  called  Quiritary  land  be- 
longed to  the  occupants  in  fee  simple,  but  much  of 
the  territory  round  about  was  public  domain,  the 
title  being  in  the  state.  This  part  of  the  Ager  Ko- 
manus  was  monopolized  by  the  patricians  on  the 
payment  to  the  state  of  a nominal  rent.  The  plebs 
insisted  upon  having  a share  of  the  state  lands,  not 
as  tenants  at  the  will  of  landlords,  but  as  citizens  in 
the  enjoyment  of  a political  right.  The  conflict 
must  have  been  sharp,  bitter  and  protracted.  The 
plebeians  seem  to  have  gained  much  in  theory,  but 
little  in  fact.  The  legislation  secured,  amounted  to 
hardly  more  than  a “ barren  ideality.”  More  than 
once  the  common  people,  when  brought  face  to  face 
with  a foreign  foe,  seized  the  opportunity  to  exact 
concessions  from  the  senate,  a body  composed  of 
the  higher  class,  but  there  were  other  interests  which 
came  to  the  front. 

The  agrarian  laws  of  Spurius  Cassius  required 
the  state  to  divide  among  the  poorer  class  a 
portion  of  its  own  actual  property  (the  primitive 
homestead  act),  and  at  the  same  time  to  ex- 
act strict  payment  by  the  patricians  of  the  rents 
due  the  state,  the  same  to  be  appropriated  to 
the  support  of  the  citizens  when  called  to  arms.  It 
was  about  this  time  that  the  tribunes  of  the  people 
were  invested  with  a veto  power  upon  the  enact- 
ments of  the  Senate,  and  given  personal  inviolabil- 


© 

"7 


140  SEMI-HISTORIC  ROME. 


ity.  Gradually  they  gained  ground,  and  when 
above  the  reach  of  patrician  bribery  or  intimidation, 
they  were  very  useful.  But  neither  consuls  nor 
tribunes  were  allowed  to  wield  the  superior  power  of 
the  state  with  regularity. 

In  the  period  under  consideration  dictators  were 
numerous.  The  names  of  110  less  than  seven  appear 
in  a period  of  twenty-seven  years.  As  modern  states 
under  constitutional  government,  whether  republics 
or  monarchies,  feel  obliged  under  emergencies  to 
suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  or  even  to  declare 
martial  law,  so  the  Roman  Republic  frequently  del- 
egated absolute  power  to  some  eminent  citizen,  usu- 
ally a great  soldier.  The 
most  illustrious  of  these 
dictators  was  Cincinna- 
tus,  the  ideal  patriot  of 
ancient  history.  He  is  rep- 
resented as  a pure-minded, 
unambitious  farmer,  qui- 
etly following  the  plow, 
except  when  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  state  impera- 
tively called  for  his  servi- 
ces. All  classes  had  un- 
bounded confidence  in 
him.  A patrician  of  the 
bluest  blood,  he  was  no 
less  a man  of  the  people. 

Nature  came  the  nearest 
to  realizing  that  lofty 
ideal  citizen  when  it  pro- 
duced a Washington.  Without  being  a reform- 
er, he  was  in  the  grandest  sense  of  the  term,  a 
conservative.  He  flourished  about  three  hundred 
years  after  Romulus,  and  four  hundred  and  fifty 
before  Christ. 

Among  the  tribunes,  the  most  illustrious  name 
is  that  of  Dentatus.  He  was  the  soldier  par  ex- 
cellence of  legendary  Rome.  As  brave  as  Achilles, 
he  never  “ sulked  in  his  tent,”  nor  was  he  in- 
vulnerable except  in  his  heel.  Had  he  been,  he 
could  never  have  been  wounded,  for  he  never  re- 
treated. He  boldly  met  every  danger.  His  scars 
were  numerous,  and  all  in  the  front.  He  seemed  to 
bear  a charmed  life,  but  fell  at  last  on  the  field  of 
battle,  not  however,  a victim  of  the  foe,  his  death- 
wound  being  the  result  of  treachery.  The  Consul, 
Appius  Claudius,  a name  already  odious,  but  ren- 


dered doubly  so  by  this  later  bearer  of  it,  deter- 
mined to  get  rid  of  the  dauntless  champion  of  popu- 
lar rights.  He  gave  secret  orders  that  Dentatus 
should  not  be  allowed  to  come  out  of  the  battle 
alive.  The  fact  that  the  chief  hero  of  the  Romans, 
a people  that  fairly  worshiped  personal  bravery,  was 
believed  to  have  sprung  from  the  plebeian  ranks, 
and  had  been  assassinated  by  the  orders  of  a haughty 
patrician  while  fighting  the  common  enemy,  shows 
the  strength  of  the  class  prejudice. 

Another  noted  plebeian  of  that  period  was  Virgini- 
us,  the  father  of  Virginia  whose  story,  like  that  of 
Lucretia,  has  ever  served  as  a monument  to  female 

virtue.  Virginius  was 
also  a Tribune.  While 
he  was  upon  the  “ tented 
field,”  Appius,  who  was 
as  lustful  as  he  was  proud, 
saw  the  daughter,  who 
was  just  then  ripening 
into  womanhood,  on  her 
way  to  school  attended  by 
her  nurse.  He  conceived 
an  unhallowed  passion  for 
her,  and  set  about  grati- 
fying it.  A supple  tool 
pretended  that  Virginia 
was  his  long  lost  slave. 
A trial  was  had,  and  false 
witnesses  proved  the  claim. 
The  court  as  well  as  the 
witnesses  were  bribed. 
But  tidings  of  the  horrible  fate  that  awaited  the 
virgin  were  brought  to  the  father  just  as  he  was 
mourning  the  death  of  Dentatus  (not  yet  aware  of 
the  real  cause  of  the  old  soldier’s  death).  He  has- 
tened home,  too  late  to  save  his  daughter,  except  by 
plunging  his  dagger  into  her  breast.  This  one  rem- 
edy he  applied,  and  as  Lucretia  was  enshrined  in 
the  Roman  heart  as  a martyr  to  matronly  virtue,  so 
Virginia  is  the  ideal  of  virginal  purity.  “Death 
before  dishonor,”  was  the  sentiment  in  both  cases. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  modern  world, 
as  well  as  Ancient  Rome,  is  the  better  for  these  two 
legends,  for  such  they  undoubtedly  were.  Taken 
together,  they  point  a most  impressive  moral.  As 
in  the  case  of  Lucretia,  so  m the  case  of  Virginia, 
“ the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  the  seed  ” of  reform, 
and  contributed  powerfully  to  the  popular  cause. 


SEMI-HISTORIC  ROME. 


Another  noted  character  of  the  period  under 
consideration  was  Coriolanus.  He  was  quite  as 
proud  as  Appius  Claudius,  but  his  was  the  pride  of 
personal  character.  He  scorned  to  stoop,  and  is 
the  typical  aristocrat.  For  his  valiant  services  in 
battle,  and  his  nobility  of  character,  he  was  the 
pride  of  the  city.  All  classes  were  disposed  to  do 
him  reverence.  By  the  exercise  of  the  least  degree 
of  the  arts  of  a politician,  he  could  have  been  the 
pet  of  all  the  people,  but  he  despised  the  plebeians. 
In  him  centered  all  the  prejudice  of  the  patrician. 
Scorning  “the  vulgar  herd,”  he  let  it  be  known 
perfectly  well  that  he  would  not,  literally  speaking, 
turn  his  hand  over  to  gain  the  favor  of  the  multi- 
tude. The  re- 
sult was  that  he 
was  banished, 
and  in  banish- 
ment offered 
his  services  to 
the  Y olscians, 
against  whom 
he  had  recently 
led  the  Roman 
legions  in  tri- 
umph. His  per- 
sonal prowess 
turned  the  scale, 
and  Rome  was 
at  his  mercy. 

Deputations  be- 
sought his  pardon  and  his  leniency.  To  them  all 
he  turned  a deaf  ear,  until  at  last  his  own  wife, 
mother  and  child  came  out  to  him.  Then  anger 
melted  into  love  and  gentleness. 

Such  were  the  ideals  held  before  the  Roman  gaze 
for  generations,  as  typical  characters,  ideals  of  the 
more  pronounced  Roman  characteristics.  Others 
followed  at  a later  date,  but  of  more  historic  ac- 
curacy of  outline.  The  heroes  of  legendary  Greece 
seemed  wholly  deficient  in  moral  stamina,  or  even 
the  conception  of  morality.  Herein  Rome  shows 
a very  marked  superiority,  although  far  less  civil- 
ized in  intellectual  culture. 

Besides  the  struggles  between  patricians  and  ple- 
beians, relating  to  civil  rights  and  privileges,  in  which 
the  lower  classes  made  some  gains,  and  numerous 
petty  conflicts  with  neighboring  states  in  which  the 
whole  people  shared  in  an  inconsequential  way, 


there  were  several  really  great  wars,  culminating, 
notwithstanding  some  serious  disasters,  in  mak- 
ing Rome  master  of  Italy,  the  position  it  occupies 
when  brought  into  conflict  with  Carthage.  It  is 
evident  from  glimpses  caught  here  and  there,  that 
Etruria  was  long  the  most  civilized  state  in  Italy, 
not  counting  the  few  Greek  colonies  in  the  south. 
Etruscan  art  was  very  considerable,  and  there  is 
good  reason  to  believe  that  a valuable  Etruscan  lit. 
erature  once  existed.  There  were  other  states  in 
Latium,  which  were  somewhat  more  advanced  than 
Rome,  but  the  Romans  were  desperate  warriors  and 
had  a colonial  policy  which  gradually  helped  extend 
the  state.  The  conquest  of  Etruria  seems  to  have 

been  a very  close 
contest.  If  not, 
the  Romans 
were  tempted  to 
abandon  their 
own  rude  and 
unwh  olesome 
town  (for  Rome 
was  never  a 
good  city,  from 
a sanitary  point 
of  view)  and  set- 
tle in  the  Etrus- 
can city  of  Veii, 
which  was  about 
twelve  miles  be- 
yond the  Tiber. 
It  took  thirty  years  to  capture  the  city ; that  is, 
thirty  years  from  the  time  the  first  attempt  was 
made  until  the  last  one,  which  culminated  in  suc- 
cess. Camillus  was  the  General  under  whom  the 
capture  was  made.  That  was  in  B.  C.  396.  That 
year  was  memorable  for  the  fall  of  Veii,  which 
Camillus  is  said  to  have  torn  down,  removing  the 
building  material  to  Rome,  lest  the  party  favoring 
the  transfer  of  the  capital  should  finally  carry  the 
day. 

But  the  year  was  still  more  memorable  for  the 
raid  of  the  Gauls.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  we  con- 
front the  aborigines  of  France,  a people  with  which 
Rome  had  a great  deal  to  do  through  many  centu- 
ries. The  Gauls,  who  came  finally  to  be  subjects  of 
imperial  Rome,  came  upon  the  stage  of  history  as 
wild  marauders.  In  their  savage  enterprise,  they 
had  crossed  the  Alps,  and  penetrated  southward, 


A 


l4! 


A 

o 


► 


9 

~ 


142  SEMI-HISTORIC  ROME. 


desolating  Italy  as  they  went.  Among  the  places 
which  they  ravaged  was  Rome,  which  must  have 
been  a feeble  town,  although  nearly  four  hundred 
years  old.  Their  march  was  victorious.  Brennus, 
their  leader,  was  a “ mighty  man  of  war,  ” not 
covetous  of  lands,  but  greedy-eyed  for  personal 
property  of  all  sorts.  It  is  by  no  means  certain 
that  the  Romans  do  not  owe  the  fall  of  Veii  to  these 
barbarians  rather  than  to  their  own  prowess.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  they  were  an  overmatch  for  the  Ro- 
mans. On  the  banks  of  the  Allia,  eleven  miles  from 
Rome,  the  two  armies  met,  the  representatives  of  the 
peoples  destined  to  many  a desperate  encounter  in 
coming  ages.  The  Grants  utterly  routed  the  Romans 
and  drove  the  few  survivors  into  the  city  in  head- 
long haste,  boldly  pushing  their  way  within  the 
walls,  the  people  taking  refuge  in  the  Capitol.  In 
after  times  the  Romans  pictured  the  senators  calmly 
pursuing  the  business  of  legislation  when  the  Cauls 
came  upon  them.  This  of  course  was  a preposter- 
ous invention.  The  indubitable  fact  is,  that  Rome 
was  at  the  mercy  of  the  Gauls,  who  pillaged  and 
sacked  until  their  greed  was  glutted.  The  Capitol 
escaped  the  ravages  of  flame,  but  not  the  city.  The 
proud  Romans  attributed  its  salvation  to  divine  in- 
terposition. The  horde  glutted  their  barbaric  lust 
for  spoils,  and  left  the  city,  which  never  suffered  like 
disaster  again  until  the  Goths  and  Vandals  took  it 
at  the  final  fall  of  Rome. 

Besides  the  Etruscans  were  the  Samnites,  a Latin 


people  of  great  military  strength,  as  compared  with 
the  Rome  of  that  day.  For  a long  series  of  years 
there  was  war  between  the  two  peoples.  Samnium 
had  the  alliance  of  Etruria,  and  is  said  to  have  se- 
cured aid  from  the  Gauls.  But  all  things  have  an 
end,  and  the  Samnite  war  or  wars  (for  there  were 
three  of  them)  which  began  B.  C.  343,  closed  B.  C. 
282.  There  were  several  famous  names  in  connec- 
tion with  these  wars,  Manlius  Torquatus,  Valerius 
Corvus,  and  others,  but  none  of  the  details  are 
worthy  of  record  here.  It  is  enough  to  say,  that 
by  the  time  Rome  had  stood  four  hundred  years,  it 
was  the  master  of  Italy,  except  the  Greek  cities, 
and  the  citizens  of  Latium  became  citizens  of 
Rome,  only  with  some  restrictions  in  their  rights. 

That  consummation,  so  gradual,  but  all  the  more 
secure,  put  an  end  to  the  struggle  between  the  pa- 
tricians and  the  plebeians.  Henceforth,  urban  in- 
habitants or  citizens  of  the  city  were  aristocrats. 
To  have  ancestry  strictly  Roman,  was  enough. 
“The  first  families”  joined  in  asserting  superiority 
over  the  Latin  citizens,  as  in  later  centuries  all  the 
Latin  citizens  accounted  themselves  vastly  superior 
to  the  outsiders,  however  complete  their  citizenship. 
Rome,  in  brief,  is  now  the  capital  of  Italy,  and 
proud  alike  of  her  Dentatus  and  her  Coriolauus, 
and  the  terms  patrician  and  plebeian  came  gradu- 
ally to  designate  the  inevitable  social  distinctions  of 
a large  community,  rather  than  distinct  factions 
and  castes. 


6) 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


Pyrrhus  and  nia  Elephants — Carthage  and  its  place  in  History — The  First  Punic  War — 
Hamilcar  and  Hannibal — The  Second  Punic  War — Hannibal  Crosses  the  Alps — The 
Battle  op  Cannae— The  Fabian  Policy— Scipio  and  the  War  in  Africa— The  Further 
Conquests  op  Rome — The  Third  Punic  War  and  the  Fall  op  Carthage. 


A 4 


K-* 


‘HAT  an  arena  do  we  leave 
for  the  Carthaginians 
and  Romans  to  contend 
*on !”  Such 
is  the  excla- 
mation at- 
tributed to 
Pyrrhus  of 
Epirus,  cousin  of  Alexander 
the  Great.  The  remark  is 
no  doubt  apocryphal,  as  are 
the  details  given  of  the  war 
which  Pyrrhus  made  upon 
Rome.  But  it  is  highly 
probable  that  he  foresaw  a 
desperate  conflict  between 
them.  At  the  time  at  which  we  have 
arrived,  Rome  is  master  of  Italy,  ex- 
cept the  Grecian  towns  on  the  coast, 
and  they  dared  not  trust  to  their  own 
valor.  They  induced  the  king  of 
Epirus  to  come  to  their  defense.  lie 
brought  a few  Epirotes  with  him,  and 
a kind  of  cavalry  heretofore  unknown  Pyrrhus  of 

to  the  Romans,  namely,  elephants.  Greek  and  Ro- 
man arms  were  thus  brought  into  conflict,  and  in  the 
first  engagement  Pyrrhus  was  victorious.  Ilis  own 


losses,  however,  were  heavy.  “ One  more  such  vic- 
tory,” he  said,  “ and  I am  ruined.”  He  did  not  care  to 
follow  up  his  advantage,  and  tried  the  virtue  of  nego- 
tiation, and  if  we  may  believe  Roman 
tradition  (for  our  facts  are  still  shad- 
owy) the  Greek  was  profoundly  im- 
pressed with  the  incorruptibility,  hero- 
ism, and  manliness  of  the  Romans. 
He  moved  on  without  accomplishing 
anything  decisive,  going  to  the  help 
of  some  Greek  colonists  against  Car- 
thaginian interlopers.  It  was  not  long 
before  he  returned  and  had  another 
battle  with  the  Romans.  This  time 
he  was  thoroughly  beaten,  and  re- 
turned to  his  own  country  in  disgrace. 
That  was  the  last  aggressive  war  on 
Rome  by  the  Greeks.  It  served  as  a 
prelude,  and  hardly  more,  to  the 
Punic  wars.  Acquaintance  with 
the  elephants  of  Pyrrhus  prepared 
the  legions  to  meet  the  shock  of 
Hannibal  and  his  elephants.  Pyr- 
EPirus-  rlius  was  actuated,  apparently,  by 

no  settled  animosity,  nor  did  he  have  any  con- 
ception of  Roman  destiny.  He  must  have  seen 
in  the  citizens  of  Rome  a community  of  rather 


(143) 


Q_ 


interesting  barbarians,  and  that  is  about  all.  The 
Carthaginians  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  first 
people,  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  Italy,  to  resolute- 
ly attempt  to  thwart  the  “ manifest  destiny  ” of  Rome. 

Cartilage  was  the  capital  of  a republic  of  the  same 
name,  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  near  the  site  of  the  modern  Tunis.  It  was  a 
Phoenician  city,  an  offshoot  of  Tyre,  founded  B.  C. 
850.  It  had  a vast  commerce  aud  a splendid  civili- 
zation, including  a literature,  but  the  final  success 
of  the  Romans  in  destroying  it  involved  the  loss  of 
that  literature.  Consequently  we  know  very  little 
about  Carthage,  except  as  it  is  derived  from  Roman 
sources,  and  from 
Polybius,  a Greek, 
who  was  present  at  its 
destruction,  as  the 
friend  of  the  victori- 
ous Scipio,  and  whose 
work  has  been  all  lost, 
with  the  exception 
of  a few  chapters. 

The  Carthaginians 
were  called  Punei, 
hence  the  three  wars 
with  Rome  were  called 
the  Punic  wars.  They 
were  a very  enterpris- 
ing people.  Their 
commerce  extended 
wherever  ships  sailed 
in  those  days,  and  a vast  inland  trade  was 
carried  on  with  the  Numidians,  and  other 
African  and  nomadic  tribes.  The  population  of 
the  city  is  supposed  to  have  been  about  700,000. 
The  government  seems  to  have  been  quite  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  Rome ; an  aristocratic  republic. 
In  carrying  forward  commercial  enterprise,  it 
was  necessary  to  establish  trading-posts  here  and 
there.  For  that  reason  Carthage  long  enjoyed 
the  control  of  a very  considerable  amount  of  foreign 
territory,  not  acquired  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of 
conquest  and  dominion,  but  for  the  uses  of  traffic. 
According  to  Polybius,  all  the  islands  of  the  western 
Mediterranean  belonged  to  Carthage,  besides  much 
territory  in  Spain.  At  the  time  the  first  Punic 
war  began,  B.  C.  264,  a very  considerable  area  of  land 
about  the  city  was  under  a high  state  of  cultivation. 
The  nobility  took  delight  in  agriculture,  and  the  me- 


chanical arts  were  not  neglected.  At  that  time  they 
were  a far  more  civilized  people  than  the  Romans, 
and  they  might  have  well  looked  down  with  lofty 
scorn  upon  the  rude  barbarians  of  the  Tiber. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  the  war  between  the 
two  republics  was  the  attempt  of  Carthage  to  gain 
possession  of  Sicily,  an  island  about  the  size  of  the 
State  of  Maryland,  and  the  most  important  in  the 
Mediterranean.  It  contained  a flourishing  Greek 
colony.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  although  Ath- 
ens was  a great  commercial  center,  a little  passe 
then,  but  long  prominent,  it  never  came  into  con- 
flict with  Carthage.  Sicily  was  too  near  Italy  to 

m ake  the  establish- 
ment there  of  a Punic 
stronghold  tolerable 
in  the  eyes  of  Rome, 
which  by  this  time 
had  become  master  of 
Italy,  and  was  in  no 
mood  to  brook  in- 
tervention from  the 
Southwest.  Seeing 
that  two  great  powers 
were  thus  brought 
into  conflict,  Pyrrhus 
may  reasonably  have 
withdrawn,  in  the 
hope  of  a life-and- 
death  struggle  be- 
tween these  two  re- 
publics which  should  pave  the  way  for  the  Epi- 
rotes to  ride  in  triumph  over  both.  If  he  held 
any  such  theory  he  was  destined  to  disappointment, 
the  real  disaster  of  the  war  being  confined  to  one  of 
the  combatants,  the  other  gaining  in  proportion  to 
its  rival’s  loss. 

The  Romans  were  successful  in  driving  the  Car- 
thaginians from  Sicily,  or  rather,  they  and  their 
allies  were  successful,  for  in  the  beginning  of  the  con- 
flict Rome  was  not  single-handed  by  any  means. 
The  Carthaginians  were  compelled  to  give  up  their 
enterprise.  They  would  have  been  content,  proba- 
bly, to  go  on  with  their  commerce  without  further 
combat  with  the  Romans.  They  do  not  appear  to 
have  seen  a rival  on  the  Tiber,  but  the  Romans 
were  not  content  to  let  the  matter  rest  there.  They 
carried  the  war  into  Africa,  assuming  the  aggres- 
sive. A naval  battle  was  fought  not  long  after,  in 


A 


CARTHAGE. 


ROME  AND  CARTHAGE. 


H5 


which,  to  let  them  tell  it,  the  Romans  performed 
prodigies.  They  were  not  sea  fighters,  but  they 
grappled  the  enemies’  ships,  boarded  them  and 
waged  a hand-to-hand  fight,  for  which  the  Cartha- 
ginian mercenaries  were  not  prepared.  The  victory 
of  Mylse  was  the  Trafalgar  of  the  Punic  war,  and 
the  Romans  never  wearied  of  boasting  of  it.  They 
took  from  Carthage  several  outlying  posts,  but  on 
the  continent  of  Africa  they  experienced  terrible 
disasters.  Regulus,  the  hero  of  the  first  Punic  war, 
as  conducted  by  land,  was  not  properly  supported. 
His  army  was  terribly  defeated 
and  himself  taken  prisoner.  He 
was  sent  as  an  envoy  of  peace 
to  Rome,  where  he  had  the  hero- 
ism to  advise  the  senate  to  reject 
the  terms  offered,  and  then  bore 
back  the  refusal  of  his  country 
to  entertain  the  idea  of  a.cessa- 
tion  of  hostilities,  while  under 
the  cloud  of  disaster.  His  patriot- 
ism cost  him  his  life,  but  the 
persistence  of  Rome  was  reward- 
ed. After  dragging  along  twenty- 
four  years  the  first  Punic  war 
ended  in  an  agreement  on  the 
part  of  Carthage  to  give  up  all 
claims  to  Sicily,  restore  her  pris- 
oners and  pay  to  Rome  a consid- 
erable indemnity.  The  losses 
on  both  sides  had  been  large 
without  being  at  all  decisive. 

It  may  be  said  that  both  were  weary  and  took  a rest, 
with  no  thought  of  permanent  peace. 

Twenty  years  elapsed  between  the  first  and  the 
second  Punic  wars.  To  Carthage  those  were  years 
of  wasting  civil  strife.  The  unhappy  republic  was 
the  prey  of  party  conflicts,  involving  serious  loss. 
One  faction  was  in  favor  of  strict  attention  to  busi- 
ness, the  other,  insisting  that  a more  military  char- 
acter must  be  given  to  the  state,  and  that  the  war- 
like power  which  had  arisen  in  Italy  must  be  crushed 
before  commerce  could  prosper  on  a solid  founda- 
tion. The  leaders  of  the  two  parties,  Hanno  and 
Hamilcar,  when  the  issue  was  raised,  died  during 
the  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  Hannibal,  son  of 
the  great  soldier  Hamilcar,  came  to  the  front  as 
the  worthy  successor  of  his  martial  father.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-six,  he  became  the  General  of 


the  Carthaginian  army  in  Spain,  for  in  Iberia,  as 
the  ancients  called  it,  Carthage 
had  very  important  possessions. 

Tradition  has  it,  that  at  the  age 
of  nine  his  father  took  him  to 
the  temple  and  made  him  swear 
eternal  enmity  to  Rome.  If  he 
did  take  such  an  oath,  right 
loyally  did  he  observe  it. 

Turning  now  to  Rome,  we  find 
that  the  interval  of  peace  with 
Carthage  was  a 

season  of  preparation.  Some 
fighting  was  necessary  to  main- 
tain the  supremacy  of  Latium, 
and  hold  the  Gauls  in  check. 
Sardinia  and  Corsica  were  con- 
quered and  a large  part  of  Illyria 
overrun.  Rome  asserted  herself 
in  the  affairs  of  Greece.  The 
famous  Flaminian  Way,  from 
Rome  to  the  Gallic  frontier  near 
Ariminum,  was  constructed,  giv- 
ing the  consul  Flaminius  a 
reputation  second  only  to  Ap- 
pius,  who  built  the  Appian  Way. 
Marcellus,  a plebeian,  yet  a noble- 
man, carried  the  Roman  arms 
to  triumph  over  an  alliance  of 
Gauls  and  Germans.  The  Car- 
thaginians had  indeed  gained 
much  in  Spain,  but  the  extension 
of  Roman  power  was  far  the  greater  of  the  two.  The 
second  Punic  war  began,  however,  with  great  advan- 
tage on  the  part  of  Carthage,  from  the  fact  that  it 
had  the  services  of  one  of  the  greatest  warriors  of 
history,  for  Hannibal  ranks  with  Alexander,  Caesar, 
Napoleon  and  Grant. 

The  summer  of  B.  C.  218  witnessed  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  Punic  war.  The  young  Cartha- 
ginian General  crossed  the  Ebro  with  a hundred 
thousand  men  and  thirty-seven  elephants,  resolved 
to  enter  the  Roman  territory  by  way  of  the  Pyrenees 
and  the  Alps.  The  undertaking  was  one  of  the 
most  difficult  ever  planned,  the  distance  being  eight 
hundred  miles.  The  very  fact  that  he  must  subsist 
off  the  tribes  along  the  route,  made  the  entire  march 
the  invasion  of  a hostile  country.  He  left  detach- 
ments behind  at  several  points,  to  hold  in  check  the 


Hannibal’s  Vow. 


" G\ 

146  ROME  AND 

CARTHAGE. 

(O  ' 

t 

enemies  he  had  made  and  subdued.  He  turned  the 

devastation.  Finally,  a conflict  became  inevitable. 

Pyrenees  by  taking  the  coast  line,  and  probably  in- 

In  B.  C.  216  was  fought  the  immortal  battle  of 

tended  to  outflank  the  Alps  also.  The  Romans 

Cannae,  on  the  borders  of  Apulia.  Both  sides  were 

were  expecting  nothing  of  the  kind.  They  had  de- 

gathered  there  in  full  force,  as  if  the  fate  of  Rome 

signed  sending  Scipio  to  attack  Hannibal  in  Spain, 

were  in  the  balance.  Again  Hannibal  was  victori- 

and  Sempronius  was  to  march  upon  Carthage  it- 

ous.  The  slaughter  was  terrible.  Forty-five  thou- 

self.  The  latter  had  set  sail  before  the  news  of  this 

sand  Romans  were  lost,  including  a large  number  of 

aggressive  movement  was  received.  Scipio  was  di- 

senators  and  the  Consul  Paulus.  Polybius  puts 

rected  to  intercept  Hannibal  at  the  Rhone,  but  he 

the  loss  at  seventy  thousand.  But  all  was  not  lost. 

was  too  late.  The  great  soldier  had  got  beyond 

Cannae  was  two  hundred  miles  from  Rome,  separa- 

him.  Looking  back  upon  it  all,  one  is  surprised 

ted  from  it  by  mountains  and  rivers.  Then,  too,  the 

that  Hannibal  did  not  await  the  attack,  being  far 

conquerors  must  needs  gorge  themselves  with  plun- 

better  prepared  to  meet  it  then  than  later ; but  he 

der.  “ To  the  victors  belong  the  spoils.”  Had  the 

evidently  misjudged  the  nature  of  Roman  rule  in 

army  of  invasion  been  content  to  take  advantage 

Italy.  Thinking  it  like  Carthaginian  rule  in  Afri- 

of  the  success,  even  Rome  would  have  been  laid  in 

ca,  he  supposed  that  he  had  only  to  reach  Latium 

ruins.  Once  before  the  Gauls  had  devastated  it, 

to  have  the  alliance  of  the  Latins,  and  so  he  avoid- 

but  Camillus  restored  it.  Had  the  Carthaginians 

ed  an  engagement  by  trying  one  of  the  most  diffi- 

razed  the  walls,  no  third  Romulus  or  second  Ca- 

cult  passes  of  the  Alps,  probably  the  Little  St.  Ber- 

millus  would  have  appeared.  The  destroyer  would 

nard.  The  sufferings  of  his  men  were  terrible,  and 

have  looked  carefully  to  that.  But  what  the  brav- 

the  losses  immense,  so  late  was  the  season.  When 

ery  of  Roman  arms  could  not  do,  the  richness  of 

at  last  the  army  of  invasion  came  down  into  the 

Italian  spoils  effected.  It  is  said  that  three  bushels 

sunny  valleys  of  the  Cisalpine,  it  had  dwindled 

of  gold  rings  were  taken  from  the  fingers  of  the 

to  twenty  thousand  foot,  six  thousand  horse,  and 

fallen  legionaries.  However  that  may  have  been,  it 

seven  elephants.  Worst  of  all,  there  were  no  allies. 

is  certain  that  the  mercenaries  and  allies  of  Car- 

He  was  in  the  enemy’s  country  in  an  unexpected 

thage  gave  themselves  up  to  rapine  and  plunder. 

sense.  And  now  the  genius  of  Hannibal  was  put 

thus  throwing  away  the  opportunity  of  final  victory. 

to  the  test.  Appreciating  the  situation,  his  first 

To  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  second  Punic  war 

care  was  to  gain  a victory,  however  small  the  scale. 

in  its  details,  would  be  uninteresting.  Henceforth, 

in  the  hope  of  thus  winning  allies.  He  succeeded. 

the  policy  of  Rome  was  to  detach  the  allies  from 

The  skirmish  of  the  Ticinus  brought  him  thousands 

Hannibal,  and  worry  him  out  by  delays.  Fabius 

of  Gauls,  and  now  he  was  eager  for  a battle  with 

was  the  consul  who  advised  this  course,  and  from 

Scipio,  especially  as  the  latter  would  soon  be  rein- 

that  day  to  this  the  “ Fabian  policy  ” has  been  a 

forced  by  Sempronius.  The  battle  of  Trebia  was 

proverbial  term.  Every  nerve  was  strained  to 

fought,  Scipio  having  been  joined  by  Sempronius, 

maintain  the  Roman  army.  Debtors,  criminals  and 

and  the  latter  being  in  command.  The  result  was 

slaves  were  enlisted.  Hannibal  kept  up  the  devas- 

a great  victory  for  Hannibal.  Early  the  next  year 

tation,  and  even  appeared  before  the  walls  of  Rome. 

he  crossed  the  Apennines  and  tried  to  provoke  an- 

But  the  Romans  all  this  while  were  busy  in  Spain 

other  battle  there.  Failing  in  this,  he  pushed  on 

and  Carthage,  also  at  Syracuse.  Their  aim  was  to 

into  the  heart  of  Italy,  the  very  valley  of  the  Tiber. 

so  harass  and  punish  the  Carthaginians  that  they 

It  was  then  neoessary  for  the  Roman  legions  to  fol- 

would  recall  Hannibal  before  he  hail  executed  his 

low  him.  Another  battle  was  fought,  this  time  by  the 

full  purpose,  and  in  this  they  were  successful.  By 

waters  of  Lake  Trasimenus,  and  again  Hanni- 

carrying  the  war  into  Africa  they  so  far  alarmed 

bal  was  victorious.  By  this  time  the  Roman  sen- 

the  citizens  of  Carthage  that  they  felt  compelled  to 

ate  was  seriously  alarmed.  The  crisis  of  Rome  had 

abandon  the  aggressive  policy,  and  in  a repubbe  not 

come,  and  the  nation  was  threatened  with  disintegra- 

even  a Hannibal  can  defy  the  popular  voice.  While 

tion.  A victorious  foe  was  devastating  the  country 

Fabius  kept  up  just  enough  of  activity  to  prevent 

4 

with  impunity.  To  fight,  was  to  run  the  risk  of  more 

the  fall  of  Rome,  Scipio  “ pushed  things”  in  Africa 

L 

e) 

defeat,  and  to  avoid  conflict,  was  to  encourage 

so  vigorously  that  in  B.  C.  201  Carthage  sued  for 

\£) 

s> 


[L 


ROME  AND  CARTHAGE. 


H7 


peace  and  submitted  to  ignominious  terms.  Han- 
nibal had  inspired  such  terror  that  when  he  set  sail 
from  Crotonia,  in  the  fall  of  203,  Rome  felt  infinite 
relief,  and  when  Scipio  wrung  from  the  enemy  hu- 
miliating concessions,  Roman  joy  knew  no  bounds. 
He  was  held  in  the  highest  repute  as  the  savior  of 
his  country  and  the  greatest  of  warriors.  Carthage 
was  at  his  mercy.  He  could  have  razed  it  to  the 
ground,  but  he  was  not  in  favor  of  any  such  policy. 
He  did  not  demand  the  surrender  of  Hannibal,  now 
in  disgrace,  although  it  was  not  his  fault  that  Rome 
was  not  at  the  mercy  of  Carthage.  It  was  a test  of  na- 
tional character,  of  popular  endurance ; Roman  hero- 
ism was  an  overmatch  for  Carthaginian  civilization. 

The  victory  of  Zama  near  the  city  of  Carthage 
had  effaced  the  memory  of  Tarentum  and  Cannae. 
Scipio  Africanus,  as  he  was  now  called,  might 
doubtless  have  been  consul  for  life,  but  he  was  a 
true  patriot.  As  his  humanity  saved  Carthage  from 
destruction,  so  his  patriotism  saved  republicanism 
at  Rome  intact. 

Rome  was  now  the  foremost  military  power  in  the 
world.  The  empire  of  Alexander  had  fallen  to 
pieces,  and  the  greatest  of  the  fragmentary  king- 
doms, Egypt,  had  developed  a more  wholesome  am- 
bition than  lust  for  dominion.  The  Roman  legions 
were  soon  recruited  and  turned  eastward.  With  the 
subjugation  of  Carthage  all  the  region  west  of  Rome 
was  under  Roman  dominion,  except  the  barbarians. 
To  reduce  Greece,  was  an  easy  task.  Macedo- 
nia was  feeble,  and  the  various  confederacies  of 
Greece  illy  prepared  to  cope  with  the  great  and  cen- 


tralized republic.  From  Greece  the  victors  passed 
to  Asia,  and  made  serious  inroads  into  the  empire  of 
Antiochus.  In  fine,  the  Roman  conquests  of  this 
period,  without  being  brilliant,  were  decisive,  and 
as  rapid  as  could  be  desired.  Rome  adhered  to  her 
original  policy  of  digesting  her  conquests.  In  the 
meanwhile  Carthage  was  slowly  dying,  suffering  the 
agonies  of  mortification.  Hedged  about  and  de- 
prived of  commerce  or  mercenaries,  it  was  the  mere 
shadow  of  its  former  self.  Hannibal  was  the  most 
unpopular  and  unhappy  of  men,  and  finally  died  in 
sorrow  and  exile  in  the  year  B.  C.  183.  In  that 
same  year  Scipio  died  also. 

It  was  not  until  B.  C.  148  that  Carthage  was  de- 
stroyed. The  third  Punic  war  was  hardly  a war  at 
all.  The  party  led  by  Cato,  the  pedantic  censor,  in- 
sisted that  Carthage  must  be  destroyed,  seemingly 
afraid  that  something  might  transpire  to  renew  its 
lease  of  life.  The  senate  became  tired  of  the  de- 
mand for  its  destruction,  and  ordered  it,  more  to 
stop  the  annoyance  of  Cato’s  harsh  croak  than  from 
any  real  fear  of  its  former  rival.  The  Carthagin- 
ians made  a brave  but  ineffectual  resistance.  An- 
other Scipio  led  the  Romans  in  this  inglorious  war. 
And  now,  after  an  illustrious  career  of  seven  centu- 
ries, Carthage  was  literally  wiped  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  henceforth,  until  her  final  fall,  Rome 
is  destined  to  meet  no  really  formidable  enemy. 
Whatever  combats  she  may  have  waged  in  the  leg- 
endary days  of  youth  and  infancy,  it  may  be  said, 
that  within  the  purview  of  history,  Carthage  was 
the  only  actually  dangerous  rival  of  Rome. 


H"""- 


mmmMMMiMiimiij 


T*" 


LAST  CENTURY 


ROMAN  REPUBLIC 


^7/^/ZZ'V7l^ 


vm);>\X>, 


HEN  the  second  Punic  Avar 
closed,  there  existed  no 
nation  which  could  stay 
the  march  of  empire  up- 
on Avhich  the  Eternal  City 
then  entered.  From  the 
failure  of  Hannibal’s  plan 
of  conquest,  to  the  return 
of  Cassar  from  the  subjugation  of  Western 
Europe,  including  England  and  a large 
part  of  Germany,  a period  of  something 
over  a century,  the  rvorld  rvas  fairly 
drenched  Avith  blood.  Frequent  Avere  the 
civil  Avars  of  Rome,  and  almost  constant 
Avere  her  aggrandizements. 

It  Avould  be  easy,  but  unprofitable,  to 
trace  the  details  of  that  gory  century.  A great  deal 
of  historical  space  has  been  devoted  to  it,  but  there 
Avere  no  really  great  battles  fought.  The  gradual 
expansion  of  the  Roman  Empire  Avas  as  much  due 
to  its  political  constitution  as  to  the  heroism  of  its 
soldiers.  It  Avas  the  policy  of  Rome  to  make  her 
victims  her  partners  in  the  fruits  and  honors  of 
victory,  to  an  extent  wholly  unknown  to  the  world 
before  her  day.  It  is  true  that  no  such  policy  Avas 
pursued  toward  Carthage,  but  that  was  an  excep- 
tional case.  This  peculiarity  of  Rome  has  been 
pointed  out  before.  It  antedates  authentic  history, 


and  Avas  adhered  to  Avith  a steadiness  of  purpose 
which  is  the  proudest  monument  to  Roman  genius. 

It  may  be  Avell,  first  of  all,  to  point  out  the  terri- 
torial limits  of  Rome  in  its  glory.  The  little  vil- 
lage of  Romulus  had,  by  the  time  at  Avhich  we  have 
arrived,  attained  to  such  dimensions,  that  it  could 
defy  all  human  limitations  to  its  expansion,  and 
Avhile  it  took  a century  to  actually  acquire  world 
domain,  it  is  true  that  Avhen  Carthage  passed  under 
the  yoke,  the  Avhole  Avorld  was  at  its  mercy.  It  re- 
quired a period  of  one  hundred  years  to  harvest  the 
field,  but  the  real  credit  of  it  all  dates  back  to  the 
calamity  of  Carthage. 

The  Roman  Empire,  as  now  gradually  developed, 
Avas  tri-continental.  In  Africa  it  stretched  from 
the  Straits  of  Babel-mandel,  on  the  south  point  of 
the  Red  Sea,  Avestward  through  the  Straits  of  Gib- 
raltar, and  then  southward  to  the  desert  of  Sahara, 
including  part  of  Abyssinia,  all  of  Egypt,  Barca, 
Tripoli,  Algiers  and  Morocco.  In  Asia,  its  main 
possession  was  Asia  Minor  or  Turkey,  Avith  apart  of 
Arabia  and  Persia.  Julius  Cassar  contemplated  in- 
roads into  the  far  Orient,  but  he  Avas  cut  off  before 
carrying  out  his  Eastern  project.  In  Europe,  it  in- 
cluded all  the  continent  except  Russia,  Northern 
and  Western  Germany,  and  Scandinavia. 

For  the  most  part,  the  interest  of  this  period  clus- 
ters about  a feAv  names,  and  in  the  careers  of  Cato, 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

A Century  of  Blood — The  March  of  Conquest — The  Harvest  of  Power — Area  of  the  Re- 
public— The  Catos;  the  Censor  and  the  Younger — The  Gracchi— Caius  Marius — Sulla 
and  Marius — The  Unification  of  Italy — Sulla  Supreme — Burning  of  the  City — Latium 
no  More— Sulla  the  Dictator — Sulla’s  Character  and  Work— Pompey  the  Great — He 
Suppresses  Piracy — Judea  and  Spain  Taken — Pompey  and  C.esar — Cicero  and  the 
Conspiracy  of  Cataline  — Julius  C.esar  in  the  West — His  First  Consulate— Froude’s 
C.ESAK. 


(H8) 


•Via. 


iL 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


1 49 


the  Gracchi,  Marius,  Sulla,  Cataline,  Cicero,  Pom- 
pey  and  Caesar,  may  be  read  the  progress  of  Rome 
towards  its  manifest  destiny.  A great  deal  of  in- 
terest centers  in  Cato  the  Censor.  His  figure  is 
sharply  defined  in  historical  outline,  and  he  stands 
out  upon  the  page  of  Time,  the  very  ideal  of  auster- 
ity. The  Roman  virtues  he  exemplified  to  perfec- 
tion. He  was  incorruptible.  Penurious  to  the  last 
degree,  nothing  could  induce  him  to  acquire  wealth 
illegally,  or  contrary  to  his  views  of  honor.  Car- 
thage in  ruins  was  his  monument.  He  was  a pa- 
trician who  looked  upon  the  enlargement  of  citi- 
zenship, and  the  outgrowth  of  provincialisms,  as 
degeneracy.  He  failed  to  see  in  that  enlarge- 
ment the  necessary  condition  of  imperial  growth. 
He  was  a chronic  grumbler.  As  events  swept  on  in 
an  ever-widening  stream,  he  stood  upon  the  shore 
and  railed.  He  was  greatly  esteemed,  and  it  was 
quite  the  fashion  to  admire  his  Romanesque  virtues, 
but  he  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  exerted  much  real 
influence.  The  stream  would  not  reverse  its  course 
and  flow  up  hill  to  please  even  Cato  the  Censor. 
When  he  died  the  last  link  was  broken  between  Rome 
the  Insignificant  and  Rome  the  Magnificent.  There 

were  two  Catos,  the 
younger  being  a cotem- 
porary of  Caesar,  one 
standing  at  the  begin- 
ning, the  other  at  the 
end  of  the  period  under 
consideration.  They  are 
so  similar  in  character, 
that  one  suspects  the 
younger  must  have  sat 
for  the  picture  painted 
of  the  elder.  The  young- 
er Cato  was  a prolific 
writer  on  agriculture  and 
Cato  the  Younger.  other  “topics  of  the 

times.  ” He  died  at  last  by  his  own  hand,  unwilling 
to  survive  the  ascendancy  of  Julius  Caesar,  whom  he 
looked  upon  as  a demoralized  and  demoralizing 
demagogue. 

There  were  two  Gracchi  of  note,  Tiberius  and 
Caius.'  “The  mother  of  the  Gracchi”  is  a prom- 
inent figure  in  Roman  records.  It  is  of  her  that 
it  is  reported,  that  when  the  matrons  of  Rome 
were  summoned  to  appear  in  public  with  their  jew- 
els, she  came  simply  dressed.  Being  reproved  for 


disregarding  the  order,  she  pointed  to  her  sons, 
saying,  “ These  are  my  jewels.  ” Later,  Rome 
loved  to  hold  her  up  as  the 
model  matron,  a worthy  com- 
panion-in-honor of  the  chaste 
Lucretia  and  Virginia.  The 
name  of  this  greatly  venerated 
matron  was  Cornelia.  Tiberius 
renewed  the  agrarian  agitation, 
carrying  it  much  farther  than 
it  had  been  carried  before,  and 
his  brother  continued  the  agita- 
tion. Alarmed  at  the  growing 
depopulation  of  Italy,  he  con-  Tiberius  Gracchus, 
ceived  the  project  of  raising  the  condition  of  the  Ro- 
man commonalty.  He  was  the  son  of  a Consul,  and 
his  mother,  Cornelia,  was  the  daughter  of  the  Elder 
Scipio  Africanus.  Plebeian  yet  noble  was  the  blood  in 
his  veins.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  the  oppressed  and 
the  impoverished.  He  was  the  O’Connell  and  Parnell 
of  his  day.  The  aristocracy  took  alarm,  and  spared 
no  effort  to  thwart  his  laudable  purpose.  He  was  ir- 
repressible, and  no  allurements  of  office  could  turn 
him  aside.  He  tried  to  revive  the  Licinian  law, 
and  made  progress,  being  elected  a Tribune.  His 
term  of  office  expired  before  his  work  was  complet- 
ed, and  he  insisted  upon  re-election,  which  would 
have  been  illegal,  as  the  constitutional  lawyers  of  the 
day  claimed.  A riot  occurred,  and  Tiberius  was  slain. 
That  was  in  B.  C.  133.  A few  years  later  his 
brother  Caius  took  up  the  cause  of  the  landless 
against  the  landlords,  and  he  too  was  slain. 

The  nobles  seemed  to  be  all-powerful.  The  rich 
became  immensely  more  wealthy,  and  the  poor  sank 
into  hopeless  poverty.  Henceforth  there  was  a vast 
body  of  the  people  dependent  upon  the  spoils  and 
largess  which  the  conquests  of  the  period  provided 
on  a liberal  scale.  With  the  failure  of  the  Gracchi 
Rome  lost  forever  the  opportunity  to  escape  from 
the  constant  menace  of  a mob,  and  the  very  triumph 
of  the  aristocratic  senate  paved  the  way  for  the  ulti- 
mate subjugation  of  that  body  to  the  behests  of  an 
emperor.  That  victory  was  a century-plant  which 
flowered  in  the  subversion  of  the  Republic  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Empire. 

Caius  Marius,  one  of  the  greatest  names  in  the 
military  annals  of  Rome,  was  a Volscian.  He  began 
life  a farm-laborer.  By  his  courage  and  genius  he 
rose  to  eminence  as  a soldier,  and  then  aspired  to 


“ 


\ 


_9 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


!5° 


a political  preferment.  He  was  a successful  politi- 
cian, aided  largely  by  alliance  with  the  illustrious 

family  of  the  Cae- 
sars, one  of  the 
first  families  in 
the  state,  long  be- 
fore Julius  made 
the  name  immor- 
tal— and  typical 
of  imperialism. 
In  Africa  he  dis- 
tinguished him- 
self not  only  at 
Zama,  but  by  the 
conquest  of  that 
troublesome  en- 
iiarius.  emy,  the  Numid- 

ian  Jugurtha,  whose  wars  have  been  preserved  to 
mankind  by  the  pen  of  Sallust. 

His  lieutenant  in  the  latter  war  was  Cornelius 

Sulla.  He  did 
great  things  for 
Rome  in  Africa. 
He  returned  the 
hero  of  a glorious 
campaign,  and 
seven  times  the 
consular  power 
and  honor  was  a- 
warded  him.  In 
the  Northwest  he 
strengthened  and 
enlarged  the  Ro- 
man Empire,  and 
was  the  idol  of 
3 a desperate  at- 
tempt to  break  the  magic  spell  of  Rome.  Marius 
saved  his  country.  But  his  star  finally  waned.  Sul- 
i la  belonged  to  a younger  generation,  and  succeeded 
in  supplanting  the  veteran.  In  their  day,  the  Ital- 
ian nationalities,  still  cherishing  jealousy  of  Roman 
supremacy,  rose  in  rebellion.  The  Social  or  Mar- 
sic  war  was  a very  formidable  uprising,  and  for  its 
suppression  Sulla  won  the  highest  credit.  When 
that  struggle  was  over  and  the  republic  needed  a 
general  to  put  down  insurgents  in  Asia,  and  enlarge 
the  empire  eastward,  he  was  chosen  for  the  position, 
to  the  chagrin  and  discomfit  of  Marius.  The  latter 
was  about  seventy  and  the  former  twenty-one  years 


younger.  They  were  very  different  types  of  men. 
Marius  was  a rough  and  unlettered  barbarian ; Sulla 
was  in  education  a Greek. 

There  had  arisen  “ a mighty  man  of  war  ” in 
Asia,  Mithridates,  and  when  Sulla  had  departed  for 
his  overthrow,  Marius  set  about  organizing  the  Ital- 
ians into  a political  party,  and  had  himself  a]> 
pointed  to  the  Eastern  command.  Sulla  had  not 
left  the  country,  and  promptly  returning,  entered 
Rome  as  a conqueror.  Marius  was  not  prepared  for 
this  emergency,  and  was  obliged  to  seek  safety  in 
flight.  He  fled  to  Africa.  A warrant  for  his  arrest 
was  issued.  The  officers  dogged  his  steps,  and  it  is 
reported  that  when  they  found  him,  they  were  so 
awed  by  his  presence  and  name  that  they  shrank 
from  arresting  him.  When  they  asked  him  what 
answer  he  had  to  make  to  the  summons,  he  replied, 
“ Tell  the  Roman  Senate  you  found  Caius  Marius 
sitting  upon  the  ruins  of  Carthage.”  He  had  then 
been  Consul  six  times.  He  finally  returned,  and 
raised  an  army  to  fight  the  blue-blooded  aristocracy 
of  the  senate  in  the  interest  of  the  common  people. 
He  was  successful,  and  for  the  seventh  and  last  time 
was  elected  consul,  with  Caria  as  his  colleague.  He 
died  during  the  year,  the  revolution  which  he  aimed 
at,  namely,  the  thorough  enfranchisement  of  the 
Italians,  incomplete ; but  his  colleague  was  able  to 
obliterate  all  remaining  distinctions  between  Italians 
and  Romans.  To  Marius,  therefore,  belongs  the 
honor  of  vastly  extending  the  area  of  the  republic, 
and  of  unifying  Italy  under  the  Roman  name  and 
constitution. 

Sulla  had  departed  on  his  mission  to  the  East, 
while  Marius  was  a fugitive.  He  stormed  and  sacked 
Athens,  and  the  Roman  soldiers  sent  out  by  Marius 
to  fight  against  Sulla  had  the  good  sense  to  join 
him  in  marching  upon  the  common  enemy.  His 
career  was  a glorious  one,  from  a military  point  of 
view,  and  he  returned  to  Rome  laden  with  military 
spoils.  Marius  was  no  more,  but  the  Marian  party 
was  still  powerful,  and  hostile  to  Sulla.  His  mili- 
tary prestige,  and  the  spoils  with  which  he  could  en- 
rich his  followers,  made  him  master  of  the  situa-. 
tion.  He  was  not  slow  in  taking  advantage  of  his 
position.  The  opposition  came  out  to  meet  him 
with  an  army,  but  his  course  was  not  seriously 
stayed,  and  he  wrought  his  will. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  capital  was  burned 
(B.  C.  83)  and  the  Sibylline  oracles  perished  with 


£ 


71 


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S) 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.  1 5 I 


it.  The  loss  of  state  papers  was  certainly  very 
great,  and  throws  a cloud  of  uncertainty  over  all 
the  historical  records  previous  to  this  time.  Hence- 
forth minute  documentary  records  were  kept,  on 
which  subsequent  history  is  supposed  to  rest. 

Sulla,  to  return  to  our  narrative,  allied  himself 
with  the  aristocracy.  He  was  a born  autocrat. 
The  common  jieople  were  odious  to  him.  Besides, 
the  popular  party  had  been  resolutely  inimical  to 
his  claims  as  a military  hero.  After  much  civil 
war  and  political  intrigue  in  desolating  Italy, 
Etruscan  civilization  had  not  been  obliterated,  but 
he  finished  it.  Out  of  his  rivalry  with  Marius 
grew  a desolating  war  upon  Etruria  not  only,  but  on 
the  Samnites,  and  when  he  sheathed  his  sword  they 
were  no  more.  In  these  latter  days,  some  relics  of 
that  early  civilization  of  Italy  have  been  unearthed, 
just  enough  to  attest  the  greatness  of  the  destruc- 
tion effected.  Sulla  was  appointed  Dictator.  That 
was  in  B.  C.  82.  Proscription  and  massacre  were 
the  order  of  the  day.  Marius  had  thinned  the 
ranks  of  the  senate  by  his  high-handed  and  bloody 
line  of  policy,  and  now  came  retaliation.  Sulla  de- 
termined to  restore  the  reign  of  the  oligarchy,  and 
crush  out  the  rising  power  of  democracy.  Some  of 
his  methods  were  peculiar.  He  enfranchised  at  one 
stroke  ten  thousand  slaves,  whose  masters  he  had 
executed  or  driven  into  banishment.  They  were 
registered  as  members  of  the  Cornelian  clan,  of 
which  the  Dictator  was  the  head,  and  thus  was  his 
power  consolidated,  as  he  supposed.  He  divided 
public  and  confiscated  private  land  among  his 
legionaries  on  a liberal  scale.  He  reconstructed 
the  senate  at  his  sovereign  pleasure.  When  he 
had,  as  he  thought,  rendered  secure  the  ascendancy 
of  the  oligarchy,  lie  voluntarily  abdicated  and  re- 
tired to  his  suburban  estate  to  enjoy  the  luxuries  of 
private  life.  He  survived  about  twelve  months,  dy- 
ing at  the  age  of  sixty.  Between  hard  campaign- 
ing and  unbridled  debauchery,  he  was  literally 
used  up. 

Sulla  was  a Bourbon,  as  we  use  that  term  m 
these  days.  Blind  and  deaf  to  the  demands  of  na- 
tional growth,  he  determined  to  restore  the  ancient 
landmarks,  and  compel  the  great  empire  to  run  po- 
litically in  the  same  old  grooves  which  were  the 
ruts  of  Rome  as  an  insignificant  city,  great  only  in 
its  possibilities.  He  went  to  his  grave,  serenely 
confident  that  he  had  undone  the  gradual  work  of 


centuries,  and  especially  the  violent  reform  of  the 
Marians.  But  it  was  all  a mistake.  Chaotic  civil 
war  soon  broke  out,  and  the  state  seemed  threatened 
with  suicide.  Blood  flowed  freely,  and  the  shadow 
of  anarchy  constantly  hovered  over  the  republic. 

There  was  really  no  peace  until  the  empire  became 
imperial  in  government,  as  well  as  in  area.  But  it 
took  only  ten  years  to  undo  what  Sulla  had  done 
as  Dictator.  What  he  had  done  as  Proconsul  in 
the  East,  was  the  salvation  of  the  empire.  Mithri- 
dates,  King  of  Parthia,  was  a great  military  genius, 
and  came  very  near  building  up  a vast  kingdom  in 
Asia;  one  which  would  have  overshadowed  and 
dwarfed  Rome.  The  victory  which  Sulla  won  at 
Chserona,  decided  the  day  forever  as  between  Rome 
and  its  last  real  rival.  Henceforth,  the  Romans 
had  only  the  rude  barbarians  of  the  Northwest  to 
fear.  The  East  was  powerless.  The  civilized  world 
had  only  one  political  capital,  the  really  half -bar- 
baric “ Eternal  City.”  This  world-conquest  may  be 
said  to  have  begun  with  the  first  Punic  war,  and 
ended  with  the  stamping  out  of  the  great  uprising 
in  Greece,  Asia  Minor  and  the  East  generally,  un- 
der the  leadership  of  Mitliridates.  The  subsequent 
wars  in  those  quarters  involved  no  real  peril  to 
Rome. 

Among  those  who  rose  to  some  eminence  un- 
der Sulla,  as  adherents  to  his  political  fortunes, 
was  Cnaeus  Pompeius ; and  among  those  who  suf- 
fered persecution  for  the  cause  of  the  people  and 
progress,  was  Julius  Caesar.  The  former  would 
have  been  a minor  character  in  Roman  history,  had 
his  career  ended  witli  the  retirement  of  his  chief, 
while  the  latter  would  have  been  wholly  forgotten, 
but  for  subsequent  events.  Pompey  was  the  first, 
after  Sulla,  to  rise  to  an  eminence  entitling  him  to 
conspicuous  notice.  He  was  not  a really  great,  or 
a bad  man.  He  was  a patriot  of  much  more  than 
the  average  virtue,  and  a trifle  more  than  the  aver- 
age ability.  His  great  achievement  was  the  sup- 
pression of  piracy.  Rome  had  become  the  center 
of  commerce,  simply  because  it  had  the  power  to 
compel  all  commercial  peoples  to  pay  tribute.  To 
secure  the  largesses  of  corn  and  wine,  and  all  pre- 
cious or  useful  merchandise,  it  was  necessary  to 
have  immunity  from  the  pirates  who  infested 
the  Mediterranean.  They  had  become  very  for- 
midable and  impudent.  They  had  no  idea  of  being 
suppressed,  but  Rome  set  about  the  task,  B.  C.  G7, 


O 


_s> 


152  LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


and  was  entirely  successful.  Pompey’s  commission 
was  virtually  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  that  sea  for 
three  years,  together  with  its  coast  for  fifty  miles 
around,  which  in  many  cases  was  about  as  far  in- 
land as  actual  Roman  authority  penetrated.  It  was 
a right  royal  commission.  The  authority  was  not 
abused. 

He  was  then  appointed  governor  of  the  East,  and 
did  much  to  consolidate  and  perfect  the  empire. 
Syria  and  Phoenicia 
yielded  unconditionally 
to  his  sway.  Now,  for 
the  first  time,  Jewish 
and  Roman  history  be- 
gin to  have  points  in 
common.  It  was  sixty 
years  before  Christ  that 
he  laid  siege  to  Jerusa- 
lem and  took  it.  It  was 
not  destruction,  but 
subjugation,  which  he 
sought  and  obtained. 

His  exploits  won  him 
great  popularityat  Rome. 

His  next  field  of  glory 
was  Spain,  where  he  was 
invested  with  supreme 
authority. 

Pompey’s  glory  was 
his  weakness.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  conserva- 
tive party,  and  its  lead- 
er, without  being  fully 
equal  to  the  tasks  in- 
volved. In  the  mean- 
while, Julius  Csesar  had 
developed  into  the  lead- 
er of  the  opposition,  and  he  was  a man  of  com- 
manding genius.  Without  going  now  into  the  gen- 
eral career  of  this  greatest  of  all  Romans,  it  may  be 
well  to  dispose  of  his  relations  to  Pompey.  Gener- 
ally hostile,  they  were  sometimes  friends  and  co- 
workers. At  one  time  they  were  knit  together  by 
ties  of  marriage.  In  those  days  of  easy  divorces, 
matrimonial  alliances  for  political  reasons  were  not 
uncommon.  But  on  the  principle  of  “ natural 
selection  ” the  two  men  were  not  adapted  to  a “ co- 
parceny.” Caesar  was  a thorough  Marian.  Pom- 
pey, without  being  a consistent  party  man,  was,  on 


the  whole,  a Bourbon  of  the  Sullan  school.  Then 
each  would  naturally  be  somewhat  jealous  of  the 
other.  Caesar  seems  to  have  been  spared  any  very 
intense  jealousy  by  his  consciousness  of  superiority, 
and  for  a long  time  Pompey  was  spared  it  by  the 
possession  of  inordinate  self-conceit.  But  finally, 
all  makeshifts  and  devices  of  compromise  being  ex- 
hausted, each  recognized  in  the  other  an  implacable 
enemy,  and  they  came  to  sustain  to  each  other  much 

the  relation  Carthage  and 
Rome  had  sustained. 
One  or  the  other  must 
perish.  Civil  war  was 
inevitable,  and  culmin- 
ated in  the  battle  of 
Pharsalia,  fought  in 
June,  B.  C.  48.  Both 
armies  were  large  and 
well-officered.  It  was  a 
complete  victory  for 
Caesar.  The  vanquished 
warrior  fled  with  a small 
remnant  of  the  army, 
and  ift  his  flight  he  was 
assassinated  by  false 
friends.  At  the  age  of 
fifty-eight  he  fell,  the 
hero  of  three  triumphs 
over  the  three  continents. 
Long  the  foremost  man 
of  Rome,  Pompey  fell 
while  seeking  asylum  in 
Egypt,  where  he  had 
hoped  to  recruit  his 
forces  and  make  one 
more  stand  against  the 
inevitable. 

Between  the  glory  of  Pompey  and  the  eclipsing 
splendor  of  Caesar,  there  intervened  the  conspiracy 
of  Cataline,  an  episode  of  the  republic  rendered  im- 
mortal by  Cicero.  Cataline  was  a spoilt  child  of 
fortune.  Noble  in  blood  and  great  in  intellect,  he 
was  ignoble  in  spirit  and  unscrupulous  in  the  use  of 
means.  He  aspired  to  the  consulship.  Failing  to 
reach  the  goal  by  fair  means,  he  conceived  the  des- 
perate purpose  of  raising  a conspiracy.  It  was  an 
age  of  blood  and  horrors,  and  that  Aaron  Burr  of 
Rome  resolved  to  achieve  command  by  arming  the 
lowest  and  most  desperate  class  of  citizens.  Ilis 


> 


v£> 


7 o 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


T53 


Cicero. 


and  so  perhaps  he  was. 


plot  was  disclosed,  and  Cicero,  then  the  foremost 

orator  at  the  Roman 
bar  and  in  the  senate, 
undertook  to  thwart 
him  by  prosecution  for 
treason.  The  orations 
he  delivered  are  preserv- 
ed, and  rank  second  on- 
ly to  the  Philippics  of 
Demosthenes.  The  great 
orator  secured  the  ban- 
ishment of  the  conspira- 
tor, and  was  hailed  as 
the  savior  of  his  country ; 
Cicero  was  a most  accom- 
plished man  in  every  way.  He  was  the  ripest  fruit 
of  civilization  produced  by  the  Roman  republic. 
His  weakness  was  vanity,  and  as  a man  of  public 
affairs  lie  was  not  the  equal  of  Caesar,  but  in  schol- 
arship and  superb  statesmanship  he  was  unrivaled. 
His  is  one  of  the  most  august  figures  in  all  history. 
A philosopher  and  a statesman,  be  contributed  more 
to  the  literature  of  his  country  than  to  its  political 
destiny,  while  yet  pre-eminent  in  affairs  of  state. 
The  consulship  was  attained  by  him.  He  was  not  a 
strong  partisan,  nor  was  he  a thoroughly  great  poli- 
tician in  any  point  of  view.  His  powers  were  a lit- 
tle to  odiversified  to  admit  of  the  very  highest  achiev- 
ments.  He  sought  to  preserve  the  good  in  old 
forms  and  ideas,  while  appreciating  the  advantages 
of  progress.  He  seemed  somewhat  vacillating,  but 
it  was  the  vacillation  of  intellectual  breadth  rather 
than  cowardice.  He  enjoyed  the  popular  favor,  and 
escaped  the  perils  of  civil  war  until  the  great  crisis 
of  the  state  culminated  in  the  assassination  of  .Ju- 
lius Caesar,  when  not  even  a Cicero  could  maintain 
a neutral  position.  He  fully  identified  himself  with 
the  party  of  Brutus,  incapable  though  lie  was  of  act- 
ual participation  in  the  assassination.  When  Cae- 
sarism  won  the  day  and  retribution  came,  Cicero 
was  one  of  the  victims.  He  was  murdered  by  order 
of  the  victorious  Octavius,  B.  C.  42.  But  his  fame 
and  his  writing  remain  a vital  part  of  the  world, 
and  will  survive  to  all  time. 

Julius  Caesar  belongs  in  part  to  the  period  of  this 
chapter,  and  in  part  to  the  next.  Although  he 
never  wore  a crown,  he  justly  stands  as  the  typical 
emperor.  Imperialism  and  Caesarism  are  synony- 
mous terms.  Yet  lie  was  a democrat,  in  distinction 


from  an  aristocrat,  and  throughout  his  political  ca- 
reer was  the  unvarying  and  indomitable  foe  of 
the  aristocracy.  His  blood  was  noble,  none  more  so, 
and  he  could  have  been  the  pet  of  the  senatorial 
aristocrats.  But  following  the  fortunes  of  the  Ma- 
rian party,  to  which  he  was  bound  by  family  ties,  he 
championed  the  cause  of  the  populace.  Cautious 
and  far-seeing,  he  did  not  blurt  out  his  plans,  and 
spoil  all  by  wearing  his  heart  on  his  sleeve.  He  en- 
tered public  life  early,  and  yet  was  deliberate  and 
prudent  in  pushing  to  the  front.  He  took  care  not 
to  call  upon  himself  special  animosity.  By  gradual 
steps  he  rose,  until  he  was  allowed  a command  in 
the  far  West.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  not  distin- 
guished himself.  Some  narrow  escapes  are  recorded 
of  him  in  the  days  of  Sulla,  whose  command  to  put 
away  by  divorce  the  wife  of  his  youth,  he  grandly 
disobeyed.  He  was  not  a model  husband  by  any 
means,  and  did  divorce  his  wife  afterwards  from 
motives  of  policy.  He  was  a spendthrift  and  de- 
bauche. 

After  distinguishing  himself  in  Spain,  he  return- 
ed and  was  elected  Consul,  B.  C.  59.  That  was 
something  of  a crisis  in  the  republic,  for  the  new 
Consul  improved  the  time  to  secure  many  reforms, 
and  to  foreshadow  quite  clearly  the  aims  of  the  de- 
mocracy. It  was  evident  that  lie  would,  if  lie  could, 
put  an  end  to  the  narrowness  of  the  past.  Rome, 
to  his  conception,  was  a nation,  not  a metropolis. 
This  ever-present  political  issue,  the  constant  quan- 
tity in  Roman  politics,  was  accepted  in  all  its  logic 
by  Caesar.  It  was  not  the  plebeians  against  the  pa- 
tricians, Latium  against  the  city,  but  the  whole  em- 
pire against  the  favored  few  of  the  capital.  He 
became  henceforth  the  recognized  leader  of  the  na- 
tional party.  His  term  of  service  over,  he  went  to 
Gaul  as  Proconsul,  and  pushed  the  conquest  of  the 
West  to  Britain.  By  the  artful  employment  of  po- 
litical agencies,  he  so  far  conciliated  Pompey  and 
his  party,  as  to  secure  the  extension  of  his  military 
commission.  He  “ stooped  to  conquer.”  Allowed 
a powerful  army,  lie  made  such  splendid  use  of  his 
opportunities,  that  he  laid  Rome  under  very  heavy 
obligation  to  him,  and  consolidated  about  him  an 
army  which  could  be  relied  upon  to  follow  Avhcrever 
he  led.  He  was  then  able  to  take  an  aggressive 
and  bold  stand.  The  civil  war  with  Pompey  was 
incident  to  his  plan,  nothing  more.  His  request  to 
be  allowed  to  come  home  and  stand  for  another 


O 


Va 


*54 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


consular  election  being  denied  by  the  senate,  he 
boldly  denied  not  only  the  authority  of  that  body, 
but  the  very  constitution  of  the  republic.  He  was 
forbidden  to  advance  nearer  than  the  river  Rubicon, 
but  he  crossed  it,  and  in  so  doing  set  himself  square- 
ly against  both  the  present  edict  and  the  law  of 
traditional  authority.  That  was  the  turning-point 
in  his  fortunes,  and,  as  it  proved,  the  death-blow 
of  the  republic.  With  wonderful  celerity,  he  passed 
from  place  to  place,  quelling  the  rising  storm  of 
opposition.  Everywhere  the  conservatives  were 
aroused,  and  nothing  save  the  incomparable  genius 
of  Caesar  prevented  a crushing  combination  against 
him.  From  Rome  he  went  to  Spain,  then  back 
again  to  meet  the  forces  of  Pompey.  No  sooner 
had  he  won  the  battle  of  Pharsalia  than  he  was  off 
for  Egypt,  and  put  down  the  party  whose  cause 
Pompey  had  espoused.  A mutiny  in  his  own  army 
was  soon  put  down,  and  swiftly  followed  by  the  utter 
overthrow  of  the  Pompeian  party,  which  made  its 
last  stand  in  Africa.  We  next  find  him  in  Spain 
again.  By  that  time  he  was  ready  to  come  back  to 
Rome  and  enter  upon  the  actual  exercise  (one  can 
hardly  say  enjoyment)  of  his  authority.  He  was 
now  master  of  Rome  and  all  its  tributaries.  The 
empire,  politically  speaking,  dates  from  his  election 
as  Dictator  for  life,  when  he  had  reached  a position 
from  which  only  death  could  dislodge  him.  We 
cannot  better  close  this  chapter  than  by  citing, 
without  endorsing,  the  now  famous  concluding  pas- 
sage in  Froude’s  Caesar : 

“ The  spirit  which  confined  government  to  its 
simplest  duties,  while  it  left  opinion  unfettered,  was 
especially  present  in  Julius  Caesar  himself.  From 
cant  of  all  kinds  he  was  totally  free.  He  was  a 


friend  of  the  people,  but  he  indulged  in  no  enthu- 
siasm for  liberty.  He  never  dilated  on  the  beauties 
of  virtue,  or  complimented,  as  Cicero  did,  a Provi- 
dence in  which  he  did  not  believe.  He  was  too  sin- 
cere to  stoop  to  unreality.  He  held  to  the  facts 
of  this  life  and  to  his  own  convictions ; and  as  he 
found  no  reason  for  supposing  that  there  was  a life 
beyond  the  grave,  he  did  not  pretend  to  expect  it. 
He  respected  the  religion  of  the  Roman  State  as  an 
institution  established  by  the  laws.  He  encouraged 
or  left  unmolested  the  creeds  and  practices  of  the 
uncounted  sects  or  tribes  who  were  gathered  under 
the  eagles.  But  his  own  writings  contain  nothing 
to  indicate  that  he  himself  had  any  religious  belief 
at  all.  He  saw  no  evidence  that  the  gods  practically 
interfered  in  human  affairs.  He  never  pretended 
that  Jupiter  was  on  his  side.  He  thanked  his  sol- 
diers after  a victory,  but  he  did  not  order  Te  Deums 
to  be  sung  for  it ; and  in  the  absence  of  these  con- 
ventionalisms he  perhaps  showed  more  real  rever- 
ence than  he  could  have  displayed  by  the  freest  use 
of  the  formulas  of  pietism. 

“ He  fought  his  battles  to  establish  some  tolerable 
degree  of  justice  in  the  government  of  this  world ; 
and  succeeded,  though  he  was  murdered  for  doing  it. 

“ Strange  and  startling  resemblance  between  the 
fate  of  the  founder  of  the  kingdom  of  this  world 
and  of  the  Founder  of  the  Kingdom  not  of  this 
world,  for  which  the  first  was  a preparation.  Each 
was  denounced  for  making  himself  a king.  Each 
was  maligned  as  the  friend  of  publicans  and  sin- 
ners ; each  was  betrayed  by  those  whom  he  had  loved 
and  cared  for ; each  was  put  to  death ; and  Caesar 
also  was  believed  to  have  risen  again  and  ascended 
into  heaven  and  become  a divine  being.” 


v£> 

r 


■n®- 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


The  Republic  and  Imperialism — C.esar  and  the  Calendar — His  Motto  in  Life— Testimony 
of  Froude — Senatorial  Reform — Age  of  Skepticism — The  Proffered  Crown — The  Assas- 
sination Plot — The  Triumvirate — Cleopatra  the  Beautiful— Augustus  and  his  Policy 
— The  Empire  and  the  Senate — Popularity  of  the  Emperor  Augustus — Merivale  on 
the  Empire — The  Augustan  Age. 


T was  in  the  year  B.  C.  46 
that  Caesar  was  named  Dic- 
tator for  ten  years,  with  the 
right  to  nominate  the  per- 
sons whom  the  people  were 
to  choose  for  their  Consuls 
and  Praetors.  In  less  than 
two  years  his  bloody  corse 
lay  at  the  foot  of  Pompey’s  pillar  in 
the  senate  cham- 
ber. During  that 
short  space  of 
' & time  was  wrought 
a mighty  work  of 
reconstruction,! 
and  the  founda- 
tions of  imperi- 
alism were  laid  so 
securely,  that  nothing  but  the 
corrosions  of  time  could  de- 
stroy them,  and  even  then  de- 
struction was  not  complete.  Jnlins  Ctesar. 
Republicanism  was  not  democracy.  The  form  of 
self  government  was  maintained  without  conferring 
the  substance  of  liberty. 

Under  the  plea  of  popular  rights  was  inaugura- 
ted the  Empire.  The  term  “emperor”  (imperator)  was 


unknown  then,  and  was  not  assumed  by  the  first  of 
the  Caesars ; but  the  reality  of  absolutism  was  en- 
joyed by  Julius  Caesar  more  fully  than  by  any  of 
his  successors.  They  all  refrained  from  assuming 
the  kingly  name,  and  kept  up  some  show  of  popu- 
lar government.  In  the  course  of  time  Emperor 
became  a more  imposing  title  than  King,  but  origin- 
ally the  idea  of  monarchy  was  not  suggested  by  it, 
or  even  by  the  really  more  sovereign  title  of  Dicta- 
tor. Caesar  was  absolute  master  because  the  people 
so  elected,  and  the  right  of  hereditary  succession 
was  not  an  integral  part  of  primitive  imperialism. 

The  work  of  reform  was  commenced  at  once. 
The  courts  were  purified  and  political  rings  broken 
up.  The  standard  of  public  morality  had  sunk  to 
a pitiful  depth  of  degradation  during  the  perturbed 
century  now  closed.  Caesar  was  no  purist,  but  he 
appreciated  the  necessity  of  a higher  tone  of  public 
sentiment.  He  early  set  about  reforming  the  cal- 
endar. Cicero  sneered  at  him,  and  so  did  the  other 
learned  men  of  the  times.  They  were  skilled  in 
the  wisdom  of  Greece,  but  unversed  in  that  of 
Egypt.  Caesar  had  been  in  Alexandria,  and  his 
quick  perceptions  saw  the  advantage  of  a scien- 
tific division  and  measurement  of  time.  lie 
adopted  substantially  the  Egyptian  system,  previ- 
ously explained.  Our  Julian  calendar,  leap  year 


( T 55) 


® a 


x56 


CAESAR  AND  THE  EMPIRE. 


ancl  all,  still  stands,  and  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary has  been  New  Year’s  day  ever  since  B.  C.  45. 

For  fourteen  years  Csesar  had  known  no  rest,  and 
he  was  now  fifty-five  years  old,  but  he  abated  none 
of  his  industry.  His  was  a nature  which  could  not 
find  repose  in  life.  “ If  you  want  a thing  well 
done,  do  it  yourself  ” was  his  characteristic  motto. 
The  confused  state  of  the  government  demanded 
his  constant  attention  in  affairs  of  peace,  but  he 
was  soon  obliged  to  set  out  for  Spain  to  put  down 
the  last  remnant  of  the  conservative  party  in  its 
open  hostility.  He  took  with  him  his  sister’s  son 
(he  had  no  child  of  his  own)  Octavius,  afterwards 
Augustus,  then  a lad  of  eighteen  years.  This  boy 
he  adopted,  and  to  him  he  evidently  looked  for  a 
successor.  No  doubt  the  youth  learned  much  dur- 
ing that  campaign  which  was  of  incalculable  ad- 
vantage to  him  as  emperor.  In  the  spring  of  45, 
the  very  last  battle  of  that  civil  war  was  fought  in 
Spain,  near  Gibraltar.  It  completed  the  defeat  of 
the  party  which  had  been  effectually  crushed  in 
point  of  fact  at  Pharsalia.  “ The  free  constitution 
of  the  republic,”  says  Froude,  “ had  issued  at  last  in 
elections  which  were  a mockery  of  representations, 
in  courts  of  law  which  were  an  insult  to  justice, 
and  in  the  conversion  of  the  empire  into  the  feed- 
ing-grounds of  a gluttonous  aristocracy.”  This  is 
the  language  of  an  imperialist,  still  it  is  not  an  ex- 
aggeration. The  battle  of  Munda  was  fought  in 
March,  and  it  was  not  until  late  in  the  following 
autumn  that  the  Dictator  set  out  on  his  return  to 
Rome.  His  first  care  was  to  disarm  opposition  by 
clemency.  He  tried  by  that  means  to  placate  the 
implacable  aristocracy. 

He  filled  the  senatorial  vacancies,  and  raised  the 
number  of  that  body  to  nine  hundred.  Among  the 
senators  were  some  Gauls,  and  even  some  emanci- 
pated slaves.  The  high-born  patricians  were  in- 
sufferably indignant.  He  tried  to  check  the  effem- 
inacy of  the  times,  and  stringent  sumptuary  laws 
were  passed.  A commission  was  appointed  to  digest 
the  laws,  judicial  and  statutory,  and  great  effort 
was  made  to  make  Rome  a scientific  center.  lie 
formed  large  engineering  plans  for  draining  the 
Pontine  marshes,  and  similar  enterprises.  His 
architectural  plans  were  on  a magnificent  scale. 
Nothing,  in  fact,  seemed  to  escape  his  attention  in 
the  shape  of  secular  improvement.  It  was  an  age 
of  universal  skepticism.  Caesar  himself  had  held 


the  office  of  high  priest,  but  was  a disbeliever  in  all 
religious  tenets,  including  the  doctrine  of  immor- 
tality. Classic  myths  were  as  mythical  to  him  as 
to  us  of  to-day,  and  the  intelligence  of  mankind 
shared  his  agnosticism,  except  as  there  was  a sect 
of  Jews  who  were  somewhat  learned  and  held  to 
the  doctrine  of  a future  life.  Old  forms  of  worship 
and  systems  of  religion  were  maintained  only  for 
secular  reasons,  being  interwoven  with  the  political 
structure  of  society  and  deemed  useful  for  purposes 
of  state. 

But  the  crisis  was  near.  On  the  fifteenth  of  Feb- 
ruary, the  day  of  the  Lupercalia  (a  feast  in  honor 
of  Pan,  who  was  supposed,  in  a literal  sense,  to 
“ keep  the  wolf  from  the  door  ”)  Mark  Antony, 
henceforth  a noted  name,  but  hitherto  subordinate, 
offered  Caesar  the  crown.  Antony  was  one  of  the 
Consuls.  A faint  applause  was  heard.  Open  disap- 
proval might  have  been  dangerous.  It  was  evident 
that  the  Romans  were  not  at  all  kindly  disposed  to- 
ward a return  to  royalty.  The  traditions  of  the 
Tarquins  were  too  deeply  graven  in  their  thoughts. 
The  offer  was  gently  put  aside,  and  upon  its  repeti- 
tion Caesar  was  heard  to  say,  “ I am  not  king.  The 
only  king  of  Rome  is  Jupiter.”  The  boldness  and 
persistence  of  the  offer  and  the  feebleness  of  the  re- 
fusal, confirmed  the  suspicions  of  the  senatorial  oli- 
garchy that  Caesar  really  cherished  kingly  ambition 
and  would  not  be  content  to  remain  Imperator.  It 
was  clear  that  the  only  way  to  dispose  of  him  was  by 
assassination.  That  expedient  was  resolved  upon. 

Once  more  a Bru- 
tus was  found  to  un- 
dertake the  cause  of 
republicanism  This 
later  Brutus  was  sup- 
posed by  some  to  be 
the  natural  son  of  Cae- 
sar, but  however  that 
may  be,  they  were 
close  friends.  It  was 
at  first  doubtful  if  he 
would  lend  his  name 
and  person  to  the  plot,  but  he  finally  did.  The  con- 
spirators kept  their  secret  well ; albeit  some  rumors 
of  the  impending  catastrophe  were  noised  abroad, 
yet  Caesar  continued  to  perform  his  official  duties 
at  the  senate  without  special  precautions.  At 
length  the  fifteenth  of  March,  the  day  agreed  upon 


mm//.  . 


Marcus  Brutus. 


6' 


k. 


C.ESAR  AND  THE  EMPIRE. 


I57 


for  the  assassination,  came,  and  the  Imperator  ap- 
pearing as  usual  in  the  Capitol,  the  conspirators 
surrounded  him,  and  the  bloody  work  was  finished 
before  his  friends  could  rally.  Many  romantic  de- 
tails, evidently  the  invention  of  later  imaginations, 
are  told  illustrative  of  the  tragic  interest  which  will 
ever  cluster  about  that  most  memorable  of  all  assas- 
sinations. It  has  been  worthily  dramatized  by  the 
genius  of  Shakspeare,  and  one  is  tempted  to  pause 
over  the  tragedy.  The  really  historical  interest  does 
not  center  in  the  taking  off  itself,  but  in  what  led 
to  it  and  resulted  from  it ; and  Cicero  was  right 
when  he  remarked,  “ The  tyrant  is  dead  ; tyranny 
remains.”  The  imperial  party  having  lost  its  leader, 
another  bloody  civil  war  ensued,  but  out  of  it  all  the 
empire  emerged  territorially  and  politically  intact. 

At  first  Antony,  Lepidus,  master  of  horse,  and 
Octavius,  Caesar’s  nephew 
and  heir,  were  stunned, 
but  they  soon  rallied  and 
roused  the  popular  indig- 
nation, for  Caesar  was  a 
name  to  conjure  with. 
Cicero  apologized  for  and 
lauded  the  assassination, 
while  Brutus  and  Cassius 
rallied  an  army  in  defense. 
A bitter  and  desperate 


Octavius. 


struggle  ensued.  It  was  a 


comparatively  easy  task  to 
punish  the  assassins,  but  the  three  avengers  then  fell 
out.  Lepidus  was  first  disposed  of,  and  Antony  and 
Octavius  waged  fierce  warfare.  In  the  meanwhile, 
the  former  had  settled 
himself  luxuriously  if 
not  comfortably  at  Alex- 
andria, giving  himself  up 
to  the  society  of  Cleopatra, 
the  queen  of  Egypt,  whoso 
beauty  and  dalliance  have 
made  her  name  familiar 
to  all.  That  was  no  time 
for  voluptuousness.  An- 
tony might  have  won  the 
imperial  prize  by  strict  at- 
Marcus  Antonius.  tcntion  to  business,  but  lie 

frittered  away  his  opportunity,  and  no  eleventh-hour 
rally  could  save  him.  He  perished,  and  with  him 
the  beauteous  queen.  With  her  fell  the  dynasty  of 


the  Ptolemies.  Its  position  was  precarious  before, 
and  now  the  last  spark  of  real  royalty  expired. 
Cleopatra  was  designed 
by  Octavius  to  grace  his 
triumphal  return  to  the 
capital,  but  she  baffled 
him  by  applying  the  fa- 
tal asp  to  her  breast.  That 
sweet  revenge  was  denied 
him,  but  he  was  none  the 
less  master  of  the  situation. 

His  uncle, under  somewhat 
similar  circumstances, had 
been  very  lenient  to  his  en- 
emies. Augustus,  as  he  now 
called  himself,  resolved  to  Bust  of  cleopatra  at  Deuderah- 
avoid  that  peril.  He  put  to  the  sword  all  whom  he 
thought  could  stand  between  him  and  security  on 
the  imperial  throne.  He  seemed  to  be  the  very  ideal 
of  monstrous  cruelty,  so  relentlessly  did  he  carry 
out  this  policy,  but  having  once  made  an  end  of  his 
enemies,  he  bid  a long  farewell  to  slaughter,  and 
inaugurated  a period  of  tranquillity. 

The  reign  of  Augustus  Caesar,  which  was  in  ef- 
fect a continuation  of  the  Imperatorsliip  of  Julius 
Caesar,  covered  a period  of  forty  years,  namely 
from  B.  C.  29,  whan  he  returned  to  Rome  to  enjoy 
his  triple  triumph,  his  last  enemy,  Antony,  having- 
been  crushed  under  his  feet,  until  near  the  close  of 
A.  D.  14,  when  he  tranquilly  fell  asleep  in  death. 
From  the  battle  of  Actium,  in  which  the  Antonian 
army  was  routed,  the  empire  had  been  at  rest.  No 
internal  dissension  disturbed  the  repose  of  the  civil- 
ized world.  Such  a profound  and  universal  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities  had  never  been  known,  and  has 
not  been  enjoyed  since.  " The  empire  means  peace.” 
It  is  curious  that  this  reign  of  peace  rested  not 
only  upon  carnage,  but  upon  military  rule.  Augus- 
tus owed  his  ascendancy  in  its  continuance  to  the 
standing  army.  He  was  not  only  Princeps  of  the 
senate, — a strictly  republican  and  civil  title,— but  also 
Consul  and  Proconsul,  being  Tmperator  for  life. 
The  senate  was  reorganized  by  him,  and  lost  forever 
its  independence  and  importance.  Henceforth  it 
was  hardly  more  than  the  British  house  of  lords,  re- 
taining the  semblance  of  authority  without  the  real- 
ity. The  powers  of  the  Tribunate  were  also  absorbed 
into  the  imperial  office.  As  sovereign  pontiff  or 
high  priest,  he  assumed  what  there  was  left  of 


a 

"7f 


V 


C^ESAR  AND  THE  EMPIRE. 


ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  It  was  not  much,  but 
something.  He  was  no  advocate  of  skepticism,  and 
certainly  no  admirer  of  philosophy.  He  contemned 
the  speculations  of  metaphysics,  and  did  what  he 
could  to  restore  the  old  faith.  Indeed,  he  was  em- 
inently conservative.  Having  won  all  the  honors  and 
powers  he  could  covet,  he  set  about  allaying  the 
animosities  of  the  old  regime  by  conspicuous  re- 
spect for  the  traditional  prejudices  of  the  citizens. 

Perhaps  Csesar’s  ghost  with  the  ugly  stabs  of  the 


isfied  with  the  honor,  thus  conferred,  but  he  took 
care  that  the  actual  authority  exercised  should  be 
such  that  ever  since  his  day,  Emperor  has  been  the 
proudest  and  most  royal  title  possible  among  men. 

Hitherto  the  Empire  of  Rome  has  had  no  certain 
boundaries,  and  no  organic  adjustment.  Procon- 
suls and  Praetors  have  been  assigned!  to  duties  in  an 
irregular  and  jerky  way.  Augustus  systematized 
the  government  and  districted  the  state.  Italy, 
from  the  Alps  to  the  Straits  of  Messina,  was  divided 


conspirators,  was  an  ever-potent  argument  against 
persistent  radicalism.  He  may  have  felt  that  his 
personal  safety  recjuired  him  to  conciliate  the  favor 
of  the  conservative  element,  so  far  as  that  could  be 
done  without  the  surrender  of  imperial  ambition.  He 
loved  the  reality  of  power  without  its  pomp.  He 
lived  plainly,  dressed  in  “ homespun,”  walked  the 
streets,  nodding  and  chatting  pleasantly  with  his 
acquaintances,  obeying  subpoenas  to  appear  as  a 
witness  in  court,  and  in  every  way  of  that  kind  con- 
cealing the  crown  he  wore.  Like  Romulus,  Camil- 

^ lus,  Cicero  and  Julius,  he  was  hailed  as  the  father 
of  his  country,  and  professed  to  be  abundantly  sat- 

-r*js  ~ 


into  eleven  districts,  all  under  the  control  of  the 
Pnetor  in  the  city.  The  rest  of  the  empire  was 
divided  into  senatorial  or  imperial  provinces,  ac- 
cording as  the  governors  were  accountable  to  the 
senate  or  the  Emperor.  The  entire  standing  army 
was  not  far  from  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, 
not  including  the  naval  force,  which  was  very  con- 
siderable, and  the  first  ever  maintained  by  the  Ro- 
mans. Speaking  of  the  taxes  levied  at  this  time,  an 
eminent  historian  says : “ The  sources  of  public 
revenue  were  indeed  numerous  and  varied.  The 
public  domain  reserved  in  ancient  times  to  the  state 
after  each  successive  contest,  had  now  been  gener- 


■v 


s>  J- 


CyESAR  AND  THE  EMPIRE. 


*59 


ally  divided  among  the  citizens,  or  remitted  to  then 
subjects ; the  tribute  or  land  tax,  originally  imposed 
upon  citizens  and  subjects  alike,  had  been  remitted 
to  the  soil  of  Italy  since  the  conquest  of  Macedonia , 
but  this  contribution  was  still  levied  throughout  the 
provinces,  in  money  or  in  kind,  and  the  capitation 
tax  pressed  alike  upon  every  inhabitant  of  the  Ro- 
man dominions.  Mines  and  quarries,  fisheries  and 
salt  works,  were  generally  public  property  farmed 
for  the  state.  Tolls  and  customs  were  exacted  on 
every  road  and  in  every  city,  and  most  of  the  ob- 
jects of  personal  property,  both  dead  and  live  stock, 
including  slaves,  paid  a duty  in  proportion  to  their 
value.  Augustus  imposed  a rate  of  one-twentieth 
on  legacies,  but  this  mild  experiment  in  direct  tax- 
ation caused  cousiderable  murmurs.  The  great 
corn-growing  countries  of  Egypt  and  Africa  made  a 
special  contribution  of  grain  for  the  supply  of 
Rome  and  Italy.  The  largesses,  both  of  victuals 
aud  money,  to  the  people,  which  had  been  an  occa- 
sional boon  from  the  early  times  of  the  republic, 
were  henceforth  conferred  regularly  and  systemati- 
cally, and  there  was  no  more  fatal  error  in  the  pol- 
icy of  the  empire  (though  it  was  neither  invented 
by  the  emperors  nor  could  they  relieve  themselves 
from  it)  than  the  taxation  of  industry  in  the  prov- 
inces to  maintain  idle  arrogance  at  home.” 

The  population  of  the  city  of  Rome  is  supposed 
to  have  been  about  700,000  ; that  of  the  empire  as 
a whole,  not  less  than  100,000,000.  The  capital 
was  enriched  by  many  temples  and  other  public 


buildings,  and  other  cities  like  Alexandria  and  An- 
tioch, rivals  of  Rome  in  population  and  general  civil- 
ization, seemed  to  bask  in  imperial  smiles.  The  Em- 
peror made  an  extended  Eastern  tour,  not  as  a con- 
queror, but  as  the  friend  and  benefactor  of  his  sub- 
jects and  fellow  citizens,  for  he  carefully  maintained 
the  appellation  of  citizen,  and  the  franchises  which 
it  implied  were  en  joyed  by  many  of  the  people  in  all 
parts  of  the  empire.  At  one  time  he  undertook  in 
person  an  expedition  to  quell  an  insurrection  in  a 
remote  Western  province  (for  profound  as  was  the 
peace  of  Rome,  barbaric  eruptions  of  a trivial  na- 
ture were  not  wholly  wanting),  and  the  eagles  of 
Rome  took  a somewhat  widening  circle  in  their 
flight  westward.  He  left  the  empire  enlarged  a lit- 
tle, and  consolidated  so  thoroughly  that  it  rested 
on  a basis  so  solid  that  it  seemed  for  centuries  to  be 
eternal.  It  lias  been  remarked,  that  of  the  city  of 
Rome  Augustus  could  say,  “ I found  it  brick  and 
left  it  marble.”  Of  the  empire,  surely  it  might  be 
said  that  he  found  it  bricks  and  left  it  an  arch. 
The  loose  material  was  cemented  into  a grand  and 
enduring  structure  on  which  the  government  of  the 
world  for  centuries  could  securely  rest. 

The  details  of  this  reign  were  uneventful,  and  in 
following  the  empire  in  its  course  from  this  time  on 
we  shall  not  find  very  much  of  actual  importance. 
Rome  has  now  acquired  its  distinctive  type  and  char- 
acter. Before  following  the  long  line  of  emperors 
it  may  he  best  to  pause  and  consider  Latin  literature, 
for  the  best  part  of  it  belongs  to  the  Augustan  age. 


7 


LATIN  CLASSICS 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


Preclassic  Literature— Macaulay  and  Primitiye  Latin— Three  Periods — The  Golden  Age 
— Virgil — Horace — Lucretius — Ovid — The  Poets  of  the  Silver  Age — Cicero  and  Latin 
Prose— The  Historians  of  Rome:  Sallust,  C.esar,  Livy,  and  Tacitus — The  Plinys — Quin- 
tilian—Latin  Jurisprudence. 


[jl 

m 

♦ 

• 

PS 

A /3k\  1 

Blit 

@) 

ff§ 

JTiS 8T„)i' 

TIERE  is  most  unmistaka- 
ble proof  that  the  Romans, 
like  the  Greeks  and  many 
other  peoples,  had  their 
early  ballads.  Every  coun- 
try which  can  boast  much 
curiosity  and  intelligence, 
with  little  if  any  reading  or  writ- 
ing, has  had  a wealth  of  such  crea- 
tions of  mingled  history  and  fancy, 
of  fable  and  fact,  woven  into  pop- 
ular songs.  But  that  primitive  Lat- 
in literature  almost  wholly  perished 
long  before  the  present  Latin  liter- 
mature  had  its  birth.  What  is  known 
as  the  history  of  the  kings  and 
early  consuls  of  Rome  is  mainly 
ficticious.  More  than  three  hun- 
dred years  after  the  date  ordinarily  assigned  for  the 
foundation  of  the  city,  the  public  records  were  de- 
stroyed by  the  Gauls,  and  it  was  at  least  a century 
and  a half  later,  before  the  annals  of  the  common- 
wealth were  compiled. 

Speaking  on  the  subject  in  hand,  Macaulay  says 
in  one  of  his  essays,  “ The  Latin  literature  which 
has  come  down  to  us  is  of  later  date  than  the 
commencement  of  the  second  Punic  war,  and  con- 
sists almost  exclusively  of  words  fashioned  on  Greek 


models.  The  Latin  metres — heroic,  elegiac,  lyric, 
and  dramatic — are  of  Greek  origin.  The  best  Latin 
epic  poetry  is  the  feeble  echo  of  the  Iliad  and  Odys- 
sey. The  best  Latin  ecologues  are  imitations  of 
Theocritus.  The  plan  of  the  most  finished  didactic 
poem  in  the  Latin  tongue  was  taken  from  Hesiod. 
The  Latin  tragedies  are  bad  copies  of  the  master- 
pieces of  Sophocles  and  Euripides.  The  Latin 
comedies  are  free  translations  from  Demophilus, 
Mereander  and  Apollodorus.  The  Latin  philosophy 
was  borrowed  without  alteration  from  the  Portico 
and  the  Academy ; and  the  great  Latin  orators 
constantly  proposed  to  themselves  as  patterns,  the 
speeches  of  Demosthenes  and  Lysias.”  There  is, 
therefore,  nothing  original,  strictly  speaking,  in  the 
extant  writings  of  the  Latin  classics,  and  the  very 
name  of  any  absolutely  original  author  has  per- 
ished. The  later  writers,  whose  works  have  per- 
ished, were  imitators,  and  probably  poor  at  that. 
The  fair  inference  from  fragments  is,  that  the  best 
of  the  literature  has  survived.  Without  enumer- 
ating the  lost  books,  we  will  give  some  idea  of  the 
present  body  of  Latin  classics.  It  is  only  where  a 
language  and  a literature  is  original  and  germinal, 
like  the  Greek,  that  its  very  fragments  and  tradi- 
tions are  valuable. 

Latin  literature  may  be  said  to  have  had  three 
periods.  The  first  contains  many  lost  works  and 


<5 


(160) 


® J- 


LATIN  CLASSICS.  l6l 


two  names  worthy  of  record,  Plautus  and  Terence. 
Both  were  writers  of  comedies,  not  the  grand  and 
powerful  works  of  Aristophanes  and  Shakspeare,  but 
the  light,  half  farcical  conceits  of  the  present  “ play 
of  the  period.”  They  have  all  the  vices  of  the 
Greek  and  some  of  the  excellences.  We  have 
twenty  of  the  comedies  of  Plautus.  They  are  low 
and  morbid,  generally  devoted  to  the  intrigues  of 
illicit  love.  They  were  very  popular  for  at  least 
five  centuries.  He  was  a native  of  Italy,  but  not 
of  Rome,  and  was  born  B.  C.  210.  Terence  was 
eighteen  years  younger  and  a native  of  Carthage. 
He  was  a slave,  as  was  Epictetus,  the  great  ethical 
writer  of  later  Rome. 

He  modeled  his  works 
after  the  Greek  pat- 
terns. He  left  six 
plays,  which  are  much 
read  by  scholars,  and 
studied  by  playwrights 
of  classical  education. 

He  had  great  power 
of  character  delinea- 
tion. He  is  credited 
with  having  given  to 
the  Latin  language 
its  highest  perfection 
in  point  of  elegance 
and  art.  He  was  more 
refined  than  Plautus. 

The  latter  wrote  for 
the  stage  as  patronized  by  a coarse  people ; the 
former  wrote  for  a more  refined  taste. 

Passing  over  the  somewhat  long  list  of  lost  medi- 
ocrity, we  come  to  the  Golden  Age,  for  what  re- 
mains belongs  either  to  that  pei’iod  or  the  Silver 
Age,  a distinction  fully  justified  by  the  poetry 
of  the  two  ages,  but  not  by  the  prose.  The  poets  of 
the  Golden  age  are  Ovid,  Virgil,  Horace  and  Lucre- 
tius; of  the  Silver  Age,  Phaedrus,  Juvenal,  Lucan, 
Statius  and  Martial.  The  prose  writers  of  the 
former  age  are  Cicero,  Nepos,  Caesar,  Sallust  and 
Livy ; of  the  latter  age,  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  Seneca, 
Pliny,  Quintilian,  Epictetus  and  Marcus  Aurelius. 
The  two  latter  names  are  sometimes  omitted,  but  they 
belong  here.  The  first  was  a slave  and  the  second  an 
emperor,  and  both  were  pure  and  lofty  moralists. 
Tacitus,  Quintilian  and  Seneca  are  second  only  to 
Cicero,  if  indeed,  not  worthy  to  rank  at  his  side. 


The  first  name  in  Latin  literature  is  that  of  Vir- 
gil. He  was  a man  of  rare  genius  and  indefatiga- 
ble industry.  He  wrote  much  and  was  unwearied 
in  perfecting  his  lines.  Born  at  Mantua  in  B.  C. 
70,  he  became  a ripe  scholar,  a careful  student  of 
the  Greek,  also  of  medicine  and  mathematics.  At 
the  age  of  thirty  he  repaired  to  the  capital.  His 
education  was  received  mainly  at  Naples,  where  his 
last  years  were  spent.  His  disposition  was  of  a re- 
tiring nature,  loving  the  solitude  of  Nature  and  his 
library.  His  first  work  was  the  “Bucolics,”  a truly 
rural  poem  of  considerable  length.  The  “ Georgies  ” 
and  “ Ecologues  ” came  later  and  occupied  his  time 

for  seven  years.  But 
his  one  really  great 
production  is  the  “ jE- 
neid,”  upon  which  the 
last  ten  years  of  his 
industrious  life  were 
spent.  He  lived  to 
complete  it,  but  so  crit- 
ical was  his  taste  that 
he  never  ceased  to  pol- 
ish the  verse.  Had  his 
life-work  closed  with- 
out the  latter  epic,  he 
would  have  ranked 
with  Hesiod,  only  his 
superior  by  far.  The 
iEneid  gives  him  com- 
panionship with  Ho- 
mer, but  a long  distance  beneath  him.  He  is,  there- 
fore, a second  and  greater  Hesiod,  and  second  and  less- 
er Homer.  The  subject  of  the  HNieid  is  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Trojans  in  Italy.  In  the  “ Iliad  ” Mineas 
is  one  of  the  minor  heroes  of  Troy,  and  Virgil  repre- 
sents him  as  escaping  with  great  difficulty  from  that 
city  at  the  time  of  the  great  conflagration,  leading  a 
small  colony  of  refugees  to  Italy.  Their  journey 
thither  was  an  eventful  one.  The  story  of  his  stay  at 
Carthage  and  the  passion  of  Queen  Dido,  the  device 
by  which  he  escaped,  and  her  tragic  end,  are  familiar 
to  those  at  all  acquainted  with  classic  legends.  He 
catered  to  the  national  prejudice  by  representing 
the  Queen  of  Carthage  as  jilted  by  the  hero  to  whom 
it  was  pretended  the  descent  of  the  Emperor  Augus- 
tus could  be  traced.  The  story  has  no  historical 
foundation  beyond  the  probability  that  some  fugi- 
tives from  Troy  may  have  found  their  way  to  Italy, 


•V 


4 


1 62 


LATIN  CLASSICS. 


and  formed  part  of  the  stock  of  the  Roman  people. 
The  .ZEneid  suggests  in  its  earlier  books  the  Odyssey, 
in  the  later,  the  Iliad.  Some  minor  poems  are  at- 
tributed to  him.  They  are  not  of  a high  order,  and 
if  written  by  him  must  have  been  the  production  of 
“ vealy  ” youth. 

Next  to  Virgil  ranks  Horace,  the  consummate 
master  of  the  art  of  poetry.  He  loved  ease,  and 
wrote  odes  and  epodes,  satires  and  epistles  which  at- 
test a mind  of  the  highest  culture,  of  lofty  genius 
and  sublime  repose.  He  took  the  world  as  he  found 
it,  not  over  curious  as  to  what  went  before  or  would 
come  after.  He  saw  in  the  theological  teachings  of 
his  day  a collection  of  myths,  and  cared  no  more 
for  Jupiter  and  the  Olympian  deities  than  we  of  to- 
day do.  As  for  a future  life,  it  was  the  least  of  his 
troubles.  He  was  not  gross,  but  was  ‘‘of  the  earth 
earthy.”  In  his  life  was  seen  the  typical  man  of  the 
world,  the  poet  of  a civilization  which  is  content  to 
follow  the  motto,  ‘ One  world  at  a time.”  There 
was  nothing  of  the  controversialist  in  his  disposi- 
tion, nor  had  he  any  conception  of  any  “mission” 
in  life.  It  any  one  cared  to  accept  the  foolish  fables 
of  the  priests  or  the  ratiocinations  of  the  pliilosophers, 
he  had  no  objections.  That  was  their  business,  not 
his.  The  son  of  an  emancipated  slave,  he  took  no 
thought  for  to-morrow.  Brilliant,  amiable,  respect- 
able, jovial  and  fairly  well-versed  in  the  learning  of 
the  day,  he  could  satirize  without  cauterizing ; be- 
stow praise  without  fulsome  flattery ; sound  the  lute 
in  festivity  without  swinish  licentiousness.  His  odes 
have  never  been  excelled  as  odes,  and  it  is  hardly 
too  much  to  say,  that  in  his  way  he  is  above  all 
competition.  His  language  is  force  itself,  his  senti- 
ments beautiful,  and  the  melody  of  his  versification 
charming.  He  has  been  called  the  Pindar  of  Rome, 
and  it  would  he  over  praise  for  the  great  Greek  lyrist, 
to  call  him  the  Horace  of  Athens. 

Lucretius  embraced  the  same  agnostic  (as  it  is 
now  called)  philosophy  as  Horace.  He  was  an  Epi- 
curean, not  in  tastes  and  habits,  like  Horace,  but  he 
was  a strenuous  advocate  of  the  theological,  physi- 
cal and  moral  system  of  Epicurus.  His  work  on 
Nature  is  well  worthy  the  high  praise  of  Ovid  when 
he  says,  “ The  sublime  strains  of  Lucretius  shall 
never  perish  until  the  day  when  the  world  shall  he 
given  up  to  destruction.”  Tic  had  the  true  fire  of 
poetry.  There  is  a grandeur  and  beauty  in  his  verse, 
even  when  it  is  evident  that  his  main  anxiety  is  to 


make  a strong  argument  for  materialism.  The  lat- 
est philosophy,  that  which  finds  its  highest  presenta- 
tion in  Herbert  Spencer,  must  ever  recognize  in 
Lucretius  its  poet  laureate.  Many  tilings  which  he 
supports  by  suppositions  and  arguments  which  seem 
absurd,  have  been  proven  since  his  day  to  rest  upon 
scientific  ground.  He  was  born  in  B.  0.  95,  and  what 
Horace  accepted  as  a matter  of  course,  Lucretius 
fought  for  with  the  zeal  of  an  Ingersoll.  He  was 
the  stuff  that  martyrs  were  made  of,  but  he  was  not, 
so  far  as  known,  ostracised  or  persecuted  for  his 
“ blasphemy  ” of  the  popular  gods,  or  his  philosoph- 
ical theories.  He  died  in  the  prime  of  manhood, 
and  before  he  had  put  the  finishing  touches  on  his 
immortal  poem. 

Ovid  first  saw  the  light  on  the  very  day  that  Cic- 
ero’s star  became  obscured  by  the  darkness  of  death. 
He  had  rank,  talent  and  fortune.  Like  Horace  and 
Lucretius,  he  was  an  agnostic,  but  he  lacked  the  re- 
finement of  the  one  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  other. 
He  sang  of  love  in  a morbid  and  unwholesome  way. 
His  “Metamorphoses  ” is  almost  an  epic.  It  is  a 
series  of  myths,  some  of  them  very  beautiful,  a few 
of  them  chaste.  This  was  his  best  production  be- 
yond all  question.  For  the  most  part,  however, 
Ovid’s  poetry  is  elegiac.  Much  that  he  wrote  is  ut- 
terly unfit  for  perusal.  It  is  vile  without  any  ex- 
cuse for  it ; and  when  the  poet  was  banished  for  trea- 
son, although  without  any  sufficient  cause,  and 
obliged  to  linger  out  life  in  vain  supplications  for 
pardon,  it  is  hard  to  pity  him.  He  wrote  much,  and 
in  a literary  point  of  view,  most  admirably. 

The  poets  belonging  to  the  Silver  Age  are  not 
worthy  of  very  extended  notice.  The  fables  of  Plise- 
drus  made  the  Romans  acquainted  with  vEsop.  He 
was  a translator  and  hardly  more.  Being  the  son 
of  a Thracian  slave,  he  may  be  supposed  to  have 
been  familiar  with  them  from  childhood.  Two  of 
these  Silver  poets,  Persius  and  Juvenal,  rank  as 
satirists.  The  former  was  born  about  thirty-four 
years  before  Christ,  and  the  latter  about  forty  years 
after.  They  were  both  stoical  in  their  sympathies 
and  tendencies.  Lucan,  who  was  a cotemporary  of 
Juvenal,  wrote  some  fine  passages.  They  are  mostly 
to  be  found  in  his  Pharsalia,  a work  in  which  Cae- 
sar and  Pompey,  Cato  and  Brutus,  are  held  up  to 
the  admiration  of  hero-worshipers.  Martial  was  a 
Spanish  Roman.  II  is  native  city  in  Spain  was  giv- 
en full  rights  and  privileges,  which  made  him  a 


Q) 


LATIN  CLASSICS.  163 


Roman  before  the  law.  He  was  the  laureate,  one 
might  justly  say,  of  the  Emperors  Titus  and  Domi- 
tian,  the  latter  of  whom  made  some  literary  preten- 
tions, but  without  much  reason.  His  Epigrams, 
twelve  hundred  in  all,  are  essentially  satirical  com- 
positions. They  present  a frightful  picture  of  so- 
cial demoralization. 

We  pass  now  to  the  prose  literature  of  the  Latin 
language.  Here  too  we  find  an  almost  abject  ser- 
vility to  Greek  genius,  and  nothing  at  all  approach- 
ing  the  highest  Attic  attainments.  Cicero  is  the 
first  name.  All  who  went  before  him  either  perish- 
ed or  deserved  no  better  fate.  Cicero  was  a close 
student  of  the  Greek  models.  Something  less  than 
Demosthenes  in  oratory,  he  had  a far  wider  range 
of  thought. 

He  wrote  much 
upon  ethical 
subjects  and 
was  a Stoic  in 
his  professions. 

All  his  works 
abound  in  slurs 
upon  the  pres- 
ent life,  and 
exhortations  to 
exchange  the 
known  for  the 
unknown.  It 
is  hard  to  rec- 
oncile his  actual  life  of  gorgeous  luxury  with 
a philosophy  of  self-denial  and  positive  contempt 
of  the  world.  Herein  he  occupies  the  same 
position  as  Seneca.  Both  were  men  of  the  most 
extravagant  habits.  They  talked  like  Anchorites, 
and  lived  like  Sybarites.  They  contributed  noth- 
ing to  the  new  ideas  of  the  world.  They  elabor- 
ated the  views  of  Zeno,  and  preached  with 
tedious  fullness  a doctrine  of  self  negation, 
sharply  contrasting  with  their  lives.  Cicero 
was  about  two  generations  before  Christ,  and 
Seneca  nearly  that  after  him.  They  illustrate 
the  hollowness  of  Roman  stoicism.  Seneca  was 
nothing  to  the  world  except  an  ethical  writer,  but 
Cicero  has  left  us  orations  of  such  grandeur  that 
all  subsequent  orators  owe  a vast  debt  to  him.  He 
was  a great  statesman,  a senator  of  whom  any  age 
or  land  might  be  proud.  Profoundly  learned  and 
varied  in  his  attainments,  he  was  the  Gladstone  of 


his  day,  only  instead  of  making  Homer  a specialty, 
he  delighted  in  setting  forth  the  beauties  of  an  ideal 
life  foreign  to  his  own  experience.  N ot  that  he  was 
a very  bad  man.  On  the  contrary,  he  was,  for  his 
times,  an  unusually  good  man.  But  by  his  mode  of 
living,  he  gave  the  sneer  to  his  theory  of  life.  Epic- 
tetus, who  was  several  centuries  later,  and  Marcus 
Aurelius,  who  ruled  the  empire,  discoursed  in  much 
the  same  way  as  Cicero  and  Seneca  did  about  the 
vanity  of  life,  and  the  uncertainty  of  living  after 
death ; but  they  seem  to  have  been  consistent  and 
sincere.  The  orations  of  Cicero  now  extant  are 
forty-nine  in  number,  some  of  them  incomplete,  but 
all  of  them  highly  valuable.  Of  his  rhetorical 
works,  his  dialogues  on  the  Orator,  and  his  essay  on 

the  Division 
of  Oratory,  are 
most  esteemed. 
His  style  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the 
very  perfection 
of  Latin  prose. 
His  numerous 
extant  epistles 
are  mainly  val- 
uable for  the 
light  which 
they  throw  up- 
on the  history 
of  his  times. 

The  first  of  the  historians  in  point  of  time  was 
Sallust,  a Sabine,  born  in  B.  C.  85.  A Plebeian  by 
birth,  he  rose  to  eminence  in  politics,  and  secured 
the  appointment  of  Governor  of  Numidia,  where 
he  accumulated  a vast  fortune,  returning  to  Rome 
for  its  enjoyment.  Surrounded  by  all  the  luxuries 
of  ill-gotten  gain,  he  wrote  his  history  of  the  con- 
spiracy of  Cataline  and  of  the  war  against  Jugur- 
tha,  relieving  the  dryness  of  his  narrative  with 
moral  reflections  upon  the  degeneracy  of  the 
times.  After  him  came  Cornelius  Nepos,  a friend 
of  Cicero,  whose  voluminous  writings  are  all  lost 
except  his  “ Lives  of  Eminent  Generals.”  He 
seems  to  have  been  a faithful  chronicler.  The  most 
eminent  of  all  Romans,  Julius  Ctesar,  was  a his- 
torian. His  writings  are  history  now,  but  they  re- 
late to  events  with  which  he  had  to  do — “ all  of 
which  I saw  and  part  of  which  I was.”  Ilis  writ- 
ings preserve  to  us  a record  of  the  wars  he  waged, 


Lucretius.  Seneca.  Tacitus. 


lL. 


164 


LATIN  CLASSICS. 


and  describe  tlie  people  he  conquered.  His  style  is 
simple,  and  his  descriptive  powers  very  great. 
Marvelous  as  was  his  genius  for  war  and  politics, 
he  well  deserves  immortality  as  an  author  also. 
His  “Commentaries”  possess  incalculable  worth, 
apart  from  the  glories  of  Caesar  in  other  fields  of 
effort.  Livy  was  a greater  historian  than  even  Caesar 
or  Sallust,  and  if  second  to  Tacitus,  he  has  been  well 
called  the  prose  Homer  of  Rome.  Born  in  B.  C. 
59,  at  Padua,  he  found  the  empire  established,  and 
sought  to  preserve  its  history  from  its  inception  to 
its  imperial  perfection.  He  wrote  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  chapters,  of  which  only  thirty-five  are 
now  extant.  The  first  ten  which  survive  carry  the 
history  from  the  arrival  of  vEneas  in  Italy  to  the 
year  B.  C.  293,  a few  years  prior  to  the  war  with 
Pyrrhus.  There  is,  then,  a loss  of  ten  chapters,  or 
books.  The  account  recommences  with  the  second 
Punic  war,  B.  C.  218.  What  remains  is  mostly  de- 
voted to  that  second  Punic  war.  He  accepted 
myths  and  legends  as  veritable  history.  It  must  be 
conceded  that  his  work  is  more  valuable  for  pre- 
senting what  the  Romans  supposed  to  be  true  of 
their  ancestors,  than  for  telling  the  actual  truth, 
and  in  this  respect  he  was  much  like  Herodotus. 

The  greatest  historian  of  antiquity,  Greek  or 
Roman,  was  Tacitus,  born  in  A.  D.  54.  He  had  been 
Procurator  .of  Belgic  Gaul,  and  we  are  indebted  to 
him  for  a great  deal  of  information  about  the 
manners  of  the  Germans  in  those  days.  Much  that 
he  wrote  has  been  lost.  A mode)  of  brief  and 
philosophical  biography,  is  his  life  of  his  father-in- 
law,  Agricola.  He  was  a master  of  terse  and  com- 
prehensive expressions.  Suetonius,  some  twenty 
years  later,  wrote  a very  interesting  series  of  biog- 
raphies, simple,  precise,  and  correct.  His  subjects 
were  the  first  twelve  Caesars, from  J ulius  to  Domitian. 

Pliny  is  another  familiar  and  illustrious  name  in 
Latin  literature.  There  were  two  eminent  men  of 
the  name.  Pliny  the  Elder  was  a naturalist.  His 
history  of  men  and  peoples  was  less  remarkable 
that  that  unequaled  monument  of  studious  dili- 


gence and  persevering  industry,  “ Natural  History.” 
The  work  abounds  in  absurd  stories.  He  was  not  so 
much  a critical  observer  of  nature  as  a painstaking 
collector  of  prevailing  notions.  He  was  a victim 
of  the  first  eruption  of  Mt.  V esuvius.  His  nephew, 
Pliny  the  Younger,  wrote  “ The  Panegyric  of  the 
Trojan,”  and  his  books,  or  chapters  of  letters,  are  all 
valuable  for  their  pictures  of  the  manners  and  modes 
of  thought  of  that  period.  He  was  born  in  A.  D. 
61.  He  had  for  a teacher  in  rhetoric  the  great 
Quintilian  (also  a Spanish  Roman)  who  survived 
his  pupil  eight  years,  dying  in  Rome  in  A.  D.  118, 
at  the  age  of  seventy.  Quintilian’s  “ Institutes  of 
Oratory  ” is  a complete  treatise  on  the  art  of  com- 
position. He  was  a perfect  master  of  the  art  which  he 
taught,  and  his  observations  on  style  fairly  entitle 
him  to  the  supreme  post  of  honor  among  the  rheto- 
ricians of  all  times  and  languages. 

We  cannot  dismiss  this  subject  without  alluding 
to  the  one  branch  of  literature  which  owes  more  to 
Rome  than  to  Greece,  and  that  is,  law.  It  was  in 
the  appreciation  of  jurisprudence  as  a science,  that 
the  intellect  of  Rome  showed  its  greatest  originality. 
Servile  in  copying  from  Greece  in  most  domains  of 
pure  reason,  it  marked  out  a path  of  its  own  in 
legal  literature.  It  was  not  until  a comparatively 
late  date,  the  reign  of  Justinian,  that  the  scattered 
parts  were  gathered  into  one  digest ; but  the  mate- 
rial itself  was  gradually  accumulating  in  the  form 
of  legal  opinions  through  centuries.  By  a process 
of  growth  almost  imperceptible,  the  raw  material 
of  legal  literature,  as  it  exists  to-day,  was  accumula- 
ted in  the  files  of  the  Roman  courts.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  Latin  literature  of  which  the  Ro- 
mans might  be  so  justly  proud  as  the  gradual  accre- 
tions of  legal  lore  in  the. Eternal  City,  which  were 
finally  digested  and  systematized  as  the  Pandicts,  a 
work  prepared  and  promulgated  by  the  order  of  the 
Emperor  Justinian  in  the  sixth  century  after 
Christ,  but  which  in  its  essence  and  highest  merits 
must  be  considered  as  the  contribution  of  the  Latin 
classics  to  legal  literature. 


<TTV..T-T..TJT3T..T- 


(i65) 


THE  EMPERORS  FROM  V 'AUGUSTUS  TO  ALARIC 


'T'y / /■  / /■  ^ 


AVINGr  seen  the  neph- 
ew of  the  great  Caesar 
reap  for  himself  the 
harvest  of  imperialism, 
enjoying  the  honors 
and  prerogatives  of  ab- 
solute authority,  as  re- 
newed by  popular  and 
senatorial  delegation,  from  time  to 
time  until  the  public  became  ac- 
customed to  the  one-man  rule, 
we  come  now  to  trace  the  path  of 
empire. 

The  Rome  which  would  not  follow 
out  the  suggestion  of  Mark  Antony 
to  crown  the  most  illustrious  Julius, 
has  passed  away,  and  a generation 
has  come  which  accepted  the  mean  and  contempti- 
ble Tiberius  as  a matter  of  course.  He  was  the 
successor,  but  not  the  son,  of  Augustus.  Not  one 
drop  of  the  blood  of  the  Caesars  coursed  in  his  veins, 
being  simply  the  son  of  the  Empress  by  a former 
marriage.  It  was  known  that  the  senile  Emperor 
had  adopted  him  as  his  son  (having  none  living  of 
his  own)  and  that  was  enough.  Tiberius  wore  the 
imperial  purple  without  having  his  right  challenged. 
By  virtue  of  the  tribunieian  power  with  which  he 


had  been  invested,  he  summoned  the  Senate  at  the 
death  of  Augustus,  and  his  right  to  the  office  of  Im- 
perator  was  conceded.  Augustus  and  Julius  were 
both  accorded  divine  honors,  and  henceforth  the 
apotheosis  of  the  dead  emperors  became  a recog- 
nized institution  of  the  state.  Soon  all  disguises 
were  thrown  off,  Tiberius  accepting  the  homage  as 
well  as  the  subserviency  of  the  senate  and  the  peo- 
ple, all  fear  of  another  Brutus  being  dismissed.  For 
twenty-three  years  he  ruled  the  empire,  a morose, 
bad  man,  without  a single  redeeming  feature,  bad  at 
the  start  and  constantly  sinking  deeper  in  the  mire 
of  infamy;  making  all  about  him  unhappy,  yet  too 
feeble  to  seriously  disturb  the 
general  thrift  of  the  empire. 

Tiberius  was  succeeded  by 
a scion  of  the  proud  Clo- 
dian  family,  Caius  Caesar, 
or  Caligula,  as  he  is  usu- 
ally called.  He  was  a prom- 
ising youth,  and  much 
was  expected  of  him,  but  he 
proved  even  worse  than  Tibe- 
rius. Insanity  seized  him, 
and  the  monstrous  freaks  of 
his  cruel  craze  made  him  an  object  of  detestation. 
Wild  and  incredible  stories  are  told  of  his  madness. 


Caligula. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

The  Path  of  Empire— Tiberius  C^sar— Caligula  and  Nero — Rome  in  the  Days  of  Nero — 
The  Siege  of  Jerusalem— From  Vespasian  to  Trajan — Hadrian— The  Forum— Marcus 
Aurelius— The  Age  of  the  Antonines — Ulpian  the  Lawyer— Diocletian — Constantine 
and  ContantinOple — Julian  the  Apostate — Weakness  and  Dissension — Theodosius  and 
the  Permanent  Division  of  the  Empire — Greek  and  Roman  Churches — Last  Days  of 
Imperial  Rome. 


7t 


o 


■v 


— 4**- 


1 66 


THE  EMPERORS  FROM  AUGUSTUS  TO  ALARIC. 


some 
ruler, 
the 


common  sense, 
dying  in  A.  D. 


son  of  his  latest 
son  was  the  famous 


But  the  general  public  hardly  felt  the  weight  of  his 
despotic  hand.  His  prodigality  was  prodigious,  and 
his  personal  habits  revolting.  After  five  years  of 
infamy  he  was  assassinated,  not  like  Caesar,  for  politi- 

ical  reasons,  but  in  re- 
venge for  private  wrong 
and  insult.  For  a short 
time  it  looked  as  if  the 
republic  might  be  re- 
stored ; but  the  reac- 
tionary party  was  dis- 
tracted by  dissensions, 
and  soon  Claudius, 
uncle  of  Caligula,  a 
weak-minded  old  man, 
was  raised  to  the  throne. 
Hardly  up  to  the  stand- 
ard of  mediocrity,  he 
yet  had  the  merit  of 
and  made  a very  good 
54.  To  him  succeeded 
consort,  Agripina.  This 
Nero,  the  pupil  of  Seneca; 
a young  man  of  whom 
much  good  was  expect- 
ed, but  who  proved  the 
proverbial  type  of  tyr- 
anny. This  emperor 
killed  his  own  mother, 
and  was  accused  of  set- 
ing  fire  to  Rome  for 
the  excitement  of  wit- 
nessing the  conflagra- 
tion. Under  him  be- 
gan the  persecution  of 
the  Christians.  Having  reigned  wisely  and  mod- 
erately for  five  years,  his  character  seemed  to  under- 
go a radical  and  detestable  change,  and  at  the  age 
of  thirty  he  died,  having  been  on  the  throne  four- 
teen years,  during  which  time  he  succeeded  in  effect- 
ually obliterating  all  the  honors  he  had  Avon  in  the 
early  years  of  his  reign.  Among  the  victims  of  his 
murderous  malice  Avas  his  tutor,  Seneca.  Such  a 
life  Avas  fitly  terminated  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin, 
his  atrocities  being  unbearable  by  those  Avitliin  the 
circle  of  his  immediate  influence.  That  Avas  in 
A.  D.  68. 

Nero  died  childless,  and  a recent  Avriter,  in  com- 
menting upon  the  situation  at  that  point,  observes : 


Nero. 


“ The  stock  of  Julii  refreshed  in  vain  by  grafts  from 
the  Octavii,  the  Claudii,  and  the  Homitii,  had  been 
reduced  to  a single  branch,  and  Avitli  Nero  the  adop- 
tive race  of  the  great  Dictator  was  extinguished. 
The  first  of  the  Caesars  had  married  four  times,  the 
second  thrice,  the  third  tAvice,  the  fourth  thrice  also, 
the  fifth  six  times,  and  the  sixth  thrice.  Of  these 
repeated  unions  a large  number  had  borne  offspring, 
yet  no  descendants  of  any  had  survived.  A few  had 
reached  old  age,  many  had  reached  maturity,  some 
were  cut  off  by  early  sickness,  the  end  of  others  Avas 
premature  and  mysterious ; but  of  the  Avhole  num- 
ber a large  proportion  Avere  undoubted  victims  of 
political  jealousy.  Such  was  the  price  paid  by  the 
usurper’s  family  for  their  splendid  inheritance  ; but 
the  people  accepted  it  in  exchange  for  internal 
troubles  and  promiscuous  bloodshed ; and  though 
many  of  the  higher  classes  of  citizens  had  become 
the  victims  of  Caesarian  tyranny,  yet  order  and 
prosperity  had  reigned  generally  throughout  the  em- 
pire ; the  Avorld  had  enjoyed  a breathing-time  of  a 
lmndred  years  before  the  next  outbreak  of  civil  dis- 
cord which  is  uoav  to  be  related.  ‘ The  secret  of 
the  empire,’  namely,  that  a prince  could  be  created 
elseAvhere  than  at  Rome,  Avas  now  fatally  discovered, 
and  from  this  time  the  succession  of  the  Roman 
princes  Avas  most  commonly  effected  by  the  distant 
legions,  and  seldom  Avithout  violence  and  slaughter.” 

The  first  of  these  strictly  military  emperors  Avas 
Galba,  Avho  Avas  proclaimed  Imperator  by  the  army 
in  Spain.  He  Avas  someAvhat  parsimonious,  and  did 
not  suit  the  praetorian  guards,  Avho  caused  his  as- 
sassination. Otho  succeeded  him  for  a short  time, 
when  the  legions  of  the  Rhine  insisted  upon  mak- 
ing Yitellius  emperor,  and  the  Syrian  army  named 
Vespasian.  It  looked  as  if  anarchy  had  been  inau- 
gurated, and  the  end  of  the  empire  Avas  near.  But 
Vespasian  succeeded  in  firmly  establishing  himself, 
and  transmitting  the  crown  to  his  son  Titus.  It 
was  Avhile  the  father 'was  emperor,  that  the  son  laid 
siege  to  Jerusalem,  and  after  a terrible  resistance, 
effected  its  destruction.  The  hero-worship  which 
had  grown  up  and  become  a part  of  the  very  con- 
stitution of  the  empire  Avas  not  seriously  opposed 
by  any  except  the  JeAVS  and  the  Christians.  Mono- 
theism suav  in  the  deification  of  the  dead  emperors, 
not  a form  of  loyalty  to  the  government,  but  a hor- 
rible sacrilege.  This  made  Jews  and  Christians, 
then  hardly  distinguishable,  a “ peculiar  people  ” in 


71 


J 


THE  EMPERORS  FROM  AUGUSTUS  TO  ALARIC. 


a very  unfortunate  sense,  for  they  were  constantly 
suspected  of  treason.  The  secular  Romans,  to  whom 
all  religion  was  an  empty  form,  could  not  under- 
stand the  conscientious  scruples  of  these  Monothe- 
ists. That  was  one  of  the  most  memorable  sieges 
ever  known.  The  heroic  resistance  of  the  be- 
leagured  city  was  sublime  and  awful.  Confidently 
expecting  deliverance  from  Jehovah,  non-Chris- 


sian,  and  the  last  of  the  Flavii.  With  all  his  faults 
and  bigotry,  Domitian  was  a beneficent  ruler  for  the 
empire  at  large.  When  the  dagger  of  a freedman 
laid  him  in  the  dust,  the  old  senatorial  party,  so 
long  in  the  background,  reasserted  itself,  placing 
a venerable  senator,  Nerva,  upon  the  throne.  Lit- 
tle more  than  a year  elapsed,  when  death  claimed 
him,  and  a new  period  began. 


ROMAN  FORUM  RESTORED. 

1.  Temple  of  Jupiter.  4.  Regia.  7,  8,  9.  Temples  of  Saturn,  of  11.  Statue  of  Domitian. 

2.  Basilica  Julia.  5.  Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux.  Vespasian,  of  Concord.  12.  Rostra. 

3.  Temple  of  Vesta.  6.  Tabularium.  10.  Column  of  Phocas.  13.  Arch  of  S.  Severus. 

14.  Basilicai.  15.  Temple  of  Antonius  and  Faustina. 


tian  Jews  did  not  hesitate  to  seek  shelter  within  the 
walls,  while  the  Christians,  as  confidently  looking 
for  the  second  coming  of  Jesus,  were  bold  in  the 
defiance  of  temporal  power.  The  dispersion  of  the 
one  and  the  repeated  persecution  of  the  other  fol- 
lowed, and  that  not  simply  from  monsters  of  the 
Neronean  type,  but  from  emperors  of  good  in- 
tentions, including  Vespasian. Titus,  and  the  Anto- 
nines. 

The  accession  of  Vespasian  to  the  throne  was 
the  elevation  of  a thoroughly  plebeian  family,  the 
Flavii,  to  the  royalty.  The  founder  of  this  dynasty 
had  a long  and  honorable  reign,  his  immediate  suc- 
cessor a brief  and  no  less  honorable  one,  followed 
by  the  bloody  Domitian,  the  second  son  of  Vespa- 


Trajan  succeeded  to  the  throne  apparently  be 
cause  all  recognized  his  con- 
spicuous fitness  for  the  grave 
duties  of  the  imperial  pur- 
ple. His  long  reign  was 
rendered  glorious  by  the 
immense  extension  of  the 
empire  in  every  direction. 

There  had  been  a gradual 
growth  in  area  ever  since 
the  supremacy  of  Rome 
had  become  an  established 
fact,  but  more  especially 
under  Trajan,  who  was 
succeeded  by  a relative,  Hadrian.  This  noble  enr- 


21 


Q_ 


168 


THE  EMPERORS  FROM  AUGUSTUS  TO  ALARIC. 


peror  had  more  genius  for  government  than  any  ruler 
since  Julius  Caesar.  Under  him  much  was  done  to 
civilize  the  ruder  “portions  of  the  empire  ; Hadrian 
being  alike  equal  to  military  and  civil  emergencies. 
Toward  the  close  of  his  reign,  Hadrian  chose  as  his 
associate  (for  it  was  the  custom  then  and  afterwards 
to  choose  an  assistant  emperor)  T.  Aurelius  Anto- 
ninus, a man  of  mature  age  and  most  exemplary 
character. 

The  Forum  at  Rome  corresponded  with  the  Agora 
at  Athens.  It  was  an  open  space  surrounded  by 
public  buildings,  and  devoted  to  business.  It  was 
at  once  a market-place  and  a court  of  justice.  All 
kinds  of  transactions  centered  there.  The  climate 
admitted  of  such  an  open-air  system.  The  Forum 
had  to  be  enlarged  several  times  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  public,  but  the  cut  given  on  the  pre- 
ceding page  represents  the  Forum  as  it  was  when  the 
empire  was  at  its  best.  It  may  be  added  that  as 
American  towns  frequently  have  squares  around 
which  business  centers,  so  the  Italian  towns  gener- 
ally had  their  forums,  sustaining  substantially  the 
same  relation  to  them  that  the  great  Forum  did  to 
Rome. 

At  the  death  of  Hadrian,  to  return  to  the  emper- 
ors, Antoninus  associated  with  himself  in  the  gov- 
ernment a near  relative,  known  in  history  as  Marcus 

Aurelius.  “ The  an- 
cient world,”  it  has 
been  truly  remarked, 
“perhaps  the  modern 
world,  has  never  enjoy- 
ed a period  of  more 
unbroken  felicity,  than 
that  which  glided  tran- 
quilly from  Vespasian 
to  Marcus  Aurelius.  ” 
This  is  called  the  “ Age 
Antonines.  ” 
the 

persecutions  of  that 
age,  and  the  wars  necessary  to  maintain  and  extend 
the  empire,  the  condition  of  mankind,  as  a whole,  was 
eminently  prosperous.  It  extended  over  a period 
of  about  one  hundred  years.  The  Antonines  were 
philosophers  in  the  very  best  sense  of  the  term ; 
broad-minded,  high-souled  and  conscientious.  The 
latest  of  them  was  a writer  of  ethical  precepts, 
whose  essays  are  still  admired  by  all  lovers  of  good 


Marcus  Aurelias. 


of  the 
N otwithstanding 
of 


Alexander  Severus. 


morals.  The  Antonines  did  much  to  raise  the  pub- 
lic standard  of  right,  and  give  an  impetus  to  higher 
morality. 

With  the  death  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  A.  D.  180,  a 
new  and  calamitous  era  began.  His  son  Conmo- 
dus,  was  a vile  wretch,  early  assassinated,  and  fol- 
lowed, at  brief  intervals,  by  several  emperors  of  the 
Nero  and  Caligula  type,  whose  names  are  not  enti- 
tled to  even  the  honor  of  mention.  About  the 
year  220,  Alex- 
ander, better 
known  as  Sev- 
erus, came  to 
the  throne.  He 
was  amiable  and 
honorable  if  not 
great.  He  it  was 
who  placed  at 
the  head  of  af- 
fairs, in  point  of 
fact,  Ulpian,  a 
man  pre-emi- 
nent in  Roman 
jurisprudence. 

His  rule  of  thirteen  years  was  of  incalculable  ben- 
efit, not  alone  or  mainly  to  the  empire  of  his  day, 
but  to  the  science  of  law.  Under  the  genius  of  Ul- 
pian, justice  became  indeed  a science,  if  such  it 
had  not  become  prior  to  that  time. 

While  engaged  in  a military  expedition  upon  the 
Rhine,  Severus  was  slain  in  a mutiny  instituted  by 
an  officer  named  Maximus,  a rude  Thracian  peasant, 
of  superb  physique.  The  soldiers  were  captivated 
by  the  personal  prowess  of  this  Thracian,  and 
named  him  emperor.  Then  followed  another  series 
of  swiftly  rising  and  falling  emperors,  having  no 
just  claim  to  the  sovereignty,  and  no  fixed  tenure  of 
office.  For  fifty  years  the  empire  was  on  the  verge 
of  anarchy.  During  that  time,  the  barbaric  hordes, 
the  Persians  on  the  East  and  the  Goths  in  the 
West,  seriously  menaced  the  very  existence  of  the 
empire.  But  the  hour  of  doom  had  not  come. 
Diocletian  was  raised  to  the  throne  in  A.  D.  284, 
and  his  accession  marked  a new  era  in  the  empire, 
entering  then  upon  what  may  be  called  its  oriental 
phase.  The  very  name  of  Consul  ceased  to  be  used. 
Having  completed  the  degradation  of  the  old  rul- 
ing class  at  Rome,  and  succeeded  in  readjusting  the 
empire  on  a strictly  autocratic  plan,  he  vol- 


.. 


k. 


THE  EMPERORS  FROM  AUGUSTUS  TO  ALARIC. 


169 


untarily  abdicated,  and  spent  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life  in  elegant  retire- 
ment. His  chief  associate  in 
power  was  Maximian,  whom  he 
compelled  to  abdicate  also, 
leaving  the  government  to  Ga- 
lerius  in  the  East,  and  C011- 
stantius  in  the  West.  The  for- 
mer, Diocletian’s  favorite  son- 
in-law,  was  allowed  to  name  the 
associate  of  both  himself  and 
Constantius,  and  he  chose  for 

Diocletian.  his  OW11 

associate  his  nephew,  Daza, 
and  for  Constantius  one 
Flavius  Servius.  The  real 
choice  of  Constantius  was 
his  own  son  Constantine  of 
Christian  memory.  At  that 
time  Constantius  Avas  in  Brit- 
ain, and  there  he  died  not 
long  after. 

The  ambitious  son  boldly 
assumed  the  office  of  his 
father,  having  already  Avon  a 
brilliant  record  as  a soldier, 
and  evinced  remarkable  sa- 
gacity. Constantine  did  not 
press  his  claims  at  once,  but 
was  content  to  exercise  the 
functions  of  a subordinate 
officer,  busied  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  affairs  in  the 
extreme  Nortlnvest.  Declared  Emperor  at  York  in 
A.  D.  306,  it  Avas  not  until  several  years  later  that 
he  openly  asserted  his  claim.  By  that  time  Chris- 
tianity had  made  tremendous  strides,  and  had  a 
vast  number  of  converts.  Constantine  Avas  totally 
devoid  of  religious  scruples  or  convictions,  but  he 
had  the  Avisdom  to  avow  himself  a champion  of  the 
Christian  church.  That  rallied  to  his  standard 
multitudes  of  enthusiastic  supporters  in  all  parts  of 
the  empire,  especially  in  the  East,  Avliere  he  Avas  in 
most  need  of  allies.  His  army  had  the  enthusiasm 
of  religious  zealots,  and  they  fought  Avith  a heroism 
Avhich  Avas  irresistible.  Several  battles  were  neces- 
sary to  the  decision  of  the  issue  betAveen  the  rival 
Caesars.  The  last  battle  Avas  fought  at  the  Melvian 
bridge,  only  three  miles  from  Rome.  Constantine 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT. 


had  already  issued  the  Decree  of  Milan,  giving  im- 
perial license  for  the  first  time,  to  Christianity,  and 
avowing  himself  a believer  in  its  doctrines.  Enter- 
ing Rome  in  triumph,  he  became,  A.  D.  312,  the 
first  Christian  sovereign  of  the  world.  He  had  pre- 
tended to  see  Avhile  marching  through  Gaul  a vision 
of  the  cross  in  the  heavens,  inscribed  with  the  le- 
gend, “ By  this  sign  conquer.”  But  the  capture  of 
Rome  Avas  not  the  subjugation  of  the  entire  Roman 
Empire  by  any  means,  and  it  was  not  until  323  that 
the  great  battle  between  paganism  and  Christianity 
Avas  fought.  Two  mighty  armies  met,  one  under 
Constantine  appealing  to 
the  Christian’s  God  for  suc- 
cor, the  other  under  Lu- 
cenius  exhorted  to  remember 
that  the  gods  of  Olympus 
Avere  many  against  only  one, 
and  he  “ the  Prince  of  Peace.” 
The  defeat  of  the  pagans 
Avas  an  utter  rout  and  the 
shattered  host  sought  refuge 
in  the  fortress  of  Byzantium, 
from  which  they  were  soon 
driven.  At  last  the  surrender 
Avas  unconditional,  and  Con- 
stantine found  himself  sole 
emperor  of  the  entire  Ro- 
man Empire. 

In  personal  character  this 
man  Avas  utterly  detestable, 
but  he  certainly  had  great 
genius,  and  in  nothing  did 
he  shoAv  this  more  plainly  than  in  transferring 
his  capital  from  Rome  to  Byzantium,  Avhich  he 
changed  to  Constantinople,  and  reconstructed 
upon  a scale  worthy  the  imperial  center  of  the 
Avorld.  Like  a second  Romulus,  “ he  builded 
better  than  he  kncAv.”  He  required  the  nobles  to 
erect  there  lofty  palaces.  Gibbon  says,  in  comment- 
ing upon  this  subject,  “ The  city  and  senate  of  Rome 
remained  as  before,  Avhile  those  of  Constantinople 
Avere  endued  Avith  co-ordinate  honor  and  authority, 
and  enjoyed,  moreover,  all  the  advantage  of  the  im- 
perial presence.  Two  capitals  could  not,  indeed, 
exist  on  equal  terms  Avithin  the  same  sphere.  Rome 
sank  immediately  into  a provincial  metropolis,  such 
as  Alexandria,  Antioch,  or  Treves;  Constantino- 
ple became  the  mistress  of  the  world  and  succeeded  to 


<5  ry 


1 


1 70 


THE  EMPERORS  FROM  AUGUSTUS  TO  ALARIC. 


Koine’s  proudest  title — the  designation  of  ‘ The  City.’ 

‘•The  reign  of  Constantine  lasted  to  the  year  337, 
untroubled  by  civil  dissensions,  and  prosperous  in 
the  conduct  of  affairs  on  every  frontier  of  the  em- 
pire. The  historians  commemorate  the  settlement 
of  the  finances  on  a new  basis,  which  rendered  them 
more  elastic,  and  gave,  perhaps,  considerable  relief 
to  the  reviving  industry  of  the  general  populations. 
The  interior,  at  least,  of  the  provinces  remained 
undisturbed  by  war.  Letters  revived;  humanity 
extended  her  conquests.”  Constantine  bequeathed 


new  religion.  The  endless  and  fierce  doctrinal 
controversies  in  the  church  had  disgusted  him. 
Plato  and  Aristotle  seemed  grander  to  him  than 
Arius  and  Athanasius.  An  enthusiast,  he  hoped  to 
restore  the  old  paganism,  modified  by  philosophy, 
deeming  it  far  preferable  to  Christianity,  and  striv- 
ing earnestly  to  undo  what  his  uncle  had  done,  but 
to  no  purpose. 

Perhaps  Julian  might  .have  changed  the  whole 
current  of  European  events,  from  a religious  point 
of  view,  had  he  lived  to  old  age ; but  he  died 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


his  empire  to  his  son  Constantins.  It  was  indeed 
Roman,  but  it  had  been  thoroughly  reconstructed, 
and  the  capital  itself  had  been  changed.  The  son 
was  an  absurd  stickler  for  ceremony,  and  all  the 
circumstances  of  royalty.  He  visited  Rome,  but 
affected  indifference  to  its  grandeur.  The  father 
had,  in  the  fiendishness  of  his  character,  and  with 
a Neronean  ferocity,  put  to  death  nearly  all  of  his 
own  family.  This  favorite  son  had  a brief  and  un- 
eventful reign,  followed  by  the  accession  of  his 
cousin  Julian,  familiarly,  but  unjustly,  known  as 
the  “ Apostate.”  Julian  had  been  educated  a 
Christian,  but  upon  arriving  at  the  age  of  dis- 
cretion, he  preferred  the  old  philosophy  to  the 


early,  and  no  Elisha  took  up  his  mantle.  This 
Julius  had  no  Oc- 
tavius. He  fell  in 
battle  with  the  Per- 
sians, who  had  al- 
ways maintained 
their  independence 
if  not  their  impor- 
tance, and  who  were 
threatening  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  em- 
pire. His  death  was 
entirely  disconnect- 
ed with  his  paganism,  but  occasioned  a great  deal 


Julian. 


& 


THE  EMPERORS  FROM  AUGUSTUS  TO  ALARIC. 


171 


of  legendary  invention.  It  was  reported  that  he 
exclaimed  in  dying,  “ Thou  hast  conquered,  0 
Galilean ! ” Of  course  this  was  pure  fiction, 
but  it  none  the  less  suggested  the  real  fact  in 
the  case.  Henceforth  paganism  was  utterly  dead, 
and  no  important  attempt  was  ever  again  made 
to  revive  it.  The  soldiers  had  made  no  objec- 
tion to  Julian’s  religion,  nor  did  they  seem  to  care 
anything  about  it,  one  way  or  the  other,  for  when 
the  next  emperor,  Jovian,  restored  the  ensign  of  the 
cross,  they  were  indifferent.  His  reign  was  also 
soon  over.  In  less  than  a year  he  died,  and  the  of- 
ficers of  state  who  were  with  him  (for  Jovian  was 
still  absent  from  the  capital  on  the  military  cam- 
paign begun  by  Julian)  put  Valentinian,  a good 
soldier  but  no  scholar,  upon  the  throne.  This  em- 
peror soon  returned  to  Constantinople,  abandoning 
the  provinces  beyond  the  Tigris.  Appreciating  the  un- 
wieldy magnitude  of  the  empire,  he  made  his  broth- 
er Valeus  his  associate,  assigning  him  to  the  East. 

The  successor  of  Valentinian  was  his  son  Gra- 
tian,  who  soon  associated  with  him  in  the  govern- 
ment his  younger  brother,  Valentinian  II.  He  re- 
sided himself  in  Treves  or  Paris,  and  the  youthful 
brother  emperor  at  Milan.  Rome,  as  a city,  was 
practically  abandoned  by  the  successors  of  the 
Caesars  long  before  it  fell  a prey  to  the  Gothic  and 
Vandal  hordes.  The  brothers  were  both  very  weak 
and  inefficient.  Gratian  put  himself  under  the 
protection  of  Alaric  the  Goth,  but  was  finally  assas- 
sinated by  Maximus,  who  had  been  declared  emperor 
by  the  legions  in  Britain.  Valentinian  would  have 
been  served  the  same  way,  probably,  had  not  Theo- 
dosius of  Constantinople  shielded  him  from  harm, 
and  secured  him  in  the  possession  of  the  middle 
portion  of  the  old  empire.  Thus,  in  A.  D.  383,  the 
Roman  empire  had  three  emperors,  and  was  ruled 
by  a triumvirate  again,  something  as  it  was  during 
the  days  of  Octavius,  Antony  and  Lepidus,  four 
centuries  earlier,  when  imperialism  was  in  the  throes 
of  birth.  Soon  there  was  war  between  the  three 
emperors,  resulting  in  making  Theodosius  absolute 
master  of  the  entire  empire.  At  his  death,  he 


made  what  proved  to  be  the  permanent  division  of 
the  empire  into  Eastern  and  Western,  putting  one 
of  his  own  sons  at  the  head  of  each  empire. 

From  this  time  on,  we  have,  as  now,  the  Roman 
and  the  Greek  churches.  I11  395,  this  important 
division  was  made.  Without  following  up  the  sub- 
ject ecclesiastically,  it  is  important  to  note  that  the 
division  of  the  church  was  the  work  of  an  emperor, 
rather  than  the  result  of  theological  schism.  It  fol- 
lowed in  the  path  of  politics,  and  may  be  put  down 
as  a political  necessity. 

With  the  dawn  of  the  fifth  century,  the  very  last 
stage  of  Roman  imperialism  is  reached.  The  North- 
ern horde  had  devastated  Greece,  and  turned  cov- 
etous eyes  upon  Italy.  Ravenna  was  then  the 
capital.  The  military  genius  of  Stilicho  repulsed 
them  with  terrible  slaughter,  but  he  died  in  A.  D. 
408,  leaving  the  emperor  Honorius  at  the  mercy  of 
the  still  undismayed  barbarian.  The  indomitable 
Alaric  marched  into  Italy,  and  leaving  the  emperor 
at  Ravenna,  made  straight  for  Rome.  He  wanted 
spoils,  and  knew  the  old  city  was  the  seat  of  wealth, 
if  not  of  empire.  Rome  was  powerless,  and  Ra- 
venna rendered  no  assistance.  The  barbarian  en- 
tered the  city,  wrought  his  pleasure,  and  retired  from 
it  after  twelve  days  of  sack.  That  was  in  A.  D.  409. 

Alaric  as  a Christian  resjiected  the  churches,  and 
those  who  sought  refuge  within  them  were  spared, 
but  the  sack  was  complete.  The  Rome  of  antiquity 
had  fallen,  and  although  the  new  capital  was  not 
disturbed,  the  western  empire  itself  crumbled,  and 
disappeared  in  the  night  of  the  Dark  Ages. 

But  before  entering  upon  that  period  and  phase 
of  the  world’s  history,  or  even  following  fur- 
ther the  trail  of  events  in  Italy  from  Romulus  to 
date,  it  will  be  necessary  to  pause  over  a collateral 
branch  of  Roman  history,  for  the  rise  and  fall  of 
the  empire,  distinctively,  was  only  a part  of  the 
greatness  of  Rome.  A more  potential  influence 
than  imperialism  began  its  manifestations  within 
the  empire  during  the  first  emperor’s  reign,  and 
from  an  obscure  beginning  developed  into  that  vast 
entity  called  Christendom. 


•*y 


172 


PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY. 


o 


|llllllhtHlllllllllilM&^i?l!.lil(llllltultlf>lhl] 


tegsiig 


HE  history  of  Rome  would 
be  inexcusably  defective  if 
special  prominence  were 
not  given  to  Christianity  in 
its  primitive  stage.  That 
period  of  ecclesiastical  de- 
velopment belonged  to  the 
empire  of  the  Caesars.  The  found- 
er of  the  religion  which  now  pre- 
vails over  Europe  and  America  was 
a subject  of  Rome,  and  the  dis- 
tinctively primitive  period  of  our 
faith  was  entirely  Roman.  By  her 
conquests,  her  roads,  and  her  gene- 
ral unification  of  many  peoples,  the 
Queen  City  of  the  world  prepared 
the  way  for  the  propagandists  of 
the  faith.  To  contemporary  eyes, 
the  religion  of  the  despised  and  crucified  Nazarene 
was  a mere  trifle ; hut  in  the  light  of  subsequent 
events,  it  is  clothed  with  incalculable  importance, 
outranking  in  vital  force  and  molding  power  every 
other  feature  of  Roman  history.  In  its  career  is 
justified  the  prediction,  “ The  stone  which  the  build- 
ers rejected,  the  same  lias  become  the  head  of  the 
corner,”  and  that,  too,  whether  the  Romans  or  the 
Jews  be  considered  as  the  “ builders.” 

The  Jews  were  almost  unknown  to  the  civilized 
world  of  olden  times,  and  their  religion  was  confined 


to  the  narrow  tract  of  land  called  Palestine,  their 
nationality  becoming  a great  factor  only  after  the 
past  had  begun  to  merge  into  and  give  place  to  the 
present.  The  chief  claim,  however,  of  the  Hebrews 
to  pre-eminence,  is  the  production,  humanly  speak- 
ing, of  Christianity.  It  is  proposed  to  consider 
tliis  mighty  system  of  worship  in  its  early  stage,  as 
a separate  entity,  and  that  without  doctrinal  bias,  in 
a purely  historical  spirit.  The  fact  that  the  birth 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the  time  from  which  all 
civilized  modern  nations  compute  dates,  is  a fitting 
testimony  to  the  significance  of  his  supreme  person- 
ality. Born  of  lowly  parents,  there  could  have  been 
no  more  improbable  suggestion  made  during  his 
lifetime,  even  when  he  was  most  prosperous,  than 
that  he  would  prove  to  be  the  most  notable  char- 
acter in  all  history,  but  that  such  is  the  fact,  is'  in- 
dubitable. 

The  four  biographies  of  Jesus  (for  such  the  Gos- 
pels really  are)  agree  in  representing  the  founder  of 
Christianity  as  a teacher  of  certain  fundamental 
principles,  and  not  as  either  an  organizer  or  sys- 
tematizer.  Tie  formed  no  church,  formulated  no 
creed.  Content  to  teach  practical  truths,  his  aim 
as  a teacher  was  to  fill  the  heart  of  man  with  gen- 
tleness, and  banish  from  it  impure  thoughts.  His 
ideal  was  essentially  original  and  new,  so  far  as  the 
great  world  of  the  Roman  empire  was  concerned. 
In  his  own  native  Palestine  was  a small  sect  called 


(T73) 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


Rome  and  Christ — The  Jews  and  Jesus — The  Fundamental  Truths — First  Churches — St. 
Paul  and  the  Primitive  Fathers — Virtues  and  Faith  of  the  Early  Church — Pagan 
and  Christian  Persecutions  Compared — Flexibility  of  Christianity — The  Catacombs — 
The  Primitive  Fathers — Nicene  Creed. 


PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY. 

7^7  V 


Tier 


•*y  k 


:74 


PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY. 


Essenes,  by  whom  were  practiced  the  virtues  and 
graces  exemplified  and  advocated  by  Jesus  Christ. 
That  sect  may  have  derived  its  doctrines  from  the 
few  Jews  who  had  wandered  into  India,  and  learned 
the  wisdom  of  the  Cliristlike  Chrisna.  However 
that  may  be,  the  Christian  religion  as  it  was  started 
by  Jesus,  and  further  promulgated  by  Paul,  was  a 
fresh  element  in  human  society.  The  old  mytholo- 
gies were  almost  dead.  Men  of  education  held  all 
Olympus  in  contempt,  and  philosophy  was  no  long- 
er the  satisfaction  of  spiritual  longings.  Some- 
thing radically  unlike  either  would  naturally  meet 
with  favor. 

The  preaching  of  Jesus  was  indeed  brief.  At 
the  age  of  thirty  he  abandoned  his  trade  as  a car- 
penter, and  devoted  himself  to  the  life  of  an  itin- 
erant preacher,  and  healer  of  diseases.  Less  than 
three  years  later,  his  body  was  nailed  to  the  cross, 
his  public  career  ended.  During  that  time  he  visit- 
ed many  places  in  his  native  land,  and  created  a 
great  sensation,  but  his  influence  did  not  extend  be- 
yond Canaan.  To  all  appearances,  he  had  entered 
upon  a strictly  provincial  career.  His  most  inti- 
mate associates,  the  disciples,  and  the  devoted 
women  who  revered  him  the  most,  had  no  concep- 
tion of  his  real  mission. 

The  church  at  Jerusalem  was  the  oldest  of  all 
the  churches,  but  could  hardly  be  called  the  mother 
church.  In  the  earliest  days  of  Christianity,  very 
soon  after  the  crucifixion,  there  were  eight  churches. 
The  one  at  Jerusalem  was  a commune,  each  mem- 
ber pooling  his  property,  and  having  all  things  in 
common.  The  other  prominent  and  somewhat  later 
churches  were  those  at  Antioch,  Ephesus,  Smyrna, 
Athens,  Corinth,  Rome  and  Alexandria. 

For  the  most  part,  these  churches  attest  the  zeal 
and  broad  views  of  Paul.  That  great  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  as  he  is  called,  conceived  the  idea  of  mak- 
ing the  doctrines  and  personality  of  Jesus  the  foun- 
dation of  a world-wide  religion ; one  which  should 
supersede  Judaism  and  paganism.  It  was  a lofty 
thought,  and  the  most  stupendous  undertaking  that 
ever  engaged  the  efforts  of  man.  The  success  which 
attended  the  preaching  of  Christianity  on  the  Paul- 
ine plan,  must  ever  stand  in  history  as  a more  far- 
reaching  and  exalted  triumph  of  genius  than  any 
of  the  conquests  of  the  world  by  arms.  Mohammed 
was  a sword-bearer,  and  his  caliphs  were  men  of 
war,  but  Jesus,  Paul,  and  all  the  propagandists  of 


primitive  Christianity,  were  men  of  peace.  Perse- 
cuted and  maligned,  they  won  their  way  by  moral 
force,  and  when  at  last  Constantine  acknowledged 
the  Christian  religion  as  the  state  religion,  he  sim- 
ply gave  official  recognition  of  the  fact  that,  de- 
spite every  obstacle,  the  new  faith  had  conquered, 
the  empire  being  more  Christian  than  Pagan.  The 
converts  were  mainly  from  the  middle  and  lower 
classes,  but  included  many  of  the  nobility,  and  a 
large  element  of  learning. 

The  primitive  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  church 
was  maintained  for  the  first  two  centuries,  when  the 
prevalence  of  the  faith  changed  somewhat  in  its 
character.  Angry  disputes  and  immorality  gained 
ground.  Pious  frauds  and  forgery  were  practiced. 
In  their  zeal  to  substantiate  their  peculiar  views, 
disputants  would  often  interpolate  passages  into  the 
Testament,  and  even  palm  off  spurious  writings  as 
sacred.  A great  deal  of  stress  was  laid  upon  the 
supposed  near  approach  of  the  end  of  the  world. 
The  earth  was  very  soon  to  be  burnt  up,  and  the 
wildest  theories  of  impending  ruin  were  entertain- 
ed. The  prophesied  near  approach  of  the  end  of 
the  Jewish  dispensation,  and  the  establishment  of 
the  Christian  religion,  were  interpreted  to  mean  the 
literal  destruction  of  the  globe,  at  least  of  all 
physical  life  upon  it.  It  may  be  remarked  that 
that  millenarian  delusion  has  been  the  prolific  pa- 
rent of  fanaticism,  almost  from  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era. 

We  sometimes  hear  of  the  ten  persecutions  of 
the  Christians  by  the  Pagan  emperors.  There  were 
at  most  only  five,  and  these  were  slight,  as  com- 
pared with  the  Inquisition  and  kindred  persecutions 
of  Christians  by  Christians.  In  a strictly  religious 
point  of  view,  polytheism  was  tolerant,  but  there 
were  religious  rites  and  ceremonies  blended  with 
political  institutions,  as  previously  explained,  which 
rendered  the  monotheistic  scruples  of  Jews  and 
Christians  treasonable,  in  the  light  of  Roman  law. 
But  “those  light  afflictions”  were  like  a little  water 
thrown  upon  a great  flame,  stimulating  rather  than 
quenching  the  zeal  of  the  believers.  “ The  blood 
of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church  ” was  writ- 
ten by  Tertullian,  during  the  days  of  pagan 
supremacy,  and  was  true  of  those  light  persecutions. 
Many  a primitive  Christian  was  obliged  to  contrib- 
ute, however,  to  the  brutal  pleasure  of  a Roman 
multitude,  gathered  at  the  amphitheatre  to  witness 


PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY.  I 7 5 


a contest  between  wild  beasts  and  men.  The  train- 
ed and  professional  gladiators  were  often  killed  in 
the  fierce  combat,  and  the  untrained  Christians 
were  almost  always  slain.  Sometimes  women  and 
even  children  were  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts  for  the 
delectation  of  a bloodthirsty  populace.  But  the 
persecutions  in  later  times,  except  in  Germany,  Hol- 
land and  Great  Britain,  were  so  severe  as  to  prevent 
the  spread  of  opinions  and  sentiments  opposed  to 
the  ruling  church.  Protestantism  was  burnt  out  of 
Italy,  France  and  Spain,  with  a persistence  and  ve- 
hemence in  persecution  finding  no  parallel  in  the 
history  of  primitive  Christianity.  One  general 
characteristic  of 
Christi  anity, 
which  very  ear- 
ly manifested 
itself,  deserves 
observation; 
namely,  its  a- 
daptability.  No 
other  religion 
can  at  all  com- 
pare with  it  in 
this  regard. 

There  are  ten 
religions  within 
the  scope  of  his- 
tory, including 
the  agnosticism 
of  Confucius. 

All  except  Christianity  are  local,  or,  as  in  the  case 
of  Judaism,  strictly  national.  When  Greece  and 
Rome  developed  in  philosophy,  outgrowing  the 
crude  myths  of  their  ancestors,  their  religion  re- 
mained stationary.  The  world  moved  on  and  left 
Olympus  behind.  Brahminism,  Buddhism,  and  Is- 
lamism,  each  is  substantially  the  same,  always  and 
everywhere,  resembling  the  man  who  should  wear 
the  same  clothing  in  all  seasons  and  latitudes.  Chris- 
tianity has  the  elasticity  which  admits  of  and  in- 
vites growth,  while  it  defies  outgrowth.  There  is 
absolutely  no  limit  to  its  range  of  thought.  The 
world  has  undergone  many  changes  since  its  birth, 
hut  to  every  phase  of  human  development  it  has 
accommodated  itself.  It  thus  gives  promise  of  a 
permanence,  which  is  not  the  fixity  of  the  rock, 
but  the  gradual,  sure,  and  persistent  growth  of  the 
century  plant.  The  progress  of  civilization  demands 


frequent  and  radical  changes,  which  must  be  met  in 
disregard  of  precedents  and  prejudice,  and  it  is 
ability  to  meet  these  demands  that  gives  to  Chris- 
tianity the  promise  of  universal  spiritual  empire. 
This  adaptability  enabled  the  primitive  church  to 
conquer  the  empire,  survive  the  Dark  Ages,  and 
conform  to  the  conditions  of  vitality  peculiar  to  its 
ever-varying  environment. 

A peculiarly  interesting  feature  of  primitive 
Christianity  was  the  catacombs  of  Rome.  The 
Roman  method  of  disposing  of  dead  bodies  was  to 
burn  the  corpse.  Cremation  was  almost  universal 
in  the  Eternal  City,  and  quite  general  throughout 

the  empire.  But 
the  early  Chris- 
tians were  op- 
posed to  destroy- 
ing the  body, 
whether  by  fire 
or  other  means. 
They  looked  for 
a literal  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body, 
and  that  in  the 
nearfuture.  The 
catacombs  were 
vast  subterra- 
nean chambers 
which  were  used 
as  receptacles  of 
the  bodies  of  be- 
lievers in  those  primitive  days.  Many  legends  are  told 
of  the  church  of  the  catacombs  which  lack  historical 
verification.  It  is  probable  that  those  underground 
rooms  were  the  quarries  from  which  building  material 
for  the  city  had  been  taken  from  time  immemorial. 
Their  use  for  the  purposes  of  Christian  burial  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  first  utilization  of  the  space. 
The  earliest  mention  of  the  catacombs  was  in  the 
reign  of  Nero.  Sometimes  the  persecuted  church  took 
refuge  in  the  catacombs.  Many  inscriptions  attest 
the  piety  of  the  early  fathers.  The  symbols  carved 
on  the  stones  also  bear  testimony  to  the  religious 
character  of  the  place.  No  doubt  the  original 
quarries  were  greatly  enlarged  under  the  Christian 
influence  and  usage,  and  the  catacombs  are  sup- 
posed to  have  reached  their  maximum  dimensions  in 
the  fifth  century. 

The  first  age  of  the  Christian  church  is  called  the 


RUINS  OF  THE  COLISEUM,  ROME. 


i. 


<S" 


22 


PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY. 


Apostolic  age.  That  period  extended  from  the 
crucifixion  of  Jesus  to  the  death  of  St.  John,  or  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  The  overthrow  of  that 
city  had  a powerful  influence  upon  the  church. 
Armenia  was  the  first  country  in  which  Christianity 
was  established  as  the  national  religion.  Wherever 
there  were  Hebrews  dispersed,  the  religion  of  Christ 
early  found  some  adherents. 

Of  the  primitive  fathers  of  note,  the  first  was  Ig- 
natius, bishop  of  Antioch,  where  the  believers  were 
first  called  Christians.  He  died  a martyr  under 
Trajan.  Justin  Martyr 
was  an  eminent  writer. 

He  was  beheaded  under 
Marcus  Aurelius  in  the 
seventy-fifth  year  of  his 
age.  Another  martyr  for 
the  same  period,  Polycarp, 
deserves  mention  as  the 
special  friend  and  spirit- 
ual son  of  John  the  Evan- 
gelist. Irenaeus,  of  Lyons, 
was  a skillful  theologian. 

He  wrote  much  against 
gnosticism.  He  was  mar- 
tyred at  the  beginning  of 
the  third  century.  Next 
in  point  of  time,  and 
superior  to  all  who  have  been  named  in  ability  and 
influence,  was  Tertullian,  a native  of  Carthage.  A 
lawyer  by  profession,  he  brought  to  Christianity  a 
mind  well  trained  for  discussion.  Origen,  of  Alex- 
andria, was  a learned  teacher  of  the  faith,  and  the 
author  of  some  eminent  treatises  on  religious  sub- 
jects. But  the  greatest  of  all  the  Christian  fathers 


was  Augustine.  A Numidian  by  birth,  he  may  justly 
be  called  the  great  light  of  the  Western  church. 
His  writings  were  very  voluminous,  and  he  may 
be  said  to  have  formulated  the  doctrines  of  the 
church.  His  powerful  logic  was  directed  against 
Pelagianism,  and  every  form  of  heresy  then  extant. 
Pelagius  believed  in  free  will,  while  Augustine  was 
a stout  defender  of  the  doctrine  of  man’s  moral 
inability  and  absolute  dependence  upon  God.  John 
Calvin  was  simply  a later  edition  of  Augustine. 
Besides  these  eminent  fathers  there  were  two  of 

renown,  Jerome 


great 


CATACOMBS  OF  ROME. 


and  Chrysostom.  The 
former  was  a learned 
scholar  whose  crowning 
work  was  the  translation 
of  the  Bible  into  Latin. 
His  version  of  the  sacred 
volume  is  called  the  Vul- 
gate. Chrysostom  was  re- 
markable for  his  eloquence 
as  a preacher.  He  was 
the  great  orator  of  the 
early  church. 

Two  conspicuous  names 
in  this  connection  are 
Athanasius,  bishop  of 
Alexandria,  and  Arius.  Of 
both  we  have  heard  something  already.  The  for 
mer  maintained  the  divinity  of  Christ  and  the  trini- 
ty of  the  Godhead,  while  the  latter  was  a Unitarian. 
The  Nicene  creed,  which  is  substantially  held  by 
nearly  all  Christendom,  is  an  embodiment  of  the 
views  not  only  of  Athanasius,  but  of  nearly  the 
entire  primitive  church. 


1 


\ HOLmiBLEM  1 
^m^m!  j| 


THE  PAPACY 


CHRISTIANITY 


I Til  the  fall  of  the  West- 
ern Empire  Rome  seem- 
ed to  disappear  forever. 

Indeed  it  had  long  be- 
fore ceased  to  be  a real  pow- 
er in  the  world,  being  lit- 
tle else  than  a city  of  lux- 
ury and  reminiscence.  But 
it  was  destined  to  a second  greatness,  a su- 
premacy more  potent  and  absolute  than 
imperialism  had  ever  known  or  conceiv- 
ed. The  Vatican  at  Rome  is  to-day  the 
capital  of  a mighty  empire,  no  less  real 
because  spiritual. 

In  following  the  city  of  Romulus  from 
its  foundation  to  the  stage  in  history  now 
reached,  it  has  been  necessary  to  traverse  a wide 
range  of  inquiry.  Primitive  Christianity  was  a part 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  springing  up  within  it,  and 
being  greatly  facilitated  in  its  dissemination  and 
growth  by  the  mechanism  of  universal  empire  which 
centered  in  Rome.  But  primitive  Christianity  gave 
no  special  prominence  to  Rome  itself.  Jerusalem 
was  the  spiritual  capital  in  those  days  of  the  Chris- 
tian church.  When,  however,  the  Roman  Empire 
and  Jerusalem  both  lay  in  ruins,  the  miter  of  the 


Roman  pontiff  usurped  the  place  of  the  scepter  and 
the  high  priest,  and  to  both  the  imperial  purple  and 
the  holy  sepulcher  succeeded  the  surplice.  In  trac- 
ing the  history  of  Italy  we  shall  see  much  of  the 
popes  and  the  papacy ; but  without  anticipating  the 
next  chapter,  it  may  be  well  to  consider  the  Church 
of  Rome  as  a distinct  factor  in  the  world,  and  in 
this  same  connection  glance  at  the  Modern  Church, 
without  anticipating  the  great  reformatory  events 
yet  to  be  noted. 

When  the  Northern  invaders  poured  into  Italy, 
they  found  the  Christian  priesthood  a powerful 
body,  a tremendously  influential  power  in  the  society 
of  the  entire  empire ; but  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Roman  See  maybe  called  the  “section  of  imperial- 
ism ” subsequently  saved  from  the  general  wreck. 
The  Church  of  Rome  was  greedy  for  land,  and  ear- 
ly acquired  vast  territorial  possessions.  Its  lust  of 
power  was  a slower,  but  more  momentous  growth. 
After  every  vestige  of  sovereignty  over  Europe  had 
been  torn  from  Rome  as  a political  capital,  the 
priesthood  undertook  the  establishment  of  an  em- 
pire more  despotic  than  the  world  had  ever  seen, 
and  succeeded  in  its  establishment.  The  popes,  as 
we  shall  presently  see,  acquired  an  ascendancy  over 
Europe  more  absolute  and  remarkable  than  the 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


The  Second  Rome — Spiritual  Empire — The  Medieval  Priesthood — Church  and  State — The 
Church  and  Learning — The  Early  Popes — Rome  and  Theology — Leo  the  Great — Greg- 
ory the  Great — The  Temporal  Power  or  the  Popes — The  Decretals  and  Donation— 
The  Guelpiis — Papal  Corruption  and  the  Reformation — Protestantism  in  Italy — The 
Mystics — The  Inquisition — The  Jesuits — The  Dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception — 
Philip  Schaff  on  the  Church  of  Rome — Present  Pope  and  the  Vatican — Spiritual 
Divisions  of  Christendom — Modern  Missions — A Reflection. 


f 


■V  a 


s 


© 


i 


ol 

V 


THE  PAPACY  AND  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY. 


rule  of  the  Caesars.  The  papacy  cannot  be  attrib- 
uted to  any  one  man,  but  was  the  slow  growth  of 
centuries,  accelerated  by  an  occasional  genius  for 
organization,  but  mainly  due  to  impersonal  causes. 

The  medieval  age  was  the  golden  age  of  supersti- 
tion. It  has  been  said  that  the  ninth  century  was 
the  age  of  the  bishops  ; the  tenth  and  eleventh,  of  the 
popes ; but  all  those  dark  centuries,  from  Alaric  to 
Luther,  were  ruled  far  more  by  the  ecclesiastical 
than  the 
secular 
power.  It 
was  not 
the  union 
of  church 
and  state, 
but  the 
sovereign- 
ty of  the 
church 
over  the 
state.  In 
the  lan- 
guage o f 
Pope  In- 
nocent, 

“These 
two  bran- 
ch e s of 
power 
were  the 
sun  and 
m oon  ; ” 
the  church 

being  the  sun,  and  the  state,  or  crown,  being  merely 
the  moon.  The  thunders  of  Rome  were  heard  at  ev- 
ery court,  and  the  lightnings  of  the  pontificate  made 
the  sky  of  all  Europe  lurid  for  a thousand  years. 

The  church  was  not  an  unmitigated  evil,  how- 
ever, even  during  this  period.  If  it  was  autocratic,  it 
did  much  to  break  down  that  bulwark  of  autocracy, 
the  arrogance  of  birth.  The  priesthood,  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest,  was  open  to  all,  however  hum- 
ble, and  the  stable-boy’s  son  might  hold  the  keys  of 
St.  Peter.  There  was  something  higher  than  roy- 
alty, and  more  potent  than  the  blood  of  kings.  Grad- 
ually and  imperceptibly  this  idea  prepared  the  way 
for  democratic  ideas.  The  priests  were  the  allies  of 
kings,  it  is  true,  the  two  despotisms  being  drawn  to- 


gether by  a common  danger  and  a common  pur- 
pose ; but  unwittingly,  the  church  did  something  to 
undermine  the  monarchy. 

In  the  domain  of  learning  it  was  partly  good  and 
partly  bad.  The  priests  were  generally  far  from 
being  men  of  learning,  and  the  church  did  not  en- 
courage the  cause  of  education,  nevertheless,  it  is 
true  that  when  the  floods  of  ignorance  aud  devas- 
tation swept  over  all  Europe,  threatening  to  utterly 

destroy  the 
civiliza- 
tion of 
Athens, 
Alexan- 
dria and 
Rome,  the 
monaster- 
ies of  the 
continent 
served  a s 
the  ark 
wherein  to 
save  alive 
some  por- 
tion of  an- 
cient liter- 
ature. We 
have  al- 
ready seen 
that  much 
of  the  clas- 
sics have 
been  lost 
forever. 

Here  and  there  a studious  recluse  clung  to  Plato, 
Aristotle,  Homer,  Virgil,  Horace,  or  Cicero,  and  so 
the  destruction  was  not  complete.  The  church,  as  a 
body,  deserves  no  credit  for  the  preservation  of  an- 
cient literature,  but  fortunately  it  had  individual 
scholars  among  its  secluded  monks  and  privileged 
priests. 

The  term  Pope  means  father  (papa)  and  origin- 
ally was  by  no  means  peculiar  to  the  head  of  any 
particular  church.  It  came  gradually  to  be  claimed 
by  the  bishop  of  Rome  as  his  distinctive  appellation. 
There  have  been  260  Popes  of  Rome,  including  St. 
Peter  and  the  present  pontiff,  Leo  XIII.  The  early 
list  is  somewhat  uncertain.  It  is  doubtful  if  Peter 
was  ever  the  pastor  of  the  church  at  Rome,  although 


NICENE  COUNCIL. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY.  1 79 


he  is  supposed  to  have  suffered  martyrdom  there 
under  Nero.  His  pontificate  is  reckoned  by  the 
Romanists  from  A.  D.  42  to  67.  I11  the  authorized 

list  of  popes  all  are  called  saints  (with  one  excep- 
tion) until  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  and 
none  after  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
very  few  after  the  eighth.  However  undesigned 
this  may  be,  it  suggests  very  fairly  the  most  general 
fact  in  regard  to  the  subject,  namely,  that  in  the 
primitive  age  of  the  church  the  Roman  See  was 
purely  ecclesiastical,  if  not 
wholly  religious,  but  for  a 
thousand  years  it  has  been 
as  thoroughly  secular  as  any 
dynasty  could  be,  although 
using  the  weapons  of  the 
Spirit  largely  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  its  purposes.  Not 
that  all  the  popes  have  been 
bad,  but  that  papacy  has  for  a 
thousand  years  been  eager  for 
temporal  power.  And  to-day, 
shut  up  in  the  Vatican,  it  still 
dreams  of  secular  authority. 

In  the  controversies  between 
the  theologians  of  the  early 
church,  Rome  took  a lively 
interest,  and  to  its  especial 
championship  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  was  due  in  a 
very  large  measure  its  pre- 
eminence. It  came  to  be  the 
stronghold  of  orthodoxy,  al- 
though the  first  Christian  emperor  was  heret- 
ically  inclined.  Sylvester,  who  was  made  bishop 
of  Rome  in  314  and  held  the  office  twenty-two  years, 
was  the  first  Primate  of  all  the  Sees  of  Italy.  He 
was  raised  to  that  dignity  by  Constantine  and  the 
Nicene  Council  in  325.  He  was  in  effect  an  arch- 
bishop. The  thirty-sixth  pope,  Liberius,  was  de- 
posed and  banished  by  the  Arian  or  Unitarian  em- 
peror, Constantius.  He  was  a martyr  to  the  cor- 
ner-stone of  orthodoxy,  as  now  and  usually  held  at 
Rome  ; but,  singularly  inconsistent  as  it  may  seem, 
Liberius  was  also  the  first  in  the  list  of  popes  to 
whom  was  denied  canonization. 

The  first  pope  to  absolutely  claim  universal 
authority  over  Christendom,  was  Leo  the  Great,  in 
440.  He  was  a man  of  remarkable  genius  for  exec- 


utive matters.  He  claimed  the  primacy  of  the  uni- 
versal church,  or  of  the  Catholic  church,  on  the 
ground  that  Jesus  had  said,  “ Thou  art  Peter,  and 
upon  this  rock  will  I build  my  church.”  He  scouted 
the  corresponding  claim  of  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople. The  Roman  and  Greek  churches  from 
that  time  have  been  sharply  outlined  as  rival  and 
hostile  hierarchies.  Leo  aspired  to  rule  the  East, 
no  less  than  the  West.  His  followers  never  formal- 
ly renounced  the  claim,  but  practically  contented 
themselves  with  the  Western 
Empire.  Between  the  two 
great  divisions  of  Christendom 
there  has  not  been  any  very 
considerable  conflict,  territori- 
al boundaries  being  observed, 
except  in  a few  cases. 

Protestantism  and  Catholi- 
cism dispute  the  same  territory; 
but  the  Roman  and  the  Greek 
each  enjoys  a domain  apart 
from  the  other.  The  claims, 
therefore,  set  up  by  the  first 
Leo  led  to  no  such  conflict  as 
the  one  disputed  by  Luther 
during  the  pontificate  of  Leo 
X.,  the  most  memorable  of  all 
the  twelve  Leos.  The  West 
readily  accepted  the  claims  of 
Rome,  and  the  East  con- 
temptuously iguored  them  in 
favor  of  Constantinople. 

We  find  no  notable  pope 
from  Leo  until  the  accession  of  the  greatest  of  all 
popes,  Gregory,  whose  pontificate  dates  from  568 
to  604.  Those  were  troublous  times  in  Europe. 
No  great  ruler  sat  upon  any  throne,  and  Gregory 
seized  every  opportunity  to  magnify  his  office. 
He  extended  the  authority  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  to  Spain,  and  strengthened  it  throughout 
Europe,  as  a spiritual  sovereignty ; but  his 
great  work  was  the  elevation  of  the  host,  as 
it  might  be  called, — the  raising  of  ecclesiastical 
authority  above  thrones  and  sovereignties.  He  also 
took  care  to  strengthen  the  hold  of  the  church  by 
improving  the  ceremonials  and  worship.  Music  was 
cultivated,  and  it  might  be  said  to  have  given  to  the 
Roman  church  its  splendor  and  pomp,  the  peculiar- 
ities which  alike  inspire  awe  in  the  breast  of  a savage, 


i8o 


THE  PAPACY  AND  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY. 


7T 


and  please  the  aesthetic  taste  of  the  cultivated  wor- 
shiper. In  A.  D.  730,  the  title  of  Pope  was  changed 
from  Servus  Servorum,  Servant  of  Servants,  to  Dorni- 
nus,  or  Lord.  Gregory  II.  was  the  pope  who  received 
the  sword  of  Lutprand  in  recognition  of  this  new 
sovereignty.  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  corona- 
tion of  Charlemagne,  800,  that  the  papacy  received 
its  full  measure  of  jurisdiction.  The  Lombards  re- 
sisted the  popes,  but  Charles  the  Great  confirmed 
their  claims.  Leo  III.  was  the  pope  who  crowned 
that  greatest  of  medieval  sov- 
ereigns. The  temporal  au- 
thority of  the  popes  continued 
until  the  unification  of  Italy 
under  Victor  Emanuel. 

It  was  under  the  pontifi- 
cate of  Adrian  I.  that  the 
forged  documents  known  as 
the  Decretals  and  Donation 
were  devised,  which  have 
been  called  “ those  two  magic 
pillars  of  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  monarchy  of  the 
popes.  ” By  the  former, 
all  ecclesiastical  disputes, 
wherever  occurring,  were  to 
be  referred  to  the  bishop  of 
Rome  for  settlement,  and  by 
the  latter,  Constantine  (the 
supposed  author  of  the  first 
decree)  donated  to  the  pon- 
tiffs the  temporal  authority 
over  Rome,  Italy,  and  the 
Western  empire  generally. 

These  forgeries  would  not  have  been  perpetrated, 
had  there  not  been  the  densest  ignorance  among 
tire  people,  including  Charlemagne  himself,  and 
his  court ; also  a long  period  of  previous  arrogation 
of  nearly  that  much  authority.  That  those  docu- 
ments were  spurious,  admits  of  no  doubt  at  the 
present  time,  but  their  falsity  was  not  discovered 
until  long  after  their  promulgation.  Building  on 
that  false  foundation,  and  the  gradual  encroach- 
ments which  preceded  those  most  stupendous  of 
all  forgeries,  the  papacy  pursued  a career  of  arro- 
gance and  licentiousness,  of  treachery  and  vice. 

With  very  rare  exceptions,  the  popes,  for  a thou- 
sand years,  were  monsters  of  villainy,  and  eminent 
only  for  their  crimes.  They  were  the  heads  of  the 


Guelph  party,  and  filled  Italy  with  woe.  It  was  a 
desolating,  sickening  and  horrible  contest  for  tem- 
poral power  in  Italy,  with  some  diversions  in  favor 
of  superstition  in  general,  and  against  the  spirit  of 
Protestantism  in  particular,  especially  as  that  spirit 
found  expression  in  Italy.  There  were  some  mut- 
terings  of  the  coming  Reformation,  but  intrigues, 
plots  and  infamies  seemed  to  engage  the  almost 
undivided  attention  of  the  popes  down  to  the  time 
when  Martin  Luther  and  kindred  reformers  began 
their  stupendous  work,  when 
a new  era  in  papacy  was 
inaugurated. 

U util  the  eleventh  century, 
the  popes  were  elected  by  the 
clergy  and  the  people  of 
Rome,  but  for  eight  hundred 
years  the  college  of  cardinals 
has  had  the  authority,  a two- 
thirds  majority  being  nec- 
essary to  a choice.  There 
have  been  numerous  cases — 
nearly  twenty — of  sharp,  bit- 
ter and  protracted  contests, 
resulting  in  two  or  more  pre- 
lates claiming  the  tiara  at 
the  same  time. 

It  was  in  this  century, 
1073,  that  Hildebrand  was 
elected  pope,  taking  the  title 
of  Gregory  VII.,  under 
whom  was  waged  the  “War 
of  the  Investitures.”  By  the 
term  investiture  was  designa- 
ted the  ceremony  by  which  parish  priests  and 
other  clergy  were  clothed  with  the  functions  of 
their  sacred  office.  The  secular  authorities, 
especially  in  Germany  and  France,  insisted  upon 
the  right  to  invest  the  clergy,  while  the  pope  in- 
sisted that  such  investiture  belonged  within  the 
province  of  the  pontificate.  The  issue  thus  raised 
involved  the  relative  superiority  of  the  secular  and 
the  spiritual  authorities.  It  was  a question  of 
church  or  state.  Henry  III.  of  Germany  set  up 
a new  pope,  Gilbert  of  Ravenna;  but  Gregory  had 
the  alliance  of  Robert  of  Normandy,  and  was, 
withal,  a great  genius.  The  contest  was  still  in 
progress  when  Gregory  died,  1085.  The  question 
of  investiture  was  not  decided  until  1122,  when  a 


© - 

— -9  ip"  . 

G\ 

p 

THE  PAPACY  AND  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY.  l8l 

> 

compromise  was  effected — a compromise  which 

teenth  centuries.  They  constituted  at  once  the  best 

gave  the  lion’s  share  of  the  advantage  to  the  Papacy. 

and  the  worst  features  of  the  Romish  church.  To 

When  the  Protestant  Reformation  set  Europe 

the  serious,  monastic  life,  whether  recluse  or  med- 

ablaze  with  religious  ideas  hostile  to  the  Papacy,  Pope 

dicant,  afforded  special  incitements  to  purity,  while 

Leo  X.  found  himself  compelled  to  make  Italian 

to  the  hypocritical  it  offered  special  facilities  for  im- 

politics  secondary,  and  the  suppression  of  Protes- 

position  and  immorality.  Medieval  mysticism,  as 

tantism  primary.  From  that  time  to  date  the  spir- 

expressed  in  aKempis  and  others  of  his  class,  car- 

itual  empire  of  Rome  has  engaged  the  chief  atten- 

ried  spirituality  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  the  tern- 

tion  of  the  popes. 

pie  of  faith ; but  the  modern  church  has  had  its 

Since  the  Leo  who  fulminated  his  bull  against 

mystics,  from  Spener  and  Francke,  who  founded 

Luther,  none  of  the  popes  have  been  great  elements 

the  Halle  school  of  pietists  in  Germany,  to  Moody 

in  Italian  affairs.  They  clung  to  the  temporality 

and  Sankey  of  contemporary  fame. 

of  the  petty  Roman  state  with  great  tenacity,  but 

But  to  return  to  the  papacy,  we  find  in  the  Inqui- 

not  so  much  for  its  own  sake  as  from  fear  lest  its 

sition  a more  natural  development  of  liierarchal 

loss  should  prove  a fatal  blow  at  the  hierarchy 

ideas.  It  was  early  in  the  thirteenth  century  that 

itself. 

Innocent  III.  established  the  Inquisition,  but  it  was 

The  first  outcropping  of  Protestantism  was  in 

not  until  Protestantism  captured  Germany  and  Eng- 

1134,  when  Arnold  of  Brescia  entered  emphatic 

land,  and  seriously  threatened  Europe,  that  this  in- 

protest  against  papal  corruption.  The  Waldenses, 

strument  of  persecution  was  put  in  full  operation. 

disciples  of  Peter  Waldo,  of  Lyons,  date  from  1170, 

At  first  the  Inquisition  was  ' merely  a process  of  in- 

and  early  acquired  foothold  in  the  valleys  of  Pied- 

vestigation,  as  the  term  would  indicate,  but  it  grew 

mont.  Persecuted  and  maligned,  they  held  their 

into  an  institution  terrible  in  power  and  cunning  in 

own,  and  to-day  number  between  twenty  and  thirty 

device.  It  spread  to  every  country  where  the 

thousand  communicants.  They  constitute  almost 

authority  of  the  pope  of  Rome  was  recognized.  W ith 

the  entire  Protestant  force  of  Italy.  They  have 

its  auto-da-fe,  it  was  used  for  the  eradication  of  the 

sixteen  churches.  The  Albigenses  were  a similar 

Jews  from  Spain,  no  less  than  the  Protestants  from 

but  smaller  sect  of  Protestants  belonging  to  the 

the  face  of  the  earth.  In  proportion  as  the  papacy 

period  of  Waldo  and  his  immediate  followers.  Sa- 

was  strong  the  Inquisition  was  thorough.  Its  vie- 

vonarola,  who  preached  at  Florence  in  the  latter 

tims  were  millions  in  number.  Nothing  can  be  ad- 

part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  effected  the  downfall 

duced  in  its  extenuation  unless  it  be  the  fact  that 

of  the  Medici,-  the  ruling  family  in  that  part  of  It- 

the  inquisitor  was  often  sincere  in  his  merciless 

aly,  but  anti-Papacy  which  he  earnestly  proclaimed, 

bigotry. 

gained  no  permanent  and  general  foothold  in  the 

Jesuitism  sprang  from  the  same  soil  as  the  Inqui- 

immediate  national  vicinage,  as  it  might  be  called, 

sition,  but  it  can  boast  some  positive  good  and  some 

of  the  popes,  and  he  himself  died  the  death  of  a 

extenuating  virtues.  The  Society  of  Jesus  was 

martyr. 

founded  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  a Spaniard,  and  re- 

The  Mystics  were  deeply  spiritual  religious  enthu- 

ceived  pontifical  sanction  from  Pope  Paul  III.  in 

siasts,  whose  influence  dates  from  the  middle  of  the 

1540.  Originally  it  was  designed  to  be  an  order  of 

fourteenth  century,  and  who  were  not  at  all  contro- 

monks,  bound  to  the  ordinary  monastic  vows  of 

versial.  Thomas  a Kempis,  who  died  in  1471,  was 

chastity,  poverty  and  obedience ; but  the  second 

the  best  known  of  these  remarkable  men.  His 

vicar-general  of  the  order,  James  Laynez,  gave  to  it 

treatise  on  “ The  Imitation  of  Christ”  has  been 

its  present  and  historical  character,  a character 

translated  into  every  language,  and  is  the  expres- 

which  has  made  Jesuitical  a synonym  for  deceptive. 

sion  of  the  most  intense  piety.  Religious  recluses 

The  maintenance  of  the  papal  authority  against  any 

became  somewhat  common  at  an  early  day,  and 

and  all  adversaries  was  made  the  prime  object  of 

may  be  closely  identified  with  tlieFssenes  of  Judea, 

the  order,  under  the  motto,  “ The  end  justifies  the 

quite  fully  described  in  a previous  chapter;  but 

means.”  It  was  and  is  a secret  society  with  won- 

4 

monasticism  reached  its  climax  in  mendicant  orders 

derful  adaptation  to  the  exercise  of  influence.  By 

i 

v£) 

<3 

in  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  fifteenth  and  six- 

a subtle  process  of  insinuation  and  percolation,  as 

<b  ' 

] 


THE  PAPACY  AND  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY. 


if 

- r 


one  might  say,  the  Jesuits  gained  control  of  the 
reins  of  government,  the  institutions  of  learning, 
and  the  great  agencies  of  power  in  many  countries. 
From  being  a protector  of  Rome  the  order  grew  in- 
to a vast  and  dangerous  empire.  In  1773  a papal 
bull  was  promulgated  for  the  dissolution  of  the  en- 
tire order.  This  was  done  at  the  request  of  France, 
Spain,  Portugal,  Parma,  Naples  and  Austria.  The 


self-sacrifice  of  the  order  in  carrying  the  gospel  to 
the  heathen,  especially  in  America.  Jesuit  missions 
did  much  to  Christianize  the  aborigines  of  this  con- 
tinent, more  particularly  in  South  America  and  on 
the  Pacific  coast ; also  to  establish  pioneer  churches 
in  many  parts  of  the  far  Orient. 

It  was  in  1854  that  the  Immaculate  Conception  of 
the  Virgin  Mary  was  proclaimed  as  a divine  dogma, 


order  could  only  exist  as  a recognized  institution  in 
Russia,  thanks  to  the  sufferance  of  Catharine  II. 
For  several  years  the  society  seemed  powerless,  if 
not  dead.  But  after  the  terrible  upheaval  of  the 
French  Revolution  and  the  Napoleonic  wars,  the 
Jesuits  were  looked  upon  with  more  favor,  and  in 
1814  the  order  was  re-established  in  its  original  form 
by  a papal  bull.  Since  then  Jesuitism  has  been  less 
arrogant  than  formerly,  but  to  its  influence  in  large 
measure  may  be  attributed  the  “Syllabus  of  Error” 
and  the  dogma  of  Papal  Infallibility.  The  latest 
blow  at  the  Jesuits  was  struck  by  the  Republic  of 
France  in  the  secularization  of  French  education. 
The  chief  credit  and  boast  of  Jesuitism  is  the  heroic 


and  the  Vatican  Council  of  1870  declared  the  pope 
to  be  “ the  infallible  bishop  of  bishops.'"  In  the 
year  1804  the  pope  issued  the  “ Syllabus  of  Errors,” 
a general  bull  against,  or  condemnation  of,  modern 
civilization,  including  scientific  thought  and  relig- 
ious freedom. 

Speaking  of  the  worship  and  ceremonies  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  the  learned  Philip  Schaff  observes : 
“The  Roman  church  accompanies  its  members  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave,  receiving  them  into  life  by 
baptism,  dismissing  them  into  the  other  world  by 
extreme  unction,  and  consecrating  all  their  impor- 
tant acts  by  the  sacramental  mysteries  and  bless- 
ings. It  draws  all  the  fine  arts  into  its  service. 


V 


Q 

^ 0 

] 

THE  PAPACY  AND  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY.  183 

Gothic  cathedrals,  altars,  crucifixes,  Madonnas,  pic- 

Speaking  of  modern  missions.  Dr.  Hurst  says : 

tures,  statues  and  relics  of  saints,  rich  decorations. 

“ The  gospel  was  first  preached  in  Madagascar  by 

solemn  processions,  operatic  music, — all  combine  to 

missionaries  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  in 

lend  their  great  attractions  for  the  common  people, 

1818.  Their  labors,  joined  chiefly  to  those  of  the 

and  for  cultured  persons  of  prevailing  aesthetic 

Church  and  Friends’  Societies,  have  resulted  in  the 

tastes,  especially  among  the  Latin  races.  Catholic 

overthrow  of  idolatry.  The  Queen  and  her  govern- 

service  is  the  same  all  over  the  world,  even  in  lan- 

ment  accept  Christianity ; and  from  the  capital,  by 

guage,  the  Latin  being  its  sacred  organ,  and  the 

contributions  of  converted  Malagasy  natives,  mis- 

vernacular  being  only  used  for  sermons  which  are 

sionaries  have  been  sent  to  unconverted  tribes  in 

subordinate.  Its  throne  is  the  altar.  It  centers  in 

distant  parts  of  the  island.  In  1820  the  American 

the  mass,  a communion  service,  which  is  regarded 

Board  began  a mission  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and 

as  a real  though  unbloody  repetition  or  continua- 

in  less  than  half  a century  of  earnest,  persistent 

tion  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ  on  the  Cross.” 

work  a nation  was  redeemed  from  barbarism. 

The  present  pope  of  Rome,  Leo  XIII.,  is  said  to 

Where  there  used  to  be  only  savages  there  are  now 

be  seriously  considering  the  propriety  of  removing 

Christians,  who  not  only  support  their  own  churches 

his  residence  from  the  Vatican  at  Rome  to  some 

but  send  missionaries  to  other  islands.  Wesleyan 

other  spot.  Several  places  have  been  suggested  as 

missionaries  introduced  Christianity  into  the  Fiji 

eligible  capitals  for  the  great  hierarchy,  Malta  es- 

Islands  in  1835.  The  Fijians  were  a most  savage 

pecially ; but  there  is  no  immediate  prospect  of  a 

and  degraded  people,  whose  horrible  cannibalistic 

change.  The  Vatican,  which  embraces  St.  Peter’s, 

feasts  made  their  very  name  a terror.  Christianity, 

is  the  grandest  achievement  of  all  architecture. 

as  preached  by  the  missionaries  of  the  Wesleyan, 

There  are  said  to  be  11,422  rooms  in  it,  not  count- 

London,  and  one  or  two  other  societies,  have  ef- 

ing  mere  closets. 

fected  a wonderful  change  among  these  cannibals. 

All  the  churches  not  belonging  to  the  Roman  or 

They  have  given  up  their  old  practices,  and  become 

Greek  communion  are  Protestants,  except  a few 

a Christian  nation.  Churches  and  schools  succeed 

remnants  of  the  apostolic  churches  in  Asia,  the 

the  bures  or  temples ; family  worship  is  general ; 

Armenian,  the  Nestorian,  the  Jacobite,  and  the  still 

marriage  is  sacred ; the  Sabbath  is  observed ; and 

less  important  remnants  in  Egypt  and  Abyssinia. 

law  and  order  reign.  Many  thousands  are  commu- 

The  Eastern  churches,  including  the  Greek,  num- 

nicants  in  the  churches,  and  devoted  Fijians  go  to 

ber  over  80,000,000 ; Protestant,  something  more 

distant  islands  as  missionaries  and  teachers.  Some 

than  120,000,000 ; Roman  Catholic,  about  200,- 

of  them  have  recently  fallen  victims  to  the  canni- 

000,000 ; making  the  grand  total  of  Christendom 

bals  of  New  Britain.  Before  1812  there  were  no  11a- 

over  400,000,000. 

tive  Christians  in  Polynesia.  Now  there  are  no  less 

After  the  evangelization  of  Europe  the  Christian 

than  340,000,  of  whom  08,000  are  communicants.” 

world  seemed  indifferent  to  the  further  propagation 

The  aggregate  membership  of  mission  churches 

of  the  faith,  until  late  in  the  seventeenth  century, 

in  1879  was  575,480. 

when  there  was  an  awakening  to  “ newness  of  life.” 

Thus  we  have  as  the  supreme  phenomenon  of 

The  Dutch  exerted  themselves  for  Java  and  Cey- 

the  world,  the  most  notable  feature  of  all  historv, 

Ion,  the  Danes  for  India,  Xavier  and  fellow-Catho- 

the  religion  founded  by  a Roman  subject,  one  who 

lies  for  Japan,  America  and  Africa.  Very  great 

never  opposed  imperialism,  but,  on  the  contrary,  ad- 

progress  was  made  apparently  toward  Christianiz- 

vised  the  paying  of  tribute  to  Caesar,  and  general 

ing  the  pagan  world,  but  the  seed  sown  resulted  in 

conformity  to  temporal  authority.  Out  of  the  Ro- 

meager  harvests  in  permanent  effects.  The  evan- 

man  empire,  but  not  at  all  as  a result  of  Roman 

gelized  portions  of  India,  China  and  Japan  are 

civilization,  came  a power  which  not  only  gave  a 

traceable  to  missionary  labors  belonging  to  the  nine- 

second  birth  to  Rome  itself,  but  a new  impulse  and 

teenth  century. 

character  to  all  nations  and  peoples. 

J 

msKJwmh ( f /vp>> 

k 

. & 

Q 

V 

23 

^ — * 

"y  ' 

*S<  <2. 


The  Youngest  Nation — The  Lombards — Italy  in  the  Dark  Ages — The  Free  Cities — The 
Chief  Glory  of  Medieval  Italy — Modern  Italy — Victor  Emanual  and  Italian  Unity 
— Pio  Nino — Present  Government  of  Italy — Condition  of  the  Country — Italian  Liter- 
ature— Italy  and  Art — The  Italian  Renaissance. 


Italy  of  to-day  is  the 
ll youngest  member  of  the 
family  of  nations.  It  was 
Vjtl ' j not  until  Victor  Emanuel, 
in  the  last  decade,  unified 
the  country  under  one 
crown  and  one  constitution 
mJSC  p that  the  present  nation  came  into  ex- 
C-jl®#}  p istence.  Prior  to  that  time,  church 
'IPnfi  r and  s^d"e  were  inseparably  blended  on 

ihm  ip  that  peninsula,  the  former  being  in 
p the  mastery.  The  kingdom  of 
llPi&lv  p Italy,  as  it  now  stands,  has  an  area 
olf  !§•>  of  112>296  square  m les,  and  con- 
^ ^sists  of  sixty-nine  provinces.  The 

principal  cities,  to  name  them  in  the 
v(X^»  order  of  their  population,  are  N aples, 
Milan,  Rome,  Palermo,  Turin, 
Florence,  Genoa,  Venice,  Bologna,  Messina,  Leg- 
horn and  Catenia. 

Italy,  as  the  peninsula  once  known  as  Latium  is 
now  called,  may  be  said  to  the  product  of  the  Lom- 
bards, who  poured  into  the  country  from  the  North, 
being  to  that  peninsula  what  the  Angles  were  to 
England.  The  very  name  was  borrowed  from  a 
Lombard  prince,  Italians,  who,  however,  was  less 
entitled  to  that  honor  than  Albion,  the  king  of  the 


Lombards  in  Italy  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century.  The  year  568  is  the  date  for  the  division 
line  between  Ancient  Rome  and  Modern  Italy.  Al- 
bion was  the  Columbus,  Italicus  the  Amerigo  in  the 

case. 

The  Lombards  were  the  bravest  of  the  brave. 
From  the  heights  of  the  Alps  they  beheld  the  pleas- 
ant valleys  and  fertile  plains  of  the  South,  and 
moved  over  with  their  families.  There  was  no 
devastation.  They  exercised  squatter  sovereignty 
without  the  shedding  of  blood.  They  formed  a 
new  tenantry.  Some  of  the  old  inhabitants  moved 
further  south,  others  remained,  and  the  two  sets 
of  inhabitants  became  mixed,  as  were  the  Saxons 
and  the  Normans  in  England.  The  Lombards 
adopted  the  civilization  they  found,  including  the' 
Christian  religion.  Their  sway  did  not  extend  to 
the  maritime  cities  of  the  Adriatic  and  Mediterra- 
nean seas.  The  Latins  who  fled  cherished  bitter 
animosity  to  the  Lombards  in  their  southern  re- 
treats, and  so  did  the  city  of  Rome,  which,  though 
nominally  subject  at  that  time  to  the  Caesars  at 
Constantinople,  was  really  ruled,  even  at  that  early 
period,  by  the  Pontiffs.  The  Franks  were  sought 
in  alliance  by  the  older  race,  and  Charlemagne, 
their  greatest  sovereign,  conquered  Italy  in  774,  re- 
ceiving his  coronation  at  Rome  Christmas-day,  800. 


o 

► 


K 


(i84) 


A 


ITALY  AND  THE  ITALIANS. 


185 


During  the  darkest  centuries  of  the  Dark  Ages 
Italy  was  almost  constantly  the  victim  of  petty  and 
interminable  warfare.  The  Lombards  invoked 
German  alliances,  as  the  Latins  and  Romans  had 
French.  In  961,  Otho  the  Great  restored  temporary 
peace.  The  Lombards  soon  rebelled  against  the 
German  yoke.  In  a generation  or  so,  all  was  once 
more  confusion,  anarchy  and  bloodshed,  remaining 
so  until  Barbarossa,  entering  Italy  in  1154,  made  a 


and  turmoil  of  the  land  and  gave  herself  to  com- 
merce. She  was  the  Carthage  of  the  period.  The 
first  Doge  was  elected  in  697.  The  founding  of  Ven- 
ice near  the  island  of  Rialto  dates  from  809.  St. 
Mark  is  its  patron  saint,  and  the  cathedral  of 
that  name  is  its  most  famous  edifice.  Istria 
and  Dalmatia  were  united  to  this  urban  repub- 
lic in  997. 

Genoa  and  Pisa,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Adriatic, 


FLORENCE. 


desperate  effort  to  assert  Teutonic  supremacy.  The 
bravery  of  the  Italians  was  such  that  he  was 
baffled,  and  in  1183,  the  peace  of  Constance  rec- 
ognised the  independent  Tights  of  the  Italian  cit- 
ies. “ Thus  ended,”  says  Mariotti,  “ the  first  and 
noblest  struggle  in  Europe  between  liberty  and 
despotism.” 

And  . now  comes  into  conspicuous  prominence 
several  cities  of  Italy,  once  mighty  factors  in  the 
world’s  work.  First  of  these  was  Venice,  queen  of 
the  Adriatic,  which  was  founded  by  Roman  citi- 

1 1 zens  when  Alaric  and  Attila  invaded  the  country. 
That  city  avoided,  as  far  as  possible,  the  troubles 

J1 

>[<•> 


were  free  and  independent  states  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eleventh  century.  These  three  repub- 
lics are  medieval  in  origin.  Their  early  annals  are 
shrouded  in  impenetrable  mystery,  but  their  petty 
contests  and  rivalries  would  not  be  of  interest  if 
preserved.  Later,  but  similar,  were  the  origins  of 
Naples,  Amalfi  and  Gaeta.  Genoa,  the  birth-place 
of  Columbus,  was  long  the  queen  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, and  the  Genoese  arc  still  the  best  sailors  on 
that  sea.  The  Venetian  aristocracy,  it  may  be  ad- 
ded, long  bloody  and  tyrannical,  still  cherishes  the 
pride  of  the  Doges.  The  sea,  now  receding  from 
the  lagoons,  renders  hopeless  all  attempts  to  regain 


a footing  among  the  mighty  cities  of  Europe.  Flor- 
ence, Milan,  Pavia  and  Palermo  each,  are  cities 
replete  with  interest  to  one  minutely  studying  Italy. 

The  real  significance  of  Italian  history  is  not  in 
the  rivalries  of  petty  states 
and  factions.  The  sov- 
ereigns who  deserve  atten- 
tion are  the  Popes,  and 
not  the  Guelplis  and  the 
Glhibelines,  the  Borgias 
and  the  Medici.  It  was 
not  until  Victor  Emanuel 
and  Garibaldi  arose  that 
a single  name,  military  or 
political,  acquired  suffi- 
cient importance  to  merit 
consideration,  beyond  the 
sphere  of  the  Papacy 

Italy  presents  no  point 
of  special  political  interest 
until  the  house  of  Savoy 
appears  above  the  waves. 

In  1870  was  accomplished 
the  unification  of  Italy  with  Rome  as  its  capital. 
In  this  illustrious  house  of  Savoy,  under  which  this 
grand  result  was  obtained,  there  were  three  Charles 
Emanuels,  three  rulers 
bearing  the  name  of  Vic- 
tor Amadeus,  and  two 
Victor  Emanuels,  all 
creditable  rulers  and  men 
of  some  genius,  the  most 
illustrious  being  the  last 
of  the  eight.  They  raised 
the  petty  dukedom  of 
Savoy  to  the  kingdom  of 
Sardinia,  and  later,  to 
the  kingdom  of  Italy. 

The  crowning  elevation 
was  achieved  by  Emanu- 
el II.,  father  of  Hum- 
bert, the  present  king  of 
Italy.  He  claimed  the 
title  of  King  of  Italy  as 
early  as  1861,  having  been  crowned  King  of 
Sardinia  in  1849,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his 
age  ; but  the  full  measure  of  his  ambition  was  delayed 
until  1870.  Louis  Napoleon  supported  the  Pope  and 
kept  him  in  the  temporality  of  the  Papal  States  by 


French  bayonets.  The  king  of  Italy  had  removed 
his  capital  from  Turin  to  Florence,  but  could  not 
enter  Rome.  Victor  Emanuel  was  so  fortunate 
as  to  have  the  assistance  of  that  great  statesman, 
Cavour,  and  that  grand 
patriot,  Garibaldi ; and  al- 
though excommunicated 
by  the  pope,  he  remained 
faithful  to  the  Roman 
hieracliy  as  a spiritual 
power.  He  kept  the  cause 
of  Italian  unity  separate 
from  religion.  The  Cri- 
mean war  gave  him  oppor- 
tunity to  distinguish  him- 
self and  gain  for  his  nation 
the  respect  of  the  great 
powers.  Italy  derived 
honor  and  benefit,  indirect, 
but  great,  from  that  war, 
and  this  was  true  of  no 
other  participant  in  it. 
Victor  Emanuel  had  re- 
peated conflicts  with  Austria,  and  won  some  vic- 
tories at  Austrian  expense.  He  was  in  antipathy  to 
France  for  barring  his  way  to  the  Eternal  City. 

Therefore  he  was  in  close 
sympathy  with  Prussia 
in  its  war  with  both  of 
those  powers.  From 
Prussian  victory  over 
both,  Italy  derived  sub- 
stantial advantage,  es- 
pecially from  the  fall  of 
the  Napoleonic  empire. 
Rome  then  opened  her 
gates  to  the  great  king 
as  a matter  of  course, 
amid  the  wildest  enthu- 
siasm. The  people  re- 
joiced exceedingly  at  the 
change  in  rulers.  The 
dream  of  Italian  nation- 
ality had  always  been 
fondly  cherished  by  the  Romans,  and  they ' saw  in 
Victor  Emanuel  the  resurrection  of  old  Rome  in  its 
better  days.  The  venerable  Pope,  a good  old  man, 
one  of  the  few  real  saints  of  the  Pontificate,  shut 
himself  up  in  the  Vatican,  not  from  fear,  but  in  the 


VICTOR  EMANUEL  II. 


1 86 


ITALY  AND  THE  ITALIANS. 


T 


V®- 


ITALY  AND  THE  ITALIANS. 


I87 


indulgence  of  what  in  boys  is  called  “ the  sulks.” 
There  he  remained,  chosing  to  play  the  role  of  pris- 
oner and  victim,  until  the  serenity  of  death  came 
to  his  release,  when  Pius  IX.  was  succeeded  by  an- 
other old  man,  Leo  XIII. 

Pio  Nino  was  born  in  1792,  and  came  to  the 
papal  throne  in  1846.  Personally  kind  and  just, 
he  was  a staunch  upholder  of  the  ancient  spirit  of 
despotism,  and  sought  to  prop  up  the  falling  for- 
tunes of  the  Pontificate.  He  may  be  said  to  have 
enlarged  the  creed  of  Rome  by  two  doctrines ; name- 
ly, the  immaculate  conception  of  tbe  Virgin  Mary 
as  well  as  her  son,  and  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope 
in  all  matters  of 
faith  and  morals. 

He  bluntly  opposed 
a free  press,  free 
speech,  liberty  of 
conscience,  and 
popular  and  mod- 
ern ideas  of  civil 
rights,  being  thor- 
oughly and  consist- 
ently medieval. 

The  Italians  rever- 
ed his  virtues,  but 
disregarded  his  po- 
litical advice.  His 
successor  is  a man 
of  much  ability, 
but  thus  far  he  has 
effected  nothing  to  make  his  name  remembered. 
Of  him  it  can  be  said,  that  he  strenuously  clings  to 
the  old  ways  and  ideas ; but  he  gradually  accepts, 
apparently  in  good  faith,  the  inevitable  and  com- 
plete loss  of  temporal  power.  No  dynasty  in  Europe 
lias  such  a hold  upon  its  people  as  the  Italian,  and 
all  thought  of  restoring  the  papal  temporality  may 
well  be  dismissed. 

The  government  of  Italy  is  a constitutional  mon- 
archy, with  a senate  appointed  for  life,  and  a cham- 
ber of  508  deputies  elected  by  popular  suffrage.  The 
press  is  free  and  tbe  people  contented.  The  national 
debt  is  large,  but  the  country  is,  on  the  whole,  pros- 
perous'. The  educational  system  is  good.  The  rail- 
roads and  canals  afford  sufficient  facilities  for  trans- 
portation. The  present  population  is  not  far  from 
thirty  millions.  The  great  industries  are  silk  culture, 
wine  making,  and  the  production  of  works  of  art. 


Italy  can  boast  a splendid  literature,  and  an  in- 
comparable art.  The  chief  of  its  authors  is  Dante, 
whose  poetic  representation  of  the  Romish  view  of 
the  future  life  is  an  immortal  work.  Under  the 
guidance  of  Virgil  he  explored  hell  and  purgatory, 
and  then  the  spirit  of  his  lost  love,  Beatrice,  led  him 
through  Paradise.  Dante  ranks  with  Goethe,  and 
second  only  to  the  incomparable  Shakspeare.  His 
works  have  been  translated  into  all  tongues,  and  are 
the  delight  of  a peculiarly  wide  circle  of  readers. 
Another  familiar  name  is  Tasso.  He  was  very 
highly  esteemed  in  his  day,  but  wiser  after-judg- 
ment placed  him  in  the  lower  rank  of  genius.  Boccac- 
cio, whose  tales 


View  of  Rome,  showing  the  Castle  of  St  Angelo  and  St.  Peter’s. 


would  be  rejected 
by  a modern  pub- 
lisher as  indecent, 
occupies  a conspic- 
uous place  on  ac- 
count of  seniority. 
Like  the  two  other 
Italian  authors  just 
named,  he  was  one 
of  the  pioneers  of 
modern  literature, 
and  is  deserving  of 
great  credit  for 
doing  so  well  at 
so  early  a period. 
Italy  did  much  for 
the  Present  at  its 
dawn,  and  then  subsided,  the  life  of  the  nation 
sapped  apparently  by  the  evil  influences  of  a 
church  which  would  sacrifice  any  and  every- 
thing to  build  up  and  maintain  ecclesiastical 
authority.  Its  best  work  was  in  the  line  of  art. 

Painting,  as  it  now  exists,  was  brought  from  Con- 
stantinople to  Italy  in  the  eleventh  century,  and 
thence  it  spread  over  Europe.  There  were  many 
schools  or  styles  of  painting  in  Italy,  nearly  every 
town  having  its  characteristic  invention  of  which  it 
could  boast,  its  line  of  artists  culminating  generally 
in  some  great  master.  Florence  could  claim  Da 
Vinci  and  Michael  Angelo;  Rome  had  Raphael; 
Bologna,  Guido  ; Parma,  Correggio  ; Venice,  Titian 
and  Paul  Veronese.  Not  infrequently  sculpture 
and  painting  went  together.  Germany  and  the 
Netherlands  did  great  things  for  modern  art,  and 
Germany,  France,  and  to  some  extent,  Spain,  have 


_G) 


e 

7 


k. 


1 88 


ITALY  AND  THE  ITALIANS. 


contributed  very  materially  to  the  artistic  wealth  of  the 
world ; but  all  combined  cannot  equal  this  one  small 
country,  the  peninsula  of  Italy.  What  Greek  art  was 
to  the  ancients,  that  is  Italian  art  to  modern  times. 

Italy  sustains  a peculiar  relation  to  ancient  and 
modern  civilizations  as  the  great  conservator  and 
restorer  of  ancient  literature.  The  chief  service  of 
that  country  in  the  domain  of  letters  was  not  so 
much  the  production 
of  original  genius  as 
of  faithful  restorers 
of  the  past.  That  was 
the  supreme  service 
of  the  Italian  renais- 
sance. Petrarch  and 
Boccaccio  wrought 
most  nobly  in  the  res- 
toration of  the  ancient 
classics,  and  a bril- 
liant essayist  observes< 

“Their  enthusiasm  im- 
parted an  impetus  to 
research,  and  a uni- 
versal interest  in 
manuscript  and  an- 
tiquities sprang  up. 

Monasteries  were 
searched,  and  monks  were  bribed,  when  no  better 
way  availed,  to  give  up  their  treasures.  Pilgrims 
traveled  to  Byzantium  in  search  of  MSS.  as  in  earlier 
days  they  had  of  relics  in  the  Holy  land.  No  less 
earnest  was  the  work  of  collecting  and  revising  the 
MSS.  thus  obtained.  No  effort  was  spared  to  ar- 
rive at  the  original  meaning  of  an  author,  and 
years  were  sometimes  spent  upon  a single  work.” 


It  was  most  appropriate,  certainly,  that  Italy,  the 
heir  of  Rome,  should  thus  reclaim  and  perpetuate 
the  treasures  of  classic  literature. 

Italy  has  been  called  a paradox,  and  from  one 
point  of  view  such  it  certainly  is.  With  a vicious 
and  deplorable  financial  system  it  enjoys  industrial 
prosperity.  The  aggregate  of  industries  rose  16  per 
cent  during  the  last  decade,  and  the  average  per  capi- 
ta 10  per  cent.  Exports 
increase  more  rapidly 
than  imports.  In  man- 
ufactures great  ad- 
vancement is  being 
made.  Taxes  are  high. 
N ot  less  than  thirty-one 
per  cent  of  the  earnings 
of  the  people  is  re- 
quired to  support  the 
government.  In  France 
it  is  seventeen  and  a 
half  per  cent,  and  in 
Great  Britain  twelve 
per  cent.  The  increase 
in  the  wealth  of  the 
people  during  the 
seventh  decade  of  this 
century  was  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  million  pounds  sterling,  but  the  national 
debt  increased  during  the  same  period  150  millions. 
The  people  suffer  from  the  lack  of  food,  or  rather 
they  are  small  eaters.  The  amount  consumed  is 
less  according  to  population  than  that  of  any  part  of 
Europe,  Portugal  alone  excepted.  If  the  people  ate 
more  and  heartier  food  their  industrial  capacity 
might  be  much  greater. 


o 

► 


« 


HE  printing  press  may  be 
regarded  as  the  dividing 
line  in  respect  to  the  dis- 
semination of  knowledge, 
between  the  old  world  and 
the  modern ; but  in  treat- 
ing of  nations  and  peoples, 
the  more  natural  demarkation  is 
that  neutral  belt  known  as  the 
Dark  Ages.  The  Roman  Empire 
was  first  divided,  as  we  have  seen, 
falling  apart  of  its  own  weight,  and 
then  the  western  half  of  it  was  dev- 
astated by  barbaric  Norsemen.  A 
period  of  chaos  followed  in  the 
west,  a night  with  no  light  but 
“ the  horned  moon  ” of  the  Cres- 
cent, and  as  morning  approached,  a 
few  stars  twinkled  in  the  heavens.  That  crescent 
queen  of  the  Dark  Ages  was  the  Saracen  empire, 
which  will  engage  our  attention  in  the  next  chap- 
ters, and  the  stars  of  the  dawn  were  the  modern 
nationalities  of  Europe  which  gradually  emerged 
from  the  medieval  night.  Those  nations,  differen- 
tiated by  the  natural  boundaries  of  language,  arc 
the  Turks,  the  Russians,  the  Italians,  the  Germans, 
the  French,  the  Spanish  (including  the  Portuguese), 
the  Scandinavians  and  the  English.  These  seven 


jieoples  are  the  nebulae  thrown  off  by  the  sun  of 
imperial  Rome.  It  shall  be  the  purpose  of  this 
chapter  to  set  forth  the  condition  of  Europe  during 
the  Dark  Ages,  apart  from  the  Papacy,  already  con- 
sidered, and  the  empires  which  are  to  be  severally 
brought  out  in  subsequent  chapters. 

During  the  entire  period  of  history,  nothing  so 
desolate  and  vicious  can  be  found  as  this  chiliad  of 
darkness.  It  seemed  as  if  civilization  had  fled  from 
the  homes  of  men,  and  no  morning  would  ever 
dawn  upon  Western  Europe.  The  religion  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  had  been  adopted  in  theory,  while  the 
Christianity  of  actual  practice  was  in  the  sharpest 
possible  contrast  to  the  benevolent  and  gentle  teach- 
ings of  the  crucified  Christ.  Violence,  bloodshed, 
brutality  and  crime  made  Europe  a vale  of  tears. 

The  chief  feature  of  the  period  was  feudalism, 
and  that  was  born  of  the  necessity  of  seeking  pro- 
tection at  the  price  of  liberty.  Political  institutions 
and  national  authority  afforded  no  actual  safe- 
guards against  rapine  and  murder.  The  farmer  had 
no  assurance  that  he  should  reap  ivhat  he  had  sown, 
or  enjoy  what  he  had  harvested.  The  country  was 
everywhere  so  overrun  with  marauders,  that  neither 
person  nor  property  was  safe.  Husbands  and  broth- 
ers were  slain,  wives  and  sisters  subjected  to  outrage 
worse  than  death,  and  the  robbers  and  despoilers 
were  entrenched  in  strongholds.  Finally  there  came 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Medieval  Chaos — Feudalism — Feudal  Tenures — Guizot  on  Feudalism — Chivalry — The 
Crusades — History  of  each  in  Chronological  Order — Charlemagne — Dante— The  Min- 
nesingers, Troubadours  and  the  Troviers — Witchcraft— Testimony  of  Lecky' — Wesley 
on  Witchcraft— Its  Survival  of  the  Dark  Ages. 


(189) 


190 


THE  DARK  AGES. 


to  be  a truce  between  the  weak  and  the  strong,  by 
which  the  former  put  themselves  under  vassalage 
to  the  latter,  serving  them  in  war  and  paying  trib- 
ute to  them  in  peace,  all  in  the  hope  that  self-inter- 
est would  dictate  to  the  robber  in  his  castle  that  he 
should  protect  the  peasant  in  his  hut.  To  such  an 
extent  did  the  lord  become  interested  in  the  vassal 
that  some  security  was  afforded.  Thus  did  barbar- 
ism work  out  a certain  degree  of  reformation. 
Feudalism  was  a great  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  affairs  to  which  it  owed  its  own  existence.  It 
gradually  developed  into  an  elaborate  system. 

For  the  most  part, 
the  tenantry  of  Eu- 
rope at  the  present 
times  is  a relic  of  feu- 
dalism. The  legal 
ownership  of  the  soil 
rests  in  most  cases 
upon  no  just  title  of 
purchase,  but  upon 
the  corner-stone  of 
rapine  and  violence. 

Gradually,  as  nations 
rose  into  definite  out- 
lines of  jurisdiction, 
the  state  took  the 
place  of  the  fief  and 
the  vassal  became  a 
subject,  until,  in  mod- 
ern times,  little  remains  of  feudalism,  except  in 
the  matter  of  land  tenure.  The  reliance  of  the 
people  for  redress  and  protection  is  not  upon 
the  lord  of  the  nearest  castle,  but  upon  the  mag- 
istrate who  represents  the  sovereignty  of  the  law. 

In  his  History  of  Civilization,  M.  Guizot  makes 
some  extravagant  claims  for  feudalism,  but  the  fol- 
lowing passage  is  an  admirable  presentation  of  facts 
in  regard  to  the  system  : “ There  was  nothing  mor- 
ally common  between  the  holder  of  the  fief  and  his 
serfs.  They  formed  part  of  his  estate  ; they  were 
his  property;  and  under  this  word  property  are 
comprised  not  only  all  the  rights  we  delegate  to 
the  public  magistrate  to  exercise  in  the  name  of  the 
state,  but  likewise  all  those  which  we  possess  over 
private  property ; the  right  of  making  laws,  of  levy- 
ing tuxes,  of  inflicting  punishment,  as  well  as  that 
of  disposing  of  them — of  selling  them.  There  ex- 
isted not,  in  fact,  between  the  lord  of  the  domain 


and  the  cultivators,  so  far  as  we  consider  the  latter 
as  men,  either  rights,  guarantees  or  society.  * * 

This  system  seemed,  however,  naturally  to  pour  in- 
to the  mind  of  every  possessor  of  a fief  a certain 
number  of  ideas  and  moral  sentiments — ideas  of 
duty,  sentiments  of  affection.  That  the  principles 
of  fidelity,  devotedness  and  loyalty  became  devel- 
oped and  maintained  by  the  relations  in  which  the 
possessors  of  fiefs  stood  towards  one  another,  is 
evident.” 

Another  generic  feature  of  the  period  was  chiv- 
alry. It  is  said  in  praise  of  Don  Quixote,  that  it 

laughed  chivalry  out 


MARCH  OF  THE  CRUSADERS 


of  Europe,  and  that 
was  a great  and  good 
thing  to  do  when 
done,  for  the  morning 
of  modern  day  had 
broken ; but  in  its 
way  and  time  chivalry 
was  very  beneficent. 
It  stimulated  and 
cultivated  the  senti- 
ment of  honor,  and 
honor  is  one  of  the 
fundamental  ingredi- 
ents of  good  charac- 
ter, both  individual 
and  national.  Chival- 
ry was  born  in  the 
reign  of  Charlemagne,  although  plain  traces  of  its 
rudiments  may  be  found  in  the  early  Teutons,  the 
Germans  of  Tacitus.  The  knight-errant  of  romance, 
bravely  redressing  the  wrongs  of  suffering  innocence, 
without  thought  of  reward  or  danger,  was  not  a 
myth.  Found  in  all  parts  of  Europe  in  those  times 
of  universal  wrong,  chivalry  was  the  highest  ideal 
presented  of  real  goodness.  Often  fighting  in  a 
tournament,  which  was  about  the  same  as  a mod- 
ern prize-fight  (only  arms,  armor  and  horses  were 
allowed  the  combatants),  still  the  knight  was  a mes- 
senger of  avenging  justice,  an  angel  of  succor  to  the 
unfortunate.  Loyalty,  courtesy  and  valor  were 
the  cardinal  virtues  of 
The  Crusades  belong 
were  seven  of  them,  all  substantially  alike  in  cause 
and  purpose.  They  attest  the  monstrous  folly  with- 
in the  range  of  universal  possibility.  Of  nothing 
has  the  European  branch  of  the  human  family 


a true  knight, 
to  the  Dark  Ages.  There 


>1°.  ■ — — 

Gj  I ' 

THE  DARK  AGES.  I9I 


more  occasion  to  be  ashamed  than  of  these  frenzied 
efforts  to  gain  possession  of  that  empty  hole  in  a 
rock  called  the  Holy  Sepulcher.  Viewed  in  the 
light  of  modern  practicality,  there  was  no  occasion 
for  that  series  of  wars.  The  Saracens  did  indeed 
have  possession  of  the  tomb  of  our  Lord,  but  even 
from  the  standpoint  of  Christian  devotion,  there 
was  no  reason  ^ 
why  that  fact 
should  dis- 
tu  r b the 
e quanimity 
of  all  Europe. 

But  Peter  the 
Hermit,  a 
crazy  fanatic, 
conceived  the 
idea  of  arous- 
ing popular 
zeal  for  the 
rescue  of  that 
tomb  from 
the  Moham- 
medans, on 
the  ground 
that  Jesus 
Christ  was  to 
come  again 
very  soon,  his 
second  ap- 
pearing to  be 
on  the  spot 
made  sacred 
by  his  pas- 
sion, resur- 
rection and 
ascen  s i o n. 

The  vast  mul- 
titudes who  left  home  and  all  local  endearments, 
animated  by  a common  purpose,  mingled  together  as 
friends  and  brethren.  For  the  first  time  the  peoples 
of  Europe  met  on  a common  footing  of  amity.  They 
were  not  fighting  each  other,  and  the  narrow  ideas 
of  devotion  to  a petty  sovereignty  were  forgotten. 
They  came  together  on  a basis  of  brotherhood  as 
broad  as  the  continent.  They  learned  something, 
eacli  from  all.  The  sparse  seeds  of  civilization  were 
scattered,  to  bear  fruit  and  be  the  beginning  of  a 
new  era.  There  was  a commingling  which  proved 


of  incalculable  advantage  to  Europe.  Out,  then,  of 
the  most  gigantic  folly  of  all  times,  grew  one  of  the 
most  beneficent  impulses  of  all  times,  and  if  the  Cru- 
sades had  no  justification,  their  horrors  and  devas- 
tations have  certainly  proved  a blessing  in  disguise. 

The  first  Crusade  dates  from  1096  to  1099.  The 
leader,  Peter  the  Hermit,  had  for  his  first  lieuten- 
ant, W alter 
the  Penni- 
less. To  their 
standard  ral- 
lied in  those 
three  years 
six  large  ar- 
mies, num- 
bering, all 
told,  600,000. 
Several  very 
distinguished 
knights  gain- 
ed renown  in 
thatCrusade. 
Godfrey  of 
Bouillon,  af- 
terwards the 
King  of  Je- 
rusalem, be- 
longed to 
that  crusade. 
So  did  Tail- 
ored, Ray- 
mond of  Tou- 
louse, and 
Hugh  the 
Great.  They 
besieged  J e- 
rusalem,  and 
in  July,  1098, 
The  object 
only  the  success 
1147  the  Moham- 
medans took  Edcssa  and  prepared  to  attempt 
the  recapture  of  Jerusalem.  That  called  out  the 
second  Crusade,  which  continued  two  years.  The 
Ahbot  of  Clairvaux,  St.  Bernard,  was  the  great 
apostle  of  this  uprising,  and  the  excitement 
amounted  to  a mania.  The  kings  of  France  and 
Germany  took  the  field  in  person,  with  an  aggregate 
army  of  1,200,000.  It  seemed  as  if  all  Europe  was 


TAKING  OF  JERUSALEM  BY  THE  CRUSADERS. 

Engines  were  framed  by  some  Genoese  artists,  who  had  fortunately  landed  in  the  harbor  of  Jaffa. 
Two  movable  turrets  were  constructed  and  rolled  forward  with  devout  labor.  llot  h 

siblc.  but  to  the  most  neglected,  parts  of  the  fortification.  Raymond  s « . JI  T V, were 

by  the  Are  of  the  besieged,  but  his  colleague  was  more  vigilant  and  successful,  the  enemies  were 
driven  by  his  archers  from  the  rampart;  the  draw-bridge  was  let  down;  and  on  a Friday,  at  three  in 
the  afternoon,  the  day  and  hour  of  the  passion,  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  stood  victorious  on  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem. — Gibbon' 8 Decline  and  Fall,  chap,  lviiii. 


the  holy  city  fell  into  their  hands, 
of  Peter  had  been  gained, 
was  not  permanent.  In 


V 


Q. 


3 


1 9 2 THE  DARK  AGES. 


one  vast  mad-house.  Women  and  children  insisted 
upon  taking  part  in  what  ’was  expected  to  he  little 
less  than  the  annihilation  of  the  Moslem  power. 
Horrible  were  the  sufferings  entailed  and  utter  was 
the  failure  of  the  movement.  After  an  ineffectual 
siege  of  Damascus  the  shattered  remnants  straggled 
back  to  Europe,  demoralized  to  the  last  degree. 
The  most  stupendous  delusion  of  all  the  ages  was 
at  an  end,  yet  not  at  an  end,  for  just  forty  years  later 
began  the  third  Crusade,  which  lasted  three  years. 
That  renewal  of  hostilities  between  Cross  and  Cres- 
cent was  occasioned  by  the  fall  of  the  kingdom  of 
Jerusalem,  which  terminated  in  1187.  The  mighty 
Saladin,  who  reasonably  aspired  to  universal  Moham- 
medan empire,  drove  the  Christians  from  the  sacred 
city.  That  aroused  the  indignation  of  Frederick 
Barbarossa  of  Germany,  Philip  Augustus  of  France 
and  Richard  Coeur  de  Leon  of  England.  Their  ef- 
forts were  not  wholly  fruitless.  They  could  not  re- 
store Christian  rule,  but  they  forced  from  Saladin  a 
treaty  exempting  from  taxes  and  special  peril  Chris- 
tian pilgrims  to  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  and  so  numer- 
ous were  these  palmers,  as  the  pilgrims  were  called, 
that  this  treaty  was  highly  important. 

In  1203  Pope  Innocent  III.  tried  to  organize  still 
another  crusade.  A slight  beginning  was  made  at 
Venice,  but  the  movement  was  abortive.  The 
fourth  Crusade  was  a peculiarly  tragic  attempt  of 
about  30,000  boys  just  entering  their  teens,  and  hardly 
that,  to  rescue  the  sepulcher  of  Jesus  from  infidel 
hands.  These  lads  were  led  by  a shepherd  boy, 
Stephen  of  Vendome.  They  set  sail  by  ship  from 
Marseilles,  intending  to  reach  Palestine.  Two  of 
their  seven  ships  were  wrecked.  Those  who  escaped 
the  perils  of  the  sea  landed  at  Egypt,  but  on- 
ly to  be  sold  into  slavery.  By  some  writers  that  mel- 
ancholy episode  is  called  the  fourth  Crusade.  Oth- 
ers apply  that  designation  to  the  expedition  of  An- 
drew of  Hungary,  organized  in  1217.  He  took  a 
few  Moslem  fortresses  on  Mount  Tabor,  but  in  the 
second  year  of  his  expedition  gave  up  and  came 
home. 

For  ten  years  only  did  the  world  have  rest  from 
Crusades.  The  fifth  one  was  organized  in  1228 
by  Frederick  II.  of  Germany.  After  ten  years  of 
fighting  and  diplomacy  a treaty  was  entered  into  be- 
tween the  Sultan  of  Egypt  and  the  German  Empe- 
ror, by  which  the  latter  acquired  Palestine,  and  re- 
turned home  with  some  substantial  acquisitions  to 


show  as  the  fruit  of  his  expedition.  But  in  1248 
came  the  Turk,  who  besieged,  captured  and  pillaged 
Jerusalem.  Louis  IX.  of  France,  called  St.  Louis, 
tried  to  drive  back  the  barbaric  infidel,  but  was  tak- 
en prisoner  by  the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  who  was  finally 
prevailed  upon  in  1250  to  accept  a ransom  for  his 
royal  captive. 

The  last  of  the  Crusades  dates  from  1270  to  1272. 
St.  Louis  began  it,  but  he  soon  died,  and  the  lead- 
ership fell  upon  Edward  of  England.  No  progress 
was  made,  however,' toward  dispossessing  the  Turks. 
For  more  than  two  centuries  longer  the  idea  of  res- 
cuing the  Holy  Sepulcher  from  the  Moslems  was 
cherished  as  the  dream  of  popes  and  devotees.  The 
new  world  with  its  diversions  put  an  end  to  all 
thoughts  of  an  eighth  Crusade. 

The  Island  of  Malta  acquired  considerable  prom- 
inence in  the  conflict  between  the  Mohammedans 
and  the  Christians.  Solyman  the  Magnificent,  in 
furtherance  of  his  scheme  to  annex  Hungary  to  his 
empire,  and  extend  Islamism  to  Western  Europe, 
captured  the  island  of  Rhodes  in  1521,  wresting  it 
from  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  who  had  held  it 
undisputed  since  their  retreat  from  Palestine. 
The  knights  retired  from  Rhodes  to  the  Island 
of  Malta,  which  was  bestowed  upon  them  by  Charles 
V.  of  Germany.  They  fortified  it,  and  that  so  well, 
that  when  in  1505  Solyman  attempted  its  capture 
he  was  baffled. 

One  name  towers  so  high  during  this  black  peri- 
od as  to  be  immortal  and  illustrious.  AYe  do  not 
refer  to  any  of  the  brave  knights  and  princes  who 
won  renown  in  the  holy  wars,  but  to  Charlemagne, 
the  emperor  who  will  come  before  us  somewhat  in 
detail  later,  but  who,  because  he  made  all  Europe 
bow  before  his  throne,  deserves  conspicuous  atten- 
tion. AV  ithout  touching  upon  subsequent  history,  it 
may  be  said  of  him  here,  that  he  had  the  genius  to 
create  an  empire,  but  not  to  transmit  it.  Under 
him  the  Franks  and  the  Teutons  were  united,  Ins 
dominion  embracing  nearly  all  Europe,  except  the 
savage  North.  Pope  Leo  III.,  in  the  year  A.  D.  800, 
placed  the  imperial  crown  upon  the  head  of  this 
Alexander  of  medieval  times.  A rude  and  almost 
literally  unlettered  barbarian,  he  gathered  about 
him  the  learning  of  every  land,  founded  schools,  col- 
lected libraries,  and  in  many  ways  sought  to  elevate 
the  character  of  the  people.  His  ideas  were  grand, 
but  they  availed  little.  Europe  was  not  soil  prepared 


O 


^2 


THE  DARK  AGES. 


[93 


for  the  seed  he  sowed,  and  much  of  it  bore  no  fruit. 
Charles  the  Great  was  a monster  of  vice,  licentious, 
cruel  and  superstitious.  He  pronounced  the  death 
penalty  against  those  who  refused  Christian  bap- 
tism, or  ate  meat  in  Lent.  He  was  a strange  mix- 
ture of  greatness  and  weakness,  of  iron  and  clay. 
Hallam  says : “ In  the  Dark  Ages  of  European 

history,  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  affords  a solitary 


names  may  he  mentioned  here,  such  as  Petrarch, 
Boccaccio  and  Abelard,  but  with  the  one  exception 
of  Dante,  all  the  distinctively  medieval  literature 
might  be  obliterated  without  so  great  a loss  as  one 
play  of  Euripides  or  oration  of  Cicero. 

There  sprung  up  during  that  period  a class  of 
minstrels  called  minnesingers,  troubadours,  and  tro- 
viers,  who  rendered  important  service  to  the  art  of 


MALTA. 


resting-place  between  two  long  periods  of  turbu- 
lence and  ignominy,  deriving  the  advantage  of  con- 
trast both  from  that  of  the  preceding  dynasty  and 
of  a posterity  for  whom  he  had  formed  an  em- 
pire which  they  were  unworthy  and  unequal  to 
maintain.” 

In  a literary  point  of  view,  the  Dark  Ages  can 
boast  only  one  or  two  great  names.  Dante  is  a poet 
whose  fantastic  visions  of  heaven,  purgatory  and 
hell,  will  always  be  the  admiration  of  mankind. 
Chaucer  was  a true  poet  also,  but  he  was  the  morn- 
ing star  of  imaginative  modern  literature,  rather 
than  a distinctive  part  of  medieval  times.  Several 


poetry,  although  not  one  of  them  all  composed  any 
great  or  immortal  verse,  but  they  sang  of  love  and 
war,  of  heaven  and  passion,  in  strains  which  fired 
the  medieval  heart  and  gave  character  to  subse- 
quent poetic  expression.  In  themselves  considered, 
those  songs  and  ballads  may  be  set  down  as  of  little 
worth,  while  in  their  influence  upon  real  genius  of 
a later  period  they  were  invaluable. 

Singular  as  it  may  seem,  the  most  important  link 
connecting  the  Dark  Ages  with  modern  times  is 
witchcraft.  That  phase  of  human  experience  be- 
longs almost  wholly  to  the  historical  in  distinction 
from  the  actual  world.  Traces  of  it  may  be  found 


•f 


194  THE  dark  ages. 


in  the  remote  past,  and  perhaps  in  the  present,  but 
as  a prominent  factor  in  the  affair's  of  men  it  was 
developed  during  the  medieval  period,  finding  its 
fullest  life,  however,  during  thestagesof  early  Pro- 
testantism, being  peculiar  to  no  church  or  country. 

The  translators  of  the  King  J ames  version  of  the 
Bible  were  so  full  of  this  belief  that  the  law  of  Mo- 
ses against  poisoning  was  rendered  by  them,  “ Thou 
shalt  not  suffer  a witch  [instead  of  a poisoner]  to 
live.”  And  the  woman  of  Endor  who  was  con- 
sulted by  King  Saul  was  evidently  a spiritualistic 
medium,  and  not  at  all  a witch,  in  any  proper  sense 
of  the  term.  There  is  no  doubt  a close  connection 
between  ancient  magic,  divination,  ]astrology  and 
necromancy,  amUnedieval  witchcraft ; hut  the  latter 
term  stands  for  a distinctive  form  of  the  unnatural, 
the  abnormal  and  the  mysterious,  which  was  not 
regarded  so  much  as  supernatural  as  sub-natural, 
originating  with  the  fiends  of  the  world  below. 

In  1484  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  issued  a bull  against 
witchcraft,  and  commissioned  the  Inquisitor  Spren- 
ger  to  extirpate  it.  He  put  to  death  hundreds  every 
year,  and  always  and  everywhere  the  more  vigorous 
the  prosecution,  the  more  prevalent  the  mania — for 
such  it  was.  Insanity  was  mistaken  for  demoniac 
possession.  From  first  to  last,  tens  if  not  hundreds 
of  thousands  must  have  fallen  victims  to  this  terri- 
ble delusion,  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
being  the  worst  in  this  respect  of  all.  Lecky  tells 
us  that  the  first  appearance  of  the  conception  of  a 
witch  dates  from  the  twelfth  century.  He  describes 
a witch  as  “ a woman  who  had  entered  into  a de- 
liberate compact  with  Satan,  who  was  endowed  with 
the  powers  of  working  miracles  whenever  she  pleas- 
ed, and  who  was  continually  transported  through 
the  air  [generally  on  a broomstick]  to  the  Sabbath, 
where  she  paid  her  homage  to  the  Evil  One.  The 
panic  created  by  this  belief  advanced  slowly,  but 
after  a time  with  a fearfully  accelerated  rapidity. 
Thousands  of  victims  were  sometimes  burnt  alive 
in  a few  years.  Every  country  in  Europe  was 
stricken  with  the  wildest  panic.  Hundreds  of  the 
ablest  judges  were  selected  for  the  extirpation  of 
the  crime.  A vast  literature  was  created  on  the 
subject,  and  it  was  not  until  a considerable  portion 
of  the  eighteenth  century  had  passed  away  that  the 
executions  finally  ceased.” 


After  giving  many  details  of  witchcraft  in  many 
lands,  this  same  writer,  the  highest  authority  upon 
the  subject,  observes : “ Witchcraft  resulted,  not 

from  isolated  circumstances,  but  from  modes  of 
thought;  it  grew  out  of  a certain  intellectual 
temperature  acting  on  certain  theological  ten- 
ets, and  reflected  with  almost  startling  vividness 
each  great  intellectual  change.  Arising  amid  the 
ignorance  of  an  early  civilization,  it  was  quick- 
ened into  an  intenser  life  by  a theological  struggle 
which  allied  terrorism  witli  credulity,  and  it  declined 
under  the  influence  of  that  great  rationalistic  move- 
ment which  since  the  seventeenth  century  has  been 
on  all  sides  encroaching  on  theology.”  In  no  other 
country  did  it  rage  so  furiously  and  persistently  as 
in  Scotland. 

That  famous  English  Puritan,  Richard  Bax- 
ter, whose  “Saints’  Rest”  is  one  of  the  classics  of 
religious  literature,  was  an  intense  believer  in  the 
reality  of  witchcraft,  and  the  duty  of  its  extirpation. 
His  writings  on  this  subject  did  much  to  stimulate  the 
mania  in  primitive  Massachusetts  known  as  Salem 
Witchcraft,  in  the  last  years  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. The  last  execution  of  a witch  in  Europe 
occurred  in  Switzerland  in  1782,  and  the  last 
law  against  witchcraft,  the  Irish  statute,  was 
not  repealed  until  1821.  It  was  in  1768  that  John 
Wesley  wrote  plaintively,  “ The  English  in  general, 
and  indeed  most  of  the  men  of  learning  in  Europe, 
have  given  up  all  accounts  of  witches  and  apparitions 
as  old  wives’  fables.  I am  sorry  for  it,  and  I willing- 
ly take  this  opportunity  to  enter  my  solemn  pro- 
test against  this  violent  compliment  which  so  many 
who  believe  the  Bible  pay  to  those  who  do  not  believe 
it.  I owe  them  no  such  service.  I take  knowledge 
that  these  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  outer}7  which  has 
been  raised,  and  with  such  insolence  spread  through 
the  land  in  direct  opposition,  not  only  to  the 
Bible,  but  to  the  suffrage  of  the  wisest  and  best 
men  of  all  ages  and  nations.  They  well  know 
(whether  Christians  know  it  or  not)  that  the 
giving  up  witchcraft  is  in  effect  giving  up  the 
Bible.”  A delusion  which  could  call  out  from 
such  a man  such  a declaration  as  late  as  1768, 
may  well  be  called  the  deepest-rooted  and  most 
' tenacious  of  all  the  poison-plants  of  the  Dark 
Ages. 


— 


THE  SARACEN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


Medieval  in  Origin  and  Glory — The  Term  Saracen — Mohammed’s  Early  Days  and  Associa- 
tions— Mecca  and  Medina — Death  op  the  Prophet  and  Sketch  op  his  Work — The 
Strength  op  Islam — The  Great  Empires  of  a Thousand  Years  Ago— Mohammedan  Mor- 
als— The  Koran — The  Caliphate  and  the  Ommiad  Dynasty'— Spread  op  Empire — Con- 
stantinople— Division  op  the  Saracen  Empire — Fall  op  the  Empire — The  Saracens  and 
Modern  Civilization — Saracenic  Glory  and  its  Eclipse. 


>F  all  the  powers  and  princi- 
palities of  earth,  whether 
temporal  or  spiritual,  none 
are  or  were  so  distinctively 
medieval  as  that  strange  mix- 
ture of  the  flesh,  the  spir- 
it and  the 
devil,  called  the  Sar- 
acen Empire.  It 
may,  indeed,  be  said 
to  have  had  its  root 
in  the  far-away  days 
of  Abraham  and 
Hagar,  but  from  Ish- 
mael  to  Mohammed, 
the  root  hardly  put 
fortli  a shoot  of  real  nationality, 
and  Saracenic  glory,  which  began 
with  the  prophet  of  Mecca,  was 
dimmed  by  the  dawning  of  modern 
civilization,  to  which,  indeed,  it 
made  some  valuable  contributions. 

The  term  Saracen  is  found  in  clas- 
sic literature  occasionally.  As  used 
by  the  old  writers,  it  applies  to  a particular  tribe  of 
Arabs  and  one  of  no  special  importance  either. 
But  in  these  later  centuries,  it  is  often  used  to  desig- 


nate all  the  followers  of  Mohammed,  more  properly, 
however,  those  who  constituted  the  nation  founded 
by  the  prophet  of  Islam.  It  Avas  not  an  orderly, 
regular  and  Avell-defined  empire,  but  in  part  an  area 
and  in  part  an  idea ; a curious  hybrid,  half  ambi- 
tion and  half  fanaticism.  To  get  an  idea  of  it  one 
must  first  of  all  form  a just  con- 
ception of  Mohammed,  his  sur- 
roundings and  genius. 

Mohammed  Avas  born  at  Mecca, 
in  “ Araby  the  Blest,”  April  20,  A. 
D.  571.  That  city  Avas  the  center 
of  trade  betAveen  Africa  and  India, 
carried  on  by  caravans  of  camels. 
He  belonged  to  one  of  the  first 
families,  and  was  himself  engaged 
in  the  mercantile  and  transporta- 
tion business.  Although  aristocratic 
in  connection  and  blood,  his  im- 
mediate family  Avas  quite  poor. 
Besides  traveling  and  trading,  he 
spent  some  time,  as  did  that  other 
greater  founder  of  a nation,  Moses, 
in  tending  flocks.  While  yet  ob- 
scure, he  married  Kadijah,  a rich  Avidow,  and 
instead  of  giving  himself  up  to  fast  living,  he  de- 
voted his  time  to  religious  meditation,  the  develop- 


-71 


('95) 


V 


k. 


196  THE  SARACEN  EMPIRE. 


merit  of  those  ideas  which  were  destined  to  make 
him  immortal,  and  for  which  he  was  largely  in- 
debted to  Christians  he  had  met  while  a commercial 
traveler.  Like  many  another  genius,  he  claimed  to 
have  derived  his  inspiration  from  some  supernatural 
source.  Mohammed  was  twenty-four  years  of  age 
when  he  began  this  novel  proceeding. 

The  Arabs  claimed  descent  from  Abraham 
through  that  servant- 
girl  whom  “the  father 
of  the  faithful  ” drove 
into  the  wilderness  with 
her  son  Ishmael.  They 
worshiped  one  God,  but 
stood  in  mortal  terror 
of  the  devil,  and  were 
tinctured  somewhat 
with  idolatry.  A few  of 
them  were  Christians 
but  for  the  most  part 
they  held  to  the  old 
worship  with  a half- 
dazed  loyalty  to  ances- 
tral ideas.  Judaism  was 
embraced  by  many. 

The  Arabs’  were  in  a 
state  of  religious  fer- 
mentation. Moham- 
med began  to  preach  in 
609.  • He  had  epileptic 
fits  and  conceived  him- 
self to  be  under  some 
sort  of  spiritualistic  in- 
fluence. He  was  wont 
to  retire  to  a cave  for 
prayer  and  communion 
of  soul.  His  townsmen  paid  no  heed  to  him,  or  if 
they  did,  ridiculed  his  pretensions,  but  his  motherly 
wife  had  unbounded  confidence  in  his  claims,  fully 
sharing  his  belief  that  his  abnormal  experiences  were 
divine  favors  and  not  the  result  of  physical  and 
mental  disorder. 

His  public  career  as  a preacher  or  prophet  began  in 
612.  He  was  banished  and  his  believers  compelled 
to  seek  safety  from  the  mob  in  flight.  After  three 
years  he  was  allowed  to  return  to  Mecca  and  resume 
his  preaching  of  the  doctrine  of  one  God,  for  mon- 
otheism was  about  all  there  was  to  his  original  doc- 
trine. He  made  some  converts,  especially  among 


merchants  or  “ traveling  men,”  from  the  city  of  Me- 
dina. I11  619  his  first  convert  and  good  wife  died.  He 
mourned  deeply,  but  not  as  one  who  refuseth  to  be 
comforted,  as  he  married  several  other  wives,  event- 
ually establishing  an  extensive  harem.  The  famous 
Hegira  occurred  September  20,  622.  That  was 
the  flight  of  the  prophet  and  his  followers  from 
Mecca  to  Medina,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north. 

The  Mohammedan  era 
dates  from  that  flight, 
as  the  Christian  era 
does  from  the  birth  of 
Jesus.  At  Medina  he 
built  a mosque  and  set 
about  establishing  a 
distinct  religion  on  a 
large  scale.  Hitherto 
he  had  aimed  at  refor- 
mation ratherthan  sub- 
stitution. Not  making 
very  satisfactory  prog- 
ress by  moral  suasion, 
he  appealed  to  the 
sword  and  war  was  de- 
clared against  sur- 
rounding tribes,  Jews 
and  Christians.  In  623 
he  was  successful  in  a 
battle  with  the  Mec- 
cans, and  later  had 
some  reverses,  but  on 
the  whole  made  very 
considerable  progress, 
and  secured  quite  favor- 
able terms  of  peace  in 
628.  About  this  time 
the  sword-bearing  prophet  opened  negotiations 
with  foreign  oriental  courts  and  began  to  be 
a notable  person  in  Arabia.  The  Meccans  did 
not  observe  the  terms  of  peace,  and  in  the  next 
campaign  he  succeeded  in  capturing  the  city.  In 
632  he  made  his  last  great  pilgrimage  to  Mecca, 
this  time  attended  by  an  army  of  forty  thousand 
and  a seraglio  of  ten  wives  (he  had  fourteen  in  all). 
In  June  of  that  year  the  prophet  died  at  Medina, 
leaving  no  son  to  reap  what  he  had  sown,  his  only 
child  being  Fatima,  the  wife  of  Ali,  of  whom  we 
shall  speak  later. 

At  the  death  of  this  most  remarkable  man,  his 


o 


UL 


THE  SARACEN  EMPIRE. 


l97 


followers  were  without  a leader,  and  the  religion 
he  founded  might  well  have  been  thought  to  be 
in  a very  precarious  condition,  and  no  one  cer- 
tainly could  have  indulged  a dream  of  splendid 
empire  for  his  disciples.  But  to-day  those  dis- 
ciples number  nearly  two  hundred  millions,  oc- 
cupying southeastern  Europe,  southwestern  Asia, 
and  the  northern  half  of  Africa,  while  the  magnifi- 
cent empire  which  he  founded  fills  a large  place  in 
history ; both  religion  and  empire  having  always  had 
for  corner-stone  and  inspirational  belief  the  simple 
declaration,  “ There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mo- 
hammed is  his  prophet.” 

The  real  strength  of  Islam  was  in  these  two 
ideas ; first,  the  time  of  one’s  death  is  immutably 
fixed ; second,  heaven  is  the  reward  of  the  brave 
soldier  of  the  Crescent,  and  hell  the  destiny  of  the 
coward.  Mohammed  and  his  immediate  successors 
were  able  to  muster  armies  of  actual  believers  in 
these  two  ideas.  If  one  were  fully  convinced  of 
the  truth  of  those  ideas,  he  would  be  undismayed 
by  danger  and  afraid  of  nothing  but  cowardice. 
His  bravery  Avould  be  in  proportion  to  the  complete- 
ness of  his  faith.  In  the  entire  history  of  man- 
kind there  was  never  an  army  imbued  Avith  convic- 
tions so  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  martial  spirit  as 
Avere  the  disciples  of  Islam.  The  heaven  and  the 
hell  of  Mohammedanism  are  not  dim  and  shadoAvy. 
On  the  contrary,  the  heaven  promised  Avas  just  such 
a paradise  as  the  voluptuous  oriental  nature  would 
most  ardently  long  for.  The  angels  were  not  harp- 
ists Avitliout  passion  or  sex,  but  beauteous  young 
women,  all  smiles  and  tenderness,  while  hell  Avas 
torture,  veritable,  physical,  endless  and  most  excru- 
ciating. So  long  as  the  natural  reason  of  the 
Saracen  could  be  blindfolded  by  his  religion  he  Avas 
absolutely  invincible  in  arms.  But  such  preposter- 
ous notions  cannot  hold  absolute  sway  ahvays. 
Gradually  the  Saracen  came  to  feel  at  heart,  Avhat- 
ever  his  surface  belief,  that  life  is  Avorth  living,  and 
that  to  throw  it  away  on  an  uncertainty  Avould  be 
foolish.  The  original  zeal  and  faith  of  the  Mo- 
hammedans could  not  survive  after  the  first  heat  of 
novelty  had  cooled  off. 

At  the  time  Mohammed  Avas  born,  there  were  tAvo 
powerful  empires  and  emperors,  Justin  II.,  Avho 
ruled  at  Constantinople  over  the  Byzantine  Empire, 
and  Koshroes  II.,  King  of  Persia.  The  Byzan- 
tine possessions  in  Asia  consisted  of  Asia  Minor, 


Syria,  part  of  Armenia,  Southeastern  Persia, 
extended  over  a vast  and  illy  defined  Eastern  terri- 
tory and  as  far  Avest  as  the  Mediterranean  and 
iEgean  seas.  In  one  of  these  empires  Christ  Avas 
Avorshiped ; in  the  other  Zoroaster  Avas  revered  as 
the  great  teacher  of  religion.  Mohammed  saAV  in 
both  religious  idolatry,  and  boldly  did  his  Saracens 
attack  both.  The  Arabian  peninsula  lay  on  the 
confines  of  both  empires,  and  the  desert  Avas  the 
impregnable  Avail  of  protection  from  both. 

The  Arabs  Avere  greatly  improved  in  morals  by 
Mohammedanism.  They  had  been  much  given  to 
drunkenness  and  gambling,  but  Mohammed  radically 
and  permanently  cured  them  of  both.  His  disci- 
ples have  ahvays  remained  true  to  his  teachings  on 
temperance.  It  is  only  fair  to  add  that  Mohammed 
did  more  for  the  cause  of  temperance  than  all  other 
reformers  in  that  line  combined  have  ever  been 
able  to  accomplish.  Those  avIio  see  in  drunkenness 
the  supreme  curse  of  Christendom  must  be  tempted 
to  regret  the  failure  of  the  Saracens,  and  later  the 
Moors  and  Turks,  to  overrun  and  possess  Europe. 
Mohammed  did  something  to  lessen  the  social  vice  of 
his  people.  The  old  Arabs  Avere  grossly  licentious. 
He  did  indeed  alloAv  a man  to  be  the  husband  of 
four  wives,  but  that  Avas  a restriction  as  compared 
Avith  previous  practices,  and  some  improvement  up- 
on irregular  libertinism. 

The  Koran,  which  he  pretended  to  receive  by  the 
inspiration  of  God,  is  held  in  the  greatest  possible 
veneration  by  his  disciples.  It  is  a jumble  of  pre- 
cepts and  statements,  without  method  and  often 
without  sense.  It  cannot  be  summarized.  As 
Canon  Kingsley  said  of  it,  “ After  all,  the  Koran  is 
not  a book,  but  an  irregular  collection  of  Moham- 
med’s meditations  and  notes  for  sermons.”  It  is 
neither  a creed,  a code,  a diary  nor  a history.  It  is  a 
scrap-book  of  odds  and  ends  put  together  some  time 
after  the  prophet’s  death  by  Abu-Bekr.  The 
Saracen’s  faith,  however,  requires  the  acceptance  of 
the  Koran  as  the  gift  of  God  through  Mohammed 
to  man,  of  an  eternal,  uncreated,  perfect  and  all- 
sulficicnt  revelation. 

Every  true  Moslem  believer  has  always  held  that 
the  Caliph  or  Vicar  of  the  prophet  was  the  lawful 
lord  of  the  world,  but  the  prophet  died  Avitliout  ap- 
pointing a successor.  It  was  expected  that  the  hus- 
band of  his  only  child  Avould  be  appointed  for  the 
succession,  but  Mohammed’s  favorite  Avife,  Ayesha, 


P7 


k_ 


198 


THE  SARACEN  EMPIRE. 


defeated  this,  and  brought  in  her  father,  Abu-Bekr. 
The  first  four  Caliphs  belong  to  a distinct  period. 
They  were,  to  name  them  in  their  order,  Abu-Bekr, 
Omar,  Othman  and  Ali;  the  one  who  should  have 
been  first  being  last.  The  selection  was  by  no  de- 
fined method,  but  made  in  a hap-hazard  way.  For 
twelve  years  after  the  death  of  Mohammed — 632  to 
644 — the  Saracens  were  harmonious,  and  swift  was 
the  march  of  empire.  Persia  fell,  and  the  Eastern 
empire  tottered  and  was  shorn  of  her  oriental  prov- 
inces. As  if  by  magic,  the  Saracen  empire  rose  to 
pre-eminence.  J erusalem,  Antioch  and  the  regions 
round  about  accepted  the  Crescent.  The  wealth  of 
Persia  and  Syria  were  emptied  into  the  coffers  of 
Abu-Bekr,  but  he  used  it  only  for  the  cause  of  Is- 
lam. His  personal  habits  were  simple  in  the  ex- 
treme. Medina  was  the  first  capital.  It  was  after- 
wards located  respectively  at  Damascus  and  Bagdad. 

The  accession  of  Ali  was  the  signal  for  the 
^ first  real  dis- 
sensions, and 
vain  were  all 
his  endeavors 
t 0 reconcile 
the  factions. 
He  died  at 
the  hand  of 
a n assassin, 
and  his  rival, 
M o s w i j a h, 
succeeded 
him.  The 

latter  founded  an  hereditary  dynasty,  one  which 
lasted  in  the  East  a century,  and  in  Spain,  to  which 
it  was  driven,  nearly  three  centuries  more.  It  was 
called  the  Ommiad  dynasty. 

The  motto  of  the  conquering  Saracens  was,  “ Ko- 
ran, tribute  or  sword,”  and  so  fierce  were  their  on- 
slaughts, that  the  Koran  was  generally  preferred  to 
the  sword,  or  even  to  tribute.  On  the  very  year  of 
the  prophet’s  death,  the  invasion  of  both  empires 
Avas  begun,  and  nothing  could  resist  the  fanatics 
avIio  suav  in  the  spirit-land  houris  beckoning  the 
brave  to  bliss.  Egypt  fell  Avitliout  a blow  almost, 
glad  of  an  excuse  to  change  masters,  and  Syria  Avas 
subjugated  in  six  years.  The  northern  portion  of 
Africa,  called  Latin  Africa,  Avithstood  the  Crescent 
sixty  years,  but  finally  Caesar  and  Christ  were  both 
displaced  on  the  dark  continent  by  Mohammed. 


The  great  Mosque  of  Damascus. 


Early  in  the  eighth  century  the  Ommiad  SAvay  was 
extended  to  India,  hitherto  independent  of  both 
Russian  and  Persian  despotism,  and  unacquainted 
Avitli  Moses  and  Jesus.  In  710  the  Oxus  Avas  crossed 
and  India  subjected  to  the  encroachments  of  the 
Saracens.  The  religion  of  the  desert  seemed  to  be 
very  Avell  adapted  to  the  wants  and  tastes  of  the 
Hindoos,  and  iioav  began  the  conversion  of  those 
terrible  Moslems,  the  subjects  of  the  Grand  Turk 
and  of  the  Great  Mogul.  A Saracenic  province  be- 
ttveen  the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes  developed  later 
into  what  Freeman  calls  “ the  region  Avhence  issued 
in  future  ages  the  Avarriors  Avho  planted  the  standard 
of  Islam  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  and  the  shores 
of  the  Adriatic,  the  proud  Mogul  of  India  and  the 
terrible  and  abiding  Ottoman  of  Europe.”  It  was 
not  long  before  the  Avill  of  the  Caliph  Avas  supreme 
from  the  remote  Jaxartes  to  the  Atlantic,  a reach 
of  empire  beyond  the  dream  of  Alexander  or  Caesar. 

But  there  Avas  one  mighty  rock  Avhich  said  to  the 
Saracen,  “ Thus  far  shalt  thou  go  and  no  farther, 
and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  staid.”  That  Avas 
Constantinople.  From  the  first  it  had  been  espe- 
cially coveted.  Repeated  efforts  to  capture  it  Avere 
made  to  no  avail.  The  first  siege  Avas  in  673.  In 
711  the  opportune  moment  seemed  to  have  arrived. 
That  year  the  Justinian  dynasty  became  extinct  at 
Constantinople,  and  the  Caliphat  at  Damascus  at- 
tained its  utmost  extent.  But  the  city  Avithstood 
the  shock.  Six  years  later  another  Saracen  army 
laid  siege  to  Constantinople,  but  to  no  purpose. 
The  Caliphate  never  Avon  the  golden  prize.  The 
city  of  Constantine  remained  the  capital  of  the  Ro- 
man, or  Greek,  or  Byzantine  empire  until  a fiercer 
race  of  Mohammedans  than  the  Saracens  besieged 
it,  namely,  the  Turks,  or  Ottomans,  in  1453. 

When  the  Ommiad  dynasty  fell  (750)  the  Cali- 
phate Avas  divided,  nevermore  to  be  joined  together. 
From  that  time  the  Crescent  Avas  no  longer  the 
horned  ensign  of  a united  empire.  During  the 
Crusades  all  belieArers  in  the  Koran  Avere  exhorted 
to  join  in  Avar  against  the  believers  in  the  Bible, 
each  branding  the  other  as  Infidels,  and  there  Avas 
much  the  same  unity  under  one  standard  as  the 
other.  Nothing  approaching  political  autonomy 
Avas  secured  under  either  the  Cross  or  the  Crescent. 
Henceforth  the  folloAvcrs  of  Islam  Avere  divided  in- 
to sects  or  nationalities,  hostile  to  each  other,  much 
as  Christians  Avere  and  are.  To  folloAV  these  frag- 


4T«r 


1 


THE  SARACEN  EMPIRE. 


ments  in  their  jargonic  details  would  be  foreign  to 
the  purposes  of  this  volume.  The  Eastern  Sara- 
cens had  Bagdad  for  their  capital,  the  Western, 
Cordova  in  Spain.  Of  the  Moors,  the  Turks  and 
the  Tartars,  all  in  a certain  sense  Saracens,  we  shall 
I have  occasion  to  speak  more  specifically  in  connec- 
tion with  Spain,  Turkey  and  Russia.  The  warfare 
in  any  religious  sense  between  the  Cross  and  Cres- 
cent was  continued  until  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
the  patrons  of  Columbus,  conquered  the  Moors,  or 
Saracens,  in  Spain,  their  only  foothold  in  the 
Western  Empire.  It  was  then  felt  that  the  dis- 
grace of  the  fall  of  Constantinople  had  been  offset, 
and  the  blood  of  unholy  Holy  W ars,  was  washed 
from  Cross  and  Crescent  forever.  There  has  been 
some  prejudice  in  the  sanguinary  discussion  of  the 
j “ Eastern  question,”  but  no  war  on  that  distinctive 
issue.  The  fall  of  the  Saracen  empire  might  be 
placed  at  the  overthrow  of  the  Ornmiad  dynasty,  or 
it  might  be  said  to  still  survive  wherever  Moham- 
med is  revered  as  Allah’s  prophet ; but  it  would, 
perhaps,  be  more  proper  still  to  say,  that  as  the 
Turk  planted  himself  at  Constantinople,  and  the 
Great  Mogul  in  India,  the  Saracen  empire  gradually 
faded  into  one  or  the  other,  and  became  indistin- 
guishable and  finally  extinct. 


199 


Much  has  been  said  in  these  later  years  of  the  in- 
debtedness of  modern  civilization  to  the  Saracens. 
There  is  just  enough  truth  in  the  claims  set  up  to 
entitle  the  subject  to  some  consideration.  The 
Arabs  were  not  inventors  or  originators  of  anything. 
Even  the  numerals  which  bear  their  name  were  bor- 
rowed by  them  from  India.  They  were  judicious 
appropriators  and  zealous  propagators.  They  learned 
a great  deal  from  all  the  peoples  whom  they  subju- 
gated. They  cultivated  a native  literature  rich  in 
sentimental  poetry  and  stories,  and  studied  with 
avidity  physical  and  metaphysical  science  as  taught 
by  and  embraced  in  classic  literature.  No  people 
ever  held  literary  excellence  in  higher  repute,  a fact 
of  vast  importance  in  stimulating  letters.  In  as- 
tronomy, medicine,  logic  and  the  arts,  useful  and 
ornamental,  the  Saracens  were  far  in  advance  of  the 
Christians  of  medieval  Europe.  In  the  blackness 
of  the  Dark  Ages  the  abundant  scholarship  of  the 
Saracens  was  largely  instrumental  in  rescuing  from 
destruction  the  wisdom  and  writings  of  the  ancients. 
It  did  vastly  more  in  this  regard  than  did  the  sparse 
learning  of  the  Christian  monasteries,  and  for  that 
service  at  least,  if  for  no  other  particular  reason, 
the  civilization  of  to-day  should  hold  the  Crescent 
in  grateful  memory. 


f' 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


The  Three  Empires  of  the  East — Byzantium— The  Empire  Established— Its  Area  and  Con- 
servatism— Justinian  and  Belisarius— Justinian  and  the  Civil  Law— Leo  HI.  and  the 
Iconoclasts— Bazil  and  his  Dynasty — The  Comnenians  and  the  Latin  Crusaders — 
Palasoloui  and  the  Turks — The  Byzantine  Empire  and  Europe. 


T is  now  time  to  revert  to 
the  Eastern  portion  of  the 
divided  Roman  Empire, 
generally  known  as  the  By- 
zantine Empire.  Follow- 
ing streams  of  intelligence 
which  had  their  origin  in 
the  Eternal  City,  or  were  so 
closely  connected  with  Rome  and  Italy 
as  to  demand  attention  before  taking 
leave  of  the  city  of  the  seven  hills,  we 
have  traveled  a long  way  from  Constan- 
tinople and  the  empires  of  the  East. 
Beginning  with  the  offshoot  of  Rome, 
following  with  the  medieval,  which  was 
finally  swallowed  up  by  the  third  em- 
pire, we  shall  see  that  these  three 
members  of  this  historical  family  of 
nations,  the  Byzantine,  the  Saracen  and  the  Otto- 
man empires,  sustain  peculiarly  intimate  relations 
to  each  other. 

Some  seven  centuries  and  a half  before  the 
Christian  era,  a Greek  colony  established  a city  up- 
on the  Thracian  Bosphorus,  on  the  site  of  the  Mod- 
em Constantinople.  It  was  called  Byzantium.  It 
was  a thrifty  commercial  town,  and  that  is  about 
all  that  can  be  said  of  it,  never  acquiring  any  real 
importance  in  history.  A thousand  years  after  its 


establishment,  Constantine  the  Great  saw  its  geo- 
graphical advantages  as  the  capital  of  a great  em- 
pire of  inter-continental  importance,  and  gave  to  it 
a new  name  and  a new  destiny.  That  was  in  the 
year  330.  Then,  for  the  first  time,  that  now  his- 
toric spot  became  worthy  the  attention  of  history. 
There  was  no  Byzantine  history  of  any  importance 
until  Byzantium  ceased  to  exist. 

But  it  was  still  later  before  the  Byzantine  empire 
came  into  being.  Constantine  made  his  metropoli- 
tan namesake  the  capital  of  the  undivided  Roman 
empire.  That  empire  was  definitely  divided  by 
Theodosius  the  Great  in  the  year  395,  when  the 
emperor  assigned  the  western  portion  to  his  son 
Ilonorius,  and  the  eastern  to  the  elder  brother,  Ar- 
cadius.  This  eastern  empire,  sometimes  called  the 
Greek,  sometimes  the  Eastern,  and  sometimes  the 
Byzantine,  proved  the  great  conservator  during  the 
medieval  ages,  of  both  Greek  and  Roman  civilization. 

While  nearly  all  Europe  was  in  the  throes  of  a 
new  life,  and  the  rude  barbarism  of  the  North  and 
West  was  amalgamating  with  the  culture  of  the  old 
world,  thus  forming  a Modern  Europe,  there  stood 
upon  the  Bosphorus  a mighty  city  which  preserved 
Roman  law  and  Greek  literature  until  such 
time  as  the  West  had  fairly  started  upon  the 
highway  of  modern  progress.  The  Byzantine  em- 
pire was  the  great  conservator  of  the  past,  while 


|V 


( 200) 


THE  BYZANTINE  EMPIRE.  201 


the  present  was  being  evolved.  The  civil  institu- 
tions were  Roman ; the  language  employed,  Greek. 

This  medieval  empire  comprised,  substantially, 
modern  Turkey,  Greece  and  Egypt.  Sometimes 
the  area  was  extended,  sometimes  contracted, accord- 
ing  to  the  fortunes  of  war.  The  imperial  crown  was 
elective,  and  more  than  one  great  military  hero  found 
the  army  a stepping-stone  to  the  throne.  Owing 
to  the  natural  strength  of  Constantinople,  it  was 
easy  to  defend  it  against  assault.  It  is  said  to  have 
withstood  no  less  than  twenty  sieges.  The  extent 
of  its  domain  varied  frequently,  but  for  centuries, 
lost  territory 
was  generally 
recovered.  The 
empire  cared 
little  for  in- 
crease of  do- 
main, but  was 
peculiarly  te- 
nacious in  the 
maintenance 
of  its  natural 
ancient  boun- 
daries. It  was 
the  object  of 
envious  attack 
on  all  sides, 
and  to  hold  its 
own  was  quite 
enough,  and, 
as  it  proved, 
even  more  than  could  be  accomplished  permanently. 

The  first  Byzantine  emperor  of  renown  was  Jus- 
tinian. His  uncle,  Justin,  had  come  to  the  throne 
early  in  the  sixth  century,  rising  from  a Thracian 
shepherd  lad  to  the  imperial  purple,  through  mili- 
tary genius.  Justin  was  the  David  of  the  dynasty, 
and  his  nephew  its  Solomon.  From  527  to  565, 
Justinian  wore  the  imperial  crown.  It  was  a splen- 
did reign.  By  him  was  erected  the  magnificent 
edifice,  the  cathedral,  now  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia. 
In  the  field  he  had  the  services  of  Belisarius,  who 
ranks  with  Hannibal,  Marlborough  and  Wellington, 
if  not  with  Alexander,  Caesar  and  Napoleon.  Beli- 
sarius lived  to  experience  the  cruel  ingratitude  of 
the  government  he  had  served  so  well.  Tradition 
represents  him  as  a blind  beggar  in  his  old  age. 
lie  gained  splendid  victories  over  the  Persians  in 


the  East,  the  Vandals  in  Africa,  the  Goths  in  Italy, 
and  insurgents  at  home ; but  he  was  never  popular 
with  the  beautiful  but  vicious  queen  Theodora,  and 
his  misfortunes  were  due  to  her  machinations. 

Justinian  enriched  his  empire  with  the  spoils  of 
conquered  nations,  and  still  more  by  the  development 
of  manufactures,  agriculture  and  commerce.  But 
the  great  glory  of  this  illustrious  reign  was  neither 
military,  industrial  nor  commercial.  It  was  legal. 
That  grandest  of  all  monuments  to  and  embodi- 
ments of  the  science  of  law,  Corpus  Juris  Civilis, 
constitutes  his  highest  claim  to  the  gratitude  of  the 

world.  That 
work  is  the 
Roman  code, 
revised  and 
edited  by  a 
corps  of  able 
lawyers,  with 
Tribonian  as 
editor-in-chief. 
It  consists  of 
four  parts,  the 
Pandects  or 
Digest ; the 
Code ; the  In- 
stitutes, and 
the  Novel  Is,  or 
supplemental 
edicts.  It  was 
some  five  hun- 
dred years  be- 
fore the  stupendous  work  became  known  to  the 
nations  west  of  the  Byzantine  empire,  but  for 
several  centuries  it  has  formed  and  still  forms 
the  basis  of  jurisprudence  all  over  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe.  England  has  always  had  a com- 
mon law  peculiar  to  itself,  and  France  is  mainly 
guided  in  legal  matters  by  the  Code  Napoleon,  but 
the  civil  law,  as  expounded  in  the  Corpus  Juris  Civilis, 
is  to  the  rest  of  Europe  what  Blackstone’s  Commen- 
taries arc  to  English  jurisprudence. 

In  718  Leo  TIL  ascended  the  Byzantine  throne. 
With  him  began  the  reign  of  the  Iconoclasts.  For 
about  one  century  there  raged  a fierce  controversy 
over  the  worship  of  images.  The  priests  and  the 
peasantry  clung  to  this  species  of  idolatry,  while  the 
government  sternly  opposed  it.  Iconoelasm  was, 
however,  a pretext  quite  as  much  as  the  real  cause 


a 


4 


202 


THE  BYZANTINE  EMPIRE. 


of  contention.  Behind  the  images  was  the  issue  of 
church  or  state,  the  priesthood  seeking  to  subordi- 
nate the  temporal  power,  and  the  latter  to  hold  the 
clergy;  in  due  subordination.  The  Greek  church 
never  attained  to  the  power  of  the  church  of  Rome. 
Leo  was  the  emperor  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
and  he  succeeded  in  giving  the  secular  arm  author- 
ity enough  to  maintain  its  ascendancy  ever  after. 

Next  to  Justinian,’  the  greatest  name  in  the  an- 
nals of  the  Byzantine  empire,  is  that  of  Bazil  the 
Macedonian.  He  ascended  the  throne  in  867. 
Many  reforms  and  improvements  in  the  government 
date  from  this  reign.  A new  version  of  the  laws 
was  made,  and  the  revenue  system  of  the  nation 
greatly  simplified.  His  son,  Leo  IV.,  made  what 
proved  to  be  the  fatal  mistake  of  calling  the  Turks 
to  his  aid  in  resisting  the  attacks  of  the  Saracens. 
The  seed  then  and  thus  sown  bore  fruit  in  the  over- 
throw of  both  the  Byzantine  and  Saracen  empires. 

For  ninety  years  the  Bazilian  dynasty  held  the 
scepter.  Then  it  became  extinct,  and  Isaac  Com- 
nenus  was  raised  to  the  throne  by  the  unanimous  vote 
of  the  army.  He  was  worthy  the  high  trust.  For 
two  years  he  ruled  the  empire,  when  he  retired  to 
a monastery.  His  son  Alexis  took  the  place  he  va- 
cated, and  his  dynasty  furnished  six  emperors  in 
succession.  The  Comnenians  held  sway  until  1204, 
when  Constantinople  was  taken  for  the  first  time. 
The  conquerors  were  a small  army  of  French  and 
Venetian  crusaders  called  Latins.  They  were  actu- 
ated in  a large  measure  by  religious  fanaticism,  the 
adherents  of  Rome  being  hardly  less  hostile  to  the 
Greek  church  than  to  Islam.  Having  Constanti- 
nople, they  had  the  entire  empire,  which  they  pro- 
ceeded to  divide  into  four  parts.  The  capital  fell 
to  the  lot  of  Baldwin,  Count  of  Flanders,  and  he  was 
recognized  as  emperor  by  his  associates. 

The  vanquished  descendants  of  Isaac  Comnenus 
retired  to  the  city  of  Trebizond,  in  Asiatic  Turkey, 
and  there  established  a kingdom  which  maintained 
its  independence  until  1461,  when  the  Turks  con- 
quered and  annexed  it.  Baldwin  found  his  position 
a difficult  one  to  hold.  The  Bulgarians  were  very 
hostile,  and  anarchy  at  home  supplemented  Slavic 
or  Christian  hostilities.  In  1206  he  was  taken  pris- 
oner by  the  Bulgarians  and  died.  His  brother  Henry 
took  the  reins  of  government  and  held  them  six 
years.  He  was  a brave  and  able  man,  hut  his  reign 
was  none  the  less  a sorry  failure. 


In  1261  began  the  dynasty  of  the  Palseologi, 
which  was  a restoration  of  the  Greeks,  and  contin- 
ued until  the  overthrow  of  the  empire.  The  first 
emperor  of  this  line  was  Michael  VIII.,  who  was 
indebted  to  the  alliance  of  the  Genoese  for  his  crown. 
He  was  an  able  and  patriotic  man,  but  he  made  one 
egregious  mistake.  He  tried  to  unite  the  Greek  and 
Roman  churches.  Such  a union  would  have  been 
in  substance  the  triumph  of  the  papacy.  By  that 
policy  he  excited  the  intense  animosity  of  the  clergy 
and  the  common  people. 

During  the  reign  of  Michael’s  great-grandson, 
Andronicus,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  1328,  the 
Turks  made  very  serious  inroads  upon  the  territory 
of  the  empire.  Two  important  towns,  Nicsea  and 
Nicomedia,  were  captured  by  them,  and  the  coast 
of  what  is  known  as  Turkey  in  Europe  was  devas- 
tated. From  this  time  forward,  the  invaders  made 
rapid  strides.  In  1362  the  Sultan  Amurath  made 
Adrianople  his  capital ; a city  founded  by  the  em- 
peror Hadrian,  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  west 
from  Constantinople.  From  that  vantage-ground 
the  Ottoman  waged  almost  incessant  war  against 
the  key  city  of  two  continents. 

The  last  of  the  Greek  emperors,  Constantine  IX., 
was  wise,  brave  and  patriotic,  but  the  empire  had 
been  so  enfeebled  by  despotism  and  was  so  palsied 
by  age  that  it  could  not  withstand  the  shock  of  bar- 
barism, and  fell,  all  the  efforts  of  Christian  allies, 
which  were  very  considerable,  being  unavailing.  By 
this  time,  nearly  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  centu- 
ry, the  papacy  recognized  the  importance,  from  a 
Christian  point  of  view,  of  keeping  the  Mohamme- 
dans from  gaining  possession  of  the  key  city  of  both 
Europe  and  Asia.  Hungary  and  Poland  responded 
to  the  pope’s  appeal  to  succor  beleaguered  Constan- 
tinople, but  Germany,  France  and  England  stood 
aloof  from  the  conflict  upon  the  Bosphorus.  In'the 
summer  of  1453  the  city  was  captured  and  Con- 
stantine XIII.,  the  last  of  the  Byzantine  Emperors, 
died  sword  in  hand.  In  this  siege  cannons  were 
first  used  upon  a large  scale. 

The  death  of  the  Byzantine  empire  was  the  birth 
of  the  present  Ottoman  empire,  and  where  the  his- 
tory of  one  ceases  that  of  the  other  begins.  Upon 
the  ruins  of  the  one  great  Christian  empire  of  the 
middle  ages,  rose  the  Turkey  of  to-day,  a power 
which  upholds  the  Crescent,  and  in  that  respect  is 
the  heir  and  successor  of  the  Saracen  empire,  to 


i 


V£> 


O 


ARRIVAL  OP  THE  CRUSADERS’  FLEET  BEFORE  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


THE  BYZANTINE  EMPIRE. 


205 


which,  however,  in  attitude  towards  science  and  lit- 
erature, it  has  no  resemblance,  the  Ottoman  having 
always  been  hostile  to  civilization. 

The  fall  of  Constantinople  was  deeply  deplored 
by  Christian  Europe  as  the  lamentable  triumph  of 
Mohammedanism,  but  it  proved  an  inestimable 
blessing  to  the  West.  Driven  into  exile,  many  of 
the  Byzantine  scholars  and  artisans  traveled  west- 
ward, taking  their  knowledge  and  skill  with  them. 
They  accomplished  great  results.  The  West  was 
prepared  to  profit  by  their  higher  civilization. 
These  new  teachers  taught  law  and  theology  to  the 
ignorant,  and  useful  arts  to  the  idle.  The  germs 
of  the  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation  were  sown 
in  the  lands  covered  with  the  blackness  of  the  Dark 
Ages  by  the  refugees  from  Constantinople.  What 
the  Moors  accomplished  in  Southwestern  Europe,  the 
Byzantines  wrought  in  Central  and  Eastern  Europe. 
In  a word,  Constantinople  was  a vast  grain-bin, 
and  when  the  storehouse  fell,  much  of  the  seed 
fell  upon  fallow  ground,  much  of  which  ground 
had  never  before  been  reclaimed  and  made  fruitful. 

Byzantine  art  is  a distinct  and  important  school 
of  architecture  and  ornamentation,  developed  by 
the  artists  of  that  empire  out  of  Christian  symbol- 
ism. Says  an  eminent  writer  upon  the  historical 
development  of  art,  “ During  the  Dark  Ages',  after 
Rome  had  been  conquered  by  the  Goths  and  Huns, 
and  the  fine  arts  had  been  nearly  extinguished  by 


the  influx  of  barbarism,  many  Western  artists  re- 
tired to  Constantinople,  and  founded  a school  by 
which  the  traditions  of  antique  and  classical  art 
were  cherished  and  modified  by  whatever  was  new 
and  peculiar  in  the  Christian  system.  The  great 
features  of  this  style  are  the  circle  and  dome,  the 
round  arch,  and  all  the  various  details  of  form 
which  are  derived  from  the  lily,  the  cross,  the 
nimbus,  and  other  symbols.”  Besides  the  Mosque 
of  St.  Sophia,  may  be  mentioned  St.  Mark’s  Cathe- 
dral at  Venice  as  specimens  of  Byzantine  archi- 
tecture. All  that  is  truly  artistic  and  sublime  in 
Russian  structures  may  also  be  claimed  as  Byzan- 
tine. 

The  fall  of  this  empire  no  more  overthrew  the 
Greek  church  than  the  banishment  of  the  Popes 
from  the  Vatican  would  destroy  the  Roman  church ; 
but  it  greatly  weakened  the  authority  of  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  prepared  the  way 
for  Peter  the  Great  to  adopt  for  Russia  a strictly 
national  church  without  incurring,  as  Henry  the 
Eighth  of  England  did  in  adopting  the  same  poli- 
cy, the  wrath  and  anathemas  of  the  central  head 
of  the  church.  There  was  no  Greek  Empire,  and 
so  the  Great  Czar  could  substitute  his  Holy  Synod 
for  the  patriarchy,  and  still  be  “ orthodox.”  Herein 
the  church  of  the  Eastern  Empire  proved  itself 
to  be  more  liberal  than  the  church  of  the  Western 
Empire. 


p 

‘4-  3^ 

uSr 

"71 


pv 


THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE 


TURKEY 


the  confluence  of  the  Medi- 
terranean and  the  Black 
seas,  where  Constantine  fixed 
his  court  and  reared  a city 
monumental  of  his  name, 
and  where  Justinian  held 
sway,  now  rules  the  “ Sick 
Man.”  Never  was  there  a 
more  appropriate  name  for  a govern- 
ment. The  Ottoman  empire,  or  Tur- 
key, is  strong  only  in  weakness.  It 
stands  because  the  rest  of  Europe  can- 
not afford  to  allow  any  really  vigorous 
power  to  hold  Constantinople.  To  set 
forth  the  historic  and  present  relations 
of  this  burnt-out  volcano,  requires  but 

few  details. 

The  Ottoman  empire,  traced  to  its  source,  leads 
back  to  a tribe  from  the  Altai  mountains.  The 
Ottoman  career  of  conquest  dates  from  1330. 
About  that  time  Orchan  made  successful  sorties 
upon  Necomedia  and  Nicola.  He  called  the  gate 
of  his  palace  the  Sublime  Porte,  and  himself  Pa- 
disha.  Both  titles  are  still  in  use,  the  former  being 
frequently  employed  to  designate  the  sovereign,  or 
Sultan.  His  right  arm  in  conquest  was  a band  of 
soldiers  known  as  Janizaries,  a body  of  warriors 


which  became  virtually  autocratic  in  later  centuries, 
raising  up  and  overthrowing  Sultans  at  pleasure. 
They  were  finally  destroyed  early  in  "the  present 
century.  They  were  the  only  Turkish  approach  to 
a regular  nobility.  The  founder  of  the  empire  re- 
sided at  Brussa.  The  second  Sultan,  Amurath  I., 
made  Adrianople  his  capital.  That  was  in  13G5, 
and  that  city  remained  the  capital  until  Constanti- 
nople was  conquered  in  1453. 

During  that  Adrianopolitan  period,  the  Byzan- 
tine empire  was  not  only  overrun  by  a gradual  pro- 
cess of  conquest,  but  came  in  contact  with  that 
prodigy  of  valor  and  cruelty,  Tamerlane,  or  Timar 
the  Lame.  He  was  the  leader  of  a predatory  band 
of  Mongols.  As  a soldier  Tamerlane  may  well 
claim  the  very  highest  rank.  In  1360  he  became 
the  chief  of  his  tribe,  being  then  twenty -four  years 
of  age.  lie  subjugated  the  whole  of  central  and 
western  Asia,  from  China  to  the  sea,  and  from  Si- 
beria to  the  Ganges.  In  1402  he  met  the  Turks 
and  completely  routed  them.  His  death,  occurring 
three  years  later,  saved  China  from  invasion.  He 
was  destitute  of  statesmanship,  and  his  conquests 
were  mere  raids,  desolating  but  transitory  in  effect. 
As  soon  as  nature  could  repair  the  wastes  of  his  wars, 
all  was  restored.  The  Ottoman  empire  regained  its 
vigor  and  never  lost  its  identitv.  In  less  than  a 


(206) 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


Tiie  Sick  Man  of  the  East  (Turkey) — The  Empire  Founded — Adrianople  and  Tamerlane — 
The  Fall  of  Constantinople  and  its  Effect — Solyman  the  Magnificent — Decline  of 
the  Empire — Scheme  of  Catharine  the  Great— State  op  Dependence — Religion  and 
Intelligence  in  Turkey — Present  Condition  of  the  Empire — Area,  Population,  Gov' 
ernment,  Education,  Railways  and  Debt. 


THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE. 


generation  it  greatly  humiliated  the  Byzantine  em- 
pire, and  in  less  than  two  generations  the  latter 
ceased  to  exit,  having  been  supplanted  by  the  former. 
It  was  Mohammed  II.  who  transferred  the  seat  of 
empire  from  Adrianople  to  Constantinople,  the 
Turkish  name  for  which  is  Stamboul. 

The  conqueror  of  Constantinople, as  previously  sug- 
gested, wrought  a great  work  for  Europe.  The  city 
was  appropriated  by  Mohammed,  and  many  of  the 
people  submitted  to  his  rule,  which  was  tolerant, 
but  a large  number  of  the  better  class  fled  from  Is- 


tions  and  extended  the  area  of  the  empire  with 
facility,  his  ambition  being  to  conquer  Western 
Europe  and  establish  the  Crescent  throughout  the 
continent.  For  a time  he  seemed  likely  to  succeed. 
The  Knights  of  St.  John  were  driven  from  Rhodes, 
the  Hungarians  beaten  upon  their  own  soil,  and  the 
way  was  thus  opened  for  the  success  of  his  plan. 
But  the  W estern  nations  were  alarmed  and  alert. 
Solyman  gained  some  advantages  and  extended  the 
area  of  Turkey  in  Europe,  also  of  Turkey  in  Africa, 
very  materially,  but  his  great  ambition  for  Euro- 


lam  as  from  the  plague,  taking  their  civilization 
with  them  westward. 

The  capture  of  Constantinople  was  followed  by 
other  important  victories  of  the  Crescent  in  East- 
ern Europe.  During  the  next  hundred  years  the 
Ottoman  empire  attained  the  summit  of  its  power, 
and  Greece  and  Arabia  were  soon  added  to  the  do- 
main of  the  Porte.  The  Saracen  empire  had  crum- 
bled away,  and  the  Moors  were  being  pushed  out  of 
Spain.  The  strength  of  Islam  was  this  new  king- 
dom of  the  Bosphorus. 

It  was  under  the  third  Sultan  of  Stamboul,  Soly- 
man the  Magnificent,  that  the  Ottoman  empire 
reached  its  highest  point  of  greatness.  His  rule 
extended  from  1520  to  1566.  He  was  a statesman 
with  all  which  that  implies.  Educated,  temperate, 
patriotic  and  philosophical,  he  had  the  fire  and  at 
times  the  ferocity  of  his  race.  He  quelled  insurrec- 


pean  conquest  was  baffled.  He  died  during  a cam- 
paign in  Hungary,  and  with  his  death  tfie  decline 
of  the  Ottoman  empire  began. 

From  that  time  until  nearly  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  Turk  was  the  almost  con- 
stant terror  of  his  Christian  neighbors.  Russia,  Hun- 
gary, Poland,  Austria  and  Italy  were  frequently  im- 
broiled  in  war  withthe  Ottoman, -and  all  Europe  felt 
somewhat  apprehensive  of  Crescent  ascendancy. 
The  records  of  those  wars  are  monotonous  and  un- 
instructive,  blood  and  misery  being  terms  suggestive 
of  the  period.  Late  in  the  eighteenth  century  a great 
change  was  wrought.  Catharine  of  Russia  set  her 
heart  upon  dividing  Turkey  with  Austria,  as  she 
had  Poland  with  Austria  and  Prussia,  and  waged 
relentless  war  in  furtherance  of  this  design.  The 
rest  of  Europe  had  allowed  a Christian  country  to 
he  dismembered,  and  surely,  she  thought,  would  not 


object  to  the  expulsion  of  Islam  from  the  continent. 
But  that  was  a miscalculation.  England  and  France 
became  alarmed  at  the  strides  of  Germany  and 
Russia,  especially  the  later,  and  when  Turkey  was 
at  the  mercy  of  the  Hapsburg  and  the  Romanoff, 
they  interfered  and  secured  for  the  Sultan  terms  of 
peace  which  substantially  guaranteed  the  autonomy 
of  the  Ottoman  empire. 

From  that  time  the  Turk  lias  retained  his  Eu- 
ropean foothold  by  the  friendly  interposition  of  the 
Anti-Russian  powers.  Not  that  the  Ottoman  ap- 
peals to  the  sympathy  of  those  nations,  but  simply 
that  so  long  as 
the  Sultan  of 
a people  who 
have  lost  all 
aggressive  am- 
bition  rules  at 
Constantino- ' 
pole,  the  “bal- 
ance of  power” 
is  safe.  Turkey 
forthe  lastcen- 
tury  lias  sim- 
ply been  a mere 
puppet,  mov- 
ing as  the  great 
nations  pull 
the  string,  and 
dependent  for 
bare  existence 
upon  the^  suf- 
ferance born  of  mutual  jealousy.  Some  show  of  in- 
dependent action  is  kept  up,  but  it  is  the  veriest  show 
in  the  world.  Turkey  is  a charity  empire,  a monu- 
ment of  the  sparing  grace  of  its  peculiar  position.  It 
admits  of  no  division.  That  is,  Constantinople  does 
not  admit  of  division,  and  its  position  is  so  very 
commanding,  that  the  nations  are  not  willing  to 
have  it  added  to  the  strength  of  any  of  their  neigh- 
bors. 

Such  in  its  history  and  prospects  is  Turkey, 
viewed  from  an  international  standpoint.  The 
population  consists  mainly  of  Christians  who  abhor 
their  masters  and  long  for  deliverance.  Those 
Christians  are  nearly  all  members  of  the  Greek 
church,  or  at  least  distinct  from  both  the  Papacy 
and  Protestantism.  There  are  a good  many  Protest- 
ant missionaries  in  Turkey  Their  labors  are  con- 


fined to  fellow  Christians,  the  Turk  proper  being 
impervious  to  the  darts  of  occidental  propagandists. 

Of  literature,  Turkey  can  boast  nothing  worthy 
of  note,  either  in  the  past  or  the  present.  In  the 
higher  ranges  of  civilization  the  Ottoman  finds 
nothing  congenial.  The  Saracen  could  fight  as  well 
and  also  easily  enter  into  the  intellectual  life  of  the 
world. 

The  reigning  Sultan  of  Turkey  is  Abdul-Hamid 
II.,  who  succeeded  to  the  throne  on  the  deposition 
of  his  elder  brother,  Murad  V.,  in  187G.  He  is  the 
thirty-fifth  in  male  descent  from  the  founder  of 

the  empire, 
Otliman,  and 
twenty-eighth 
since  Constan- 
tinople was 
conquered  by 
the  Turk.  The 
royal  residence 
is  the  seraglio, 
or  harem,  and 
this  residence, 
notwithstand- 
ing the  bank- 
rupt condition 
of  the  imperi- 
al treasury,  is 
maintained  at 
enormous  ex- 
pense. The 
will  of  the  Sul- 
tan is  absolute.  Forms  of  constitutional  limit- 
ations upon  the  arbitrary  authority  of  the  Sultan 
have  been  adopted  recently,  but  in  point  of  fact 
the  legislative  and  executive  departments  of 
the  government  are  in  the  hands  of  his  sublime 
highness,  and  the  functions  of  law  are  directed  by 
two  officers,  the  Grand  Vizier,  who  looks  after  secu- 
lar affairs,  and  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  who  is  the  head 
of  the  church.  There  is  a body  or  class  known  as 
the  Ulema  which  comprises  the  “ Mufte,”  or  inter- 
preters of  the  Koran,  the  judges  and  high  function- 
aries of  the  law.  “ Bey”  is  a general  term,  applying 
to  all  important  civil  officers,  while  “Pasha”  is  the 
designation  of  tax  gatherers  and  other  officers  who 
are  both  military  and  civic  in  function.  A minis- 
terial council,  or  cabinet,  called  the  “ Divan,”  exists, 
comprising  eight  ministerial  departments,  namely, 


208 


THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE. 


THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE. 


209 


War,  Finance,  Marine,  Commerce,  Public  Works, 
Police,  Justice  and  Education. 

Prior  to  the  war  with  Russia  in  1877,  or  rather 
to  the  treaty  of  Berlin  in  1878,  the  area  of  the  em- 
pire was  1,742,874  square  miles  and  the  population, 
something  in  excess  of  28,000,000.  That  treaty 
gave  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  to  Austria  - Hungary, 
made  the  states  of  Bulgaria  and  Eastern  Roumelia 
semi-independent,  and  added  somewhat  to  the  terri- 
tory of  Roumania,  Servia  and  Montenegro,  so  that 
now  the  territory  is  estimated  at  1,116,848,  and  the 
population  at  21,000,000.  Turkey  in  Europe  was 
reduced  about  one-half,  in  both  territory  and  poj> 
ulation.  It  now  consists  of  62,028  square  miles, 
population  4,275,000.  Turkey  in  Asia  comprises  a 
territory  of  710,320,  with  a population  of  15,715,- 
000  ; Turkey  in  Africa,  344,500  square  miles,  pop- 
ulation, 1,010,000.  A recent  writer  says,  “All  con- 
sular and  other  reports  agree  in  stating  that  the 
native  population  of  every  part  of  the  Turkish  em- 
pire is  fast  declining,  in  many  provinces  at  such  a 
rate  that  the  formerly  cultivated  lands  are  falling 
into  the  condition  of  deserts.  Want  of  security 
for  life  and  property,  an  anarchical  yet  extortionate 
administration,  and  a general  absence  of  all  moral 
and  material  progress,  are  given  as  the  principal 
reason  for  the  rapid  decrease  of  the  population.” 
The  same  writer,  in  speaking  of  education  in 
the  Ottoman  empire,  observes  that  “ public  schools 
have  been  long  established  in  most  considerable 
Turkish  towns,  while  ‘ medresses,’  or  colleges,  with 
public  libraries,  are  attached  to  the  greater  number 
of  the  principal  mosques.  But  the  instruction  af- 
forded by  these  establishments  is  rather  limited. 
The  pupils  are  chiefly  taught  to  read  and  write 
the  first  elements  of  the  Turkish  language ; the 
class-books  being  the  Koran,  and  some  commenta- 
ries upon  it.  I11  the  ‘medresses,’  which  are  the  col- 
leges or  schools  of  the  ulemas,  the  pupils  are  in- 
structed in  Arabic  and  Persian,  and  learn  to  decipher 
and  write  the  different  sorts  of  Turkish  characters. 
The  instruction  comprises  philosophy,  logic,  rhet- 
oric, and  morals  founded  on  the  Koran ; and  these, 
with  theology,  Turkish  law,  and  a few  lessons  on 
history  and  geography,  complete  the  course  of 
study.” 

The  railways  of  the  empire  have  a total  length 
of  about  1,000  miles.  The  national  debt  is  nearly 


81,000.000,000,  and  the  national  credit  is  at  an  ex- 
ceedingly low  ebb,  and  the  paper  money  of  the  em- 
pire amounts  to  about  $450,000,000.  In  every  point 
of  view  Turkey  is  in  a moribund  state.  The  coun- 
try is  rich  in  resources,  but  for  the  most  part  those 
resources  are  undeveloped. 

We  cannot  better  close  this  chapter  than  by  an 
excerpt  from  MacKenzie’s  History  of  the  19th  Cen- 
tury. It  runs  thus : “The  Turks  conduct  the  affairs 
of  the  people  whom  they  conquered  on  the  princi- 
ples of  a hostile  military  occupation  rather  than  a 
government.  The  depotism  of  the  sultan  is  abso- 
lute and  unrestrained.  All  life  and  property  be- 
long to  him,  and  the  Christian  population  must 
vindicate  by  an  annual  payment  of  money  their 
claim  to  the  elementary  privilege  of  living.  When 
the  sultan  requires  their  property  he  can  send  and 
take  it.  The  people  have  no  defense  in  law,  and,  by 
the  principles  on  which  the  government  is  founded, 
none  in  right.  But  the  sultan  is  not  by  any  means 
their  worst  enemy.  Men  purchase  from  him  the 
privilege  of  collecting  taxes,  and  having  paid  the 
purchase-money,  they  are  at  liberty  to  inflict  upon 
their  victims  such  personal  violence  as  may  be 
deemed  necessary  to  enforce  the  yielding  up  of 
their  available  means.  Magistrates,  judges,  and 
government  servants  of  every  degree  plunder  at 
will  for  their  own  personal  benefit.  Every  post, 
high  and  low,  has  been  purchased  by  its  holder, 
whose  single  aim  in  discharging  its  duties  is  to  en- 
rich himself  at  rhe  expense  of  those  over  whom  he 
has  gained  authority.  Any  trader  who  incurs  the 
perilous  suspicion  of  being  rich,  any  proprietor  of 
a good  estate,  may  be  put  to  death  on  a slight  pre- 
text, and  his  possessions  seized.  Any  Turkish  ruffian 
may  with  impunity  assault  or  murder  a Christian. 
A good  Mohammedan  regards  it  as  his  right  and 
duty  to  kill  a Christian  when  he  has  opportunity. 
The  evidence  of  a Christian  against  a Turk  is  not 
received  in  a court  of  law.  A Turk  can  legally 
steal  Christian  children  and  forcibly  convert  them 
to  Islamism.  The  frightful  principle  of  slave- 
owning law  is  practically  in  force  in  the  Ottoman 
dominion — no  Christian  has  any  rights  which  a 
Turk  is  bound  to  respect.  The  only  security  of 
the  people  is  to  conceal  their  wealth  and  seem  to  be 
poor.  Under  the  sway  of  the  Turk  the  appearance 
of  poverty  is  rarely  deceptive.” 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 


The  Dawn  op  Russian  History — Novgorod,  the  Great  Republic — Grand  Princes  from 
Rurik  to  Igor— Olga’s  Revenge  and  Piety— Vladimir  and  the  Introduction  op  Chris- 
tianity— Yaroslaf  and  his  Code — Four  Centuries  op  Progress — Genghis  Khan  and  the 
Golden  Horde — The  Ivans — Peter  the  Great— Catharine  the  Great— Moscow  and  Na- 
poleon— Alexander  I.  and  the  Holy  Alliance — Nicholas  and  the  Crimean  War — Alex- 
ander II.  and  the  Serfs — Nihilism— Siberia— Present  Condition  op  Russia — Greek 
Church  in  Russia. 


'HE  great  territory  of  Rus- 
sia first  presents  itself  to 
the  historic  ken  in  A.  D- 
862.  All  previous  events 
in  that  vast  region  must 
forever  remain  matter  of 
conjecture.  The  first  ob- 
ject which  greets  the  eye  is  the 
best.  Russia’s  aurora  fills  with 
astonishment  the  student  of  the 
past,  unprepared  to  discover  in 
that  far-away  land  and  time  a 
vigorous  republic,  Novgorod,  call- 
ed “ the  republican  mother  of  a 
most  despotic  empire.”  This  dawn 
of  history  was  the  slowly  fading 
twilight  of  a liberty  whose  day  was 
clothed  in  mist,  and  whose  last 
lingering  ray  was  darkened  by  the  night  of  des- 
potism. 

Novgorod  the  Great,  not  the  great  despoiler,  but 
the  great  republic,  preceded  the  great  empire. 
Sjieaking  of  this  period  of  early  dawn,  yet  evening, 
Karamsin  says : “ At  that  time  the  great  republic 

had  become  so  powerful  that  it  was  a common  saying 
among  its  neighbors,  ‘Who  can  dare  oppose  God  and 


Novgorod  the  Great?’  Its  commerce,”  he  con- 
tinues, “extended  to  Persia,  India,  and  to  Constan- 
tinople.” The  nations  around  were  its  tributaries, 
but  unfortunately  between  it  and  the  Baltic  Sea, 
which  was  its  principal  channel  of  communication 
with  the  rest  of  the  world,  were  the  unfriendly  and 
barbaric  Varangians,  and  the  Baltic  itself  swarmed 
with  Norman  pirates.  Novgorod  dared  not  attempt 
unaided  the  subjugation  of  two  such  formidable  en- 
emies, and  weary  of  constant  depredations  upon  her 
commerce,  allied  herself  with  one  against  the  other. 
Rurik,  Prince  of  Varangia — the  first  name  in  Rus- 
sian history — was  invited  with  his  two  brothers  to 
defend  the  Republic  against  the  Normans.  This 
was  a dangerous  experiment.  Rurik  used  his  power, 
as  might  have  been  expected,  and  became,  after  the 
death  of  his  two  brothers,  Grand  Prince  of  Russia, 
for  from  that  time  it  really  became  a nation,  al- 
though it  was  several  centuries  before  the  empire. 
Rurik’s  administration  continued  fifteen  years.  He 
was  certainly  a very  great  ruler,  but  unfortunate- 
ly imbued  with  the  spirit  of  despotism ; a perfect 
specimen  of  barbaric  greatness ; brave,  crafty,  insa- 
tiable, adventurous,  and  capable  of  the  most  savage 
treachery.  He  might  well  have  been  the  ideal  and 
model  of  most  subsequent  rulers  of  Russia,  doing 


(210) 


£> 


s 

' 


RUSSIA.  21  I 


all  in  his  power  to  supplant  the  arts  of  peace  with 
the  ferocity  of  war.  In  his  reign  began  the  agita- 
tion by  sword  and  treaty  of  the  never-ending  East- 
ern question.  Like  all  who  came  after  him,  he 
wanted  Constantinople,  the  key  of  the  Bosphorus, 
and  like  them  he  failed  to  get  it.  His  immediate 
successor,  Igor,  was  his  close  imitator,  and  lost  his 
life  while  collecting  taxes  in  the  usual  way,  by  tak- 
ing an  army  around  with  him. 

His  widow,  Olga,  became  regent.  Fabulous  tales 
are  told  of  her  revenge  upon  the  slayers  of  her  hus- 
band. After  gratifying  her  vengeance  she  visited 
her  northern  dominions,  where  her  first  enterprise 
was  to  build  towns,  a 
favorite  pastime  with 
Russian  rulers.  In 
other  countries  towns 
grow  ; in  Russia  they 
are  made  to  order. 

She  regulated  if  she 
did  not  reduce  the 
taxes,  and  most  of 
all,  she  divided  the 
land  into  commons. 

Here  is  the  first  men- 
tion of  that  famous 
institution,  the  Com- 
mune, and  it  is  un- 
fortunate that  more 
particulars  are  not 
given  of  its  infancy.  After  many  other  measures 
which  contributed  in  favor  of  the  argument  for 
woman  in  politics,  Olga  became  desirous  of  em- 
bracing Christianity.  In  order  to  do  so  she  repaired 
to  Constantinople  where  she  was  led  to  the  baptismal 
font  by  the  emperor  himself.  There  were  already 
some  Christians  in  Russia,  but  even  Olga’s  example 
failed  to  make  it  fashionable ; her  own  son,  who  was 
to  succeed  her,  holding  her  religion  in  contempt.  He 
was,  however,  a noble  character,  as  the  chronicles  at- 
test, but  was  early  killed  in  war  with  their  old  and 
ever  new  enemies,  the  Turks. 

The  empire,  or  rather  the  nation,  which  was  still 
composed  of  principalities  and  republics,  was  then 
divided,  and  civil  war  followed  between  the  different 
rulers.  One  of  these,  Vladimir  of  Novgorod,  con- 
quered the  other  princes,  his  brothers,  and  reunited 
and  enlarged  Russia.  For  his  victories  lie  deter- 
mined to  return  thanks  to  the  ancient  gods  of  his 


people  by  sacrificing  not  only  a human  being  but  a 
Russian.  The  choice  fell  upon  the  son  of  a Chris- 
tian. The  father  refusing  to  give  him  up,  both 
were  killed.  They  have  been  canonized  by  the 
Russian  church  as  its  only  martyrs.  It  appears 
almost  incredible  that  Christianity  should  have  met 
with  no  serious  resistance  among  these  pagans,  when 
in  all  other  lands  it  has  caused  or  been  the  cause  of 
streams  of  blood  and  misery  unimaginable.  Vlad- 
imir’s greatness  awakened  the  zealots  of  four  relig- 
ions, the  Creeks,  the  Romans,  the  Jews,  and  the 
Mohammedans ; each  striving  to  convert  him  to 
their  own  system  of  ceremonies — one  can  hardly 

say  worship.  He  ap* 
pointed  a committee 
of  boyars — a class  of 
noblemen — to  in- 
vestigate them  all 
and  report.  After 
due  consideration 
this  cool  convert 
adopted  the  Greek 
faith,  influenced 
more  by  the  example 
of  his  ancestress  Ol- 
ga— who  was  called 
the  wisest  of  mortals 
— than  by  the  report 
of  the  committee. 
Having  made  his  de- 
cision, he  experienced  no  little  difficulty  in  getting 
himself  baptized  in  a manner  sufficiently  sen- 
sational to  satisfy  his  barbaric  highness.  It 
was  necessary  to  go  to  war,  take  a city,  and 
abduct  a bishop  that  the  ceremony  might  be 
performed  in  his  own  country.  Once  in  the  church 
himself,  his  troubles  were  ended.  A general  order 
was  given  that  all  should  appear  on  the  bank  of  the 
river  and  be  baptized.  Nobody  objected — and  so 
the  present  religion  of  Russia  was  established.  The 
grateful  national  church  recognizes  Vladimir,  its 
founder,  as  co-equal  with  the  Apostles.  He  is  said 
to  have  raised  Russia  to  its  highest  primitive  glory; 
but  unwarned  by  the  past,  united  Russia  was  again 
divided,  this  time  among  seven  sons. 

A season  of  bloodshed  followed,  wherein  such 
mild  terms  as  monster,  fratricide  and  assassin  arc 
continually  heard.  Then  Yaroslaf,  the  best  and 
ablest  of  the  seven,  became  ruler  of  the  entire  na- 


212 


RUSSIA. 


-1  p 
_ > 


tion.  He  was  revered  for  his  religion  and  toler- 
ance, for  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  education  and 
civilization,  and  he  succored  rather  than  encroached 
upon  the  liberties  of  the  citizens  of  Novgorod.  To 
him  the  national  church  owes  its  freedom  from  By- 
zantium, and  Russia  itself  by  its  alliances  became 
closely  connected  with  the  other  great  nations  of 
Europe.  The  three  daughters  of  Yaroslaf  were 
Queens  of  Norway,  Hungary  and  France,  and  his 
daughters-in-law  belonged  to  the  Greek,  German  and 
English  royal  families.  He  gave  to  Russia  its  first 
code.  That  was  in  the  year  1018.  The  right  of 
private  vengeance  was  recognized ; but  when  no 
avenger  appeared  the  murderer  paid  a fine  to  the 
public  treasury.  The  penalty  for  killing  a man  was 
twice  as  much  as  that  for  killing  a woman.  Under 
this  code,  Novgorod  was  indeed  considered  an  ap- 
pendage of  the  Grand  Principality,  but  every  citi- 
zen called  to  the  town  meeting  by  the  sound  of  the 
great  bell,  could  vote,  and  all  questions  were  deci- 
ded by  that  vote,  even  to  the  choice  of  Grand 
Prince — at  least  popular  approbation  was  consid- 
ered necessary,  and  he  was  not  acknowledged  until 
he  had  sworn  to  govern  in  accordance  with  the 
ancient  laws  of  the  Republic. 

It  was  now  four  centuries  since  the  reign  of  Ru- 
rick,  at  which  time  the  absolute  independence  of 
Novgorod  was  compromised.  Twice,  during  this 
period,  there  had  been  a strong  centralized  govern- 
ment, and  more  or  less  of  despotism ; in  fact,  a 
complicated  blending  of  the  two,  despotism  and 
democracy.  Russia  was  then  rapidly  advancing 
towards  civilization,  and  no  nation  in  Europe  had 
brighter  prospects.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
her  Grand  Princes  had  always  been  despots  in  their 
relations  to  other  princes,  and  to  individual  sub- 
jects, interference  with  the  local  self-government 
of  the  republic  had  never  been  attempted.  Nor 
was  there  then  in  Europe  more  commercial  enter- 
prise than  in  Novgorod,  the  glory  of  the  North. 
But  Russia  as  a whole  lacked  unity.  The  various 
states  were  not  one  people.  Dissensions  often  arose 
and  disintegration  followed,  until,  when  the  Tartar 
invasion  came,  in  1236,  the  country  was  illy  prepared 
to  defend  itself  against  that  genius  of  barbarism, 
Genghis  Khan,  who  with  his  Golden  Horde  made  a 
pasture  from  Kasan  to  Vladimir.  For  two  centu- 
ries the  Tartar  yoke  accustomed  the  Russian  neck 
to  servitude,  and  the  spirit  of  the  people  was  so 


broken  that  the  way  was  prepared  for  imperialism. 
The  Tartars,  that  horde  of  organized  tramps,  bold 
and  numerous,  made  themselves  perfectly  at  home 
in  Russia.  Never  rooting  themselves  deeply  in  the 
soil,  never  assimilating  with  the  inhabitants,  they 
simply  foraged  upon  them,  until  finally,  in  the  year 
1462,  a Grand  Prince  arose,  strong  enough  and  bad 
enough  to  cope  with  them. 

Ivan,  Grand  Prince  of  Moscow,  was  at  once  the 
liberator  and  the  enslaver  of  his  country.  For 
forty  years  he  persistently  pursued  a determined 
purpose,  with  a cold,  unimpassioned  patience  and 
persevering  industry  that  should  have  made  him 
the  admiration  of  all  who  have  a bias  towards  im- 
perialism. To  become  absolute  monarch  of  all  the 
Russias,  to  be  feared  abroad  and  supreme  at  home, 
was  his  constant  aspiration.  Without  personal  bra- 
very, with  none  of  those  high  attributes  which  in- 
spire enthusiasm,  he  was  enabled  by  the  condition  of 
that  most  distressful  country,  and  by  a guile  al- 
most superhuman  in  its  malignancy  and  efficacy, 
to  conquer  and  reduce  to  submission  all  the  dis- 
cordant elements  of  Russia.  The  first  step  towards 
this  achievement  was  the  expulsion  of  the  Golden 
Horde.  This  accomplished,  one  Prince  was  incited 
to  war  against  another,  until  the  only  powerful  bar- 
rier to  his  ambition  was  republican  Novgorod, 
which  wielded  a.  power  almost  equal  to  that  of  Ivan. 
It  ruled  over  all  the  North,  whose  commerce  it  had 
possessed  and  protected  for  seven  centuries.  Ivan 
destroyed  that  commerce  and  reduced  the  haughty, 
liberty -loving  Novgorod,  which  could  rally  forty 
thousand  warriors,  and  numbered  four  hundred 
thousand  people,  to  the  insignificant  village  which 
it  still  remains.  All  this  was  not  accomplished 
without  a long  and  bitter  struggle.  Liberty  died  as 
hard  in  Russia  as  in  Poland, — but  it  died  ; and  that 
great  land  was  a dungeon  without  a window. 

Had  Ivan  the  Great  and  his  successor  Ivan  the 
Terrible,  been  Ivan  the  Good  and  Ivan  the  Sensible, 
the  future  of  Russia  might  have  been  as  changed  as 
would  have  been  our  national  life  had  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution  resulted  in  a monarchy  instead  of  a 
Republic.  The  misfortune  of  Russia  has  been  that 
her  great  rulers  have  seemed  to  be  under  the  bane- 
ful influence  of  that  drop  of  Tartar  blood  said  to 
course  in  their  veins. 

The  first  real  genius  after  Ivan  the  Great  was 
Peter  the  Great.  Their  objects  were  different,  their 


A.  — 

■?  & 


3 


71 


a. 


RUSSIA. 


methods  the  same.  One  forced  submission  upon 
the  people,  the  other  sought  to  force  civilization 
upon  them.  Instead  of  attempting  to  gradually 
modify  inherited  customs,  and  supplant  old  ideas 
with  new  by  a process  of  healthy  growth,  he  tried  to 
foist  a sort  of  fiat  civilization  upon  his  subjects. 
Whatever  he  did  was  done  by  the  force  of  his  own 
unbridled  and  relentless  will.  That  he  accom- 
plished many  and  wonderful  things  for  Russia,  can- 
not be  denied ; but  that  his  ideas  and  methods  were 
not  conducive  to  a wholesome  development  of  a 
happy  and  progressive  people,  subsequent  events 
have  fully 
shown.  The 
rights  and 
interests  of 
his  subjects 
were  ruth- 
lessly sacri- 
ficed to  im- 
perial am- 
bition, and 
whatever 
he  thought 
served  to 
aggrandize 
the  materi- 
al welfare 
of  Russia 
was  to  be 
purchased 
at  any  cost. 

The  happiness,  the  moral  improvement,  the  lib- 
erties of  the  people,  were  utterly  unimportant  to 
this  purchaser  of  civilization.  Notwithstanding  all 
his  reforms,  his  subjects  were  left  to  the  mercy  of 
whatever  any  tyrant  like  himself  might  do.  He 
looked  upon  Russia  as  a great  estate  hereditary  in 
the  family  of  the  Romanoffs.  The  civilization  of 
which  he  was  the  author  was  precarious,  not  to  say 
spurious  and  pernicious.  The  reign  of  Peter  the 
Great  was  from  1689  to  1725. 

Hitherto  Russia  had  been  more  oriental  than  oc- 
cidental in  ambition  and  ideas,  but  henceforth  its 
outlook  was  towards  the  West.  The  first  of  his  suc- 
cessors to  rise  to  prominence  was  Catharine  II. 
Peter  assumed  the  title  of  Emperor  of  Russia,  and 
Catharine  was  every  inch  an  empress.  Her  reign 
extended  from  1762  to  1796.  Those  were  eventful 


213 


years.  Frederick  the  Great  ruled  Prussia,  Voltaire 
was  in  all  his  glory,  and  the  independence  of  Amer- 
ica was  achieved.  Catharine  connived  with  Fred- 
erick to  partition  unhappy  Poland  ; she  sympathized 
with  Voltaire  in  his  skepticism  and  cynicism,  while 
callous  to  his  appeals  for  justice  and  liberty  within 
her  own  border,  quite  content,  however,  to  have 
England  lose  her  colonial  possessions.  She  was  a 
monster  of  licentiousness,  albeit  a woman  of  mighty 
intellect.  She  was  comprehensive  in  her  plans  and 
strong  in  execution. 

Catharine  the  Great  was  succeeded  by  her  son 

Paul,  who 
continued 
somewhat 
the  policy 
of  Peter 
and  Cath- 
arine. The 
throne  to 
which  he 
succeeded 
had  by  that 
time  aspir- 
ed to  a rank 
among  the 
great  pow- 
ers ; and  it 
improved 
somewhat 
under  him. 
During  the 

rule  of  Alexander  I.  (1801-1825)  Russia  was  the 
balance  of  power  in  Europe.  lie  was  an  able  and 
liberal  man,  without  being  great  in  statesmanship 
or  philanthropy.  He  may  be  called  the  father  of  the 
Holy  Alliance.  This  compact  was  entered  into  at 
Paris,  September  26,  1815,  by  the  sovereigns  of 
Russia,  Austria  and  Prussia,  joined  by  most  of  the 
other  European  powers,  and  bound  the  high  con- 
tracting parties  to  exclude  forever  every  member  of 
the  Bonaparte  family  from  any  throne  in  Europe, 
also  to  stand  by  each  other  in  the  maintenance  of 
their  royal  prerogatives  and  the  general  peace.  He 
affected  great  respect  for  philosophy. 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  this  czar  that  the  city 
of  Moscow  came  prominently  before  the  world. 
This  court  capital  of  Russia  lies  400  miles  southeast 
of  St.  Petersburg.  Founded  in  the  twelfth  century 


;I4 


RUSSIA. 


it  was  the  capital  until  1712  when  Peter  the  Great 
removed  to  the  city  which  he  built  and  named  in 
his  own  honor.  It  is  esteemed  as  a sacred  city  by 
the  devout  Cossacks.  To  its  inhabitants  belongs 
the  honor  of  striking  Napoleon  a blow  from  which 
he  never  recovered.  When  he  marched  the  French 
army  thither  in  1812,  expecting  to  winter  there, 
they  had  the  heroism  to  set  fire  to  it  and  flee.  It 
contained  then  nearly  10,000  houses  and  over  250,000 
i n h abitants. 

Napoleon 
found  barely 
12,000  people 
clinging  to 
the  burnt 
city,  and  he 
was  obliged 
to  retrace  his 
steps.  No  less 
than  8 75  can- 
nons aban- 
doned by 
the  French 
when  they 
retreated  are 
now  treasur- 
ed in  the  ar- 
senal at  Mos- 
cow as  tro- 
phies of  that  triumph  by  fire.  The  central  part  of 
the  city,  the  Kremlin,  stands  upon  a hill  and  is 
surrounded  by  a massive  wall  with  lofty  towers, 
and  consists  of  churches,  palaces  and  other  public 
edifices.  “ As  seen  from  a distance,”  says  a recent 
visitor,  “the  Kremlin  seems  to  form  one  gigantic  but 
bewilderingly  fantastic  pile.”  The  great  conflagration 
already  mentioned  raged  from  the  14th  to  the  21st  of 
September.  It  was  not  until  the  great  fire  at  Chi- 
cago on  the  9th  of  October,  1871,  that  the  world  wit- 
nessed another  conflagration  upon  so  large  a scale. 

Upon  the  death  of  Alexander  I.  Nicholas  I.  came 
to  the  throne.  This  stern  despot  ruled  from  1825 
to  1855.  He  had  an  inordinate  faith  in  Russian 
prowess,  verily  believing  that  his  country  was  able 
to  defy  all  Europe.  Under  his  influence  the  na- 
tional pride  rose  to  an  absurd  height.  A pretext 
for  a war  upon  Turkey,  having  for  its  object  the 
capture  of  Constantinople,  was  sought  and  found. 
The  war  in  the  Crimea  was  the  result. 


The  Crimean  war  was  a conflict  in  which  were 
arrayed  against  Russia,  Great  Britain,  France,  Italy 
and  Turkey.  It  began  in  the  fall  of  1853.  The 
combined  fleets  of  England  and  France  entered  the 
Black  Sea,  and  the  natural  supremacy  of  Russia  in 
those  waters  was  permanently  lost.  Sevastopol, 
the  stronghold  of  the  Russians  in  the  Crimea,  was 
bombarded,  and  finally  evacuated.  On  the  25tli 
of  October,  1854,  was  fought  the  battle  of  Balakla- 

va,  and  elev- 
en days  later 
the  victory  of 
Inkermann 


VIEW  OF  THE  KREMLIN. 


was  won. 

Hostilities 
continued 
until  Febru- 
a ry,  1856, 
when  an  ar- 
mistice was 
concluded, 
followed  in 
March  by  the 
treaty  of  Par- 
is, which  ter- 
minated the 
conflict.  The 
sufferings 
and  the  losses 

of  the  Allies  in  camp  were  terrible.  No  general  won 
renown  in 
that  war. 

Florence 
Night  i 11- 
gale,  an 
English  la- 
dy of  phi- 
lanthropic 
disposition 
becamefa- 
m on  s the 
world  over 
for  her  ef- 
ficient zeal 


m caring 
forthesick 
and  woun- 
ded. She 
may  well  be 


Alexander  TI.  (1855). 

called  the  angel  of  the  hospital. 


The 


"sjv 


f <r 


\ <3 


RUSSIA. 


2I5 


great  Sanitary  Commission  of  the  American  civil 
war  was  a sublime  product  of  her  kindly  genius. 

The  first  distinctive  policy  of  the  successor  to 
Nicholas,  Alexander  II.,  was  the  liberation  of  the 
serfs,  which  was  accomplished  in  1861.  To  that 
great  act  of  justice  the  Czar  was  driven  by  two  con- 


which  in  the  spring  of  1881,  culminated  in  the  as- 
sassination, after  repeated  failures,  of  the  very  Czar 
whose  fiat  had  liberated  the  serfs.  Between  eman- 
cipation and  assassination  occurred  another  war 
with  Turkey,  with  no  advantage  to  the  Cossack. 
The  other  powers  occupied  a position  of  armed 


SEVASTOPOL  DURING  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OP  TIIE  ALLIED  FORCES 
* '(SH* 


siderations,  in  themselves  hostile, — regard  for  liberal 
sentiment,  and  fear  of  the  progressive  nobility  and 
educated  class.  Imperialism  felt  the  need  of  the  good 
will  of  the  fifty  million  laboring  classes  as  a safeguard 
against  the  increasing  and  importunate  demand  for 
representative  government.  The  absolutism  of  the 
throne  was  in  danger.  The  emancipation  of  the 
serfs  threw  a halo  around  imperialism  in  Russia 
that  blinded  for  a time  the  dimmed  eyes  of  liberty, 
but  the  banishment  during  the  last  twenty  years  of 
twenty  thousand  subjects  to  the  desolate  wilds  and 
horrible  mines  of  Siberia  has  dispelled  all  illusion, 
and  created  a state  of  affairs  absolutely  awful,  and 


neutrality,  taking  good  care  that  the  Russian  bear 
should  not  make  his  lair  in  the  city  of  Constantine. 

The  latest  phase  of  Russian  affairs  is  Nihilism. 
To  understand  the  creed  of  the  Nihilists  it  is  only 
necessary  to  recall  the  meaning  of  nihil — nothing. 
Its  father,  Michael  Bakumin,  says,  “ Our  first  work 
must  be  annihilation,  and  when  once  the  floods  rise 
take  heed  that  no  ark  be  allowed  to  rescue  any 
atom  of  this  old  world  which  we  consecrate  to  de- 
struction.” The  prominent  victims  of  this  destruc- 
tion are  God,  government,  marriage,  and  property, 
and  with  these  gone  what  would  there  be  left?  It 
is  a frenzied  anxiety  to  overthrow  absolute  despot- 


27 


£- 


21 6 


RUSSIA. 


ism,  and  can  only  be  palliated  by  the  reflection  that 
“ tlie  destroyer  of  weeds,  thistles  and  thorns  is  a 
benefactor,  whether  he  soweth  grain  or  not.”  The 
present  Czar,  Alexander  III.,  is  virtually  a prisoner 
in  the  palace,  so  constant  and  great  is  his  apprehen- 
sion of  peril  from  the  Nihilists.  Dynamite  is  the 
Bastile  which  deprives  him  of  all  real  liberty. 

The  northern  portion  of  Asia,  Siberia,  is  a dis- 
tinct and  notable  part  of  the  Russian  empire.  The 
Ural  mountains  and  the  river  of  the  same  name 
divide  it  from  Russia  in  Europe.  On  the  south  it 
has  no  well-defined  boundary,  being  pushed  down- 
ward farther  and  farther  upon  every  pretext.  The 
Arctic  Ocean  is  its  northern  limit,  and  the  Pa- 
cific its  eastern.  It  has  an  area  of  something  over 
four  millions  and  a half  square  miles,  and  a popu- 
lation of  over  three  millions,  three  hundred  thou- 
sand. Russian  and  Polish  exiles  and  their  descen- 
dants form  three-fourths  of  the  population.  As 
early  as  the  seventeenth  century  the  policy  of  ban- 
ishment to  those  desolate  polar  regions  was  adopted 
by  the  Russian  government.  At  first  heretics  were 
sent  there  in  punishment  of  their  dissent  from  the 
orthodox  Greek  church.  Instead  of  burning  her- 
etics at  the  stake  or  massacring  them,  the  Russian 
government  transported  them.  Entire  communi- 
ties of  Protestants  (for  such  they  really  were)  were 
sometimes  forced  to  remove  to  Siberia  and  kept 
there.  Then  political  offenders  were  banished 
there,  and  that  policy  is  still  maintained.  Vast 
numbers  of  Poles  have  from  time  to  time  been  com- 
pelled to  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  Siberians.  Nihil- 
ists, if  not  executed,  are  driven  thither  in  large 
chain-gangs,  suffering  terribly  on  the  long  and  ar- 
duous journey.  Ordinary  criminals  are  consigned  to 
the  same  fate.  The  Ural,  Altai  and  other  moun- 
tains are  rich  in  the  precious  metals,  and  the  mines 
are  worked  by  the  prisoners.  Terrible  are  the 


hardships  of  these  worse  than  galley  slaves.  The 
government  derives  large  revenue  from  these  mines. 
The  trade  in  Arctic  furs  is  very  considerable.  The 
native  Calmucks  are  rude  savages.  Reindeers 
abound  in  Siberia. 

The  balance  of  trade  is  in  favor  of  Russia,  yet 
singular  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  a liberal  exporter  of 
specie.  The  mints  of  the  empire  turn  out  on  an 
average  $10,000,000  in  gold  coin  and  $5,000,000  in 
silver  coin  each  year.  More  than  two-thirds  of  this 
coinage  flows  out  of  the  country,  and  has  done  so 
for  at  least  a decade.  The  paper  money  of  the 
country  amounts  to  $890,000,000.  The  national 
debt,  inclusive  of  this  paper  money,  is  $3,410,000,- 
000.  In  European  Russia  the  death  rate  and  birth 
rate  are  both  higher  than  any  where  else  on  the 
continent.  Russia  produces  food  enough  to  feed 
90,000,000  of  people,  or  ten  million  in  excess  of  the 
actual  population.  It  has  fifteen  thousand  miles  of 
railroad,  constructed,  however,  with  reference  to  mil- 
itary necessity  more  than  commercial  convenience. 

The  national  church  of  Russia  is  the  Greek 
church.  The  Emperor  is  now  the  head  of  it,  and 
next  to  him  ranks  the  Holy  Synod,  composed  of 
seven  bishops.  Originally  the  head  of  the  church 
was  the  Patriarch  at  Constantinople.  When  the 
Ottoman  empire  superseded  the  Byzantine,  and  the 
Moslem  took  the  place  of  the  Christian  on  the  Bos- 
phorus, a Russian  patriarch  was  appointed  by  the 
Czar.  That  was  in  the  sixteenth  century.  But 
Peter  the  Great  arrogated  to  himself  supreme  ec- 
clesiastical authority,  abolishing  the  patriarchy  and 
instituting  the  synod.  No  change  has  been  made 
since  his  day  in  the  spiritual  rule  of  the  country, 
except  that  otheiyeligions  have  been  tolerated^of  late 
years.  Strictly  orthodox  in  doctrines,  as  judged  from 
a distinctively  Greek  point  of  view,  the  Russian 
church  is  entirely  independent  and  national  in  polity. 


FT 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


Sympathy  tor  Poland— First  Appearance  op  the  Poles — Polish  Age  op  Fable— The  His- 
torical Era  begins — Casimir  the  Restorer,  and  Casimir  the  Great — Feudalism  in  Po- 
land— Elective  Monarchy  or  Monarchical  Republic — Mode  and  Place  of  Election — 
Foreign  Influence— John  Sobieski— Anarchy'  and  Intervention — Stanislas,  and  the 
Neighboring  Great  Powers — St.  Petersburg  and  Warsaw — Fall  op  the  Republic — 
Kosciusko  and  the  War  por  National  Life — Polish  Characteristics — The  Indignation 
op  the  World — Russian  Policy — Pan-Slavonic  Dream — Polish  Literature— Paul  Sobo- 
leski  on  Poland— Polish  Jews — Religious  Persecution. 


T is  impossible  to  think  of 
Russia  without  being  re- 
minded of  Poland.  The 
one  will  suggest  the  other 

ff 


as  the  Polani  in  the  fifth  century.  They  are  a prom- 
inent branch  of  the  great  Slavonic  family,  and  pri- 
marily occupied  the  broad  plain  between  the  rivers 
Oder  and  Vistula.  The  name  itself  means  in  its 
original  root  ( polaska ) a 
plain.  Poland  may  be  called 
the  prairie  of  Europe,  or 
rather,  it  is  the  nearest  ap- 
proach to  a prairie  (except 
in  some  respects  Holland), 
that  Europe  can  boast. 
There  are  large  tracts  of 
sand  and  morass,  also  broad 
reaches  of  forest,  but  as  a 
whole,  the  country  is  well 
adapted  to  agriculture.  Its 
waters  flow  into  either  the 
Baltic  or  the  Black  sea.  The 
area  of  the  land  of  the  Poles 
is  about  282,000  square 
miles.  At  the  time  of  the 
first  dismemberment  of  the 
kingdom  (1773)  the  population  was  estimated  at 
12,000,000,  mostly  farmers,  enjoying  a comparative 
thrift,  feeding  immense  herds  of  cattle,  horses  and 


[ir 


City  of  and  Cathedral  at  Cracow. 


to  every  intelli- 
gent mind.  On 
the  map  of  the 
world  Poland 
no  longer  exists ; 
but  the  Poles  are 
a very  positive 
and  distinctive 
people.  They 
have  a country, 
denationalized,  crushed  and 
despairing,  still  a sharply 
defined  part  of  the  territory 
of  Europe.  Its  history  is  full 
of  pathos,  its  fate  enlisting  the  sympathies  of  every 
tender  soul,  or  even  approximately  respectable  heart. 

The  Poles  first  came  within  the  vision  of  history 


<2_  ^ 

^ 0 

G\ 

2l8  POLAND  AND 

THE  POLES. 

(0  ' 

* 

swine,  and  cultivating  a wide  area  of  rye,  barley  and 

records,  which  challenges  special  attention.  From 

wheat.  That  such  a people  should  have  been  so  com- 

Casimir  I.  to  Casimir  III.  was  nearly  three  centu- 

pletely  subjugated,  is  one  of  the  miracles  of  history. 

ries,  but  nothing  will  be  lost  in  crossing  that  dreary 

Like  all  countries,  Poland  had  its  age  of  fable.  It 

waste  with  eyes  closed  in  sleep.  The  first  Casimir 

dates  from  the  ducal  reign  of  Lech  I.,  in  the  middle 

was  called  the  Restorer,  the  second  the  Great,  and 

century.  In  some  chronicles  the  country  is  called 

great  he  surely  was.  As  a reformer  his  genius  shone 

Lecliici.  About  one  hundred  years  later  flourished 

resplendent.  Brigandage  was  checked,  and  every 

Wenda,  the  Queen  Elizabeth  of  the  Poles.  She  was 

form  of  violence  held  in  some  restraint.  Casimir 

so  tenacious  of  her  sovereignty  that  she  declined  all 

was  not  content  with  temporary  measures.  He  es- 

offers  of  marriage.  Her  seat  of  government  was  Cra- 

tablished  the  reign  of  law.  A convention  was  called 

cow,  named  in  honor  of  Cracus,  a ruler  whose  mem- 

by  him  to  frame  a code.  This  was  a very  impor- 

ory  is  still  revered  in  Polish  tradition.  There  were 

tant  step.  That  system  of  laws  had  all  the  defects 

many  other  legendary  sovereigns,  petty  and  shadowy. 

of  feudalism,  but  was  a very  great  advance  over 

The  historical  era  began  in  962  with  Miecislas  I., 

irresponsible  and  unbridled  absolutism.  The  Poles 

the  fifth  prince  of  the  house  of  Piast.  He  intro- 

were  early  divided  into  three  classes  : nobles,  peas- 

duced  Christianity,  being  compelled  to  do  so  as  a 

ants  and  burghers,  or  town-folk,  and  for  each  the 

part  of  the  price  of  the  hand  of  the  Hungarian 

law  was  different.  The  laboring  class  felt  the  ex- 

Princess  Dombrowka.  The  marriage  and  the  bap- 

treme  rigor  of  serfage ; the  nobles  were  arrogant,  idle 

tism  occurred  the  same  day.  The  next  step  was  to 

and  lawless,  the  burghers  industrious,  independent 

force  the  rite  of  baptism  upon  the  people,  and  it  was 

and  mildly  aggressive.  In  the  growth  of  the  coun- 

not  a difficult  thing  to  do.  The  old  faith  sat  lightly 

try  the  cities  took  the  lead.  One  especial  reason  of 

upon  the  nation,  and  gave  way  almost  without  a 

this  was  the  fact  that  Casimir  was  the  great  patron 

struggle.  The  second  of  the  Christian  kings,  Bo- 

of  industry.  The  artisans  flocked  to  the  Polish 

leslas  I.,  made  the  Polish  arm  feared  throughout 

towns  and  found  profitable  employment.  From 

Hungary,  Germany,  and  even  in  Italy  and  France. 

that  time  Poland  found  place  among  the  more  pro- 

Russia  crossed  swords  with  him,  led  on  by  Vladimir 

gressive  and  prosperous  nations  of  Europe. 

the  Great.  He  has  well  been  called  “ the  true  foun- 

From  the  very  first,  feudalism  was  exceptionally 

der  of  his  country’s  greatness.”  He  was  succeeded  by 

strong  in  Poland,  and  the  nobility  never  neglected 

Miecislas  II.,  an  idle  and  vicious  imbecile.  It  was 

an  opportunity  to  enhance  the  power  of  their  class. 

under  his  reign,  however,  that  the  land  was  divided 

The  kings  were  gradually  reduced  in  authority  un- 

into  Palatinates,  each  presided  over  by  a local  judge. 

til  they  became  little  else  than  putty  in  the  hands  of 

That  was  certainly  an  important  step  in  the  right 

the  nobles.  With  the  accession  of  Casimir  IV., 

direction.  He  died  in  1034.  For  seven  years  the 

1445,  Poland  may  be  said  to  have  passed  from  a 

Poles  were  kingless.  The  interregnum  was  prolific 

monarchy  to  a republic.  To  our  political  concep- 

of  great  evils.  Despotism  is  better  than  anarchy. 

tions  it  is  inconsistent  to  speak  of  a country  as  be- 

too  much  government  than  none  at  all.  The  late 

ing  both  a republic  and  a kingdom  ; but  such  the 

king  had  left  behind  him  a queen  and  an  infant 

land  of  the  Poles  became  in  the  middle  of  the  fif- 

son.  The  former  tried  to  sway  the  scepter,  but  was 

teenth  century,  so  remaining  until  the  nation  itself 

so  very  unpopular  that  she  was  obliged  to  leave  the 

was  blotted  out.  Upon  the  death  of  a king  the 

country.  She  took  with  her  the  heir  to  the  throne, 

lords  would  meet  to  elect  a successor.  The  first 

Casimir.  At  first  he  was  not  much  missed,  but  as 

distinctively  elective  king  (for  so  aggressive  had  the 

the  horrors  of  anarchy  increased,  the  desire  for  the 

nobility  become  that  the  positive  claim  of  right  to 

restoration  of  the  royal  family  increased.  After  six 

determine  the  royal  succession  came  almost  as  a 

or  seven  years  the  lost  heir  was  recovered.  It  was  a 

matter  of  course)  Casimir  IV.,  was  Grand  Duke 

long  time  before  the  mother  would  disclose  his  hid- 

of  Lithuania,  and  he  did  not  want  the  crown.  For 

ing-place. 

a long  time  he  evaded  the  unwelcome  honors  thrust 

For  three  centuries  the  stream  of  Polish  history 

upon  him.  It  was  not  that  he  shrank  from  respon- 

j 

flows  on,  turbulent,  turgid  and  monotonous.  Dur- 

sibility,  but  he  hoped  to  extort  concessions  to  the 

i 

e 

ing  all  that  time  nothing  occurred,  according  to  the 

royal  authority.  In  this  he  failed.  The  nobles 

vs 

' v 

L 1 

■* ' e 

v' 

o ^ 

- 9 

k 

Gj 

P 

1 

POLAND  AND 

THE  POLES.  219 

f 

compelled  him  to  occupy  the  throne  as  their  puppet 

Foreign  as  well  as  domestic  princes  were  eligible 

rather  than  their  ruler.  And  in  all  the  subsequent 

to  the  throne.  A Czar  of  Russia,  Alexis,  father  of 

history  of  Poland  the  kingly  power  was  the  shad- 

Peter  the  Great,  was  a candidate  at  one  time.  The 

owy  reflection  of  the  aristocracy. 

difficulty  of  an  election  was  greatly  increased  by 

Early  in  the  sixteenth  century  a few  burghers 

the  veto  power,  inherent  in  the  diet,  by  which  the 

were  admitted  to  the  parliament  of  barons,  and 

will  of  the  majority  could  be  nullified.  That  fea- 

that  was  the  recognition  of  the  growing  importance 

ture  of  the  law  of  royal  elections  was  finally  aban- 

of  the  citizen  (using  the  term  in  its  original  signifi- 

doned  out  of  sheer  necessity. 

cance.)  In  religious  matters  the  influence  of  IIuss 

For  twenty-two  years,  from  1674  to  1696,  Poland 

and  Luther  was  very  considerable,  although  re- 

was  under  the  rule  of  a truly  great  man,  John  Sobies- 

pressed  and  finally  suppressed  by  persecution. 

ki.  He  nobly  earned  the  crown  by  having  been  his 

Under  the  reign  of  Sigismund  I.  (1506 — 1548) 

country’s  best  defender  in  many  an  hour  of  danger. 

leaders  of  the  reformed  faith  were  beheaded  or  ban- 

It  was  not  so  much  Hostile  Christians  as  Moslems 

ished.  That  king  lived  to  a great  old  age  and  was 

that  harassed  Poland.  Turks  and  Tartars  were 

one  of  the  great  rulers  of  his  age.  Upon  his  death 

very  insolent,  aggressive  and  powerful.  Ibrahim 

his  son  was  chosen  to  fill  his  place.  Hitherto  the 

the  Devil,  Pasha  of  Damascus,  led  a vast  army 

elective  franchise  was  confined  to  a very  narrow 

of  invasion.  Another  time  Mustapha  led  three 

range.  The  kings  were  taken  from  the  family  of 

hundred  thousand  Mohammedans  in  a crusade 

the  Jagellos.  When  the  last  member  of  that  line 

upon  the  Christians,  and,  says  Salvandy,  “ Ger- 

died,  the  way  was  open  to  a wider  range  of  choice. 

many  looked  to  Sobieski  as  its  savior,  and  Europe 

The  nobles  met  in  1572  on  the  plains  of  Prague,  on 

as  the  bulwark  of  Christendom.  The  embassador 

the  bank  of  the  Vistula,  opposite  Warsaw.  Hereto- 

of  the  empire  and  nuncio  of  the  pope  were 

fore  the  selection  of  a new  king  had  devolved  upon 

at  his  feet  in  importunate  supplication.”  That  was 

delegates  representing  the  aristocracy ; but  now  it  was 

in  the  year  1683.  The  Cross  was  in  peril,  and  the 

agreed  that  the  entire  body  of  the  Equestrian  order 

Crescent  seemed  about  to  displace  it.  But  Sobieski 

should  be  eligible  to  advice  in  the  election.  Thus 

was  equal  to  the  emergency.  Poland  saved  Chris- 

tens  of  thousands  of  armed  and  mounted  men  were 

tianity  from  the  last  really  formidable  assault  of 

brought  together  to  choose  a ruler  for  life.  “ At  the 

Islamism.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  on  the 

time  appointed,”  says  Ducloss,  “for  the  holding  of  the 

twelfth  of  September,  beneath  the  walls  of  Vienna, 

elective  diet,  such  numbers  of  the  nobles  arrived 

the  last  battle  of  the  Crusade  was  fought,  and  Po- 

that  the  circumference  of  the  place  (twelve  miles 

lisli  valor,  genius  and  prestige  won  the  day.  From 

in  extent)  where  they  were  stationed  by  counties 

that  time  on,  the  conflict  was  a series  of  assured 

for  the  greater  facility  of  collecting  their  suffrages, 

victories  for  the  Christians. 

was  scarcely  able  to  contain  them ; and  as  they 

The  name  of  Sobieski  deserves  to  rank  with  the 

were  all  armed,  they  looked  like  men  assembled  to 

supreme  warriors  of  all  times,  but  as  a ruler  in 

conquer  a kingdom,  rather  than  to  exercise  a peace- 

peace  he  was  weak  and  wicked.  He  was  the  last 

ful,  deliberative  privilege.  In  the  center  of  a circle 

independent  King  of  Poland,  and  incomparably 

or  kolo,  was  the  tent,  capable  of  holding  six  thou- 

the  greatest  sovereign  his  country  ever  knew.  The 

sand  people,  and  in  it  the  senators  and  ministers  of 

Republic  was  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  and  if  he  did 

the  crown  met  for  consultation.”  This  description 

not  save  it,  he  at  least  prolonged  its  life. 

applies  specifically  to  the  assembly  held  upon  the 

The  eldest  son  of  John  Sobieski  was  confident 

deatli  of  Sigismund  II.,  the  last  of  the  Jagellos, 

of  his  election  to  succeed  his  father,  but  the  no- 

but  it  is  hardly  less  appreciable  to  the  usual  convo- 

bles  were  not  at  all  disposed  to  favor  his  candidacy, 

cations  at  the  recurrence  of  each  interregnum.  As 

or  that  of  any  other  member  of  the  family.  The 

a matter  of  course  the  meetings  were  turbulent,  often 

candidates  were  two  besides  James  Sobieski,  Prince 

bloody,  and  never  free  from  imminent  peril.  Many  a 

Conti,  nephew  of  Louis  XV.  of  France  and  Fred- 

time  before  it  finally  fell  the  Republic  of  Poland 

crick  Augustus,  Elector  of  Saxony.  The  latter 

i 

tottered  and  rocked  upon  its  base,  seeming  to  be  on 

won  the  prize,  but  he  did  not  keep  it  long.  Charles 

L 

J 

the  verge  of  utter  destruction. 

XII.  of  Sweden  took  the  field  against  him,  and 

is 

V 

<5 

- » 

220  POLAND  AND  THE  POLES. 


made  short  work  of  capturing  Cracow,  deposing  the 
king  and  placing  Stanislas,  Palatine  of  Posnania, 
upon  the  throne,  if  throne  it  may  be  called.  He 
was  a great  and  splendid  man,  but  fortune  was 
against  him.  The  republic  of  Poland  was  in  a 
state  of  interminable  turmoil  and  factiousness.  A 
little  later  we  find  Stanislas  a fugitive  and  Fred- 
erick Augustus  back  in  power.  The  latter  died  in 
1733.  “ He  had  a few  virtues,”  says  a native  his- 
torian, “ but  more  vices.  His  reign  was  one  con- 
tinued scene  of  disasters ; many  of  which  may  be 
attributed  to  himself,  but  more  perhaps  to  the  in- 
fluence of  circumstances.”  The  diet  which  met  to 
elect  a successor  resolved,  first  of  all,  not  to  place 
the  crown  upon  a foreign  brow. 

The  dethroned  Stanislas,  now  father-in-law  to 
Louis  XV.,  was  the  choice  of  the  nobles.  Sixty 
thousand  voices  were  raised  in  his  support.  But 
Austria  and  Russia  favored  the  candidacy  of  Fred- 
erick Augustus  II.,  son  of  the  late  king.  A Mus- 
covite army  proclaimed  him  king  and  marched  to 
the  enforcement  of  the  proclamation.  Stanislas 
had  lost  his  ambition  and  energy.  He  was  unsuited 
to  the  task  of  resisting  foreign  interference.  The 
Czar  was  foremost  in  claiming  protectoral  power. 

St.  Petersburg,”  we  are  told,  “ was  the  great  focus 
by  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  where  the 
rays  of  Polish  intrigue  were  concentrated,  and 
where  the  more  ambitious  natives  resorted  to  ob- 
tain, by  flattering  the  imperial  confidants,  the  digni- 
ties of  the  republic.  Every  intimation,  however 
slight,  from  the  northern  metropolis,  was  an 
imperious  obligation  on  the  feeble  king  and  his  ser- 
vile minister ; and  not  on  them  alone,  but  on  the 
great  body  of  the  nobles,  who  had  lost  all  sense  of 
the  national  dishonor,  and  who  transferred  their 
homage  from  Warsaw  to  St.  Petersburg  without 
shame  or  remorse.”  Of  course  the  republic  could 
not  long  survive  such  a state  of  affairs.  Famine, 
anarchy,  rapine  and  desolation  were  everywhere. 

The  population  dwindled  away,  and  poverty  took 
the  place  of  thrift.  Catharine  of  Russia  resolved 
to  end  the  shame,  and  erase  the  republic  from  the 
political  map  of  Europe.  Stanislas  Augustus  fee- 
bly swayed  the  scepter  of  Poland  during  the  expir- 
ing hour.  The  Poles  had  the  bravery  necessary 
to  defense,  but  the  uncongruous  and  unstable  gov- 
ernment afforded  unfriendly  neighboring  powers 
facilities  for  devising  ways  and  means  to  dis- 


member the  distracted  nation.  The  evil  came 
gradually.  When  too  late  the  nation  was  aroused 
to  the  danger  of  the  situation,  and  the  cause  of 
national  independence  found  a grand  leader  in  the 
heroic  Thaddeus  Kos- 
ciusko, one  of  the 
heroes  of  the  Ameri- 
can revolution.  He 
had  rendered  import- 
ant service  in  the 
cause  of  American 
Independence,  and  re- 
turning to  his  native 
land,  made  a grand 
effort  to  rescue  it  from 
the  allied  robbers. 

Cracow  and  Warsaw 
both  opened  their  gates  to  him.  Kosciusko  was 
prudent  and  kindly  no  less  than  brave,  but  the 
frenzy  of  the  French  Revolution,  rather  than  the 
calm  patriotism  of  the  Americans,  pervaded  the 
ranks  of  the  nationalists.  Wild  scenes  of  blood 
were  enacted,  and  the  salvation  of  Poland  rendered 
hopeless  by  these  excesses.  In  1795  the  end  came. 
Warsaw  fell  before  a Russian  army.  Austria,  Prus- 
sia and  Russia  divided  the  territory  between  them, 
the  latter  taking  the  lion’s  share.  It  was  the  Mus- 
covite who  had  done  the  fatal  work,  for  the  most 
part,  and  the  other  powers  were  made  partakers  in 
the  infamy  as  the  price  of  acquiescence. 

In  his  history  of  the  Republic  of  Poland  Ferre nd 
says  in  contemplation  of  the  erasure  of  the  republic : 
“ Perhaps  no  people  on  earth  can  boast  more  per- 
sonal heroism  than  the  Poles,  but  as  it  was  virtually  a 
country  without  a government,  without  finances,  a 
national  army,  or  any  central  authority  of  binding 
force,  the  surprise  is  not  that  it  fell  at  last,  but  that 
it  stood  so  long.  Valor,  although  almost  superhu- 
man, could  not  preserve  the  proud  nobles  from  un- 
bounded dissipation,  nor  consequently  from  temp- 
tation to  corruption,  from  receiving  bribes  to  repair 
their  shattered  fortunes ; it  could  not  prevent  the 
powers  which  lavished  this  means  of  corruption  from 
interference  with  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  ; it 
could  not  dissolve  the  union  of  these  powers  with 
the  discontented  parties  at  home;  it  could  not  in- 
spire the  slow-moving  machine  of  government  with 
vigor,  when  the  humblest  partisan,  corrupted  by 
foreign  money,  could  arrest  it  with  a word  ; it  could 


"3  \ 


s> 


Ml 


POLAND  AND  THE  POLES. 


22  I 


not  avert  the  entrance  of  foreign  armies  to  support 
the  factions  and  rebellions  ; it  could  not,  while  di- 
vvied in  itself,  uphold  the  national  independence 
against  the  combined  effects  of  foreign  and  domes- 
tic treason  ; finally,  it  could  not  effect  impossibilities, 
nor  therefore  forever  turn  aside  the  destroying 
sword  which  had  so  long  impended  over  it.” 

The  extinction  of  the  republic  of  Poland  aroused 
the  indignation  of  the  world.  France,  England  and 
America  were  indignant  to  the  last  degree.  Sweden 
and  Turkey  joined  in  the  outcry. 

During  the  Napoleonic  war,  and  the 
diplomacy  which  followed,  there 
seemed  to  be  some  hope  of  restora- 
tion. To  little  purpose.  The  three 
robber  powers  never  abandoned  the 
idea  which  had  so  long  been  cherished. 

Napoleon’s  star  set  and  the  treaty  of 
Vienna  was  made.  By  that  treaty  the 
kingdom  of  Poland  was  proclaimed 
June  20,  1815,  with  Cracow  as  its 
capital,  but  it  was  simply  the  district 


KRASINSKI. 


of  Cracow  with  a popula- 
tion of  61,000,  hardly  a 
shadow  of  real  Poland. 

Four  millions  of  the  peo- 
ple came  under  the  direct 
sway  of  Russia.  At  that 
time  Alexander  was  Czar, 
and  at  first  he  seemed 
disposed  to  rule  the  Poles 
in  justice  and  with  great 
liberality.  For  some  time 
all  went  well.  The  peo- 
ple were  fast  becoming 
loyal  to  the  Czar  at  St. 

Petersburg.  This  state  of  things  continued  three 
years  without  signs  of  collapse.  But  it  was  an  un- 
natural condition  of  affairs,  and  discontent  on  one 
side  and  repressive  measures  on  the  other,  created  a 
breach  which  widened  continually.  When  the  vicious 
Constantine  succeeded  Alexander  almost  all  pretense 
of  good  feeling  between  Poles  and  Russians  disap- 
peared. Conspiracy  after  conspiracy  sprang  up  to 
emphasize  the  Polish  discontent  without  alleviating 
the  evils  of  foreign  rule.  By  1830  popular  discon- 
tent had  taken  the  form  of  insurrection,  and  failure 
then  did  not  prevent  subsequent  efforts  to  throw  off 
the  yoke,  and  restore  Poland  to  political  autonomy. 


It  would  be  profitless  to  follow  the  fortunes  of 
these  unavailing  efforts  to  restore  the  lost  national- 
ity. Time  seems  to  lessen  the  prospect  of  success, 
and  to-day  Poland  is  enveloped  in  a darkness  un- 
relieved by  a single  star.  The  only  approach  to 
hope  is  the  dream  of  a Pan-Slavonic  nation,  a na- 
tion which  should  so  far  reconstruct  the  map  of 
Europe  as  to  make  [into  one  nation  all  the  Slavs. 
Such  a conformation  to  the  divisions  of  race,  lan- 
guage and  traditional  sympathies  is  not  to  be  ex- 
^ pected.  Bloody  rebellions  arose  in  Po- 
land in  the  years  1830,  1846,  1849  and 
1863,  each  having  been  crushed  with 
unpitying  rigor  by  Russian  despotism. 
The  Poles  are  the  Irish  of  the  contin- 
ent in  valor,  perseverance,  lack  of 
unity,  and  repeated  calamities. 

In  a literary  point  of  view  Poland 
has  never  produced  a genius  so  bril- 
liant as  to  attract  the  admiration  of 
mankind.  That  nation  boasts  about 
fifteen  hundred  literary  names,  but 


SLOW  ACKI. 


THREE  GREATEST  POLISH  POETS. 


one  may  search  through 
all  the  productions  of 
that  literature,  as  made 
accessible  to  English 
readers,  without  being 
rewarded  with  a single 
diamond  of  thought 
which  shines  with  es- 
pecial luster. 

From  Kochanowski  to 
Olizcrowski  the  heights 
of  immortal  poetry  are 
not  reached.  Often  pa- 
thetic, the  verse  of  Po- 
land is  never  Shakspearean.  The  venerable  Paul 
Soboleski,  author  and  editor  of  “Poets  and  Poetry 
of  Poland,” says,  “Prostrate,  partitioned,  suffering 
and  blotted  out  as  it  were  from  existence,  Poland 
awaits  the  fulfillment  of  her  destiny.  Fate  some- 
times strikes  nations  as  it  does  individuals,  but  hope 
in  her  case,  though  it  may  seem  futile  to  other  na- 
tionalities, never  forsakes  the  sorrowing  hearts  of 
her  children.  Scattered  though  they  are  thoughout 
the  habitable  globe,  they  have  never  ceased  to  wait, 
to  hope,  and  to  trust  that  she  will  once  more  be  re- 
suscitated, resurrected,  regenerated,  and  be  once 
more  counted  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.” 


J* 


222 


3 


POLAND  AND  THE  POLES. 


Three  names  stand  out  conspicuously  in  Polish 
literature  as  the  great  triumvirate  of  song.  The 
earliest,  but  not  the  first,  of  the  trio  was  Archbishop 
Krasicki,  born  in  1734.  He  died  the  first  year  of  the 
present  century.  After  the  partition  of  the  country 
his  bishopric,  Warmia,  fell  to  the  lot  of  Frederick 
of  Prussia.  That  sovereign  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  deeply  religious  nature  of  his  more  than  royal 
subject,  but  he  admired  his  learning,  wit  and  genius, 
and  invited  him  to  reside  at  his  palace  of  Sans 
Souci.  In  1795  be  raised  him  from  Bishop  of  War- 
mia to  Archbishop  of  Gniezno.  He  was  a voluminous 
writer.  The  really  supreme  name,  however,  was  Adam 
Mickiewicz,  born  in  1798.  He  was  fifty-seven  years  of 
age  when  he  died.  He  was  a subject  of  Russia,  and 
enjoyed  the  favor  of  the  nobility  at  Moscow,  and  later 
at  St.  Petersburg.  But  good  fortune  did  not  abide 
with  him,  for  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  country 
to  save  himself  from  arrest  for  treason.  He  resided 
much  of  the  time  at  Paris,  where  his  bones  now 
rest.  The  youngest  of  the  three,  Julias  Slowacki, 
Avas  born  in  1809.  He  Avas  an  intense  patriot. 
The  revolution  of  1848  filled  his  heart  Avith  hope 
for  his  beloved  Poland,  but  Avhen  that  hope  died  he 
too  passed  away,  expiring  in  April,  1849.  He  voiced 
the  deep  pathos  of  unhappy  Poland. 

Another  great  name  in  Polish  literature  is  Sta- 
nislas Konarski.  He  Avas  not  a poet,  but  a philo- 
sopher. He  is  credited  Avith  creating  a neAV  phase 
in  the  intellectual  life  of  his  country.  He  Avas  born 
in  the  first  year  of  the  eighteenth  century.  He  be- 


longed to  an  aristocratic  family,  and  in  his  day  Avas 
on  friendly  terms  with  the  great  thinkers  of  all 
Europe.  He  Avas  a practical  educator  and  a poAverftil 
promoter  of  political  reform. 

Poland  can  boast  at  least  one  very  charming 
poetess,  Elizabeth  Druzbacka.  She  belonged  to  the 
first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  She  Avas  not 
versed  in  any  language  but  her  oavu  and  wrote 
pure  national  verses,  contributing  materially  to 
the  development  of  a distinctively  national  lit- 
erature. 

Poland  has  a larger  proportion  of  JeAvish  popula- 
tion than  any  other  part  of  Europe.  That  race 
has  indeed  been  most  cruelly  persecuted  there, 
as  every  Avhere,  but  Avhen  the  indignities  and  out- 
rages of  Spain  and  other  parts  of  Christendom  ren- 
dered life  a burden  to  that  people,  they  could  find 
in  Poland  comparative  immunity  from  persecution. 
The  Polish  Jews  are  easily  distinguished  by  their 
ignorance,  superstitions  and  general  inferiority,  as 
compared  Avith  German  JeAvs. 

Russia  proper  has  suffered  little  from  the  perse- 
cution of  Christians  by  Christians,  but  the  Polish 
Slavs  are  intense  papists,  and  the  monstrous  meas- 
ures resorted  to  by  the  Russian  church  and  govern- 
ment to  “ convert  ” them  to  the  Greek  faith  form 
one  of  the  most  revolting  pages  in  the  annals  of 
persecution.  As  late  as  the  fourth  decade  of  the 
present  century  inoffensBe  and  saintly  nuns  Avere 
treated  Avith  all  the  brutality  that  Russian  bigotry 
and  savagery  could  devise. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


Ancient  Teutons — The  German  Race— Introduction  op  Christianitt — The  Merovingian 
Kings — Charles  the  Hammer  and  the  Saracens — The  Reign  op  the  Stewards — Charle- 
magne— Ludwig  the  Pious — Otto  the  Great — Frederick  Barbarossa— The  Inquisition' 
and  Frederick  II. — Decline  of  the  Empire — The  Hanseatic  League — “The  German 
Order  op  the  North  ’’ — Conversion  op  Prussia. 


■*71 


N tracing  the  course  of 
Roman  history,  occasional 
and  far-off  glimpses  were 
caught  of  the  Germans. 
They  appeared  upon  the 
stage  of  events  as  brave 
and  fierce  barbarians,  occu- 
pying a vast  and  illy  de- 
fined territory,  requiring  the  genius  of 
a Caesar  to  subdue  them,  and  the  per. 
sistence  of  imperialism  to  keep  them 
in  subjection.  They  cannot  be  said  to 
have  contributed  to  or  retarded  civiliza- 
tion, but  were  aloof  from  it,  except 
as  brought  into  uncongenial  contact 
with  it. 

In  pointing  out  the  objects  of  inter- 
est in  the  medieval  period,  attention 
was  called  to  the  greatest  of  German  monarchs, 
Charlemagne,  who  belonged  no  less  to  France  than 
to  Germany,  and  who  received  the  crown  as  empe- 
ror at  Rome.  He  rises  into  the  air  the  veritable 
Mont  Blanc  of  Alpine  royalty,  visible  from  afar 
in  every  direction.  We  have  also  seen  something 


of  Germany  in  connection  with  Italy.  But  all 
these  fugitive  glimpses  must  have  served  only  to 
sharpen  the  appetite  for  more  specific  and  orderly 
information  in  regard  to  that  people,  once  composed 
of  hostile  tribes,  but  now  a homogeneous  race. 
The  Germans,  as  the  term ’is  sometimes  used,  include 
the  most  important  branch  of  the  great  Aryan 
race,  a division  of  the  human  family  including  not 
only  the  English  and  Scandinavians,  but  the  Hindoos, 
Persians,  Greeks,  Romans,  Celts  and  Slavs.  By  the 
aid  of  comparative  philology,  the  oneness  in  origin 
of  all  these  great  nationalities  can  be  established, 
but  it  is  in  its  popular  sense  that  the  term  is  here 
used. 

In  the  old  days  of  Roman  conquest  and  Gallic 
invasion,  Germany,  France,  Spain  and  the  north- 
ern part  of  Italy  were  to  the  soldiers  and  senators, 
the  plebeians  and  patricians  of  the  Tiber,  one  vast 
world  of  “ outer  darkness.”  It  was  in  380  B.  C. 
that  Pytheas,  a Greek  navigator,  first  sailed  into 
the  Baltic,  and  in  B.  C.  113  occurred  the  invasion 
of  Roman  territory  by  the  northern  horde.  Marius, 
Caesar  and  later  leaders  of  Roman  legions  won  lau- 
rels (and  sometimes  lost  them,  too)  in  fighting  the 


28 


(223) 


224  MEDIEVAL  GERMANY. 


Germans.  They  had  neither  cities  nor  villages,  but 
were  nomadic.  Their  vices  were  indolence,  drunken- 
ness and  gambling ; their  virtues  were  respect  for  do- 
mestic ties,  bravery  and  fidelity.  They  worshiped  the 
forces  of  nature  under  a multitude  of  names.  Taci- 
tus, in  his  “ Germania,”  gives 
scription  of  the  people, 
accept  civilization,  but 
Rome  was  a conqueror, 
not  a civilizer. 

The  most  noted  of 
the  Germans  were  the 
Goths.  They  accepted 
Christianity  in  the 
fourth  century,  and 
from  them  it  gradually 
spread  to  all  Germany. 

The  story  of  the  first 
real  step  towards  civili- 
zation is  interesting. 

Some  German  pirates 
brought  home  from  the 
Levant  a Christian  boy, 

Ulfila,  who  conceived 
the  idea  of  evangelizing 
the  people  with  whom 
his  lot  was  thus  cast, 
lie  translated  the  Bible 
into  their  language,  and 
it  is  supposed  that  he 
even  invented  a Gothic 
alphabet.  A part  of  his 
translation  of  the  New 
Testament  is  still  ex- 
tant, preserved  in  the 
library  at  Upsala,  Swe- 
den. lie  was  not  perse- 
cuted, nor  were  his  fel- 
low workers  in  the  cause.  The  old  Germans,  like 
their  descendants  of  to-dav,  were  religious  liberals. 
Ulfila  was  an  Arian,  or  Unitarian,  and  although 
Rome  adopted  the  Athanasian  doctrine  of  the  Trin- 
ity, Germany  always  leaned  strongly  towards  hetero- 
doxy. “ After  the  invention  of  a Gothic  alphabet  by 
Ulfila,  we  hear  no  more,”  says  Bayard  Taylor,  “of  a 
written  German  language  until  the  eighth  century. 
There  was  at  least  none  accessible  to  the  people.” 
The  Latin  was  cultivated  a little  in  connection  with 
politics  and  religion.  By  the  year  570,  Europe, 


outside  of  Germany,  was  very  generally  Christian- 
ized, but  the  greater  part  of  the  Germans  were  still 
Pagans.  Their  final  and  complete  evangelization 
Avas  the  result  of  military  necessity,  dictated  by 
political  expediency,  rather  than  the  triumph  of  the 
Cross  upon  its  merits.  So  many  pagan  customs 
were  retained,  under  a change  of  name,  that  the 

transition  was  almost 
imperceptible. 

As  western  Europe 
emerged  from  the  obscur- 
ity of  barbarism,  the  vast 
regions  now  known  as 
Germany  and  France 
were  inseparable.  Clovis, 
who  founded  the  Mero- 
vingian dynasty  in  the 
last  years  of  the  fifth 
century,  ruled  over  both 
as  one.  That  dynasty 
continued  from  486  to 
638,  a century  and  a half, 
during  which  the  Franks 
or  French  were  specially 
conspicuous.  It  was  a 
sickening  succession  of 
crowned  criminals.  The 
people  were  the  victims 
of  a family  feud  running 
through  generations.  The 
Nibelungen  Lied,  the 
Iliad  of  Germany,  to  be 
referred  to  more  especial- 
ly hereafter,  celebrated 
in  rude  song  the  horrible 
story  of  Merovingian 

atrocities.  These  kings 
© 

and  queens  (for  the 
women  were  as  bad  as  the  men)  practiced  all  hea- 
thenish vices  while  professing  the  Christian  name. 
Taylor  tells  us  that  during  the  long  and  bloody 
feuds  of  the  Merovingian  kings  the  system  of  free- 
dom and  equality  which  the  Germanic  races  had  so 
long  possessed,  was  shaken  to  its  very  base,  the  ten- 
dency being  to  augment  the  power  of  the  nobles, 
the  civil  officers  and  the  dignitaries  of  the  church. 

Dagobert,  the  imbecile  and  vile,  was  the  last  as 
Clovis  was  the  first  of  this  line  of  sovereigns.  The 
form  and  semblance  of  authoritv  lingered  in  the 


MEDIEVAL  GERMANY. 


225 


family  after  him,  but  the  reality  of  power,  which 
had  been  gradually  slipping  away,  distinctly  passed 
to  what  may  be  called  the  dynasty  of  the  Major 
domi  or  Stewards,  of  the  Royal  Household. 

From  638  to  768  these  Stuarts,  beginning  with 
Pepin,  held  the  reins  of  power.  The  second  of 
them  was  Charles  Martel,  to  whom  France  and 
Germany  are  indebted  for  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant victories  of  all  history.  The  Saracens  having 
gained  a firm  footing  in  Spain,  crossed  the  Pyrenees 
350,000  strong  and  threatened  to  carry  the  Crescent 
in  triumph  over  all  Western  Europe,  and  perhaps 
extinguish  the  light  of  the  Cross.  It  certainly 
seemed  as  if  Islam  was  about  to  possess  all  the  West. 
It  was  in  October,  732, 
that  Charles  Martel,  sur- 
named  Charles  the  Ham- 
mer, gave  battle  to  the 
invaders  near  Poictiers. 

It  is  said  that  when  night 
fell,  nearly  two  hundred 
thousand  dead  and 
wounded  lay  upon  what 
seemed  to  be  the  indeci- 
sive field.  When  the  next 
morning  came,  Charles 
prepared  to  renew  the 
fight,  but  found  that  the 
enemy  had  retreated.  It 
was  the  Gettysburg  of 
the  war  between  the  Saracens  and  the  Christians. 
The  soldiers  of  the  Crescent  never  again  attempted 
to  meet  the  Franks  and  Germans  upon  their  own  soil. 
Those  Yankees  of  Northern  Europe  had  won  a bat- 
tle decisive  of  that  point,  although  it  was  many 
years  before  the  Southwest  was  freed  from  the  Sar- 
acens. It  is  known  as  the  Battle  of  Tours. 

After  several  generations  the  Stuarts  found  it  ex- 
pedient to  assume  the  title  as  well  as  the  reality  of 
royalty,  and  when  Pepin  the  Short  died  (738)  he 
was  “ king  by  the  grace  of  God.”  The  pope  had  be- 
stowed the  title  upon  him,  also  the  title  of  “ Patri- 
cian of  Rome.”  He  left  two  sons,  one  of  whom  soon 
died,  leaving  the  other,  Charles  the  Great,  sole  sov- 
ereign of  France  and  Germany.  He  wore  the 
crown  forty-three  years,  being  during  the  latter  part 
of  his  reign  Emperor  of  Rome. 

Charlemagne  was  in  the  main  a German.  He 
established  his  court  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  where  he 


was  finally  buried.  While  he  sought  to  clothe  him- 
self with  the -faded  purple  of  imperial  Rome,  he 
none  the  less  devoted  himself  to  the  development 
of  the  German  people  into  a great  and  civilized 
nation.  He  established  schools,  organized  local  gov- 
ernment, collected  with  great  care  the  songs,  tradi- 
tions and  chronicles  of  the  people,  evidently  hoping 
to  build  up  the  Germanic  character  upon  a native 
basis.  He  was  seven  feet  high,  and  no  less  gigantic 
in  intellect  than  in  body.  Y ast  and  beneficent  was 
his  scheme.  Germany  seemed  upon  the  eve  of  a 
great  career. 

Ludwig  the  Pious,  son  and  successor  of  so 
great  a sire,  was  the  weak  and  abject  tool  of  the 

priests.  He  closed  the 
schools,  or  gave  them  into 
the  hands  of  the  ecclesi- 
astics, and  worse  still,  he 
totally  destroyed  the  bal- 
lads, songs  and  legends 
of  the  Germans  which  his 
great  father  had  collect- 
ed. Of  all  that  wealth 
of  Teutonic  folk-lore, 
nothing  survived,  unless 
it  be  the  fragment  of  the 
“ Song  of  Hildebrand.” 
Germany  was  now  thrust 
back  into  barbarism,  and 
its  development  retard- 
ed for  centuries.  In  the  last  years  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, Germany  had  a ruler  capable  of  making  his 
nation  grand  and  prosperous — Otto  the  Great.  But 
he  was  haunted  by  an  evil  ambition.  Instead  of  try- 
ing to  develop  his  own  legitimate  realm,  he  frittered 
away  his  resources  and  opportunities  in  vainly  trying 
to  grasp  that  delusive  and  illusive  phantom,  the  Ro- 
man Empire.  He  was  determined,  like  many  less 
notable  German  emperors,  and  two  still  greater  men 
of  his  line,  Charlemagne  and  Frederick  Barbarossa, 
to  make  Aix-la-Chapelle  the  capital  of  an  empire 
which  should  include  Italy,  and  be  a real  revival  of 
the  glory  of  the  Caesars.  It  was  a dreary  and 
bloody  endeavor  to  realize  the  impossible. 

Frederick  I.,  called  Barbarossa  for  his  red  beard, 
was  elected  emperor  by  the  sovereign  votes  of  the 
German  princes  in  1152,  and  wore  the  crown  until 
he  was  cut  off  in  one  of  the  Crusades  in  the  year 
1197.  He  was  a Suabian,  Suabia  being  then  a 


226 


MEDIEVAL  GERMANY. 


prominent  German  state,  long  since  extinct.  Bar- 
barossa  did  much  to  restore  peace  and  justice  within 
his  realm.  He  made  repeated  attempts  to  bring  the 
Lombards  into  subjection,  but  no  sooner  would  he 
return  to  Germany,  than  the  standard  of  revolt 
would  be  raised.  It  was  after  his  sixth  expedition 
into  Italy  that  the  news 
of  the  Saracen  capture 
of  Jerusalem  was  heard, 
and  the  fanatical  zeal  of 
Europe,  including  that 
of  Frederick  and  his 
knights,  was  aroused. 

This  valiant  king  lost  his 
life  when  near  the  bor- 
ders of  Syria,  drowned 
while  bathing  in  a river. 

That  was  in  1190. 

After  several  troublous 
years,  Barbarossa’s  grand- 
son, Frederick  II.,  came 
to  the  imperial  throne. 

In  his  reign  the  ambi- 
tious Pope  Innocent  III. 
established  the  Inquisi- 
tion,  and  determined  to 
make  Italy  one  of  the 
crown  diamonds  of  the 
church.  The  pontiff  and 
the  emperor  played  fast 
and  loose  with  each  other 
during  the  lifetime  of  the 
former,  after  which  Fred- 
erick determined  to  make 
good  his  hereditary  claim 
to  Italy.  For  this  lie  was 
excommunicated  by  Pope 
Gregory  IX.  In  1228  he 
undertook  a Crusade,  and  as  the  result  of  diplomacy 
rather  than  valor,  secured  possession  of  Jerusalem 
and  the  country  round  about  for  ten  years,  justly 
claiming  the  crown  of  Jerusalem  as  his  reward.  The 
pope  did  all  he  could  to  defeat  that  bloodless  victory 
of  the  Cross.  Upon  the  king’s  return  the  people  were 
so  generally  in  sympathy  with  him  and  against  the 
unjust  pontiff,  that  the  latter  was  driven  from  Rome 
and  glad  to  regain  the  keys  of  St.  Peter  by  remov- 
ing the  anathema  he  had  laid  upon  the  sovereign. 
Frederick  established  his  court  at  Palermo,  Italy, 


FREDERICK  II.  PUTTING  ON  THE  CROWN  OF  JERUSALEM. 


and  was  essentially  an  Italian  rather  than  a German 
emperor.  Boldly  did  he  confront  the  arrogance  of 
the  church,  and  without  being  in  design  a religious 
reformer,  wrought  a great  work  in  preparing  the 
way  for  Luther  and  his  co-laborers,  being  a protest- 
ant  but  not  a Protestant.  Brave,  heroic,  noble  and 

persistent,  his  is  one  of 
the  most  illustrious  names 
in  European  history.  But 
the  record  of  this  Freder- 
ick has  a stain.  His  life 
was  largely  spent  in  try- 
ing to  crush  the  repub- 
lican cities  of  Italy.  That 
great  wrong  was  not, 
however,  without  its 
compensating  good.  It 
operated  as  an  important 
exemption  of  the  German 
free  cities  from  imperial 
intervention.  So  fully 
occupied  was  he  in  the 
south  that  the  north  en- 
joyed beneficent  neglect. 
He  died  in  1250,  and, 
after  a feeble  and  mel- 
ancholy struggle  for  ex- 
istence, the  dynasty  to 
which  he  belonged,  the 
Hohenstaufels,  became 
extinct. 

No  other  monarch  of 
the  medieval  period  de- 
serves mention.  The  elec- 
tors became  corrupt  to 
the  lowest  point,  and 
openly  sold  the  imperial 
crown  to  the  highest  bid- 


der. At  one  time  the  Duke  of  Cornwall,  England, 
bought  the  prize,  his  revenue  from  the  tin  mines  of 
his  duchy  making  him  the  Vanderbilt  of  his  day. 
He  did  not,  however,  attempt  to  exercise  imperial 
jurisdiction.  The  German  people  were  far  more 
respectable  than  the  empire  as  such. 

By  1410  there  were  three  claimants  of  the  German 
crown,  also  three  claimants  of  the  papal  tiara.  It 
may  be  remarked  parenthetically  that  the  really 
significant  event  of  this  period  was  the  Hussite 
war,  which  was  the  morning-star  of  Protestantism, 


3 


MEDIEVAL  GERMANY 


227 


or,  as  it  might  be  called,  the  signal-gun  of  that 
great  conflict  between  papal  authority  and  the  right 
of  private  judgment,  in  which  Germany  took  the 
leading  part,  and  from  the  commencement  of  which 
dates  the  close  of  the  medieval  age.  Luther  was 
not  the  originator  of  the  great  movement  which 
bears  his  name.  That  honor  belongs  to  John  Huss, 
with  whom  our  next  chapter  will  begin. 

Before  closing  this  account  of  medieval  Germany 
notice  must  be  taken  of  the  Hanseatic  League,  and 
the  state  of  civilization  which  produced  the  cities 
belonging  to  it.  Late  in  the  fourteenth  century 
several  commercial  cities  sprung  up  in  Germany, 
mostly  in  the  north.  They  were  largely  the  result 
of  the  Crusades.  Those  expeditions  had  made  the 
people  of  Europe  acquainted  with  oriental  luxuries, 
and  created  wants  which  could  only  be  supplied  by 
commerce.  Lubeck,  Hamburg  and  Bremen  were 
the  first  cities  in  importance  to  grow  out  of  this  de- 
mand. Those  were  marts  of  exchange  for  Eastern 
and  Western  commodities.  They  constituted  the 
“ Hansa,”  and  drew  into  their  alliance,  among  oth- 
ers, the  cities  of  the  Rhine.  They  constituted  a vast 
commercial  and  naval  power,  bound  together  by  the 
common  tie  of  traffic.  This  Hanseatic  League  had 
its  agencies  in  every  commercial  city,  from  Lisbon 
to  Novgorod.  Their  vessels  plowed  the  Mediterra- 
nean and  whitened  the  Baltic  and  the  North  seas. 
Carthage  was  outstripped,  and  a spirit  of  enterprise 
stimulated  which  was  a cardinal  factor  in  dispelling 
the  blackness  of  the  Dark  Ages.  Then  for  the  first 
time  in  Europe  there  were  “ merchant  princes.” 
The  key  to  the  Hanseatic  policy  is  well  supplied  in 
the  saying  of  those  princes,  “ If  the  emperor  claims 
authority  over  us,  then  we  belong  to  the  pope ; if 
the  pope  claims  any  such  authority,  then  we  belong 
to  the  emperor.”  The  league  was  politic  and  thrifty. 
One  of  the  emperors  tried  to  destroy  it,  but  failed  ut- 


terly, and  the  exultant  merchants  said  among  them- 
selves, “ The  Devil  tried  to  shear  a hog,  but  found 
it  ' great  cry  and  little  wool.’  ” 

This  league  and  the  “ German  Order  in  the 
North”  cared  neither  for  the  pomp  of  kings  nor  the 
solemmty  of  ecclesiastics.  The  latter  had  an  inde- 
pendent realm  and  was  a gradual  growth  from  the 
same  root  of  secular  thrift  which  gave  rise  to  the 
broader  league.  Unfortunately  both  lacked  the 
unity  and  system  necessary  to  develop  a permanent 
political  nationality,  but  as  a “ power  dif- 
fused ” deserves  very  high  rank.  The  German  Or- 
der was  an  order  of  knights,  growing  out  of  the 
Crusades  as  did  the  Knights  of  St.  John  and  the 
Knights  Templar  (the  two  latter  belonging  to 
Italy).  The  merchants  of  Bremen  and  the  other 
cities  of  Northern  Germany  fostered  this  order, 
and  by  their  patronage  gave  it  a commercial  or  sec- 
ular spirit  quite  apart  from  the  religious  character 
of  the  other  orders. 

But  to  the  German  Order  must  be  accredited  the 
honor  of  Christianizing  the  Prussians,  the  latest 
portion  of  the  German  people  to  discard  paganism. 
Their  spiritual  welfare  was  watched  over  by  “ the 
Brothers  of  the  Sword,”  a branch  of  the  German  Or- 
der. Like  the  greater  part  of  medieval  evangelization, 
the  conversion  of  the  Prussians  was  wrought  by  force. 

The  Hanseatic  League  dates  from  1241,  and  in 
the  same  century  German  architecture  made  great 
strides.  So,  too,  did  university  education,  but  more 
particularly  in  the  Italian  part  of  the  empire. 
Some  idea  of  the  political  condition  of  Germany 
can  be  formed  from  the  statement  that  at  the  end  of 
the  Hohenstaufen  dynasty  there  were  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  priestly  rulers,  one  hundred  ruling 
dukes,  princes,  counts  and  barons,  and  more  than 
sixty  independent  cities,  not  counting,  of  course,  the 
petty  states  and  republican  cities  of  Italy. 


~7[s 


- 


•Vie. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


The  Great  Transitional  Period — John  Uuss  in  Prague — The  Hussite  War— Pall  of  the 
Byzantine  Empire — Invention  of  Printing  and  Paper— Martin  Luther— Diet  of  Worms 
— Translation  of  the  Bible — Luther’s  Opportunity  and  Policy — The  Anabaptists— The 
Augsburg  Confession — The  Victory  of  Prudence — The  Thirty-Years  War — Gustavus 
Adolphus  and  Wallenstein — The  Peace  of  Westphalia — The  Desolations  and  Results 
of  the  Great  Conflict  Between  Protestant  and  Catholic — Lutheran  Church  in 
Europe  and  America. 


'HE  first  definite  and  des- 
perate resistance  to  the  es- 
tablished church  in  Ger- 
many was  the  Hussite  War, 
and  the  peace  of  Westpha- 
lia which  terminated  the 
Thirty-Years  War  was  the 
establishment  on  the  partial  ruins 
of  Koine  of  Protestantism  as  the 
state  religion  of  Germany.  This 
transitional  period  extended  from 
1410  to  1648.  It  was  a memorable 
epoch  for  the  whole  world  in  many 
ways.  During  it  America  was  dis- 
covered, gunpowder  and  the  print- 
ing press  invented,  or  rather  intro- 
duced into  Europe,  making,  with 
Protestantism,  four  great  powers  in 
civilization,  each  adequate  to  a thorough  and  uni- 
versal revolution.  The  glory  of  the  former  must 
be  shared  by  Italy  and  Spain,  of  the  latter  by  Ger- 
many and  England,  while  the  other  two  belong  to 
Germany  alone.  Gunpowder  radically  changed  the 
methods  of  warfare,  and  thus  proved  revolutionary 
to  an  extent  not  generally  appreciated.  Curiously, 
the  first  Protestant  war  with  its  guns  sounded  the 


death  knell  of  chivalry  and  gave  promise  of  the 
era  of  heavy  battalions,  as  against  sword  and  armor. 

John  Huss  was  born  in  1369,  and  educated  at 
the  University  of  Prague,  Bohemia,  where  he  filled 
a professor’s  chair,  and  afterwards  the  rectorship. 
Before  his  day  a few  religious  men  had  preached 
against  the  corruptions  and  abuses  of  the  church, 
but  Huss  gave  to  the  movement  a tremendous  impe- 
tus. He  opposed  the  doctrine  of  absolution ; the 
worslfip  of  saints  and  images ; traffic  in  offices  and 
indulgences  from  purgatory,  and  the  practice  of 
administering  only  the  bread  of  the  sacrament  to 
lay  communicants,  reserving  the  sacramental  wine 
for  the  clergy.  The  latter  point  was  made  specially 
prominent  in  the  controversy,  and  conflict  followed 
the  teaching  of  Huss.  The  University  was  divided, 
the  Romish  sympathizers  finally  seceding  and 
establishing  the  U niversity  at  Leipzig.  The  emperor 
at  that  time  was  Sigismund.  He  was  not  partic- 
ularly interested  in  the  matter,  but  was  drawn  into 
the  contest.  An  (Ecumenical  Council  was  called 
at  the  City  of  Constance,  and  Huss  was  guaranteed 
a safe  conduct  to  and  from  the  council  by  the  Em- 
peror. He  attended,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to 
defend  his  doctrines  in  such  an  august  body.  But 
he  was  denied  the  privilege,  and  condemned,  with- 


(228) 


GERMANY  AND  THE  REFORMATION. 


229 


— — 

- o 

_ > 


out  a hearing  and  contrary  to  the  pledge  given  him, 
to  be  burnt  at  the  stake  unless  he  recanted.  This 
he  would  not  do,  and  so,  on  the  sixth  of  July,  1415, 
this  great  man  suffered  martyrdom. 

The  blood  of  John  Huss  aroused  a terrible 
furor,  especially  among  the  Bohemians.  Nobles 
and  people  united  in  indignant  protest  against  the 
council.  That  body  stayed  in  session  three  years 
and  a half,  the  burn- 
ing of  Huss  being  the 
one  thing  accomplish- 
ed. Soon  after  its  dis- 
solution the  Emperor 
departed  for  the  East 
to  wage  war  against 
the  Turks  upon  the 
Danube,  thinking  lit- 
tle, apparently,  about 
the  Hussites.  But  they 
were  terribly  in  ear- 
nest. They  organized 
under  the  leadership 
of  John  Ziska,  a noble 
of  rare  military  genius 
and  heroism.  Having 
found  the  pledges  of 
princes  and  prelates 
untrustworthy,  they 
took  matters  into  their 
own  hands,  resolved 
to  protect  themselves 
and  command  respect 
for  their  rights  of  con- 
science. Many  of  them 
were  wild  fanatics  who 
anticipated  the  speedy 
second  coming  of 
Christ,  but  others  were  cool,  brave  champions  of 
duty.  Ziska  introduced  among  his  soldiers  the 
“ thunder-guns,”  small  field-pieces  which  had  first 
been  used  at  the  battle  of  Agincourt,  between 
the  English  and  the  French,  three  years  before. 
He  also  introduced  the  use  of  iron-plated  flails  with 
which  to  crack  the  helmets  of  the  knights.  Be- 
tween the  guns  and  the  flails  the  peasants  (for  such 
the  most  of  them  were)  of  Ziska  were  an  over- 
match for  the  trained  and  disciplined  regulars  who 
rallied  from  far  and  near,  at  the  call  of  the  pope 
and  the  Catholic  princes,  to  crush  the  Hussites. 


The  papal  authorities  cared  far  more  for  the 
rebellion  in  Bohemia  than  for  the  Moslem  inva- 
sion on  the  Danube.  The  secular  princes  would 
have  given  up  the  contest  in  1420,  but  the  legate  of 
the  pope  forbade  any  compromise  with  the  heretics. 
For  several  years  the  conflict  raged.  In  1426  a 
Catholic  army  200,000  strong  was  utterly  routed 
by  the  Protestants,  variously  called  “ Hussites,’’ 

“ Orphans,  ” and 
“ Taborites.”  Ziska 
was  slain  at  last, 
but  his  followers  ral- 
lied under  another 
leader  and  brave- 
ly demanded  their 
rights.  Unfortunate- 
ly they  were  not  al- 
ways united,  and  the 
enemy  was  swift  to 
take  advantage  of 
any  dissension.  In 
1434  the  Catholic 
forces  so  far  suc- 
ceeded in  crushing 
the  Taborites  that 
from  that  date  the 
Bohemian  Reforma- 
tion ceased  to  be 
dangerous  to  Rome, 
excejit  as  it  had 
sowed  the  seed  of 
Protestantism,  and 
prepared  the  way  for 
it.  The  next  year 
Emperor  Sigismund 
died,  and  with  his 
death  expired  the 
Luxemburg  dynasty  which  began  with  Rhodolph, 
successor  to  the  Duke  of  Cornwall. 

A few  years  before  (1453)  the  Eastern  or  Byzan- 
tine empire  had  fallen.  The  Roman  empire  of 
Constantine  and  Justinian,  so  long  a bulwark 
againt  the  Saracens,  fell  at  last,  and  Islam  gained 
in  Eastern  Europe  quite  as  much  as  it  had  lost  in 
the  West — Turkey  avenged  Spain.  The  Roman 
church  looked  on  with  indifference,  caring  more  to 
suppress  Protestantism  than  to  check  Mohamme- 
danism, especially  as  the  inroads  of  the  latter  were 
made  at  the  expense,  mainly,  of  the  rival  church. 


0 - 

<5 


» 


Q_ 


23° 


GERMANY  AND  THE  REFORMATION. 


There  was  some  talk  of  another  Crusade,  but  it 
died  out  barren  of  even  endeavor.  The  people  and 
princes  had  become  too  secular  to  engage  in  a 
“ holy  ” war. 

A little  before  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  about 
1436,  a German  named  John  Gutenburg  conceived 
the  idea  of  casting  movable  types  and  setting  them 
together  to  form 
words.  It  was  a 
simple  thing  to  do, 
but  it  was  none  the 
less  the  greatest 
discovery  of  all  the 
ages,  and  did  more 
than  any  other 
agency  to  enlighten 
Europe.  It  was  a 
gradual  discovery. 

The  great  demand 
for  playing-cards 
must  be  credited 
•with  the  parent 
idea.  The  figures 
used  in  making  the 
“ kings,”  “ queens,” 

“jacks,”  etc.,  of  a 
pack  were  first  cut 
on  wooden  blocks, 
to  be  dipped  in  ink, 
and  then  pressed 
upon  the  card 
paper.  This  device 
led  to  the  carving 
of  letters  and 
words  upon  blocks 
so  as  to  make  a 
page.  That  was 
done  in  Holland  as 
early  as  1430,  by  means  of  which  books  were  printed. 
The  “ Devil’s  Testament,”  as  cards  have  been  call- 
ed, thus  led  to  supreme  good.  Another  preparation 
for  the  discovery  was  the  invention  of  paper  made 
from  linen,  a great  relief  from  the  expense  of 
parchment  and  a prerequisite  to  printing.  Paper- 
making in  Germany  dates  from  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  century.  John  Gutenburg  deserves 
much  but  not  all  the  credit  of  types.  Another  name 
to  be  held  in  honor  is  that  of  Faust,  a man  of  wealth 
who  assisted  Gutenburg,  who  was  a poor  man.  The 


people  suspected  that  printed  books  were  the  work 
of  the  Devil,  and  the  priests  eagerly  encouraged  the 
idea.  This  was  not  simply  because  they  wished  to 
prevent  popular  intelligence  (ignorance  and  super- 
stition going  together),  but  because  the  making  of 
manuscript  books  was  an  important  branch  of  in- 
dustry, and  one  which  priests  and  monks  monopo- 
lized. Their  craft 
was  in  danger. 
They  saw  in  mova- 
ble types  the  death 
of  their  highly 
profitable  monop- 
oly. But  none  the 
less  surely  and 
swiftly  did  the  art 
of  printing  spread, 
not  only  in  Ger- 
many but  all  over 
Europe.  One  of 
the  original  Gut- 
enburg Bibles  was 
recently  sold  in 
New  York  City  for 
$8,000. 

Martin  Luther, 
who  really  did 
more  for  civiliza- 
tion than  any  man 
of  his  time,  was 
born  at  the  little 
Saxon  town  of 
Eisleben,  Novem- 
ber 10,  1483.  His 
father  was  a poor 
miner.  Young  Mar- 
tin was  a promis- 
ing boy  and  early 
conceived  the  idea  of  getting  an  education.  He  sang 
songs  beneath  the  windows  of  the  rich,  among  other 
things,  as  a way  of  eking  out  a support  in  the  pur- 
suit of  his  studies,  which  he  prosecuted  at  the  uni- 
versity of  Erfurt.  lie  joined  the  order  of  Augustine 
monks,  and  was  very  highly  esteemed  by  his  associ- 
ates and  superiors.  In  1508  Luther  was  appointed 
lecturer  in  Greek,  and  later,  of  theology  at  the  then 
new  university  at  Wittenberg.  After  two  years  he 
was  sent  to  Borne  on  a special  commission,  where  he 
beheld  with  amazement  the  secular  character  of  the 


_s> 


s> 


A a. 


GERMANY  AND  THE  REFORMATION.  23 1 


papal  court.  His  eyes  were  opened,  but  lie  had  110 
thought  of  separation  from  the  mother  church  un- 
til long  after.  In  1517  Pope  Leo  X.,  a great  lover 
of  art  and  luxury,  undertook  to  replenish  his  ex- 
chequer by  a wholesale  traffic  in  indulgences.  They 
were  hawked  about  the  country,  the  peddler  of  them 
in  Germany,  Tetzel,  going  so  far  as  to  sell  pardons 
for  all  sins  actually  committed  not  only,  but 
licenses  to  commit  others  with  impunity.  This 
aroused  the  righteous  indignation  of  Luther, 
and  on 
the  31st 
of  Octo- 
ber he 
boldly 
nailed  to 
the  door 
of  the 
church  at 
Witte  11- 
burg  his 
n i n e t y- 
five  not- 
ed theses, 
or  prop- 
ositions 
in  denial 
of  the 
right  to 
thus  abet 
crime  and 
vice. 

This 
holy  zeal 

aroused  fierce  and  bitter  opposition.  Dr.  Luther 
was  denounced  as  a Hussite.  A council  was  called, 
and  he  was  guaranteed  immunity  to  and  from 
it.  He  accepted,  notwithstanding  the  fate  of 
Huss.  A11  attempt  was  made  to  condemn  him  in 
disregard  of  that  guaranty,  but  the  Emperor, 
Charles  V.,  best  known  in  connection  with  Spain, 
refused  to  be  a party  to  such  perfidy,  and  Luther 
departed  from  the  Diet  of  Worms  unmolested,  after 
having  boldly  defended  his  position. 

By  a preconcerted  plan  he  was  kidnapped  on  the 
road  by  his  friends  and  taken  in  disguise  to  the 
friendly  castle  of  Wartburg,  where  lie  spent  his  time 
in  making  a translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  Ger- 
man language.  “ In  that  great  work,”  says  Mr. 


Taylor,  “ he  accomplished  more  than  a service  to 
Christianity ; he  created  the  modern  German  lan- 
guage. Before  his  time  there  had  been  no  tongue 
which  was  known  and  accepted  throughout  the 
whole  empire.”  He  was  assisted  in  this  great  work 
by  Philip  Melancthon  and  other  scholars.  It  was 
done  with  the  utmost  care,  and  is  a monument 
marking  the  dawn  of  German  literature. 

The  Emperor  of  Germany  was  also  King  of 
Spain,  Naples,  Sicily  and  Spanish  America,  spend- 
ing very 
littletime 
in  his  im- 
perial do- 
minions. 
Between 
wars  with 
the  Turks 
and  the 
French 
he  could 
not  give 
much  at- 
tention to 
ecclesias- 
tical mat- 
ters in 
Germany. 

con- 
dition of 
things 
gre  atly 
f av  or  e d 
the  Prot- 
estant cause.  Luther’s  policy  was  to  win  to  his 
support  as  many  as  possible  of  the  petty  sov- 
ereigns. By  his  Bible  and  his  preaching  he  aimed 
to  reach  the  popular  heart,  and  by  his  political  pol- 
icy to  secure  the  protection  of  the  real  rulers  of 
Germany.  A popular  uprising  in  Southern  Ger- 
many occurred  in  1525,  the  oppressed  peasants 
making  a bold  strike  for  their  rights.  Luther 
wrote  and  spoke  vehemently  against  them.  His 
writings  of  a political  nature  present  him  in  a 
very  bad  light.  The  only  excuse  for  him  is  that  by 
the  policy  he  pursued  he  secured  immunity  for  the 
great  cause  nearest  his  heart. 

That  uprising  was  a very  serious  calamity.  It 
was  a failure,  and  a costly  one  in  every  respect.  It 


LUTHER  BURNING  THE  POPE’S  BULL. 


This 


■v 


GERMANY  AND  THE  REFORMATION. 


±IL 

- to 


* 


i 


was  the  result  in  large  part  of  religious  fanaticism, 
John  of  Leyden,  leader  of  the  Anabaptists,  a sect 
of  Millenarians  who  entertained  numerous  fantastic 
notions,  was  finally  suppressed,  and  Lutheranism 
came  out  of  the  contest  strong.  In  1529  seven 
reigning  princes,  headed  by  Saxony,  and  fifteen 
sovereign  cities,  joined  in  a solemn  protest  against 
the  resolution  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Catholic 
States  to  outlaw  and  crush  out  Luther  and  the  doc- 
trines promulgated  by  the  Diet  of  Worms. 

The  next  year  a diet  was  summoned  by  the  Em- 
peror to  meet  at  Augsburg.  A statement  of  doc- 
trine, prepared  by  Luther 
who  was  absent  and  Melanc- 
thon  who  was  present,  was 
offered  as  the  views  of  the 
Protestants.  That  statement, 
called  the  “Augsburg  Con- 
fession,” is  still  the  creed  of 
the  Lutheran  church  and  is 
substantially  identical  with 
the  creeds  of  the  Evangelical 
churches  of  to-day. 

Luther  escaped  martyr- 
dom, being  as  prudent  as  he 
was  bold.  Wars  with  other 
nations  favored  his  immu- 
nity and  the  spread  of  his 
doctrines.  Military  necessity 
secured  a truce,  from  time 
to  time,  and  the  father  of 
the  Reformation  died  before 
the  great  struggle  for  religious  progress  fairly  began, 
his  death  occurring  February  17,  1546.  Martin 
Luther  was  the  friend  and  counselor  of  all  Protest- 
ant rulers,  beloved  by  a vast  following  among  the 
people,  the  first  and  greatest  of  the  brilliant  galaxy  of 
reformers  who  were  the  pioneers  of  present  relig- 
ious liberty. 

The  Thirty-Years  War  was  the  next  feature  of 
German  history  worthy  of  mention.  It  dates  from 
an  outburst  of  mob  violence  at  Prague,  May  23, 
1618,  about  a century  after  the  Reformation  was 
fairly  begun.  At  that  time  four-fifths  of  the  Ger- 
mans were  Protestants,  including  many  of  the 
princes  ; but  the  Hapsburgs  continued  to  support 
the  Papacy.  The  emperor  at  that  time  was  Matthias. 
He  was  not  for  war,  but  the  Jesuits  were  eager  for 
it  and  plotted  to  make  a local  disturbance  general, 


and  the  brother  and  successor  of  Matthias,  Ferdi- 
nand, was  wholly  with  them.  So  little,  however, 
did  the  Protestant  Electors  appreciate  the  situation 
that  they  voted  for  Ferdinand  without  considering 
his  ecclesiastical  affinities  of  serious  importance, 
and  that  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  had  as  a 
Duke  declared  that  he  would  rather  rule  over  a 
desert  than  heretics.  The  bitterness  of  polemical 
controversy  in  the  Protestant  church  was  a great 
source  of  weakness.  Calvinists  and  Lutherans 
were  intense  in  their  animosity  to  each  other,  and 
lines  of  theological  thought  almost  too  fine  to  be 
discernible  served  as  ram- 
parts behind  which  hostile 
sects  showered  abuse  at 
each  other.  While  the  Cath- 
olics were  harmonious,  the 
Protestants  invited  attack 
by  their  dissensions.  The 
Emperor  conceived  it  possible 
to  uproot  Protestantism  by  a 
war  of  extermination  against 
it,  and  the  Protestants  them- 
selves were  largely  respon- 
sible for  his  thinking  so. 

At  that  time  England,  Hol- 
land, Denmark  and  Sweden 
were  Protestant  and  the 
practical  ruler  of  France, 
Cardinal  Richelieu,  had  no 
sympathy  with  Ferdinand. 
The  Protestants  could  have 
suppressed  him,  had  they  been  at  all  sensible.  Their 
blind  factiousness  encouraged  him  and  involved  the 
country  in  war  for  a generation,  and  a more  desolat- 
ing, brutal  and  fiendish  struggle  was  never  waged  any 
where  by  any  people.  The  Christians  of  that  empire 
seemed  to  forget  all  scripture  but  the  passage,  “ I 
came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a sword.”  To  follow  the 
bloody  track  of  that  mighty  slaughter  through  its 
devious  windings  for  thirty  long  years,  would  be  a sur- 
feit of  horrors.  When  once  the  Protestants  had  their 
eyes  opened  to  the  situation,  they  formed  a union  for 
mutual  defense  and  chose  for  their  leader  Christian 
IV.,  king  of  the  then  powerful  Denmark.  Eng- 
land and  Holland  furnished  substantial  aid.  But 
there  was  no  clearsighted  and  highminded  appre- 
ciation of  the  struggle,  on  the  part  of  those  most 
interested. 


GERMANY  AND  THE  REFORMATION, 


233 


There  were  several  great  reputations  made  during 
that  war,  but  the  names  most  entitled  to  recognition 
were  those  of  Wallenstein  and  Gustavus  Adolphus. 
The  former  was  a soldier  of  fortune  who  allied  him- 
self to  the  Catholic  cause.  He  had  vast  wealth, 
secured  by  two  marriages,  and  he  bought  important 
estates  which  made  him  a prince.  Wallenstein  had 
a genius  for  war.  He  supported  and  paid  his  army 
by  plunder,  serving  the  Hapsburgs  with  conspicuous 
success.  He  was  distrusted  as  aiming  at  imperial 


princes  he  would  have  made  short  work  of  the 
Hapsburgs,  but  he  was  regarded  with  suspicion  and 
absolute  animosity  in  some  instances.  He  won 
several  important  victories,  the  most  important  of 
all  being  the  one  at  Lutzen,  November  6,  1632, 
which  cost  him  his  life.  He  fell  at  the  head  of  his 
victorious  troops,  and  even  in  death  was  “ The 
Swede  of  Victory.”  Gustavus  Adolphus  gave  vital- 
ity to  the  cause  which  cost  him  his  own  life. 

The  end  was  not  yet.  Year  after  year  the  con- 


PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA. 


honors,  and  suspected,  at  last,  of  designing  to  desert 
to  the  Protestant  cause,  and  finally  assasinated  at 
the  evident  instigation  of  the  Emperor  in  Febru- 
ary, 1634.  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  quite  the  equal 
of  Wallenstein  in  military  genius  and  a man  of 
high  character.  He  came  to  the  throne  of  Sweden 
in  1611,  when  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age.  A 
splendid  specimen  of  a man  in  every  way,  he  real- 
ized the  actual  issue  at  stake  and  embarked  in  the 
cause  of  Protestantism  in  Germany  when  he  was 
thirty-four  years  of  age,  having  already  achieved 
important  victories  over  the  Russians.  Had  lie 
been  cordially  supported  by  the  German  Protestant 


fiict  raged.  It  developed  into  a struggle  for  life  on 
the  part  of  Protestantism  and  a struggle  for  terri- 
torial acquisition  on  the  part  of  the  petty  princes 
and  the  foreign  states.  France  was  especially  anx- 
ious that  Germany  should  be  so  weakened  that  her 
own  area  could  be  extended  northward,  and  with 
most  consummate  skill  did  Richelieu  play  his  part 
with  that  object  in  view.  Finally,  in  1648,  a peace 
was  negotiated  at  Westphalia,  and  the  guns  of  that 
most  atrocious  of  all  wars  were  spiked.  And  surely 
it  was  time.  A population  of  thirty  millions  had 
been  reduced  to  twelve  millions.  The  livestock 
and  products  of  the  empire  had  been  proportionate- 


234 


GERMANY  AND  THE  REFORMATION. 


ly  reduced.  The  civilization  of  Germany  was  set 
back  two  centuries.  Demoralization  and  depopula- 
tion, poverty,  crime  and  misery  combined  to  pro- 
duce a result  of  appalling  desolation.  “ After  the 
Thirty  Years’  War,”  says  a great  historian,  “ Ger- 
many was  composed  of  203  more  or  less  indepen- 
dent, jealous  and  conflicting  states,  united  by  a 
bond  which  was  more  imaginary  than  real ; and  this 
confused,  unnatural  state  of  tilings  continued  until 
Napoleon  came  to  put  an  end  to  it.  All  branches 
of  industry  had  declined,  commerce  had  almost  en- 
tirely ceased,  literature  and  the  arts  were  suppressed, 
and  except  the  astronomical  discoveries  of  Coperni- 
cus and  Kepler  there  was  no  contributions  to  human 
knowledge.  Politically  the  change  was  no  less  dis- 
astrous. Germany,  as  a whole,  lost  her  place 
among  the  powers  of  Europe.  The  Holy  Roman 
Empire  became  a shadow.”  Famine  and  pesti- 
lence completed  what  had  been  begun  by  a war 
waged  by  one  branch  of  the  church  for  the  exter- 
mination of  a rival  branch,  resulting,  however,  in 
universal  amnesty  for  all  Germany  except  the  Prot- 
estants of  Austria.  The  Pope,  Innocent  X.  tried  to 
nullify  the  treaty  and  keep  up  the  war,  but  his  bull 
was  disregarded  and  not  allowed  to  be  read  in  the 
empire.  The  horrible  crusade  against  twenty-five 
million  of  Protestants  was  unavailing.  The  new  sect 
was  indeed  crushed  out  of  Spain,  France  and  Italy, 
but  in  Germany,  as  in  Holland,  Sweden,  England^ 
Switzerland  and  Dennmark,  it  had  come  to  stay. 

The  name  of  Lutherans  is  borne  by  about  40,- 
000,000  of  people  at  the  present  time.  No  man 
born  upon  the  continent  of  Europe  ever  had 
so  grand  a monument  as  that  in  perpetuation  of 
his  name  and  fame.  In  nearly  every  country  of 
Christendom  is  the  Lutheran  church  established. 
Its  membership  in  the  United  States  is  fully  equal 
to  the  total  population  of  the  thirteen  states  at  the 
time  they  declared  themselves  independent  of  Great 
Britain.  In  Germany  this  church  is  a conservative 
element.  Curiously,  the  name  is  not  officially  rec- 


ognized by  the  church  itself,  but  custom  has  so  long 
applied  it  to  the  reformed  church  in  its  direct  out- 
growth from  Luther  that  it  is  no  longer  resented. 

The  great  name  in  the  annals  of  the  Lutheran 
church  of  America  is  Muhlenberg.  There  were 
several  members  of  the  family  who  rose  to  emi- 
nence, the  latest  being  the  author  of  the  well-known 
hymn,  “ I would  not  live  alway.”  That  Dr.  Muh- 
lenberg was  great-grandson  of  Heinrich  Melchior 
Muhlenberg  who  in  1742  came  to  this  country  as  a 
missionary,  and  founded  the  Lutheran  Ministerium 
of  Pennsylvania.  He  had  been  an  instructor  in 
Francke’s  Orphan-house  in  Germany,  and  so  deeply 
was  he  imbued  with  pietism  that  the  American 
branch  of  the  Lutheran  church  is  more  spiritual, 
orthodox  and  conservative  than  the  parent  tree. 

It  is  doubtful  if  Luther  would  feel  as  much  sym- 
pathy, were  he  now  upon  the  earth  and  in  his  nor- 
mal frame  of  mind,  witli  Protestant  as  with  Catho- 
lic Germany,  outside  of  the  church  which  bears  his 
name.  The  liberalism  of  Modern  Germany  may 
be  called  an  outgrowth  from  the  Reformation  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  but  the  connection  is  more 
historical  than  actual,  the  child  bearing  but  little 
resemblance  to  the  father.  The  present  papists  of 
Germany  are  more  in  accord  with  Luther  than 
Tetzel.  Writing  in  1871,  that  great  Catholic 
scholar  l)hl linger  gave  it  as  his  solemn  opinion 
that  “ no  other  man  in  the  whole  Christian  era  has 
given  to  his  race  as  much  as  Luther  gave  to  his — 
language,  a manual  of  faith  for  the  people,  the 
Bible,  the  hymns.  He  alone  has  left  the  ineffacea- 
ble stamp  of  his  own  spirit  alike  upon  the  German 
tongue  and  the  German  mind.  The  very  men 
among  the  Germans  who  from  the  depths  of  their 
souls  abhor  him  as  the  terrible  heresiarch  and  the 
betrayer  of  religion,  are  forced  to  speak  in  his 
words  and  think  in  his  thoughts.”  The  great  up- 
rising with  which  his  name  is  associated  was  indeed 
religious  primarily,  but  in  effect  it  was  hardly  more 
a reformation  than  a renaissance. 


HE  great  Thirty-Years  War, 
which  extended  from  1G18 
to  1648,  was  distinctively 
religious  in  origin  and  de- 
sign ; the  Seven-Years  War 
(1756-63)  grew  out  of  ter- 
ritorial greed.  Frederick 
the  Great  of  Prussia  had  seized 
the  province  of  Silesia,  and  Maria 
Theresa  wanted  to  recover  it.  Af- 
ter three  bloody  wars  (1740-42; 
1744-45 ; 1756-63)  the  attempt  was 
entirely  abandoned.  That  decisive 
advantage  of  Prussia  had  much  to 
do  with  the  fact  that  it  has  at  last 
supplanted  Austria  as  the  head  of 
Germany.  In  one  sense,  then.  New 
Germany  begins  with  the  close  of  the 
Seven-Years  War;  but  in  a higher  sense  it  dates 
from  the  Thirty-Years  War,  which  determined  the 
religious  boundaries  of  continental  Europe. 

It  was  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
when  the  great  war  of  the  Protestants  and  Catholics 
closed.  Hildebrand  estimates  that  German  civiliza- 


tion was  thrown  back  two  hundred  years  by  that 
desolating  conflict.  The  picture  which  that  bril- 
liant essayist  draws  of  Germany  in  the  eighteenth 
century  is  glowing  in  the  extreme  : “ Hundreds  of 

flourishing  cities  were  reduced  to  ashes ; ground 
which  had  been  tilled  and  plowed  for  ten  centuries 
became  a wilderness ; thousands  of  villages  disap- 
peared ; trees  grew  in  the  abandoned  houses.”  The 
first  event  of  real  note  was  the  rise  of  Prussia, 
already  suggested,  from  an  insignificant  principality 
to  the  rank  of  one  of  the  five  great  nations  of 
Europe. 

The  first  king  of  Prussia  was  crowned  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  Univer- 
sity of  Berlin  was  founded  the  same  year.  That 
first  of  the  Ilohenzollerns  to  receive  the  royal  crown, 
Frederick  I.,  was  not  remarkable  for  anything. 
Not  so  his  son  and  successor,  Frederick  William  I. 
He  was  a very  marked  character.  He  came  to  the 
throne  in  1713,  just  a year  before  the  first  of  the 
Georges  was  raised  from  the  Electorate  of  Hanover, 
one  of  the  many  petty  states  of  Germany,  to  the 
British  throne.  It  was  about  that  time  too  that  the 
Etoperor  of  Germany,  Charles  VI.,  issued  what  was 


( 2 3 5 ) 


CHAPTER  XL. 


The  Military  Beginning  or  New  Germany — After  the  Thirty-Years  War — Rise  of  Prus- 
sia— Frederick  WTlliam — Frederick  the  Great  and  Maria  Theresa— Division  of  Poland 
— Liberalism  in  the  Abstract — French  Revolution  and  Germany — Napoleon  in  Ger- 
many— Jena,  Blucher  and  Waterloo — 1848 — William  I.  and  Bismarck — Schleswig  and 
Holstein — The  Seven-Weeks  War — Needle  and  Krupp  Guns — Austria’s  Humiliation— 
The  Hohenzollerns  and  New  Germany — The  Spanish  Crown  and  the  Franco-Prussian 
War — The  Seven-Months  War;  Its  Heroes,  Victims,  Battles  and  Sieges — Paris,  its 
Resistance  and  Capitulation — Terms  of  Peace— Alsace-Lorraine  and  the  Great  Indem- 
nity— Reconstructed  Germany — Present  States — Bundesrath  and  Reichstag — Compul- 
sory Education  and  the  Army — Area  and  Population  of  Present  Germany. 


\ <2. 


236 


NEW  GERMANY. 


called  the  “ Pragmatic  Sanction,”  establishing  the 
order  of  succession  to  the  throne  for  his  dynasty, 
in  consequence  of  which  Maria  Theresa,  not  yet 
born,  succeeded  to  the  crown  of  her  father.  There 
were  thus  the  beginnings  of  several  important  mat- 
ters. Frederick  William  I.  was  busy  all  his  life  with 
beginnings.  By  his  parsimony  and  meanness  he  filled 
the  coffers  of  the  crown  and  accustomed  his  subjects 
to  hardships.  He  had  but  one  extravagance,  a 
weakness  for  a body-guard  of  giants.  For  this  ec- 
centricity he  squandered  many  thalers.  A rude 
barbarian  who  made  life  in  his  household  (private 
and  official)  one  long  misery,  this  king,  when  he 
died  in  1740,  was  sincerely  mourned  by  none.  It  is 
only  charity  to  believe  that  a vein  of  insanity  ran 
through  his  composition.  A few  months  later 
Charles  VI.  also  died.  The  former  was  succeeded 
by  Frederick  II.,  called  Frederick  the  Great,  the 
latter  by*the  Empress  Maria  Theresa. 

The  childhood  and  youth  of  Frederick  were  mis- 
erable owing  to  the  brutality  of  his  father.  He 
was  a close  student  of  Voltaire,  whom  he  admired, 
and  from  whom  he  derived  many  broad  and  hu- 
mane ideas,  which  resulted  in  important  reforms. 
By  him  torture  was  abolished  and  religious  liberty 


FREDERICK  TUE  GREAT. 


established  ; witchcraft  was  no  longer  classed  among 
the  crimes.  Frederick  was  in  full  sympathy  with 
that  class  of  philosophers  of  whom  Voltaire  was  the 
chief.  Of  late  years  France  and  the  whole  world 
have  learned  philosophy  of  Germany,  but  in  the 
eighteenth  century  the  order  was  reversed.  Fred- 


erick was  a man  of  war,  however,  and  not  a stu- 
dent, except  as  studies  and  letters  were  a recreation. 
Hardly  had  he  seized  the  scepter  when  he  drew  the 
sword  and  rushed  into  war  with  Austria.  For  five 
years  wi  tli  only  slight  rest  there  was  bloodshed,  oth- 
er countries  being  drawn  into  it.  In  1745  peace 
was  restored,  and  on  terms  which  were  so  advan- 
tageous to  Prussia  that  Frederick  was  dubbed  the 
Great  thus  early  in  his  reign. 

To  those  five  years  of  war  succeeded  eleven  years 
of  peace.  During  that  period  Frederick  did  much 
to  strengthen  Prussia.  Waste  lands  were  restored, 
and  civil  institutions  improved.  The  cultivation  of 
the  potato,  strenuously  resisted  by  the  peasants, 
was  introduced,  and  the  general  condition  of  the 
people  greatly  improved.  In  1742  the  King  of  Ba- 
varia was  chosen  emperor  of  Germany  by  the  elect- 
ors, and  crowned  Charles  VII.  Maria  Theresa  in 
that  dark  day  repaired  to  Hungary  and  threw  her- 
self upon  the  loyalty  of  the  Hungarians.  Their 
chivalric  rally  to  her  support  made  her  one  of  the 
most  powerful  of  sovereigns.  In  1745  the  emperor 
died,  and  his  son  was  glad  to  surrender  all  claims  to 
Austria  to  be  confirmed  in  the  title  to  Bavaria.  The 
figure-head  husband  of  the  great  Maria  Theresa  was 
nominal  emperor.  She  arranged  a coalition  against 
Prussia  with  France  and  some  minor  powers,  to  go 
into  effect  in  the  spring  of  1759,  but  Frederick  stole 
a march  on  his  enemies  and  took  the  initiative  him- 
self. For  seven  years  the  war  raged.  After  the  car- 
nage and  sacrifices  of  that  struggle  peace  brought  to 
Prussia  increase  of  territory  and  general  importance. 

In  one  thing  only  were  Frederick  and  Maria 
Theresa  agreed — in  the  partition  of  Poland.  That 
infamy,  as  seen  in  an  earlier  chapter,  was  mainly 
attributable  to  Catharine  II.  of  Russia,  and  quite 
reluctantly  consented  to  by  the  Austrian  empress. 
The  kings  of  Poland  were  elected,  and  the  sove- 
reign chosen  in  1765  was  a liberal,  who  allowed  the 
Protestants  religious  liberty.  The  Catholics,  who 
were  largely  in  the  majority,  created  civil  war.  This 
state  of  affairs  was  seized  upon  as  a pretext  for 
charging  the  Poles  with  unfitness  for  nationality. 
And  so,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1772,  those  three 
crowned  robbers  took  possession  of  about  one-third 
of  the  kingdom  of  Poland,  dividing  between  them 
about  1,000,000  square  miles  and  4,500,000  popula- 
tion. The  region  received  by  Frederick  was  peo- 
pled by  Germans  although  Poles. 


NEW  GERMANY. 


237 


Frederick  lived  until  1 786,  and  during  the  last 
years  of  his  life  the  nation  enjoyed  peace.  He  re- 
joiced, as  did  Catharine,  in  the  success  of  the  Ameri- 
can colonies.  I11  the  abstract,  both  the  Prussian  and 
the  Russian  sympathized  with  the  spirit  of  freedom, 
but  neither  ever  allowed  sentiment  to  interfere 
with  ambition. 

Maria  Theresa  died  in  1780,  and  her  son,  who 
had  been  crowned  Emperor  Joseph  II.  in  her  life- 
time, survived  her  ten  years.  Both  tried  to  im- 
prove the  condition  of  their  subjects  by  giving 
them  just  government,  without  loosening  the  reins  of 
absolutism.  The  son  was  the  most  earnest  in  this 
endeavor.  He  was,  in  his  way, 
a radical  reformer,  who  tried 
to  make  his  people  noble  in 
purpose  and  prosperous  in 
every  way.  But  his  heart  was 
better  than  his  head,  and  he 
was  grievously  disappointed 
in  the  results  attained.  Im- 
bued with  the  progressive 
ideas  of  the  age,  lie  tried  to 
make  Austria  a model  state. 

His  epitaph,  written  by  him- 
self, was  peculiarly  appropri- 
ate : “ Here  lies  a prince 

whose  intentions  were  pure, 
but  who  had  the  misfortune 
to  see  all  his  plans  shattei’ed.” 

Some  good,  however,  resulted 
from  the  spirit  or  atmosphere 
of  the  court.  The  empress  was  a devout  Catholic, 
although  somewhat  jealous  of  Rome ; the  emperor 
was  not  a Protestant,  but  he  was  the  avowed  enemy 
of  papal  arrogance.  He  spoke  harshly  of  priests, 
and  yet  Austria  remained  a Catholic  country. 
Frederick  was  a sneering  skeptic. 

Out  of  the  French  Revolution  grew  general  war 
on  the  continent.  The  banished  and  fugitive  prin- 
ces and  nobles  of  Franco  fermented  trouble,  and 
the  Republic  at  Paris  found  itself  involved  in  mili- 
tary controversy  with  both  branches  of  Germany 
(for  Prussia  was  now  the  rival  and  peer  of  Austria). 
The  conllict  was  waged  in  a somewhat  sickly  way 
until  Napoleon  came  to  the  front. 

In  the  Napoleonic  war  the  battle  of  Austerlitz 
was  the  especial  humiliation  of  Austria,  but  it  did 
not  stand  alone.  “ Marengo’s  field  ” was  won  by 


Napoleon  at  Austria’s  expense  June  14,  1800,  and 
his  Marshal,  Moreau,  achieved  the  brilliant  victory 
of  Ilohenlinden  on  the  third  of  December  follow- 
ing. In  1805  Austria  secured  the  alliance  of  Eng- 
land, Russia  and  Sweden  against  France.  Napo- 
leon thereupon  marched  to  the  very  gates  of  Vienna 
and  gained,  December  2nd  of  that  year,  the  great 
victory  of  Austerlitz.  But  Prussia  still  stood  aloof. 
When,  however,  the  conqueror  organized  the  Con- 
federation of  the  Rhine,  designed  to  absorb  the  free 
cities  and  small  principalities  of  Germany,  and 
eclipse  both  Austria  and  Prussia,  the  latter  took 
alarm.  In  1806  war  was  declared  by  Frederick 
William.  Two  battles  were 
fought  in  October  of  that 
year,  Auerstadt  and  Jena. 
The  first  defeat  was  bad 
enough,  but  the  second  was 
utterly  prostrating  and  deep- 
ly humiliating.  Unlike  Aus- 
terlitz, Jena  was  avenged. 
Waterloo  retrieved  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  Prussians  and  the 
fall  of  Paris,  fifty  year  later, 
completed  the  redress.  Even 
before  Waterloo  was  fought 
B1  richer  had  defeated  a por- 
tion of  the  French  army. 
The  battle  of  Katzbach  and 
Mockern,  comparatively  trivi- 
al engagements,  proved  Prus- 
sian victories.  He  was  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Prussian  army  when  the  bat- 
tle of  Waterloo  was  fought.  Napoleon  hoped  to 
defeat  Wellington  before  his  Prussian  ally  could  join 
him,  and  he  came  very  near  doing  it.  “ Night  or 
Blucher,”  exclaimed  Wellington.  Only  two  days 
before,  BlUcher  had  been  defeated  at  Leipzig,  but 
he  came  to  the  rescue  on  the  ever-memorable  eight- 
eenth of  June  with  forces  enough  to  turn  the 
scale,  and  convert  the  impending  defeat  of  Wel- 
lington into  the  most  stupendous  and  important 
victory  of  modern  times. 

After  the  suppression  of  that  “ scourge  of  God,” 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  Germany,  in  common  with  all 
Europe,  enjoyed  a season  of  peace  for  thirty  years. 
During  that  time  literature  and  science  made  great 
progress.  The  terms  of  peace  and  reconstruction, 
adopted  after  Waterloo,  insured  civil  and  religious 


<5" 


S) 


238 


NEW  GERMANY. 


liberty  to  the  people.  They  could  worship  as  they 
pleased,  and  every  state  (there  were  39  in  Germany) 
was  guaranteed  a representative  government.  The 
educated  class  were  especially  encouraged  by  the 
liberty  enjoyed  to  demand  more,  and  be  content 
with  nothing  short  of  self-government.  Not  that 
all  felt  that  Avay,  but  that  among  the  students  there 
was  a very  great  pressure  for  republicanism.  At 
last,  in  1848,  there  was  an  outbreak  of  democracy. 
It  accomplished  very  little.  Many  of  the  young 
men  engaged  in  the  vague  and  half-formed  rebellion 
were  obliged  to  seek  safety  in  flight,  and  thousands 
found  new  and  better  homes  in  America.  In  Ger- 
many the  uprising  was  mainly 
useful  as  political  education, 
alike  to  subjects  and  sovereign. 

Indeed,  all  Europe  received  a 
most  wholesome  and  bene- 
ficent development  in  the 
direction  of  larger  liberty.  To 
the  United  States  that  upris- 
ing proved  highly  important. 

A new  class  of  emigration 
coming  to  these  shores  per- 
ceptibly raised  the  standard 
and  improved  the  character  of 
immigration  from  continental 
Europe.  About  that  time,  it 
may  be  added,  the  Irish  fam- 
ine drove  hither  an  enormous 
number  of  ignorant  peasants. 

The  German  influx  was  some- 
thing of  a counteractant. 

In  1857  the  King  of  Prussia,  Frederick  William 
IV.,  a weak  and  feudalistic  sovereign,  was  stricken 
with  apoplexy,  and  his  brother  William,  then  sixty 
years  of  age,  was  made  Prince  Regent.  At  once  the 
latter  began  the  inauguration  of  some  reforms  in 
administration,  and  when  he  became  William  I. 
(1861)  a new  page  was  turned  in  German,  and  in- 
deed, European  history.  Although  an  old  man,  he 
was  blessed  with  great  vigor  of  body  and  mind,  and 
his  reign  became  second  only  to  that  of  Frederick  the 
Great  in  point  of  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  the 
people.  He  early  recognized  the  consummate  genius 
of  Bismarck.  Those  two  names  must  always  be 
linked  in  fame.  Neither  ever  showed  sympathy 
with  the  cause  of  personal  freedom,  but  sought  the 
aggrandizement  of  the  nation  in  the  interest  of  the 


dynasty.  As  we  write,  Germany  is  in  a ferment 
over  the  imperial  rescript,  or  official  manifesto,  of 
the  Emperor,  to  the  effect  that  Germany  is  not  gov- 
erned by  a ministry  accountable  to  a parliament,  but 
that  the  ministers  are  the  mere  tools  of  the  sovereign, 
and  that  the  sovereign  is  the  state.  I11  this  document 
is  seen  the  hand  of  the  premier. 

Bismarck  was  born  on  the  family  estate  April  1, 
1815.  He  early  showed  a taste  for  public  life.  His 
career  began  in  diplomacy,  1852,  except  that  he  had 
previously  been  a short  time  in  jmrliament.  Kaiser 
William  was  not  slow  in  recognizing  his  intense 
loyalty  to  imperialism,  and  his  consummate  ability 
as  a statesman.  He  had  from 
the  first  two  ideas — the  for- 
mation of  a German  empire 
with  Austria  left  out,  and  the 
humiliation  of  France.  The 
first  was  never  concealed. 

Bismarck  attracted  general 
attention  for  the  first  time  in 
connection  with  the  Schleswig- 
Holstein  war.  That  was  begun 
December  7,  1862.  At  first 
Austria  helped  Prussia,  ex- 
pecting to  have  one  of  the 
duchies,  Schleswig  or  Hol- 
stein, for  its  share  of  the 
spoils.  Against  these  two  great 
German  powers  was  arrayed, 
besides  those  little  duchies, 
the  feeble  kingdom  of  Den- 
mark. Of  course  the  end  could 
not  be  doubtful.  A diplomatic  Avar  followed  the 
close  of  actual  hos- 
tilities. In  that  cor- 
respondence and 
those  negotiations 
Count  Bismarck 
(for  he  Avas  not 
then  a prince)  Avon 
the  admiration  of 
the  Avorld  by  Avhat 
may  properly  be 
called  deceptive 
truthfulness.  He 
said  Avhat  he 
meant,  and  meant 
what  he  said.  So  unusual 


BISMARCK. 


thing  Avas  that  in  dip- 


-rfler 


V 


NEW  GERMANY. 


239 


► 


lomacy  that  his  utterances  were  misinterpreted.  The 
result  was  a misunderstanding  which  served  as  a pre- 
text for  Prussia  to  declare  war  against  Austria, 
which  it  did  in  June,  1866. 

On  one  side  of  the  Seven-Weeks  War,  as  it  was 
called,  was  Prussia  with  nineteen  millions  of  peo- 
ple ; on  the  other,  Austria  with,  including  the  allied 
German  states,  fifty  millions.  It  seemed  a rash  pro- 
ceeding on  the  part  of  Prussia  to  seek  a quarrel 
against  such  odds.  But  hardly  had  the  war  begun 
before  it  was  over,  resulting  in  the  utter  overthrow 
of  Austria.  The  Prussian  army  was  supplied  with 
the  needle-gun  and  Krupp  guns.  The  former  were 
a great  improvement  upon  the  musketry  of  the  Aus- 
trians, while  the  latter  were  no  less  superior  to  the 
cannons  of  the  enemy.  The  respective  commanders- 
in-chief  were  very  unevenly  pitted  against  each 
other.  Prussia  had  that  Wellington  of  the  period, 

Von  Moltke,  while 
Austria  bad  only 
Marshal  Benedek.  It 
was  on  the  second  of 
July  that  both  sides 
rallied  and  met  in 
full  strength.  “ Mar- 
shal Benedek,”  says 
a recent  historian, 
“ after  being  forced 
back  from  the  fron- 
tier, had  taken  posi- 
tion on  the  Elbe, 
with  his  front  cover- 
ed by  that  stream 
and  the  Bistritz.  His 
right  was  protected 
by  the  fortress  of  Josephstadt,  and  his  left  by  the 
fortress  of  Koniggratz.  Near  his  center  was  the 
village  of  Sadowa,  and  on  the  heights  overlooking 
this  village  Benedek  established  his  headquarters. 
His  army  numbered  about  200,000  men.  On  the 
morning  of  the  3d  of  July  the  Prussian  army 
began  the  engagement,  resulting  in  Austrian  defeat 
all  along  the  line.  This  battle  and  victory  is  some- 
times called  Sadowa,  sometimes  Koniggratz.”  The 
vanquished  lost  20,000  killed,  18,000  prisoners.  The 
victors  lost  10,000  men.  The  battle  was  decisive. 
The  Prussians  followed  up  their  advantage  with 
swiftness,  allowing  no  time  for  recuperation  or  alli- 
ance. There  was  no  small  likelihood  of  French  in- 


tervention in  favor  of  Austria.  To  head  that  off, 
the  war  had  to  be  pushed  to  a speedy  conclusion. 

When  the  work  of  reconstruction  came,  the 
real  object  of  Bismarck  was  disclosed.  Schleswig  and 
Holstein  were  almost  forgotten.  Austria  ceased  to 
be  the  great  central  and  imperial  power  of  Ger- 
many, and  Prussia  more  than  took  its  place.  In- 
stead of  the  old  loose  federation,  with  Austria  at 
the  head,  came  that  close  and  really  national  union, 
the  North-German  Confederation,  and  that  not  so 
much  with  Prussia  as  the  head  as  with  Germany  ap- 
pended to  Prussia.  The  people  were  at  first  de- 
lighted. The  old  dream  of  German  nationality  was 
realized  at  last. 

In  December,  1867,  the  constitution  of  the  new 
union  was  submitted  to  the  several  states  and  rati- 
fied. All  the  German  states,  except  Bavaria,  Wur- 
temberg  and  Baden,  twenty-two  in  number,  be- 
longed to  the  Union,  and  formed  indeed  one  nation, 
under  a common  military,  postal  and  financial  sys- 
tem, similar  in  unity  to  the  United  States  of 
America.  Since  then  the  authority  of  United  Ger- 
many has  been  so  far  extended  that  the  Hohen- 
zollerns  may  be  said  to  have  the  hereditary  title  to 
a firmly  consolidated  empire  which  embraces  all 
Germany  except  Austria. 

The  new  attitude  of  Prussia  alarmed  France,  at 
least  stimulated  a desire  to  humiliate  the  “ upstart” 
nation.  The  question  of  the  Spanish  crown  fur- 
nished a pretext  or  occasion  for  war.  There  was 
talk  of  bestowing  that  crown,  then  without  a head 
on  which  to  rest,  upon  a Hohenzollern.  The 
French  professed  to  see  in  this  a great  indignity. 
For  that  family  to  be  on  two  thrones  not  contigu- 
ous to  each  other,  but  on  each  side  of  France,  was 
not  to  be  tolerated.  An  imperious  demand  wras 
made  upon  William  that  he  should  give  a pledge  to 
the  effect  that  no  member  of  his  family  should  rule 
Spain.  The  demand  was  flatly  refused.  A decla- 
ration of  war  followed  at  once.  The  prince  who 
had  been  proffered  the  crown  had  declined  it,  but 
that  was  not  enough  to  satisfy  Louis  Napoleon. 
The  formal  declaration  of  war  occurred  July  19, 
1870.  The  French  people  were  delighted.  In  a 
few  days  both  France  and  Germany  had  their 
armies  in  the  field.  On  the  fourth  of  July  the  Ger- 
mans crossed  the  French  frontier,  assuming  the  ag- 
gressive. A long  war  was  almost  universally  antici- 
pated. King  William  was  at  the  head  of  the  German 


v 


3° 


NEW  GERMANY. 


1 


240 


army,  in  theory,  but  now,  as  in  the  war  with  Aus- 
tria, Von  Moltke  was  the  real  commander-in-chief, 
with  the  Crown  Prince,  Frederick  William,  next  in 
rank.  The  Emperor,  Louis  Napoleon,  was  also  the 
nominal  head  of  the  French  army,  giving  the 
Prince  Imperial  his  first  baptism  of  blood ; but 
Marshals  MacMahon  and  Bazaine  were  the  real  lead- 
ers. For  his  blunders  the  latter  was  banished, 
while  the  former  was  accredited  with  doing  the 
best  that  could  be  dorne  and  was  subsequently  hon- 
ored with  the  presidency  of  the  French  Republic. 

The  first 
battle  of  the 
war  was 
fought  at 
W e i s s e 11- 
burg  Au- 
gust 4th, 
in  which 
the  French 
were  defeat- 
ed. Two 
days  later 
another  de- 
tachment of 
the  two  ar- 
mies met 
at  Worth, 
with  the 
same  result. 

The  main 
army  of  the 
French  was 

also  attacked  at  Saarsbrucken,  and  driven  back  upon 
Metz.  The  battle  of  Vionville,  on  the  frontier,  was 
fought  on  the  16th,  neither  army  gaining  any  con- 
siderable advantage.  The  decisive  battle  of  the  war 
was  fought  August  18th,  and  is  known  as  the  battle 
of  Gravelotte.  Both  armies  fought  desperately,  but 
the  French  were  compelled  to  give  way.  The  utmost 
activity  followed,  the  Germans  steadily  gaining  up- 
on their  adversaries  until  finally,  September  1st,  the 
battle  of  Sedan  was  fought.  Before  night  came  on 
Napoleon  III.,  who  was  present  with  his  army, 
wrote  to  King  William,  “Not  having  been  able  to 
die  at  the  head  of  my  troops,  I lay  my  sword  at 
your  majesty’s  feet.”  The  French  prisoners  num- 
bered 25,000.  The  entire  army  surrendered. 

The  war  seemed  to  be  over,  but  events  were  trans- 


piring at  Paris  which  postponed  the  final  settle- 
ment for  some  time.  Paris  rose  in  political  revolu- 
tion against  the  empire  not  only,  but  boldly  defied 
the  invader.  The  Emperor  could  deliver  his  im- 
perial crown,  but  not  the  nation,  certainly  not  the 
capital.  Henceforth  the  war  was  a siege,  or  a 
series  of  sieges  and  bombardments.  Strasburg  held 
out  nobly,  and  Paris  desperately.  The  besiegers 
cut  off  the  supplies  of  Paris.  Strasburg  fell  Sep- 
tember 27th,  Metz  a month  later,  and  on  the  28th 
of  the  succeeding  January  Paris  formally  sur- 
rendered. 

In  the 
settlement 
which  fol- 
lowed, the 
provinces 
of  Alsace 
and  Lor- 
raine were 
wrenched 
from  the 
power  of 
France,  to 
the  great 
grief  of  the 
people  who 
are  Ger- 
mans by 
blood,  but 
French  in 
their  sym- 
p a t h i e s. 

France  thus  lost  a territory  of  5,500  square  miles  and 
more  than  one  and  a half  millions  of  people.  The 
siege  of  Paris  and  the  reduction  of  the  military  spirit 
of  the  French  people  had  occupied,  all  told,  a period 
of  seven  months,  and  the  losses  of  property  had  fal- 
len chiefly  upon  France.  The  terms  of  peace  added 
to  the  losses  of  territory  and  perishable  property  the 
exaction  of  a money  indemnity  (cash  in  hand,  too) 
of  five  thousand  million  francs  (81,000,000,000). 
The  promptness  with  which  the  people  rose  to  the 
demands  of  the  occasion  was  astonishing.  Con- 
vinced that  the  only  way  to  rid  Paris  and  France 
of  the  hostile  army  was  to  raise  the  indemnity, 
they  took  their  hard-earned  savings  from  their  hid- 
ing places,  poured  them  into  the  treasury  faster  than 
the  government  could  issue  bonds,  and  in  excess  of 


_e_  i_- 

V V 


_ s 

i v 


t>rv 


k. 


NEW  GERMANY. 


24I 


the  national  requirement.  In  a few  years  it  was 
found  that  Germany  was  injured  far  more  than 
France  by  that  indemnity.  The  increase  in  the 
national  debt  imposed  no  serious  burden  upon  tax- 
payers, while  the  spirit  of  wild  speculation  crazed 
the  Germans.  It  was  a curious  instance  of  “ the 
biter  bitten.”  The  French  people  were  enriched  by 
the  exchange  of  hoarded,  unproductive  coin  for 
interest-bearing  bonds — rentes. 

During  those  seven  months  there  had  been  seven- 
teen great  battles  fought  and  fifty-six  minor  engage- 
ments ; twenty-two  fortified  places  were  taken ; 
385,000  soldiers  (including  11,360  officers)  were 
taken  prisoners.  The  losses  of  cannon  were  7,200, 
and  of  small  arms  600,000.  Such  prodigious  cap- 
tures and  indemnity  were  never  known  before  in 
the  annals  of  war. 

We  turn  now  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire  and  its  firm  establishment  upon  a 
Prussian  basis.  What  the  Seven-Weeks  War  had 
fairly  commenced  the  Seven-Months  War  rendered 
complete.  The  Teutonic  dream  of  liberty  and 
union  had  now  been  one-half  realized — the  latter 
had  been  secured.  It  was  to  a large  extent  at  the 
expense  of  liberty,  but  it  was  not  at  first  appreci- 
ated that  unity  meant  imperialism. 

The  present  German  Empire  consists  of  four  king- 
doms, namely,  Prussia  with  its  thirteen  provinces, 
and  Bavaria,  Saxony  and  Wurtemburg;  six  Grand 
Duchies,  Baden,  Hesse,  Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 
Mecklenburg- Shetitz,  Oldenburg  and  Saxe-Weimar, 
Eisenach  ; five  Duchies,  Saxe-Meininger,  Saxe-Co- 
burg-Gotha,  Saxe-Altenburg,  Brunswick  and  An- 
halt ; seven  Principalities,  Schwartzburg-Rudol- 
stadt,  Schwartzburg-Sondershauen,  Waldeck,  Reuss- 
Elder  line,  Reuss-Younger  line,  Schaumburg-Lippe 
and  Lippe-Detmore ; three  free  cities,  Hamburg, 


Lubeck  and  Bremen,  and  the  “imperial-lands,” 
Alsace-Lorraine.  The  King  of  Prussia  is  by  virtue 
of  that  kingship,  president  of  the  confederacy,  em- 
peror or  Deutscher  Kaiser. 

Corresponding  to  our  Congress  is  a Bundesratli 
and  Reichstag.  The  former,  or  senate,  has  at  least 
one  representative  from  each  state,  Alsace-Lorraine 
alone  excepted,  and  some  have  several,  the  “empire 
state  ” of  Prussia  seventeen.  The  Reichstag  has 
one  member  for  each  district  of  100,000  inhabitants. 
If  no  dissolution  occurs,  the  Diet  or  Congress  ex- 
pires by  constitutional  limitation  in  three  years. 
Each  state  has  its  own  constitution  and  local  self- 
government. 

Universal  education  is  con^ulsory,  and  therein 
largely  may  be  found  the  secret  of  Prussian  superi- 
ority in  war  over  both  Austria  and  France.  The 
relative  military  strength  of  these  nations,  by  num- 
bers and  expenditure,  are  given  in  a subsequent 
table,  but  the  power  of  education  admits  of  no  sta- 
tistical measurement.  Every  German  is  liable  to 
military  duty,  and  must  enter  the  army  at  the  age 
of  twenty  years.  After  three  years  of  actual  service 
he  is  put  upon  the  reserve  roll,  in  time  of  peace  for 
four  years.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  is 
enrolled  in  the  “landwehr,”  or  militia,  for  five  years, 
and  then  finally  in  the  “ landsturm,”  a home-guard, 
until  the  age  of  fifty. 

Prussia  has  an  area  of  137,066  square  miles,  and 
a population  of  about  25,000,000,  which  is  about 
equal  to  the  total  of  the  other  states  constituting 
the  German  Empire,  the  entire  area  of  the  empire 
being  212,091  square  miles,  population  December  1, 
1875,  42,727,360.  The  system  of  military  pro- 
scription is  a constant  incentive  to  emigration, 
and  very  materially  lessens  the  population  of 
the  empire. 


CHAPTER  X LI . 


Kingdom  of  the  Mind — Tardy  and  Sudden  Development  of  German  Thought — An  Intel- 
lectual Quadrangle — German  Literature,  Lessing,  Klopstock,  Wieland,  Herder, 
Schiller,  Goethe,  Richter  and  Heine — The  Court  of  Weimar — German  Music,  Reiser, 
Handel,  Bach,  Gluck,  Haydn,  Mozart,  Beethoven,  Mendelssohn,  Wagner — German 
Philosophers — Kant,  Fichte,  Shelling,  Hegel,  Buchner  and  Haeckel — German  Univer- 
sities— Leibnitz  and  Berlin— Halle  University  and  the  Halle  School — Heidelberg 
University  and  its  Library— German  Specialists — Humboldt, 


N following  the  ordinary 
course  of  history  the  proud- 
est claims  of  Germany  to 
honorable  distinction  hard- 
ly attracted  attention,  be- 
ing entirely  disconnected 
from  political  or  military 
affairs.  In  all  other  coun- 
tries “ the  scholar  in  politics  ” has  been 
a very  considerable  personage  ; but  In- 
tellectual Germany  may  be  said  to  have 
constituted  a world  by  itself,  sublimely 
indifferent  to  and  independent  of  the 
fortunes  of  state. 

“ The  Aborigines  of  Germany,”  says 
Taylor,  “ had  their  bards,  their  battle- 
songs  and  their  sacrificial  hymns  when 
they  first  became  known  to  the  Ro- 
Charlemagne  gathered  those  crude  be- 
of  literature,  so  far  as  possible,  into  a 
library  which  his  imbecile  and  superstitious  son,  Lud- 
wig the  Pious,  committed  to  the  flames.  In  the 
Nibelungenlied  we  have  a no  less  crude  attempt  at 
poetical  composition.  Tint  barbaric  epic  resembled 
Homer  only  as  the  jagged  rock  resembles  the  pol- 
ished statue.  Poor  in  itself,  it  led  to  nothing  bet- 


mans. 


cfinnmo-s 


ter.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  not  until  the  magnetic 
genius  of  Luther  set  Europe  aglow  that  any  name 
worthy  of  mention  appeared  in  the  literary  annals 
of  Germany,  and  even  Luther  excelled  more  as  a 
translator  than  an  author  of  originality.  The  seed 
which  he  sowed  perished  as  utterly  as  did  the  grain 
which  Karl  the  Great  had  garnered.  The  cruel 
heel  of  the  Thirty-Years  War  crushed  the  intel- 
lectual life  of  Germany,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  it  revived 
and  became  a power.  We  shall  see  that  English 
literature  was  a gradual  growth  of  many  centuries ; 
but  the  darkness  of  Medieval  Germany  was  unre- 
lieved by  any  flashes  of  light.  There  was  nothing 
precocious  about  its  intellectual  development. 
When,  however,  the  light  broke,  it  fairly  flooded 
the  land,  nay,  rather,  the  whole  world.  Hardly  had 
the  morning  star  appeared  before  the  mid-day  sun 
ruled  the  heavens.  Herein  Germany  was  phenome- 
nal and  in  the  highest  degree  sensational. 

Intellectual  Germany  may  be  said  to  be  quadran- 
gular, literary,  musical,  philosophical  and  erudite. 
Each  side  of  this  quadrangle  has  such  marked  in- 
dividuality as  to  require  distinct  consideration. 

German  literature,  in  any  high  sense,  began 
with  and  reached  its  summit  in  that  splendid  gal- 


(242) 


Q_ 


INTELLECTUAL  GERMANY. 


243 


£]£ 


axy,  Lessing  (1729) ; Klopstock  (1724) ; Wieland 
(1733) ; Herder  (1744) ; Schiller  (1759) ; Richter 
(1762);  Heine  (1799).  The  figures  appended  to 
each  name  give  the  year  of  the  birth  of  each.  It 
■will  be  seen  that  they  all  belong  to  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  in  actual  literary  labors  they  were  al- 
most contemporaneous.  In  them  we  have  the  great 
immortals  of  the  purely  literary  please  of  German 
thought. 

Lessing  was  a Saxon.  His  Minna  Von  Borrihelm 
was  the  first  national  drama  of  Germany,  and  pro- 
duced a profound  sensation.  But  it  was  as  a critic 
that  he  excelled.  He  set  in  motion  the  critical  fac- 
ulty of  the  nation,  substituting  intelligent  doubt  for 
blind  credulity.  He  died  in  1781.  It  has  been 
pertinently  said  of  Lessing,  “ To  him  religion  was 
not  obedience,  but  insight ; morality  not  duty,  but 
wisdom ; poesy  not  inspiration,  but  taste.”  His 
Laocoon,  a series  of  critiques,  was  a prodigiously 
revolutionary  work. 

Klopstock  was  also  born  in  Saxony.  Strange  as 
it  may  seem  at  this  day,  it  took  great  courage  to 
even  attempt,  in  his  time,  to  build  a German  litera- 
ture. Even  Frederick  the  Great,  with  all  his  admi- 
ration for  literary  ability,  scouted  the  idea.  Klop- 
stock was  not  deterred  by  the  absence  of  encourage- 
ment, and,  it  may  be  added,  of  genius.  He  was  a 
poet  of  only  mediocre  power.  “ He  was  the  father 
of  German  poetry,  not  because  he  created  it,  but 
because  he  made  it  possible — not  on  account  of  his 
genius,  but  on  account  of  his  standpoint.”  The 
pioneer  poet  of  his  country,  he  blazed  a few  trees 
as  he  painfully  picked  his  way  through  the  Black 
Forest.  He  died  in  1803. 

Wieland,  like  Klopstock,  produced  nothing  which 
was  in  itself  particularly  meritorious.  A prose 
translation  of  Shakspeare  was  the  first  introduction 
of  the  great  dramatist  to  the  German  public. 
Oberon,  a romantic  epic,  was  Wieland’s  best  produc- 
tion from  1772  until  his  death,  1813.  He  r-esided 
at  Weimar,  and  with  Goethe,  Schiller  and  Herder 
rendered  that  otherwise  petty  court  one  of  the 
grandest  in  all  history.  He  was  a natural  poet,  al- 
beit of  no  very  high  order.  Weimar  is  a small  city,  the 
capital  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Saxe-Weimar,  which 
may  be  said  to  live  upon  the  remembrance  of  the 
eminent  authors  just  named.  No  other  town  was 
ever  blessed  with  such  an  array  of  talent  at  one  time. 

Herder  was  a Prussian,  the  son  of  a school- 


master, and  very  much  of  his  life  was  spent  in  edu- 
cational labors.  It  may  be  said  that  teaching  was 
his  trade,  literature  his  relaxation.  He  was  more 
critical  than  creative.  His  central  idea  was  that 
the  highest  works  of  art,  literary,  or  otherwise,  are 
the  most  distinctively  national.  By  instilling  that 
conviction  into  the  German  mind,  he,  like  Lessing, 
Klopstock  and  Wieland,  contributed  greatly  to  the 
development  of  a thoroughly  national  literature. 
Perhaps  the  best  known  of  his  works  is  Letters  on 
Hebrew  Poetry.  He  too  died  in  1803. 

In  all  the  chief  cities  of  Germany  may  be  found 
statues  in  honor  of  the  most  popular  of  all  the  poets 
of  that  people,  Johann  Christoph  Friedrich  von 
Schiller,  and  upon  the 
hundredth  anniversa- 
ry of  his  birth,  1859,  a 
“ Schiller  - fund  ” of 
several  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  was  rais- 
ed, the  income  from 
which  is  to  be  devoted 
to  the  maintenance 
of  indigent  authors. 

In  him  the  Germans 
saw  realized  in  a pre- 
eminent and  peculiarly 
national  poet  for  whom 


VON  SCHILLER. 


ideal 

Wie- 


popular  form  the 
Lessing,  Klopstock, 
land  and  Herder  prepared  the  way.  He  excelled  in 
two  lines,  as  a dramatist  and  a lyrist.  His  Robbers 
and  Wallenstein  are  masterpieces  of  dramatic  litera- 
ture. His  minor  productions  are  remarkable  for  ex- 
quisite finish  and  splendor  of  diction.  A military 
surgeon  by  education,  he  made  great  sacrifices  to  his 
lofty  art.  He  died  at  Weimar  when  only  in  his 
forty-sixth  year.  Three  years  before  he  had  been 
made  a baron  of  the  realm  by  the  Emperor  Fran- 
cis II.  Carlyle  says  of  Schiller,  “ He  was  a high 
ministering  servant  at  truth’s  altar,  and  bore  him 
worthily  in  the  office  which  he  held.” 

John  Wolfgang  Von  Goethe,  a native  of  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main,  is  acknowledged  as  the  foremost 
man  of  literary  Germany.  For  many  years  he  was 
recognized  as  an  almost  autocratic  authority.  His 
great  novel  Wilhelm  Meister  is  the  most  famous 
work  of  fiction  in  the  German  tongue,  the  only  one, 
in  fact,  which  may  be  said  to  enjoy  a world-wide  repu- 
tation, unless  it  be  his  Sorrows  of  Werther.  He  was 
a profound  and  varied  student  of  nature,  being 


11 


244 


INTELLECTUAL  GERMANY. 


well-versed  in  many  sciences.  He  lived  to  the  ripe 
old  age  of  83,  retaining  his  superb  and  manifold 

facilities  to  the  last.  His 
was  a life  of  luxury, 
his  very  labors  being 
sources  of  delight  to 
him.  Born  of  wealthy 
parents,  he  never  knew 
the  hardships  and  dis. 
appointments  • of  or- 
dinary experience.  In 
him  we  see  the  best  re- 
sults of  good  fortune. 
Of  his  greatest  work, 
Faust,  Bayard  Taylor, 
to  whom  the  English- 
G0ETHE-  reading  public  is  in- 

debted for  a masterly  translation,  has  this  to 
say: 

“ There  is  nothing  in  the  literature  of  any  coun- 
try with  which  we  can  compare  it.  There  is  no 
other  poem  which,  like  this,  was  the  work  of  a 
whole  life,  and  which  deals  with  the  profoundest 
problems  of  all  life.  It  is  so  universally  compre- 
hensive that  every  reader  finds  in  it  reflections  of 
his  faith  and  philosophy.  * * The  poem  embod- 

ies all  the  finest  qualities  of  Goethe’s  mind — his  rich, 
ever-changing  rhythm,  his  mastery  over  the  ele- 
ments of  passion,  his  simple  realism,  his  keen  irony, 
his  serene  wisdom,  and  his  most  sacred  aspiration. 
The  more  it  is  studied  the  wider  and  further  it 
spreads  its  intellectual  horizon,  until  it  grows  to  be 
so  far  and  dim  that  the  physical  and  the  spiritual 
spheres  are  blended  together.  Whoever  studies 
Faust  in  connection  with  the  works  of  other  Ger- 
man authors  cannot  but  admit  that  the  critic  is  not 
wholly  mistaken  who  asserts  that  the  single  ele- 
ments which  separately  made  his  compeers  great 
have  combined  to  make  one  man  greatest ; that 
Ivlopstock’s  enrichment  of  the  language,  Lessing’s 
boldness  and  clearness  of  vision,  Wieland’s  grace. 
Herder’s  universality,  and  Schiller’s  glory  of  rhythm 
and  rhetoric  are  all  united  in  the  immortal  works 
of  Goethe.” 

From  Goethe  to  poor  Heinrich  Heine  is  a long 
step ; but  the  latter  name  is  too  frequently  men- 
tioned in  general  literature  to  be  passed  over  in 
silence.  A Jew  by  birth,  he  was  by  no  means  “a  He- 
brew of  the  Hebrews.”  On  the  contrary,  he  was 


singularly  deficient  in  the  thrifty  qualities  of  his 
race,  and  he  hated  business  intensely.  Audacious 
in  ridicule,  he  paid  no  heed  to  the  probable  effect 
upon  his  own  fortunes  of  his  merciless  criticisms 
and  lampoons.  He  was  the  poet  of  every-day  life, 
his  subjects  being  simple  and  his  treatment  brief.' 
Fifty  years  ago  he  published  his  first  volume  of 
poetry.  Its  popularity  was  wonderful.  Most  of  his 
time  was  spent  in  Paris,  where  he  died  in  1856.  He 
was  deeply  imbued  with  democratic  ideas  and  radi- 
cal principles.  Indeed,  he  was  more  French  than 
German  in  his  type  of  mind  and  tastes.  It  was 
thirty  years  from  the  publication  of  his  first  volume 
until  his  death,  during  which  period  he  may  be  said 
to  have  possessed  without  enjoying  a wide  popu- 
larity. With  all  his  faults,  Heine  exerted,  on  the 
whole,  a wholesome  influence  upon  German  litera- 
ture, especially  in  rebuking  affectation  and  knock- 
ing from  under  it  the  stilts  of  romanticism.  His 
later  productions  were  not  up  to  his  early  ones  in 
merit,  for  his  intellectual  faculties  were  as  prema- 
turely senile  as  Goethe’s  were  abnormally  vigorous 
at  fourscore. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  only  one  more  member  of 
the  German  family  of  letters,  Richter,  better  known 
by  his  literary  name  of 
“ J ean  Paul.”  He  was 
the  humorist  par  excel- 
lence of  German  auth- 
ors. His  private  life 
has  been  called  “ a long 
inheritance  of  priva- 
tion.” His  death  oc- 
curred in  1825.  He 
was  neither  great  nor 
small : he  was  unique. 

His  admirers  class  him  richter. 

with  Hood  and  Douglas  Jerrold. 

The  Germans  are  remarkable  for  their  love  of 
and  attainments  in  music.  During  the  sixteenth 
century  there  were  a few  symptoms  of  musical  tal- 
ent, but  that  was  all.  In  the  seventeenth  century 
the  princes  began  to  have  operas  performed  at  their 
courts.  The  first  public  performance  of  an  opera 
in  Germany  was  at  Hamburg  in  1678.  In  that  pe- 
riod lived  Keiser,  a composer,  who  once  enjoyed  a 
splendid  reputation.  He  wrote  much,  but  his  ope- 
ras and  cantatas  were  harsh,  and  deficient  in  melo- 
dious strains.  But  the  great  name  of  this  period 


[C 


INTELLECTUAL  GERMANY. 


245 


was  Handel,  born  in  Halle,  Saxony,  1685.  Most  of 
his  life  was  spent  abroad,  espe- 
cially in  London,  where  he  died 
in  1759,  but  he  was  none  the  less 
a thorough  German.  He  com- 
posed much  which  was  not  of  the 
very  highest  order,  more  particu- 
larly in  the  operatic  line.  His 
genius  lay  in  the  direction  of  ora- 
torio. The  Messiah  is  his  grandest  work,  and  in  all 
music  can  be  found  nothing  more  sublime.  Mo- 
zart declared  it  impossible  to  improve  his  choruses. 
The  Messiah  was  written  for  the  city  of  Dublin.  It 
made  him  the  musical  idol  of  England,  which  he 
remained  until  his  death.  His  bones  rest  in  West- 
minster Abbey. 

Bach  is  an  illustrious  name  in  musical  history. 
John  Sebastian,  born  at  Eisenach  in  1685,  was  ilie 
Bach,  but  for  more  than  two  centuries  the  family 
tvas  distinguished  as  musicians.  The  first  to  gain  a 
place  in  history  was  Veit.  He  was  a Hungarian, 
and  settled  in  Thuringia  in  1600.  The  one  mem- 
ber of  the  family  to  gain  a world-wide  reputation, 
served  as  organist  and  concert-master  in  various 
places  until  at  the  age  of  thirty -eight  he  was  chosen 
musical  director  of  the  St.  Thomas  School,  Leipsic. 
There  he  spent  twenty-seven  years,  and  the  promi- 
nence of  Leipsic  as  a center  of  musical  education  is 
very  largely  due  to  John  Sebastian  Bach.  He  was 
a voluminous  composer.  “ In  nearly  every  field  of 
his  art,”  says  Frothingham,  “ he  was  a discoverer, 
in  some  he  was  a prophet  of  future  discoveries. 
The  fame  of  Bach  has  been  increasing  since  his 
death.  For  generations  to  come  they  who  study 
the  difficult  science  of  music  will  go  to  him  as  stu- 
dents of  literature  or  painting  go  to  the  grand 
masters.” 

For  the  improvement  of  dramatic  music  the  pub- 
lic is  very  especially  indebted  to  Christopher  Gluck, 
who  was  born  in  1714.  He  was  educated  at  Milan 
and  spent  much  of  his  time  abroad,  but  his  influ- 
ence was  most  felt  in  his  native  land.  After  hearing 
Gluck’s  great  opera  of  Iphigenia  at  Weimar,  Schil- 
ler wrote,  “ Never  has  any  music  affected  me  so 
purely,  so  supremely,  as  this ; it  is  a world  of  har- 
mony piercing  straight  to  the  soul,  and  dissolving 
it  in  the  sweetest,  loftiest  melancholy.”  His  death 
occurred  at  Vienna,  November  15,  1787. 

A still  greater  name  in  music  is  Joseph  Haydn, 


His  older  sister, 


the  son  of  a poor  Austrian  wheelwright  and  sexton. 
He  early  drifted  to  Vienna.  In  1760,  when  he  was 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  his  hitherto  luckless  life 
turned,  and  for  thirty  years  his  circumstances  were 
easy  and  auspicious.  He  was  a very  devout  Papist. 
Haydn  is  accounted  the  father  of  symphony  and  of 
the  stringed  quartette.  Instrumental  music  receiv- 
ed from  him  its  most  rapid  development.  The 
Creation  is  one  of  his  oratorios.  The  leading  qual- 
ities of  his  compositions  are  said  to  be  lucidity  of 
ideas,  symmetry  in  their  treatment  and  finish  in 
their  development.  Death  came  to  him  in  Vienna, 
May  26,  1809. 

Among  those  who  sat  lovingly  and  docilely  at  the 
feet  of  the  father  of  symphony  was  Mozart,  who 
spoke  of  him  as  “ papa  Haydn.” 

He  was  born  at  Salzburg  in  1756, 
and  died  at  Vienna  in  1791. 

Short  as  was  his  life  it  was  long, 
musically  speaking.  He  began 
to  play  the  piano  with  very  con- 
siderable accuracy  as  early  as 
four  years  of  age.  He  began 
composition  at  eight  years  of  age. 

Maria  Anna,  was  also  a remarkable  musician. 
While  they  were  very  small  children  the  father  made 
concert  tours  with  them,  and  everywhere  they  ex- 
cited amazement  and  admiration.  The  last  seven 
years  of  his  life  were  given  to  composition,  undis- 
turbed by  the  necessity  of  teaching  or  performing 
for  a livelihood.  The  splendid  operas,  II  Nozze  di 
Figaro  and  Don  Giovanni,  were  the  most  illustrious 
of  his  compositions.  Although  Mozart  lived  and 
died  in  Vienna,  was  composer  to  the  court,  and  is 
considered  the  greatest  composer  of  the  world,  from 
the  combined  versatility  and  power  of  his  genius, 
Farnham  writes  of  his  burial,  “ On  a dismal  day  of 
rain,  unfollowed  by  a single  friend,  the  bodies  of 
Mozart  and  fifteen  other  dead  were  hurried  through 
the  streets  of  Vienna  to  the  common  burying- 
ground  of  the  poor,  and  his  grave  is  now  unknown.” 
This  was  the  melancholy  end  of  one  whose  name  is 
imperishable. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  there 
lived  at  Bonn  a tenor  singer  to  whom  was  born  in 
1770  a son,  who  may  be  called  the  Mont  Blanc  of 
music,  Ludwig  von  Beethoven.  He  was  a student 
of  Haydn  and  Mozart,  and  like  them  he  long  resided 
at  Vienna.  He  seemed  to  have  fairly  entered  upon 


O 


ID 


246  INTELLECTUAL  GERMANY. 


a brilliant  career  when  deafness  came  upon  him. 

For  a large  part  of 
his  life  he  was  total- 
ly deaf.  But  he  none 
the  less  effectively 
gave  his  life  to  com- 
position. His  afflic- 
tion isolated  him 
from  society  and 
tinged  his  produc- 
tions with  melan- 
choly. Symphonies 
and  sonatas,  remark- 

BEETHOVEN. 

able  for  richness  111 
ideas  and  sentiment,  no  less  than  for  fidelity  to  the 
highest  laws  of  composition,  show  him  to  have  been 
a man  of  stupendous  power.  In  a strictly  intellect, 
ual  point  of  view  Beethoven  ranks  at  the  very  head 
of  his  profession.  This  sad  and  solitary  man  died 
in  the  year  1837. 

In  1809  there  was  born  111  the  family  of  a wealthy 
Hebrew  of  Hamburg,  Felix  Bartholdy  Mendelssohn. 
After  receiving  a thorough  education  and  devoting 
some  time  to  travel,  he  made  his  home  at  Leipsic. 
He  established  the  conservatory  there,  and  contrib- 
uted powerfully  to  its  development  as  the  musical 
capital  of  the  world.  His  was  a sweet  and  lovely 
character,  a charming  life  and  a high  order  of  gen- 
ius. The  oratorio  of  Elijah  was  his,  but  he  was 
most  at  home  in  the  composition  of  piano  music. 
As  .a  pianist  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  in  his  day, 
and  that  is  much  to  say,  for  Liszt,  Schumann  and 
Chopin  were  contemporary  masters  of  the  piano- 
forte. Of  his  works  it  is  affirmed  by  a competent 
judge,  “ They  are  a worthy  culmination  of  the  art 
and  science  of  his  predecessors,  the  latest  master- 
pieces of  the  purely  classic  school,  and  just  preceded 
the  rise  of  the  music  of  the  future,  exquisite  and  be- 
yond criticism,  except  that  they  are,  as  Tennyson 
ivould  say,  c faultily  faultless/” 

The  “ music  of  the  future  ” calls  to  mind  the  name 
of  Wagner,  the  last  in  the  musical  list  of  Intellect- 
ual Germany.  This  son  of  a police  actuary  was 
born  at  Leipsic  in  1813.  lie  became  especially 
well  known  in  America  from  the  composition  of 
the  Grand  March  for  our  Centennial  Celebration, 
1876.  He  composed  those  popular  operas,  the  Fly- 
ing Dutchman,  Lohengrin  and  Tannhauser.  But  his 
great  work  is  the  threefold  opera  of  the  Nibelun- 


gen  Ding.  In  the  summer  of  1876  it  was  performed 
at  his  home,  Beireuth,  in  a theater  of  his  own  de- 
sign, by  an  orchestra  composed  of  the  best  musi- 
cians of  Germany.  The  term  “ music  of  the  fu- 
ture,” was  originally  bestowed  in  derision,  but  so 
brilliant  was  the  success  at  Beireuth  that  scorn  was 
turned  to  admiration.  Like  Browning  and  Walt 
Whitman  in  poetry,  and  Carlyle  in  prose.  Bichard 
Wagner  truly  says  of  himself,  “I  move  with  entire 
freedom,  and  disregard  of  all  theoretical  scruples.” 

German  philosophy  is  a term  often  heard,  as  if 
there  were  a unity  in  the  metaphysical  life  of  Ger- 
many. There  are  indeed  clearly  traceable  and 
strongly  marked  national  peculiarities  of  thought 
and  style,  subtile  resemblances ; but  each  great 
name  stands  for  a distinctive  idea. 

The  father  of  German  philosophy  was  Immanuel 
Kant,  born  at  Konigsberg,  Prussia,  in  1724.  He 
was  a Scotchman  by  ancestry,  although  in  habits  of 
life  and  modes  of  thought  preeminently  Teutonic. 
Spinoza,  who  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  a German, 
belonged  to  the  Dutch  City  of  Amsterdam  and  the 
Hebrew  race.  Kant  first  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  intellectual  world  by  his  Critique  of  Pure  Reason, 
which  was  an  era  in  philosophy.  In  style  it  is 
cumbersome  and  awkward  to  the  last  degree.  He 
regarded  psychology  as  the  basis  of  philosophy  and 
the  search  for  the  First  Cause  as  fruitless.  Kant 
lived  to  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty,  and  to  the  last 
remained  serenely  self-centered  in  his  quiet  little 
home  of  Konigsberg.  Fame  seemed  to  make  no 
impression  upon  him,  and  the  great  critic  was  in- 
different to  criticism. 

Next  to  Kant  the  great  name  in  German  philoso- 
phy is  Fichte,  a disciple  and  peer  of  the  mas- 
ter of  transcendentalism.  Jena,  then  the  leading 
university  of  Germany,  offered  him  the  profes- 
sorship of  philosophy  in  1793.  His  life  was  not 
like  Kant’s,  serene.  His  extreme  liberalism  raised 
up  enemies,  lie  was  driven  from  Jena,  only  to 
find  chairs  of  philosophy  awaiting  him  at  Erlangen 
and  Berlin.  His  life  terminated  in  1814. 

Schelling  and  Hegel,  personal  friends,  were  the 
founders  of  bitterly  Hostile  rival  schools  or  theories 
of  philosophy.  The  former  was  born  in  Wurtem- 
berg  in  1775,  the  latter  in  Stuttgard  in  1770.  Just 
what  the  philosophy  of  cither  was,  is  still  a matter 
of  dispute  between  philosophical  students  and  writ- 
ers. Schelling  lectured  at  Berlin  for  many  years, 


J <5" 


* 


a 


INTELLECTUAL  GERMANY. 


reaching  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age.  In  1818 
Hegel  came  to  Berlin  as  a university  professor, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death,  1831.  Numerous 
were  the  disciples  of  these  metaphysicians,  and 
powerful  was  the  influence  upon  the  nation  of  their 
philosophy.  Not  that  any  considerable  proportion  of 
the  people  perplexed  themselves  with  their  abstruse 
theories  and  disputations ; but  the  spirit  of  free 
thought,  of  downright  skepticism,  which  pervaded 
the  metaphysicians  came  to  be  the  most  distin- 
guishing characteristic  of  the  German  mind.  The 
country  of  Luther  and  the  pietists  became  the 
land  of  unbelief.  Instead  of  the  bitter  scoffing  of 
the  French  school,  there  was  a lofty,  calm  and  im- 


perious contempt  for  all  which  was  thought  to 
savor  of  superstition. 

The  most  positive  and  intelligible  expression  of 
disbelief  is  the  Force  and  Matter  of  Prof.  Biiclmer. 
That  brilliant  no  less  than  learned  German  dis- 
tinctively asserts  and  elaborately  argues  that  what 
is  known  of  nature  proves  both  the  non-existence 
of  a personal  deity  and  the  mortality  of  man.  He 
goes  further  than  the  very  radical  Spencer,  Mill 
and  Haeckel.  Tie  positively  denies  where  they 
merely  decline  to  asseverate. 

What  Denslow  calls  “the  most  important  scien- 
tific and  philosophical  work  of  this  century,”  The 
Evolution  of  Man,  was  produced  by  Ernst  Haeckel. 
This  latest,  if  not  greatest,  of  German  philosophers 
was  born  in  Potsdam,  Prussia,  February  16,  1834. 
He  belongs  to  the  University  of  Jena  as  lec- 
turer on  zoology.  He  applies  philosophy  to  science, 


247 


and  shows  their  essential  and  sublime  harmony. 
He  may  be  said  to  unite  the  reasoning  of  Herbert 
Spencer  with  the  patient  research  of  Charles 
Darwin. 

Germany  is  noted  for  its  universities  and  its  eru- 
dition. The  University  at  Berlin,  founded  in  1810, 
grew  out  of  a scientific  society  organized  little 
over  a century  before  by  the  great  pioneer  of  Ger- 
man philosophy,  Leibnitz,  a graduate  of  Leipsic, 
and  a man  of  wonderful  versatility.  So  far  ahead 
of  his  age  was  he  that  when  philosophy  gained  a 
foothold  it  came  quite  independent  of  his  writings. 
The  university  which  grew  out  of  his  society  has 
over  three  thousand  students  in  constant  attend- 


ance, and  numbers  among  its  former  professors  of 
renown,  Humboldt,  Neander,  Schleiermacher,  Vir- 
chow, Richte,  Fichte,  and  Hegel. 

The  university  of  Halle  was  founded  in  1694.  In 
1817  it  absorbed  the  university  of  Wittemburg 
which  dated  from  1502.  Its  rank  is  especially  high 
in  theology  and  cognate  branches  of  learning.  The 
great  critical  student  of  the  Bible,  Gesenius,  was  one 
of  its  professors  from  1810  to  1842.  In  those  palmy 
days  of  the  institution  there  were  over  a thousand 
students.  There  are  about  that  number  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  The  “ Halle  School”  is  a term  applied  to 
the  religious  views  which  long  distinguished  Halle  as 
the  great  seat  of  evangelical  learning  in  Germany. 
The  founder  of  that  school  was  Spener,  while 
Francke,  Breithaupt  and  Lange  were  eminent  names 
in  it.  Unlike  most  Germans,  including  the  clergy, 
the  members  of  the  Halle  School  devoutly  believe 


31 


r 


> 


V£> 

\ 


oK 


INTELLECTUAL  GERMANY. 


I 


in  special  Providence,  plenary  inspiration,  and  are 
truly  orthodox  in  belief. 

The  oldest  of  the  twenty -two  universities  of  the 
present  empire  is  that  at  Heidelberg,  a romantic 
place,  also  famous  for  its  schloss,  or  castle,  founded 
in  1836  ; the  youngest  is  that  of  Strasburg,  founded 
1873.  About  twenty  thousand  students  attend 
these  universities.  The  one  at  Heidelberg  has  a 
library  of  200,000  volumes,  a zoological  museum, 
and  other  facilities  for  the  study  of  scientific  sub- 
jects. It  is  a famous  resort  for  medical  and  divinity 
students.  Many  foreigners  repair  thither  to  perfect 
their  education. 

The  peculiarity  of  German  scholarship  is  its 
exceptional  thoroughness.  The  professors  devote 
themselves  to  minutely  small  fields  of  research,  and 
by  exploring  every  nook  and  corner,  are  enabled  to 
thoroughly  understand  them.  It  is  this  peculiarity 
which  has  placed  modern  Germany  at  the  front  in 
erudition.  Every  branch  of  study,  philological,  his- 
torical or  scientific,  has  received  from  that  micro- 
scopical method  a fullness  of  development  which 
would  have  been  impossible  otherwise.  By  this 
careful  and  exhaustive  method  the  Germans  have 
been  enabled  to  make  many  highly  important  con- 
tributions to  the  stock  of  human  knowledge.  To 
German  erudition  belongs  the  credit  of  discerning 
the  path  of  civilization  in  prehistoric  times  by  the 
clew  of  comparative  philology,  and  this  is  only  one 
illustration  among  many  of  hardly  less  importance  to 
the  world.  German  erudition  is  not  personal  like  the 
literature,  philosophy  and  music  of  Germany.  It 
was  and  is  the  all-pervasive  atmosphere  of  the  na- 
tion in  its  intellectual  development. 

We  cannot  better  close  this  chapter  than  by  re- 
ferring to  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  who,  taking  it 
all  in  all,  deserves  the  very  highest  rank  in  intellect- 
ual Germany.  Born  at  Berlin  September  14,  1769, 


HUMBOLDT. 


it  has  well  been  said  that  he  was  to  science  what 
Shakspeare  has  been  to  the 
drama.  He  combined  patient 
research  into  minutia  with 
grand  powers  of  centraliza- 
tion, discerning  the  relations 
of  nature’s  infinite  parts  to 
her  grand  totality.  Parbach, 

Mullerus  and  Copernicus, 

Germans  all,  contributed  to 
astronomy  in  its  mere  infan- 
cy, but  Humboldt  pointed 
out  the  connection  between  phenomena,  astro- 
nomical precession, 
geological  transfor- 
mations, and  botan- 
ical and  zoological 
development,  showing 
the  inexorable  reign 
of  law.  “We  associ- 
ate the  name  of  Hum- 
boldt,” says  Ingersoll, 

“ with  oceans,  conti- 
nents, mountains  and 
volcanoes : with  the 

7 # COPERNICUS 

great  plains,  the  wide 

deserts,  the  snow-tipped  craters  of  the  Andes ; 
with  primeval  forests  and  European  capitals;  with 
wildernesses  and  universities ; with  savages  and 
savans  ; with  the  lonely  rivers  of  unpeopled  wastes ; 
with  peaks  and  pampas  and  steppes,  and  cliffs  and 
crags ; with  the  progress  of  the  world ; with  every 
science  known  to  man  and  every  star  glittering  in 
the  immensity  of  space.  The  world  is  his  monu- 
ment ; upon  the  eternal  granite  of  her  hills  he  in- 
scribed his  name,  and  there  upon  everlasting  stone 
his  genius  wrote  this  sublimest  of  truths : ‘ The 

UNIVERSE  IS  GOVERNED  BY  LAW.’” 


HIE  German  empire  is  the 
culminating  point,  politi- 
cally, of  German  history ; 
but  it  does  not  by  any 
means  include  all  of  Ger- 
many. Before  we  can  dis- 
miss from  consideration 
the  Teutons,  and  pass  on  to  their 
neighbors,  the  French,  we  must 
finish  the  record  of  German  and 
semi-German  nations  not  included 
in  that  imperial  confederation,  the 
chief  of  which  has  its  capital  at 
Vienna. 

The  present  duality,  suggested  by 
the  title  to  this  chapter,  with  the 
peculiar  system  of  government  in- 
volved, dates  from  1867,  since 
which  time  there  has  been  harmony  and  every  pros- 
pect of  a permanent  union.  Prior  to  that  time  the 
proper  mode  of  expression  would  have  been,  Austria 
and  Hungary.  Austria  may  be  said  to  be  an  out- 
growth from  a county.  Rhodolph,  son  of  Albert 
IV.,  Count  of  Hapsburg,  was  the  founder  of  it. 
He  was  born  in  1218.  He  was  a bold,  rude  fighter. 
By  degrees  he  extended  his  authority  until  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  thirteenth  century  he  was  elected 


Emperor  of  ^Germany,  or,  as  it  is  some  times  ex- 
pressed, “ King  of  the  Romans,  by  choice  of  the 
Electors  of  Germany.”  The  intelligence  of  his  elec- 
tion was  conveyed  to  him  by  his  nephew,  Frederick 
of  Hohenzollern.  Tims  at  the  very  threshold  do  we 
meet  the  two  great  royal  family  names  still  regnant 
in  the  two  nations  of  German-speaking  peoples.  A 
contemporary  bishop  who  was  not  a little  displeased 
with  the  election,  exclaimed,  “Sit  fast,  great  God, 
or  Rhodolph  will  occupy  thy  throne  ! ” 

The  most  formidable  rival  of  Rhodolph  for  im- 
perial greatness  was  Ottocar  of  Bohemia,  originally 
a very  powerful  sovereign.  For  some  time  there  was 
war  between  them,  resulting  in  the  subjugation  of 
Ottocar.  That  king  was  obliged  to  confine  his  sov- 
ereignty to  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  surrendering  all 
claims  to  the  Duchies  of  Austria,  Stygria,  Crinthia 
and  Carniola.  At  Vienna,  then  as  now  the  capital 
of  Austria,  Rhodolph  fixed  his  royal  residence  and 
made  it  the  paramount  object  of  his  life  to  secure 
Austria  as  a permanent  possession  for  the  House  of 
Hapsburgh. 

The  duchy,  or  rather  archduchy,  of  Austria,  the 
nucleus  around  which  has  grown  the  empire  of  that 
name,  has  an  area  of  12,270  square  miles,  is  bound- 
ed on  the  south  by  Styria,  on  the  west  by  Bavaria, 
on  the  east  by  Hungary,  and  on  the  north  by 


O 49) 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 


250 


Bohemia  and  Moravia.  Intersected  by  the  Dan- 
ube and  divided  into  Upper  and  Lower  Aus- 
tria by  the  river  Enns,  it  has  now  a popula- 
tion of  about  three  millions.  The  Austro-Hun- 
garian monarchy  is  an  empire  with  an  area  of  240,- 
348  square  miles  and  a population  of  over  thirty- 
seven  millions  of  souls.  It  was  not  until  the  reign 
of  Ferdinand  IV.,  in  the  present  century,  that  the 
duchy  of  Austria  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  an 
archduchy.  The  son  of  Rhodolph,  Albert  I.,  was 
also  Emperor  of  Germany.  His  grandson,  Fred- 
erick III.,  was  not.,  but  Albert  V.,  of  Austria,  be- 
came Albert  II.  of  Germany.  That  was  early  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  and  from  that  time  on  for 
four  centuries  the  election  of  Emperor  of  Germany 
fell  to  the  House  of  Ilapsburg  almost  as  a matter 
of  course,  and  Austria  had  no  separate  history 
worthy  of  note  during  that  period. 

Turning  now  to  Hungary,  we  find  the  countries 
of  the  Hungarian  crown  to  consist  of  Hungary  prop- 
er, Transylvania,  Croatia  and  Slavonia,  with  an 
area  of  99,717  square  miles  and  a population  of 
about  fifteen  millions.  Hungary  proper  has  an 
area  of  68,583  square  miles  and  a population  of 
about  eleven  millions.  Nearly  one-half  of  the  peo- 
ple are  Magyars,  and  they  give  to  the  country  its 
distinctive  characteristics.  Next  to  them  in  num- 
bers and  influence  are  the  Slavs.  The  Magyars 
came  into  notice  in  the  latter  part  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury. They  are  allied  at  once  to  the  Turks  and  the 
Finns.  They  have  been  aptly  described  as  “ a 
high-spirited,  proud  and  generous  people,  richly 
gifted  in  every  respect,  in  body  strong,  mentally 
bright,  and  possessed  of  an  inexhaustible  energy.” 
In  practical  results,  however,  they  can  boast  but 
little.  That  portion  of  the  Roman  Empire  which 
they  overran  had  been  swept  over  before  by  the 
Huns  and  the  Avars,  the  former  leaving  little  be- 
hind them  to  mark  their  ravages  except  the  name 
which  the  country  now  bears. 

Hungarian  history  is  divided  into  three  divisions. 
The  first  period,  from  887  to  1301,  was  tempestuous 
and  bloody.  The  dynasty  of  the  Arpads  ruled,  and 
the  country  was  in  a chronic  state  of  war.  From 
the  latter  date  to  1526  the  monarchy  was  elective,  the 
kings  being  chosen  by  the  nobles.  Feudalism  was 
supreme.  Of  the  Arpads,  Stephen  I.,  crowned  “ His 
Apostolic  Majesty  ” in  1000,  was  the  most  illustri- 
ous. The  elective  system  proved  repressive  to  the 


public  interest.  The  nobility  discouraged  the  devel- 
opment of  any  third  estate,  and  the  common  people 
were  serfs.  But  Stephen,  who  is  the  pride  of  Hun- 
gary, was  really  the  great  misfortune  of  the  country, 
especially  in  this,  that  he  made  the  Latin  language 
the  official  language  of  the  country,  and  its  only 
vehicle  of  civilization,  and  this  ostracism  of  the  ver- 
nacular tongue  continued  until  the  current  century. 

In  1526  the  rule  of  the  Ilapsburgs  began,  and 
remains  to  this  day.  The  only  serious  attempt  to 
shake  off  that  yoke  was  under  the  leadership  of  that 
highly  sensational  revolutionist,  Louis  Kossuth, 
whose  carreer  of  meteoric  splendor  about  the  mid- 
dle of  this  century 
drew  to  him  the 
gaze  of  the  world. 

A journalist  by 
profession,  a bril- 
liant orator  and 
sincere  patriot,  he 
succeeded  in  stir- 
ring up  a powerful 
revolt  against  Aus- 
tria, and  after  be- 
ing compelled  to 
seek  safety  in  flight 
he  found  his  way 
to  this  country, 
where  his  speeches 
in  the  years  1851-52  excited  the  utmost  enthusiasm. 
But  the  meteor 
disappeared  with- 
out any  perma- 
nent effect  upon 
either  the  heavens 
above  or  the  earth 
beneath.  Hun- 
gary is  a truly 
loyal  portion  of 
the  empire  of  the 
Ilapsburgs.  On 
two  occasions  it 
may  be  said  that 
Hungary  rescued 
the  Hapsburgs 
from  ruin. 

When  Maria 
Theresa  tottered  maria  tiieresa. 

upon  her  throne  it  was  the  heroism  and  chivalric 


<5 


VIENNA. 


o_ 


-=-1 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.  253 


devotion  of  the  Magyars  which  saved  her  from  de- 
struction, and  a little  later,  when  Napoleon  was  un- 
certain whether  to  destroy  the  house  or  marry  one  of 
the  daughters,  it  was  Hungarian  influence  which 
decided  him.  But  for  all  that,  the  Iiapsburgs  never 
respected  Hungarian  rights  and  prejudices  until 
after  the  revolution  of  1848  had  nearly  succeeded  in 
securing  a separation  of  Hungary  from  Austria. 

The  policy  of  the  emperors  was  to  try  to  remodel 
the  institutions  of  the  country,  and  make  them 
conform  to  the  German  plan.  So  far  from  suc- 
ceeding in  the  eradication  of  what  might  be  called 
indigenous  ideas,  this  policy  re- 
sulted in  strengthening,  vivify- 
ing and  intensifying  those 
national  peculiarities.  Francis 
Joseph,  who  came  to  the  throne 
in  1848,  was  early  given  a very 
impressive  practical  lesson  on 
this  subject,  the  result  of  which 
is  seen  in  the  fact  that  Hun- 
gary is  absolutely  equal  in  the 
scale  of  national  institutions  to 
Austria. 

At  the  risk  of  being  a little 
tedious,  it  is  proposed  to  give 
the  political  institutions  of  this 
dual  kingdom,  quoted,  with 
some  condensation,  from  that 
excellent  English  authority, 

Mr.  Frederick  Martin. 

Francis  I.,  who  reigned  from 
1792  to  1835,  was  the  first 
“ Kaiser”  of  Austria,  and  when 
his  son  Ferdinand  IV.  abdicated  in  1848  in  favor  of 
Francis  Joseph,  the  latter  became  emperor-king. 

The  present  constitution  dates,  however,  from 
1867.  Each  of  the  two  countries,  Austria  and  Hun- 
gary, has  its  own  parliament,  ministry  and  govern- 
ment, the  connecting  links  being  a common  sov- 
ereign, army,  navy  and  diplomacy,  together  with 
a controlling  body,  known  as  the  Delegations. 
The  latter  form  a parliament  of  120  members, 
equally  divided  between  the  two  countries,  the  dele- 
gates being  chosen  by  the  U>cal  legislatures,  the  lat- 
ter bodies  having  two  branches,  substantially  the 
same  as  the  senate  and  house  of  our  legislatures. 
The  local  legislature  or  diet  is  called  Reichstag,  in 
Hungary,  Iteichsrath  in  Austria.  The  delegations 


of  each  country  sit  in  a body  by  themselves,  pos- 
sessing co-ordinate  authority  and  power,  but  if  they 
cannot  agree  on  measures  when  thus  acting  sepa- 
rately they  meet  as  one  body,  and  the  final  vote  is 
binding  upon  the  entire  empire.  This  imperial  diet 
is  confined  in  its  jurisdiction  to  foreign  affairs  and 
war.  There  are  three  ministers  for  the  whole  em- 
pire, namely  the  ministry  of  war,  of  foreign  affairs 
and  of  finance.  There  is  a ministry  at  Austria 
and  another  at  Hungary.  The  former  consists  of 
the  Interior ; Public  Education,  Justice  and  Eccle- 
siastical Affairs ; Finance ; Agriculture ; Com- 
merce and  National  Defense. 
The  Hungarian  departments, 
or  executives,  are.  Presidency 
of  the  Council ; Finance ; 
National  Defense;  Ministry 
Near  the  King’s  Person;  In- 
terior ; Education  and  Public 
Worship;  Justice;  Commu- 
nications and  Public  Works; 
Agriculture,  Industry  and  Com- 
merce ; and  the  Ministry  of 
Croatia  and  Slavonia.  The 
imperial  cabinet  is  responsible 
to  the  Delegations,  the  local 
cabinets  to  their  respective 
diets,  the  Reichstag  and  Reich- 
sratli,  as  the  case  may  be. 

Religious  toleration  is  en- 
joyed throughout  the  empire, 
but  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
has  a great  preponderance. 
There  are  no  less  than  three 
hundred  abbeys  and  five  hundred  convents  in  the 
empire.  The  perfect  equality  of  all  religious  creeds 
and  civil  marriage  were  established  in  1868.  Until 
within  the  last  twenty  years  the  masses  of  the  peo- 
ple were  in  dense  ignorance.  Public  schools  are 
now  maintained,  and  in  the  strictly  German  part  of 
the  empire  primary  education  is  almost  universal. 
There  are  eight  universities  in  the  empire.  They 
are  situated  at  Vienna,  the  caj)ital  of  Austria, 
Pesth,  the  capital  of  Hungary,  Prague,  Graz,  Inns- 
bruck, Cracow,  Czernowitz  and  Lemberg.  The  first 
and  second  are  the  most  extensive,  the  former  hav- 
ing about  250  teachers  and  3000  pupils,  the  latter 
over  120  teachers  and  2000  pupils. 

According  to  an  article  of  the  treaty  of  Berlin, 


*5" 


3 


k_ 


254 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 


(1878)  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  were  to  have  their 
public  affairs  administered  by  Austria-Hungary. 
Those  provinces,  formerly  belonging  to  Turkey, 
added  a territory  of  24,247  square  miles  and  a pop- 
ulation of  1,212,172  to  the  empire.  These  figures 
are  based  on  a census  of  1879.  About  one-third 
of  the  population  of  this  new  territory  are  Moham- 
medans, a still  larger  proportion  Greeks,  and  a sixth 
are  called  Romanites.  The  Christians,  both  Greeks 
and  Romanites,  were  well  pleased  with  it. 

The  little  principality  of  Lichtenstein,  inclosed 
in  the  Austrian  province  of  Tyrol  and  Yorarlberg, 
is  practically  a pai’t  of  the  empire.  It  contains 
only  68  square  miles  and  a population  of  less 
than  ten  thousand.  The  people  pay  no  taxes 
and  perform  no  compulsory  military  duty.  It  is 
a fertile  although  mountainous  little  country. 
The  prince  resides  at  Vienna,  rather  than  at  his 
capital,  V aderz. 

It  only  remains  to  speak  of  the  cities  of  this  em- 
pire. There  are  only  nine  having  a population  of 
over  50,000.  Vienna  has  a population  of  over  a 
million  and  is  one  of  the  grandest  cities  on  the 
globe.  The  other  Austrian  cities  are  Prague,  189,- 
949;  Trieste,  109,324;  Lemberg,  87,109;  Gratz, 
81,119  and  Brunn,  73,771.  The  Hungarian  cities 
are,  the  capital,  Pestli,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  Buda-Pestli,  which  has  a population  of  270,- 
464,  Szegedin,  70,179;  Maria-Theresiopel,  56,323. 
Taken  as  a whole,  the  empire  is  eminently  rural, 


with  a strong  tendency,  however,  toward  concentra- 
tion of  pojmlation  in  cities. 

“ Intellectual  Germany,”  as  the  term  is  used  in 
this  book,  includes  all  the  Germans,  Austrian  no  less 
than  Prussian ; but  in  the  domain  of  letters  Hun- 
gary has  a distinct  record. 

The  Magyars,  who  settled  in  Hungary  as  early  as 
the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
had  a language  so  well  defined  and  matured  that  it 
has  undergone  but  few  changes  in  a thousand  years, 
It  was  not  until  the  eighteenth  century,  however, 
that  it  so  much  as  began  to  be  a vehicle  of  lit- 
erature. Latin  was  the  language  employed  by 
writers.  The  Hungarian  newspaper  press  deserves 
especial  mention  for  its  ability  and  services  in  de- 
veloping a vernacular  literature.  Kossuth  was  by 
no  means  alone  among  the  editors  of  that  country 
who  rose  to  eminence,  although  he  alone  acquired 
world-wide  fame.  This  language  can  boast  some 
highly  creditable,  if  somewhat  commonplace,  prose 
books,  but  as  a recent  writer  upon  the  intellectual 
development  of  Europe  justly  observes,  “ Its  true 
inauguration  as  a literary  language,  as  the  bearer  of 
a national  civilization,  as  the  expression  of  a national 
genius,  the  Hungarian  language  received  by  the  pub- 
lication in  1817  of  Himfy’s  Love,  by  Sandor  Kinfal- 
udy.”  A competent  critic  pronounces  that  volume  of 
“epics  with  strong  lyrical  tone,”  resplendent  with  the 
luster  of  true  genius.  Others  have  followed  him  until 
Hungary  has  a very  respectable  national  literature. 


BELGIUM  AND  THE  NETHERLANDS 


The  Two  Countries  Compared — Belgium  as  a Separate  Kingdom— Religion  and  Education 
— The  Kingdom  op  the  Netherlands — Java — Dutch  Government  and  Schools — Topog- 
raphy and  Resources — The  Dutch  in  History — Imperial  and  Medieval — The  Nation 
and  its  Great  War — The  Throes  op  the  Dutch  Republic — The  Period  op  Pbosperity- 
The  Pall  of  the  Republic — Dutch  Art;  Van  Eyck  to  Ary  Scheffer — Waterloo. 


ELGIUM  and  the  Nether- 
lands are  two  distinct  na- 
tions in  their  present  politi- 
cal existence ; hut  in  the 
blending  of  the  historical  and 
the  actual  they  cannot  be 
dissociated.  The  provinces 
of  Belgium  are  Antwerp, 
Brabant,  Flanders  (East 
and  West),  Hainault,  Liege,  Limbourg, 
Luxembourg  and  Namur,  several  of 
these  names  being  suggestive  of  the 
Dutch  Republic.  The  names  Brabant 
and  Limbourg  are  also  found  in  the  list 
of  the  Netherland  provinces,  besides 
Holland  (North  and  South),  Zealand, 
Utrecht,  Friesland,  Guelderland,  Over- 
yssel,  Drenthe  and  Gronningen.  The 
Dutch  of  history  constitute,  for  the 
most  part,  the  past  of  both  the  kingdoms  under 
consideration. 

Neither  of  these  kingdoms  may  be  called  a nor- 
mal development.  On  the  contrary,  the  great  pow- 
ers of  Europe,  hostile  to  republicanism,  drew  arbi- 
trary lines  of  national  distinction  and  fixed  the 
boundaries  of  each  nation  to  suit  themselves.  Be- 
fore reverting  to  the  historical  part  of  the  subject  of 


this  chapter  it  may  be  well  to  set  forth  the  present 
condition  of  the  two  kingdoms  now  under  consider- 
ation. 

Belgium  dates  from  1830.  It  was  then  that  it 
was  cut  oil  from  the  Netherlands.  The  immediate 
occasion  of  the  secession  was  a popular  uprising  in 
Brussels.  The  formal  recognition  of  Belgium  by  all 
the  governments  of  Europe  did  not  occur  until  1839. 
The  first  king  was  Leopold  I.  of  Saxe-Coburg.  The 
present  king,  Leopold  II.,  was  born  in  1835,  and 
came  to  the  throne  when  his  father  died,  1865.  The 
kingdom  has  an  area  of  11,373  square  miles  and  a 
population  of  about  six  millions.  It  is  the  most 
densely  inhabited  country  in  Europe.  Small  as  is 
the  territory,  the  people  are  decidedly  mixed.  Ac- 
cording to  an  official  report  of  1878  there  are  2,256,- 
860  Belgians  who  speak  French,  2,659,890  who 
speak  Flemish,  38,070  who  speak  German,  and  the 
rest  speak  two  if  not  three  of  the  languages  named. 
There  are  over  one  million  proprietors  of  the  soil. 
The  government  is  a constitutional  and  hereditary 
monarchy.  The  greater  part  of  the  authority  of 
state  is  vested  in  the  parliament  with  its  two 
branches.  The  executive  jurisdiction  belongs  to 
the  ministers,  each  being  responsible  within  the 
scope  of  his  respective  department.  The  members 
of  both  houses  of  the  legislative  part  of  the  govern- 


^ s 


< 


BELGIUM  AND  THE  NETHERLANDS. 


told,  and  less  than  2,000  Jews.  Full  religious  lib- 
erty is  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution,  and  the 
clergy  of  all  denominations  are  paid  in  part  from 
the  national  treasury.  There  are  four  universities 
in  the  kingdom,  located  at  Brussels,  Louvain, 
Ghent  and  Leige.  These  institutions  are  in  the 
hands  of  the  priests  and  Jesuits.  Elementary  edu- 
cation is  sadly  neglected,  about  one-fifth  of  the 
adult  population  being  unable  to  read  or  write. 

Turning  now  to  the  Netherlands  we  find  a people 
living  under  a constitution  which  dates  from  that 
great  year  of  revolutions,  1848.  The  area  is  20,527 
square  miles,  the  population  about  four  millions. 
The  city  population  is  relatively  large.  In  Holland 


een  millions  belong  in  Java  alone,  which  is  many 
times  more  important  than  all  the  rest  of  the  colo- 
nies of  the  Netherlands.  It  has  an  area  of  51,330 
square  miles.  Most  of  the  people  are  agricultural 
laborers,  nearly  all  the  land  being  held  either  by  the 
government  or  non-resident  Dutch  capitalists.  The 
revenue  derived  is  very  considerable,  mainly  from 
the  sale  of  coffee,  with  some  sugar  and  spices.  Java 
is  an  island.  The  Dutch  took  permanent  posses- 
sion of  it  in  1077.  The  Portuguese  had  visited  it  as 
early  as  1511,  and  a Dutch  settlement  was  effected 
in  1595.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  people  em- 
braced Mohammedanism.  Prior  to  that  they  were 
Buddhists.  The  Javans  are  very  industrious  and 


VIEW  OF  ANTWERP,  CHIEF  COMMERCIAL  CITY  OF  BELGIUM. 


ment  are  chosen  by  the  people,  a property  qualifica- 
tion being  attached  to  the  right  of  suffrage.  The 
members  of  the  lower  house  are  elected  for  four 
years,  of  the  upper  house  for  eight.  The  number  of 
the  latter  is  one-half  that  of  the  former.  Evidently 
the  Belgian  government  is  about  as  nearly  republi- 
can as  it  well  could  be  and  maintain  the  form  and 
semblance  of  royalty. 

Nearly  all  the  people  are  Romanists  in  religion. 
There  are  not  more  than  13,000  Protestants,  all 


proper  it  exceeds  the  rural  population.  Amsterdam, 
Rotterdam  and  The  Hague  are  large  cities.  This 
kingdom  is  second  only  to  England  in  colonial  en- 
terprise. These  outside  possessions  are  divided  into 
three  groups,  namely,  the  possessions  in  Asia,  or 
the  East  Indies;  second,  six  small  West  India 
islands ; third,  Surinam  in  South  America.  The 
South  African  possessions  have  slipped  away  from 
the  mother  country.  The  total  population  of  these 
colonies  is  about  twenty-three  millions,  and  eight- 


► 


V 


"3 


•vfe 


s 

< 


J 


VIEW  OP  THE  HAGUE. 


when  the  sovereignty  was  vested  in  the  ancient  and 
illustrious  house  of  Orange.  The  first  king  of  the 
present  realm  was  William  I.  He  was  succeeded  in 
1840  by  William  II.,  and  he  in  turn  by  the  king 
now  on  the  throne.  This  house  traces  its  origin  to 
Count  Waldam  who  lived  in  Germany  in  the  eleventh 
century.  The  prevailing  religion  is  that  of  the 
Reformed  Church,  with  about  an  equal  number  of 
Catholics.  The  government  is  impartial  in  matters 
of  faith  and  worship,  but  the  moral  influence  of  the 
government  is  wholly  Protestant.  Education  is 
slowly  making  its  way  among  the  common  people. 
It  is  estimated  that  among  the  strictly  rural  popu- 
lation of  the  Netherlands,  one-fourth  of  the  male 
adults  and  one-third  of  the  women  can  neither 


enclosures.  Intersected  by  rivers  and  canals,  much 
of  the  land  is  actually  below  the  water  level.  Dikes 
and  dunes  protect  the  country  from  inundation. 
The  result  is  a vast  wealth  of  agricultural  resources 
so  rich  indeed  as  to  make  the  farmers  of  the  Low- 
land preeminently  prosperous. 

Turning  now  from  the  actual  to  the  historical, 
we  will  follow  the  somewhat  involved  and  devious 
course  of  that  Semi-German  people  most  widely 
designated  as  the  Dutch. 

In  the  days  of  the  Roman  Empire  the  Belgae, 
Batavians  and  Tuscans  were  a part  of  the  great 
German  and  Gallic  region  conquered  by  Julius  Cae- 
sar. In  the  Carlovingian  empire  they  lacked 
national  individuality.  In  the  sunshine  and  storm 


BELGIUM  AND  THE  NETHERLANDS. 


quite  skillful.  The  island  is  governed  as  if  it  were 
an  immense  estate  managed  for  the  exclusive  benefit 
of  distant  owners  and  their  resident  agents. 

Returning  now  to  the  home  government,  we  find 
it  substantially  the  same  in  character  as  Belgium. 
The  entire  legislative  authority  is  vested  in  a body 
called  the  States  General,  with  two  branches.  In 
theory  the  king  has  the  veto  power,  but  his  exercise 
of  it  is  very  infrequent.  The  present  king  is  Wil- 
liam III.  The  present  kingdom  was  reconstructed 
by  and  dates  from  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  1815, 


read  nor  write.  The  rising  generation  will  make 
a much  better  showing  in  this  regard.  According 
to  latest  accounts  there  are  2, GOO  public  schools  with 
pupils  to  the  number  of  400,000.  Besides  these  pub- 
lic schools  there  are  a great  many  private  schools. 
The  universities  of  the  kingdom  are  four, — those  at 
Leyden,  Grbningen,  Amsterdam  and  Utrecht. 

The  Netherlands,  as  the  name  suggests,  is  a low 
and  flat  country,  literally  wrested  from  the  sea  by 
the  skill  and  industry  of  man.  It  is  a delta  with 
the  Rhine,  the  Meuse  and  the  Scheldt  as  its  watery 


> 


■f 


o 


-V  <2- 


-fc. 


258 


BELGIUM  AND  THE  NETHERLANDS. 


of  feudalism  the  Low  Country  grew  into  distinctive- 
ness. There  were  several  dukedoms : Brabant,  Lim- 
bourg and  Luxembourg;  countships : Artois,  Flan- 
ders and  Holland  ; bishoprics : Mechlin  and  Utrecht. 
Being  upon  the  outskirts  of  the  continent,  and  in- 
habiting a country  then  far  from  its  present  state 
of  cultivation,  even  as  compared  to  other  parts  of 
Europe,  they  were  allowed  to  regulate  their  own 
affairs  pretty  nearly  in  their  own  way.  The  rod  of 
imperialism  was  lightly  felt.  The  fierce  conflict 
with  the  sea  which  the  people  were  obliged  to  wage 
cultivated  boldness  and  energy  of  character.  Lo- 
cated as  they  were  upon  the  seaboard,  having  rivers 
which  were  arms  of  the  sea,  their  position  was  pe- 
culiarly favorable  to  commercial  development. 

--  The  feudal  lords  had 
their  castles  and  arm- 
ed retainers,  but  side 
by  side  with  them 
grew  up  and  flour- 
ished marts  of  trade, 
fortified  against  inva- 
sion, prepared  for  war 


without  being  devot- 
ed to  it.  The  com- 
mercial spirit  of  the 
old  Phoenicians  pre- 
vailed, coupled  with  a heroism  which  would  have 
done  honor  to  Rome  in  her  best  days.  The  Medie- 
val Dutch  were  the  pioneers  of  modern  commercial 
thrift. 

Late  in  the  fourteenth  century  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy became  also  Count  of  Flanders,  the  Union 
having  been  effected  by  marriage.  In  1477  the 
house  of  Hapsburg  absorbed  the  Netherlands,  and 
a great  stimulus  was  given  to  Dutch  commerce. 
For  a time  Austria,  the  Netherlands  and  Spain, 
with  some  minor  possessions,  owed  allegiance  to  the 
same  crown.  They  never  formed  one  nation. 
When  the  empire  of  Charles  V.  was  divided  the 
Netherlands  and  Spain  went  together,  and  this  un- 
natural union  produced  the  most  important  results. 
At  that  time  both  peoples  were  enterprising,  and  it 
was  a very  great  good  fortune,  so  far  as  that  went,  to 
the  Dutch  that  they  were  linked  politically  with  the 
discoverers  of  America.  The  Spaniard  sought 
gold  and  silver  in  the  now  world ; the  Dutch  were 
true  to  their  strictly  commercial  instincts.  But  in 
any  other  regard  the  union  was  incongruous. 


A Feudal  Castle. 


The  Reformation,  which  found  its  chief  apostle 
in  Martin  Luther,  found  its  readiest  acceptance  in 
the  Low  lands.  As  Philip  of  Spain  was  the  very 
prince  of  bigots,  he  saw  in  his  Protestant  subjects 
vipers  to  be  exterminated.  The  result  was  a war 
which  began  in  1566  and  lasted  until  1648.  A 
more  causeless,  cruel,  devastating  and  heroic  war 
never  stained  the  annals  of  history.  For  eighty- 
two  years,  nearly  three  generations,  the  struggle 
continued.  At  first  the  several  provinces  resisted 
oppression  and  held  fast  to  their  rights  in  an  inde- 
pendent way,  but  in  1579  a union  was  formed  at 
Utrecht  between  the  seven  Northern  provinces, 
Holland,  Zealand,  Utrecht,  Friesland,  Grbningen, 
Overyssel  and  Guelderland.  Spain  so  far  recognized 
this  union  as  to  enter  into  an  armistice  of  twelve 
years,  concluded  in  1609.  That  armistice  was  sim- 
ply recuperative  for  the  final  struggle.  On  the 
Spanish  side  were  those  monsters  of  cruelty  and 
treachery,  Alva,  Parma,  Don  John  and  Alexander 
Farnese,  while  upon  the  side  of  the  Dutch  were 
William  of  Nassau,  Maurice  of  Nassau,  John  Bar- 
neveldt,  and  others  of  heroic  mold.  The  commer- 
cial cities  proved  capable  of  the  most  patient  endur- 
ance of  hardships.  It  was  a noble  matching  of 
patriotism  against  fanaticism.  Finally,  in  1648,  the 
peace  of  Westphalia  recognized  the  independence  of 
the  states  forming  the  Dutch  Republic. 

The  present  Netherlands,  with  some  modifications, 
embraces  that  republic,  while  the  present  Belgium 
includes  the  Dutch  provinces  which  Spain  retained, 
and  out  of  which  Protestantism  was  stamped  by 
the  persistence  of  Spanish  Catholicism. 

For  a century  the  Dutch  Republic  was  mistress 
of  the  sea  and  flourished  beyond  all  precedent. 
Spain  and  Portugal  were  quite  unable  to  maintain 
their  maritime  supremacy.  The  business-like  air 
which  pervaded  the  Rejrablic  enabled  the  bold  sea- 
men and  merchant  princes  of  the  Netherlands  to 
sweep  all  before  them,  and  it  was  with  good  reason 
that  Admiral  von  Tromp  paraded  a broom  at  his  mast- 
head as  he  coasted  along  the  English  channel.  In 
1667  DeRuyter  sailed  up  the  Thames  and  blockaded 
the  port  of  London.  The  Swedes  and  the  Danes 
were  awed  into  acquiescence.  But  England  was  not 
to  be  kept  down.  In  the  eighteenth  century  it 
gradually  gained  upon  its  republican  rival.  The 
wresting  of  New  York  from  the  Dutch  was  one  of 
many  instances  in  point.  When  the  American 


•Ma- 


BELGIUM  AND  THE  NETHEREANDS. 


259 


colonies  declared  war  for  independence  the  Dutch 
thought  to  improve  the  opportunity  for  recovering 
their  lost  prestige.  But  instead  of  doing  that,  they 
lost  still  more  ground,  receiving  a blow  from  which 
there  was  never  any  recovery.  In  the  meanwhile 
party  spirit  ran  high  in  the  Republic.  One  faction 
would  gladly  have  made  the  chief  magistracy  heredi- 
tary in  the  Orange-Nassau  family,  while  the  other 
favored  a pure  republic. 

In  the  winter  of  1794-95,  the  French  army  having 
conquered  the  Spanish  possessions  in  the  North 
(Belgium),  marched  into  the  Republic  and  was 
hailed  by  one  party  as  deliverers.  That  foreign  in- 
vasion may  be  said  to 
have  dealt  a fatal 
blow  to  the  Dutch 
Republic.  The  Bata- 
vian Republic  was 
declared  in  May,  1 795, 
which  lingered  in  ob- 
scurity until,  in  1806, 

Napoleon  hurled  it 
aside  and  set  up  the 
Kingdom  of  Holland 
for  Louis  Bonaparte. 

Four  years  later  he 
incorporated  it  with 
France.  The  Congress 
of  Vienna  re-estab- 
lished the 


contributed  much  to  the  development  of  art  in  the 
Netherlands.  The  older 
brother  invented,  or 
perfected,  a varnish 
which  was  of  great  im- 
portance in  the  preser- 
vation of  paintings. 

The  next  preeminent- 
ly great  name  was  Al- 
brecht Diirer  of  Nurem- 
berg, born  in  1471. 

He  is  called  the  father 
of  the  German  school  of  painting 


Kingdom 

of  Holland,  with  the  Orange-Nassau  family  on  the 
throne,  Belgium  being  a part  of  it,  as  seen  already, 
until  1830. 

Since  that  time  the  Dutch  have  been  content 
to  quietly  follow  business  pursuits.  To-day  they 
are  notable  for  the  vastness  of  their  holdings  of 
government  and  corporate  bonds.  Their  surplus 
capital  is  enormous.  Not  given  to  ostentation, 
they  seem  to  take  a special  delight  in  mere  accumu- 
lation. 

In  no  other  respect  can  the  Dutch  lay  such  high 
claim  to  preeminence  as  in  art.  The  painters  of 
the  Flemish  and  Dutch  schools  are  second  only  to 
the  Italians  in  the  number  of  their  great  names  and 
the  brilliance  of  their  fame.  The  earliest  of  these 
was  Hubert  Van  Eyck,  who  flourished  in  the  last 
half  of  the  fourteenth  century  at  Ghent  and  Bru- 
ges. He  excelled  in  the  depth,  power,  transparency 
and  harmony  in  his  coloring.  His  brother  Jan 


SATYR  AND  NYMPHS— after  RtTBENS. 


ALBRECHT  DURER. 

It  has  been  said 
that  his  art  was  great 
because  it  was  the 
natural  outgrowth  of 
his  own  genius,  race 
and  time.  The  ac- 
knowleged  head  of  the 
Flemish  school  of  art 
was  Rubens,  born  at 
Siegen,  Westphalia, in 
1577.  “As  a painter,” 
says  Mrs.  Shedd,  “ the 
qualities  of  Rubens 
consist  in  a truthful 
and  intense  feeling  for 
nature  and  a warm 
and  transparent  color- 
ing. He  had  wonder- 
ful fertility  of  conception,  and  still  more  won- 
derful facility  of  execution ; his  imagination  em- 
braced every  object  capable  of  representation, 
and  he  could  render  with  equal  success  the  most 
forcible  and  the  most  fleeting  appearances  of  na- 
ture.” A pupil  of  Rubens  of  hardly  less  fame  was 
Anthony  Van  Dyck  of  Antwerp.  He  was  a masterly 
painter  of  portraits.  He  was  alike  successful  in 
delineating  strong  characters  and  the  simplicity  of 
childhood.  The  next  name  to  challenge  attention 
is  Rembrandt,  born  in  Leyden,  1608.  Truthful  and 
picturesque,  he  possessed  very  remarkable  power  in 
all  the  technicalities  of  his  art.  His  lightinsf  was 
peculiar.  On  his  canvas  light  is  concentrated,  and 
not  diffused.  Paul  Potter,  born  at  Enkhuysen  in 
1625,  was  the  first  great  animal  painter,  and  it 
would  hardly  be  too  much  to  call  him  the  foremost 
artist  of  nature.  Landscapes  from  his  brush  show 
the  utmost  fidelity  to  the  real  and  very  delicate 


VTr- 


o 


•V  <2. 


260 


BELGIUM  AND  THE  NETHERLANDS. 


5S- 

- r 


gradations  of  perspective.  The  last  to  be  men- 
tioned, but  by  no  means  the  least,  of  these  artists 
of  the  Lowlands,  was  Ary  Scheffer,  of  Dordrecht. 
Born  as  the  last  century  was  on  the  eve  of  depart- 
ure, he  belonged  to  the  present  century.  He  really 
belongs  in  that  legion  of  honor,  the  great  masters, 
for  his  genius  resembled  theirs  in  its  religious  char- 
acter. His  best  paintings  have  Christ  as  their  cen- 


( which  in  the  language  and  habits  of  the  inhabit- 
ants is  a connecting  link  between  the  two  countries 
and  peoples)  the  most  memorable  battlefield  in  all 
the  world,  the  spot  above  all  others  in  Belgium 
which  a traveler  would  wish  to  visit.  That  illustrious 
spot,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  is  Waterloo.  The 
village  of  this  name  is  in  the  province  of  South 
Brabant  on  the  road  from  Charlevoi  to  Brussels,  at 


BATTLEFIELD  OF  WATERLOO. 


tral  figure.  He  also  selected  many  subjects  from 
the  great  poets  Goethe,  Schiller  and  Byron. 

Having  now  concluded  the  survey  of  the  German 
and  Semi-German  peoples,  inclusive  of  the  lofty 
standpoint  of  the  intellect,  we  are  about  to  cross 
the  Rhine  where  the  nimble  and  vivacious  French 
present  a strong  contrast  to  the  proverbially  phleg- 
matic Dutch,  and  in  passing  we  fiud  in  Belgium 


the  outskirts  of  the  forest  of  Seignies.  The  two 
armies  occupied  ridges,  and  the  valley  between 
was  indeed  the  valley  of  death.  Agriculture  long 
since  resumed  its  sway  over  that  field,  but  traces 
and  relics  of  the  immortal  combat  are  still  to  be 
found  there,  mementoes  of  what  Victor  Hugo  says 
was  not  a battle,  but  “ the  change  of  front  of 
the  universe.” 


*?iOLD  FRANCE. tt^ 


Old  and  New  France — Ancient  Gaul— Clovis  and  the  Franks — The  Merovingian  Line — 
Charles  Martel  and  the  Saracens — The  Carlovingian  and  Capetian  Dynasties— The 
House  op  Valois  with  its  Branches — From  843  to  1142 — Abelard  and  Heloise— St.  Louis — 
Grand  Master  Knight  Templar  Molay— Serfs— Battle  op  Agincourt  and  Joan  op  Arc — 
The  Renaissance  and  Rabelais — The  Vaudois  and  John  Calvin — The  Massacre  op  St 
Bartholomew’s  Day. 


T is  hardly  an  exaggeration 
to  say  that  the  prophecy, 
“ A nation  shall  be  born  in 
a day,”  was  literally  ful- 
filled in  the  case  of  France. 
When  the  mighty  deeps  of 
Paris  were  lashed  into  a 
fury  which  leveled  the  Bas- 
tile  to  the  ground  in  one  grand  spasm 
of  righteous  indignation,  old  things 
passed  away  and  New  France  was 
created.  The  French  people  of  the 
present  time  are  the  product  of  the  rev- 
olution of  a century  ago,  and  not,  like 
the  English  people,  the  slow  growth  of 
many  centuries. 

Iiome  not  only  conquered  Gaul,  but 
did  much  to  civilize  it.  When  the  em- 
pire crumbled,  the  German  and  Gothic  barbarians 
poured  down  from  the  north,  coming  both  by  land 
and  water,  and  the  country  lapsed  back  into  barbar- 
ism. The  transition  from  Gaul  to  France  was  at 
first  a reaction  subversive  of  the  progress  made 
during  the  period  from  Caesar  to  Clovis.  That  prog- 
ress had  two  stages,  religiously,  but  in  actual  civili- 
zation it  was  one  gradual  improvement.  The  sub- 
stitution of  Olympic  deities  for  the  wild  fanaticism 


of  the  long-bearded  Druids  was  a very  beneficent 
step,  followed  later  by  a quite  general  acceptance  of 
Christianity.  By  a wholesome  process  of  growth 
the  various  institutions,  ideas  and  methods  of  Ro- 
man civilization  were  adopted  and  thoroughly  nat- 
uralized. There  were  prosperous  cities,  well-tilled 
farms  and  even  colleges  of  some  renown  in  Gaul. 

But  in  A.  D.  481,  the  savage  Franks,  no  longer 
held  in  check  by  the  eagles  of  Rome,  crossed  the 
Rhine  and  took  possession  of  the  land,  and  that 
without  a struggle.  The  Gauls  had  been  greatly 
benefited  by  the  Roman  conquest,  but  were  not  at 
all  loath  to  exchange  masters.  Not  only  the  old 
Gauls,  but  the  Goths  who  had  preceded  the  Franks 
in  forming  settlements  in  Gallia,  took  kindly  to  the 
change.  Clovis,  first  of  the  Frank  kings,  accepted 
Christian  baptism  and  seemed  disposed  to  encourage 
the  regular  How  of  the  stream  of  civilization.  But 
his  acceptance  of  Christianity  proved  a great  calam- 
ity. He  was  surrounded  by  orthodox  priests  and 
theologians,  while  in  southern  Gaul  the  Arian  doc- 
trine had  been  espoused.  The  royal  convert  de- 
clared it  a shame  that  such  fair  possessions  should 
belong  to  heretics,  and  soon  a desolating  war  was  in 
progress. 

The  destruction  attributable  to  Clovis  and  his  po- 
lemical advisers  was  trivial  as  compared  with  the 


■v 


262 


OLD  FRANCE. 


desolation  wrought  by  the  rivalries  of  his  four  sons. 
When  he  died,  511,  a long  period  of  barbarism  be- 
gun. The  dynasty  which  he  founded,  called  the 
Merovingian  line  (in  honor  of  the  otherwise  obscure 
grandfather  of  Clovis,  Meroveg)  continued  from 
496  to  741,  sixteen  generations.  During  all  that 
time  the  dreary  waste  was  unrelieved  by  a single 
ray  of  hope.  By  sad  and  bloody  steps  the  land  re- 
ceded toward  a savage  condition.  Gradually  the 
bad  became  worse,  but  the  royal  family  sank  lower 
than  the  people, — so  very  low  that  it  sank  out  of 
sight  with  Chilperic  IV. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  the  disappearance 
of  the  Me- 
rovingian 
line  and 
the  acces- 
sion of  the 
Carlovin- 
gian,  was 
the  inva- 
sion of 
Wes  tern 
Europe  by 
the  Sara- 
cens. The 
latter  hav- 
ing defeat- 
ed Spain, 
crossed  the 
Pyrenees, 
thinking 

to  subjugate  France  and  Germany,  then  substan- 
tially one  country.  The  feeble  king  could  do 
nothing  to  check  the  invasion,  but  Charles,  Mayor 
of  Paris  (an  office  which  had  gradually  come 
to  exercise  almost  regal  authority),  came  to  the 
front  as  general  of  an  army  composed  of  Ger- 
mans and  Franks.  He  met  the  Saracens  at  Or- 
leans and  crushed  them.  He  is  known  as  Charles 
Martel  (the  Hammer)  and  the  savior  of  Western 
Europe  from  Islam.  He  might  have  taken  the 
crown  at  once,  but  preferred  a ducal  title. 

His  son  Pepin  enjoyed  the  regal  fruits  of  that 
splendid  victory.  He  was  not  a memorable  sove- 
reign. His  claim  to  distinction  is  the  fact  that  he 
was  the  son  of  Charles  Martel  and  the  father  of 
Charlemagne.  The  latter  reigned  over  the  Franks, 
but  was  a German  in  reality.  The  Carlovingian 


* 111  l 


THE  CORONATION  OF  HUGH  CAPET. 


line  has  been  set  forth  in  connection  with  German 
history.  In  the  disintegration  of  the  Carlovingian 
empire,  which  followed  immediately  the  death  of 
Charlemagne,  Gaul  (now  become  France)  fell  to 
the  lot  of  a branch  of  that  family  which  produced  a 
series  of  rulers  signally  unworthy  of  sovereignty. 
Those  imbecile  and  vicious  kings  followed  each  other 
in  monotonous  infamy  until  987,  when  Hugh  Capet 
came  to  the  French  throne.  The  people  were  no 
longer  Franks,  a name  suggestive  of  their  Teutonic 
origin,  but  Frenchmen.  The  Capetian  line  held 
the  scepter  until  1328,  through  fourteen  generations. 
We  find  little  of  note  during  this  period.  The 

elevation 
of  Hugh 
Capet  was 
the  result 
of  nation- 
al necessi- 
ty and  pa- 
pal inter- 
vention. 

There 
had  come 
to  be  a po- 
tent set- 
tlement of 
Normans 
upon  the 
west  of 
France, 
Norman- 


dy and  Brittany.  Under  the  Capetians  these  Nor- 
mans were  fused  largely  with  the  Franks  from  over 
the  Rhine,  and  the  French  nationality  consists  of 
Gauls,  Romans,  Teutons  and  Normans  amalgam- 
ated. The  distinctive  France  is,  therefore,  a braid 
with  four  strands  inseparably  interwoven. 

By  the  time  the  dynasty  founded  by  Hugh  Capet 
gave  place  to  the  Valois  branch  of  the  royal  family, 
the  nation  had  still  another  quadruple  character ; 
it  consisted  of  the  church,  the  king,  the  nobility 
and  the  people,  developed  in  the  order  observed. 
The  struggles  and  rivalries  of  these  factors  or  pow- 
ers during  the  Middle  Ages  possess  no  marked  pecul- 
iarity. Whether  the  king  was  of  the  house  of  Va- 
lois, Valois-Orleans  or  Valois- Angoleme,  the  dreary 
waste  of  centuries  presents  very  few  sterling  fea- 
tures. But  before  proceeding  with  the  Bourbons  it 


-±] 


k- 


OLD  FRANCE. 


263 


Ql 

~7[ 


may  be  well  to  pause  in  our  dynastic  sketch  to  note 
the  really  noteworthy  events  and  historical  land- 
marks of  France  up  to  the  accession  of  the  last  of 
the  French  royal  families. 

The  treaty  of  Verdun,  843,  was  the  recognized 
date  for  the  distinct  creation  of  Italy,  France  and 
Germany.  The  coronation  of  Hugh  Capet  has  been 
called  “ the  triumph  of  German  manners  and  feudal 
connections.”  Christian  art  and  the  burning  of 
heretics  in  France  began  about  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury. The  conquest  of  England  by  William,  Duke 
of  Normandy,  a disgraceful  victory  of  French  arms, 
dates  from  this  century,  but 
as  it  never  seriously  modified 
French  civilization,  while  it 
did  the  civilization  of  Eng- 
and,  it  belongs  to  the  history 
of  the  latter  country.  Upon 
both  countries  it  and  other 
causes  entailed  a long  series  of 
wars,  during  which  the  Brit- 
ish kings  laid  claim  to  France, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  occasion- 
ally gaining  a foothold  in  the 
land,  notably  at  Calais.  Prac- 
tically, it  resulted  in  the  pro- 
duction of  that  remarkable 
patroit  and  martyr,  Joan  of 
Arc,  and  a few  interesting  mili- 
tary episodes.  That  is  about 
all,  from  the  French  point  of 
view.  The  first  Crusade  was 
formally  inaugurated  at  Cler- 
mont, France,  and  Peter  the  Hermit,  who  was  its 
great  apostle,  was  a Frenchman.  So  was  the  pope 
of  the  period,  Urban  II.,  and  the  famous  Christian 
knight,  Godfrey  of  Bouillon.  That  Crusade  dates 
from  1095.  In  the  subsequent  Crusades  France 
bore  a prominent  part.  It  was  specially  conspicu- 
ous in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  na- 
tional amity  and  royal  heredity. 

During  the  darkest  part  of  the  Dark  Ages,  France 
produced  a great  intellectual  luminary,  and,  pro- 
phetic of  its  future  national  character,  intellectual 
preeminence  was  linked  with  love  and  romance. 
Thus  Abelard  and  his  fair  Ileloise  are  the  first  names 
in  French  annals  to  gain  immortality,  apart  from 
the  accident  of  rank.  The  former  was  a great 
scholar  and  debater.  Having  won  distinction  by 


PETER  THE  HERMIT. 


his  learning  and  skill  in  dialectical  subtleties,  such 
as  the  medieval  scholars  were  fond  of,  he  was  hired 
to  teach  Heloise  Greek.  They  fell  in  love  and  were 
imprudent.  To  save  him  from  disgrace  (for  he  was 
a priest),  she  refused  to  be  married,  preferring  to 
bear  alone  the  burden  of  their  mutual  calamity. 
She  suffered  everything,  but  never  wavered  in  her 
loyalty  to  him.  He  developed  into  a cold-blooded, 
selfish  ecclesiastic,  as  mean  as  she  was  amicable. 
Their  story  is  peculiarly  pathetic,  and  to  this  day 
the  French  love  to  bedeck  with  flowers  and  bedew 
with  tears  the  one  grave  of  this  couple.  It  is  a per- 
petual  shrine  of  sentimental- 
ism. But  in  addition  to  all 
that,  Abelard  did  something 
to  relieve  the  intellectual  ster- 
ility and  stupidity  of  his  time 
and  church. 

One  sovereign  in  the  long 
list  so  rapidly  passed  over  de- 
serves special  mention,  Louis 
IX.,  known  often  as  St.  Louis. 
From  1226  to  1270  he  held  the 
reins  of  government,  a truly 
great  and  good  man.  He  loved 
the  people,  and  was  unremit- 
ting in  his  zeal  to  serve  them. 
He  convoked  a parliament  (or 
states-general) ; established  in- 
stitutions of  justice ; issued 
humane  edicts ; sought  to 
maintain  peace ; endowed  hos- 
pitals and  asylums ; encour- 
aged art ; practiced  virtue  in  private  life,  and  charity 
to  the  poor.  Somewhat  given  to  superstition,  he 
was  yet  free  from  the  character  usually  stamped 
upon  the  human  mind  by  credulity. 

Early  in  the  fourteenth  century  occurred  the 
trial  and  condemnation  of  Jacques  Molay,  Grand 
Master  of  the  Knights  Templar.  He  was  a victim 
of  the  cupidity  of  Philip  the  Handsome,  and  the 
servility  to  that  monarch  of  Pope  Clement  V.  The 
Order  of  the  Temple  had  grown  out  of  the  Crusades, 
and  was  possessed  of  great  wealth.  Molay  was 
burnt  at  the  stake,  and  the  order  compelled  to  ex- 
ist only  in  secret.  Its  present  prosperous  condition 
is  of  very  modern  date. 

The  serfs  of  the  royal  domain  were  liberated  July 
3,  1315,  by  Louis  X.  He  was  a quarrelsome  king, 


33 


o 


\ <2. 


264  OLD  FRANCE. 


and  needed  soldiers  to  fight  in  Flanders.  That,  and 
not  philanthropy,  prompted  emancipation.  The 
development  of  the  power  of  the  people  became 
by  this  time  a prominent  feature.  The  burghers  or 
commons,  acquired  very  considerable  authority. 
Speaking  of  France  at  this  period,  Guizot  remarks : 
“ There  have  been  communes  in  the  whole  of  Eu- 
rope, in  Italy,  Spain,  Germany  and  England  as  well 
as  in  France.  Not  only  have  there  been  communes 
everywhere,  but  the  communes  of  France  are  not 
those  which,  as  communes,  under  that  name  and  in 
the  middle  ages,  have  played  the  chiefest  part  and 
taken  the  highest  place  in  history.  The  Italian 
communes  were  the  parents  of  glorious  republics. 
The  German  communes  became  free  and  sovereign 
towns,  which  had  their  own  special  history,  and  ex- 
ercised a great  deal  of  influence  upon  the  general 
history  of  Germany.  The  communes  of  England 
made  alliance  with  a portion  of  the  English  feudal 
aristocracy,  formed  with  it  the  preponderating  house 
in  the  British  government,  and  thus  played,  full 
early,  a mighty  part  in  the  history  of  their  country. 
Far  were  the  French  communes,  under  that  name 
and  in  their  day  of  special  activity,  from  rising  to 
such  political  importance  and  to  such  historical 
rank.  And  yet  it  is  in  France  that  the  people  of 
the  communes,  the  burgherdom,  reached  the  most 
complete  and  most  powerful  development,  and  ended 
by  acquiring  the  most  decided  preponderance  in  the 
general  social  structure.  There  have  been  com- 
munes, we  say,  throughout  Europe  ; but  there  has 
not  really  been  a victorious  third  estate  anywhere 
save  in  France.”  White  declares  that  in  the  course 
of  this  sovereign’s  life  the  middle  ages  passed  away 
and  modern  life  began. 

From  the  accession  of  the  first  Valois  King, 
Philip  VI.  to  Charles  VII.  (1326  to  1453)  France 
and  England  were  almost  constantly  at  war.  The 
darkest  day  was  October  25,  1415,  when  the  battle 
of  Agincourt  was  fought,  resulting  in  a most  terrible 
slaughter  of  the  flower  of  French  chivalry.  The  Eng- 
lish seemed  to  be  absolute  masters  of  the  situation. 
Year  after  year  the  unequal  contest  was  waged,  in- 
vading Britons  desolating  the  land  with  impunity, 
and  laying  successful  siege  to  the  cities.  The  first 
great  check  to  English  aggression  came  from  the 
weird  leaderslrip  of  Joan  of  Arc.  This  strange 
girl  was  a peasant  born.  That  was  an  age  of  wild 
hallucination.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  1428,  she 


had  a dream  in  consequence  of  which  she  fancied 
herself  ordained  by  Providence  to  deliver  her  coun- 
try from  the  English  soldiery,  then  ravaging  the 
land.  At  first  her  “ mission  ” was  too  incredible  to 
be  seriously  entertained.  The  idea  of  a rustic  maid 
raising  the  siege  of  Orleans  (which  she  promised  to 
do  if  given  command  of  troops)  was  preposterous. 
But  the  situation  was  critical  in  the  extreme,  and 
her  enthusiasm  inspired  confidence.  She  was  given 
an  opportunity  to  try  the  experiment.  It  was  a 
glorious  success.  Her  faith  bred  heroism  in  those 
about  her,  and  by  a spasm  of  patriotism  the  Eng- 
lish were  forced  to  abanden  Orleans  not  only,  but 
to  surrender  many  other  advantages.  Finally  she 
was  captured  and  subjected  to  treatment  quite 
in  keeping  with  medieval  ideas  of  justice.  The 
French  made  no  effort  to  secure  her  exchange. 
They  allowed  her  to  be  treated  by  the  English  as 
they  saw  fit.  She  was  tried  for  heresy  and  witch- 
craft. For  three  weeks  she  was  badgered  by  bish- 
ops and  lawyers.  Her  sentence  was  imprisonment 
for  life.  That  was  too  lenient,  and  she  was  afterwards 
accused  of  wearing  man’s  clothes,  forbidden  in  the 
book  of  Leviticus,  and  on  that  charge  burnt  in  the 
market-place  at  Rouen  (1431).  And  still  the 
French  court  and  people  were  indifferent.  Later, 
her  name  was  enshrined  and  held  in  highest 
honor. 

The  dawn  of  modern  day  in  Germany  is  called 
the  Reformation,  or  the  revival  of  religion ; in 
France,  the  Renaissance,  or  the  revival  of  learning. 
The  former  clustered  about  the  name  of  Luther; 
the  latter  was  less  personal.  The  great  reformer 
was  able  to  rally  to  his  support  a powerful  political 
following.  The  cause  of  learning  had  the  sympathy 
of  Louis  XI.  That  monarch  ruled  from  1461  to 
1483.  He  encouraged  printing  and  scientific  pur- 
suits. A monster  of  cruelty,  the  victim  of  super- 
stition and  fear,  he  yet  had  his  good  points  as  a 
sovereign.  Duclos  says  of  him,  “ Louis  XI.  was 
far  from  being  without  reproach  ; few  princes  have 
deserved  so  much  ; but  it  may  be  said  that  he  was 
equally  celebrated  for  his  virtues  and  his  vices,  and 
that,  every  thing  being  put  in  the  balances,  he  was 
a king.  The  term  renaissance  (pronounced  ruluia- 
songs)  is  French  for  regeneration  or  second  birth. 
A term  which  means  in  English  a purely  spiritual 
and  religious  ex]>erience  of  the  individual  soul,  de- 
signates, in  the  French,  an  awakening  of  intellectual 


a 


r 


1 


In 


0 


1 


J 


OLD  FRANCE. 


265 


activity,  and  this  difference  fairly  illustrates  the 
representative  characteristics  of  the  two  peoples. 

The  first  name  in  this  movement  is  Francois  Ra- 
bellais.  He  was  born  in  1495,  and  died  at  Paris  in 
1553.  He  was  a priest  by  profession,  a humorist 
by  nature.  His  writings  are  grotesque,  coarse  and 
often  tedious,  yet  learned,  thoughtful  and  generally 
sprightly.  They  consist  of  the  account  of  the  life 
and  experiences  of  “ Gargantua  ” and  “Pantagruel.” 
Through  Rabellais’  preposterous  conceits  runs  a vein 
of  sharp  criticism  upon  the  follies  of  his  age,  the 
corruptions  of  the  clergy,  the  inanities  of  the  school- 
men, the 
crime  of 
despot- 
ism, and 
the  evils 
of  super- 
stition. 

His  was 
a voice  of 
laughter, 
but  yet 
none  the 
less  “the 
voice  of 
one  cry- 
ing in 
the  wil- 
derness. 

Prepare 
ye  the 

way  of  the  lord.”  The  Renaissance  was  the  fore- 
runner of  both  the  Reformation  and  the  Revolu- 
tion, of  Calvin  and  Voltaire,  of  St.  Bartholomew 
and  the  Fourteenth  of  July. 

The  name  of  John  Calvin  is  associated  with  the 
little  Swiss  stronghold  of  Geneva  and  the  Presby- 
terian church  in  Scotland  and  later  in  America ; 
but  he  was  none  the  less  a Frenchman.  Born  at 
Noyon  in  1509  he  came  to  the  notice  of  the  public 
through  a treatise  on  Clemency,  called  out  by  the 
first  persecution  of  the  French  Protestants.  The 
latter  were  and  still  are  called  Huguenots.  lie  re- 
ceived his  Protestantism  from  a Lutheran  teacher. 
But  long  before  Luther,  or  even  John  Huss,  there 
was  a very  considerable  Protestant  church  in 
France.  It  consisted  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
small  and  somewhat  isolated  districts  on  the 


eastern  slope  of  the  Cottian  Alps,  called  Vaudois. 
They  worshiped  God,  indifferent  to  the  pope.  So 
long  as  the  evangelical  faith  and  simplicity  were 
confined  to  that  people  all  went  smoothly;  but 
when  Europe  was  aroused  by  the  boom  of  the 
Lutheran  cannon  they  were  condemned  as  heretics. 
Three  thousand  were  burnt  or  put  to  the  sword  and 
the  rest  imprisoned  or  otherwise  destroyed.  The 
Vaudois  were  literally  wiped  out.  That  was  in 
1540.  But  in  the  Huguenots  lived  the  faith  and 
heroism  of  the  Waldenses,  as  the  Vaudois  were 
sometimes  called. 

Calvin 
took  the 
precau- 
tion of 
getting 
out  of 
the  coun- 
try be- 
fore he 
incurred 
the  ven- 
geanceof 
theeccle- 
siastical 
authori- 
ties. He 
lived  in 
Geneva, 
mainly, 
where  he 

wrote  on  theology,  preached,  and  exercised  the  func- 
tions of  a stern  persecutor  until  his  death  (1564).  He 
was  determined  that  Geneva  should  be  not  only 
Protestant,  but  orthodox.  His  burning  of  Servetus 
for  Unitarianism  was,  on  a small  scale,  entirely  in 
keeping  with  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  The 
spirit  of  toleration  and  clemency  was  foreign  to  the 
thought  and  practice  of  the  sixteenth  century,  es- 
pecially to  the  French  of  that  day.  At  no  time 
was  the  government  of  France  other  than  Catholic. 

The  massacre  of  the  Huguenots  begun  on  St.  Bar- 
tholomew’s Day,  August  24, 1572,  was  the  most  horri- 
ble slaughter  of  innocent  men  in  cold  blood  011  record, 
and  it  was  perpetrated  “ for  conscience’  sake,”  a 
woman  being  the  prime  mover  in  the  awful  infamy. 
That  woman  was  Catherine  de  Medici,  the  Italian 
mother  of  the  weak  king,  Charles  IX.,  the  last  but 


► 


Is 


k. 


266 


OLD  FRANCE. 


Ql 

~7[ 


one  of  the  1 louse  of  Valois.  He  reigned  from  1560 
to  1574,  his  mother  being  the  chief  power  behind 
the  throne.  The  ducal  house  of  Guise  held  the 
leadership  of  the  Catholic  party.  Thousands  of 
Protestant  churches  had  sprung  ixp,  and  the  new 
religion  seemed  to  prosper,  despite  repeated  and 
cruel  persecution.  But  the  Catholic  faction  deter- 
mined to  make  an  utter  end  of  “ the  new  mischief,” 
and  neither  Catherine,  the  king  nor  Guise  scrupled 
to  go  to  the  utmost  length  of  repression.  The  first 
victim  was  the  illustrious  Admiral  Coligny,  who 
was  assassinated  in  his  bed-chamber  that  awful 
night.  His  blood  was  the  signal  for  a general 
slaughter.  The  Catholic  populace,  high  and  low, 
was  seized  with  a murderous  frenzy,  and  the 
Protestants,  taken  all  unaware,  fell  by  thousands, 
and  that  not  only  in  Paris,  but  throughout  the 
kingdom.  The  number  of  victims  could  never  be 
ascertained.  The  estimates  for  Paris  vary  from 
1,000  to  4,000  ; for  France,  from  30,000  to  100,000. 
It  was  so  terrible  as  to  be  fatal  to  the  cause  of 
Protestantism. 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  that  Prot- 
estantism made  the  most  rapid  progress  in  France. 
The  first  Protestant  church  in  Paris  was  organized  in 
1555,  and  in  the  country  at  large  there  were,  three 
years  later,  not  less  than  2,000  Protestant  places  of 


worship,  with  congregations  estimated  at  400,000, 
all  told.  Speaking  of  this  horrible  butchery,  An- 
derson says : “ In  all  parts  the  massacre  went  on. 
The  houses  of  the  Huguenots  had  been  marked 
with  white,  and  the  names  of  the  inmates  taken, 
that  none  might  escape.  Neither  age  nor  sex  was 
spared  by  the  enraged  soldiers.  The  King  himself 
took  a position  at  one  of  the  windows  of  the  Louvre, 
and  fired  upon  the  flying  Huguenots.  For  three 
days  Paris  Was  thus  given  over  to  the  rage  of  Guise 
and  his  party.” 

When,  a few  years  later,  Henry  of  Navarre,  who 
had  been  a gallant  defender  of  Protestantism  on 
many  a battlefield,  came  to  the  throne  in  1589,  as 
the  first  of  the  Bourbons,  he  thought  it  necessary, 
for  political  reasons,  to  abjure  his  Protestant  faith 
and  avow  himself  a papist.  He  tried  to  be  some- 
what lenient  to  Protestantism,  but  a blow  had  been 
struck  which  was  fatal  to  the  cause.  When  next 
the  spirit  of  reform  found  embodiment  it  was  not 
in  Evangelical  Christianity,  but  in  Voltairean  hos- 
tility to  all  religion.  The  importance  of  that  aw- 
ful night  could  not  be  overestimated,  but  for  our 
purpose  it  is  enough  to  add  that  the  first  fruits  of 
it  ripened  a century  later,  and  that  the  intervening 
period  was  preparatory  to  the  overthrow  of  mon- 
archy and  the  birth  of  Latter-day  France. 


URING  the  reigns  of 
her  two  sons,  Charles 
IX.  and  Henry  III., 
Catherine  de  Medici 
was  virtually  the  sov- 
ereign of  France,  cov- 
ering the  period  from 
the  death  of  her  hus- 
band, Henry  II.,  in  1559,  to  the  ac- 
cession of  Henry  of  Navarre,  known 

which  had  intervened  at-  ^ 
tention  had  been  directed 

slain  the  Protestants  by  HENIlY  iy. 

the  tens  of  thousands  during  the  reign  of  Charles, 
and  then,  when  her  son  Henry  III.  caine  to  the 
throne,  she  made  terrible  havoc  with  the  Catholic 


nobles  of  France.  She  seemed  to  be  especially  de- 
termined to  destroy  the  “ second  estate  ” of  the 
realm,  so  as  to  build  up  a veritable  autocracy.  The 
son  naturally  sympathized  with  this  policy.  He 
was  not,  however,  in  accord  with  her  ecclesiastical 
policy,  and  formed  an  alliance  with  the  King  of 
Navarre,  who  was  to  be  his  successor  on  the  throne 
of  France.  So  desperate  and  unscrupulous  were 
his  opponents,  the  church  party,  that  they  procured 
his  assassination.  That  brought  to  the  throne 
Henry  IV.,  a Protestant.  But  from  considerations 
of  policy  he  identified  himself  with  the  Catholic 
church,  while  granting  toleration  to  the  Protestants. 
The  conflict  between  his  real  convictions  and  his 
sense  of  expediency  had  the  result  to  make  him 
charitable  toward  all  shades  of  Christian  faith. 

Henry  IV.  was  cousin  of  his  predecessor,  and 
came  to  the  throne  by  due  course  of  heredity.  His 
predecessor’s  war  upon  the  Guises  and  other  Cath- 
olic nobles  had  prepared  the  way  for  him  to  be  pop- 
ular with  their  foes,  and  his  ehivalric  record  gave 
him  a strong  hold  upon  the  whole  nation.  lie  had 
to  fight,  however,  for  his  regal  rights.  The  condi- 
tion of  the  country  was  turbulent  in  the  extreme. 
The  battle  of  Ivry,  at  which  his  fate  was  decided, 
was  a costly  one  in  the  loss  of  life.  Ilis  personal 
bravery  invested  the  white  plume  he  wore  witli  a 
romantic  interest,  and  made  the  name  of  Navarre 


CHAPTER  X L V . 


Henry  op  Navarre — Recantation  and  Toleration— Louis  XIII.— Richelieu— Louis  XIV.— 
The  Grand  Monarchy  and  Intellectual  Progress — Persecution  and  Oppression— The 
Literati  op  that  Period — Louis  XV.  and  John  Law — Finance  and  Colonization — France 
and  the  American  War  op  Independence— The  Encyclopedia  and  the  Great  Revolu- 
tionary Writers. 


V 


(“67> 


Ale- 


* 


268 


TRIUMPH  AND  DECAY  OF  FRENCH  MONARCHY. 


so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  his  hero-worshiping  subjects 
that  even  his  final  recantation  was  forgiven  by  the 
Huguenots  them  selves.  It  was  not  until  1594  that 
he  was  absolute  and  undisputed  in  his  claim  to  the 
crown.  The  famous  Edict  of  Nantes,  guarantying 
religious  toleration,  was  issued  in  April,  1598.  His 
recantation  was  never  satisfactory  to  the  popes,  of 
whom  there  was  several  during  his  reign,  and  he  was 
on  unfriendly  terms  with  that  most  Catholic  king, 
Philip  of  Spain.  One  day  as  he  was  riding  in  his 
carriage,  a papal  fanatic,  Francis  Ravaillac,  stabbed 
him  to  the  heart.  Catholic  Europe  rejoiced  in  the 
completion  of  the  bloody  work  begun  by  the  assas- 
sination of  his  immediate  predecessor. 

The  reign  of  his  son,  Louis  XIII.,  extended  over 
a period  of  thirty-three  years  (1610-1643).  At  first 
he  was  a mere  child  under  the  control  of  his  mother, 
Mary  de  Medici,  a woman  as  weak  as  her  kin  Cath- 
erine had  been  cruel.  She 
in  turn,  was  controlled  by 
another  Italian  woman,  a 
lady  of  her  court,  who  ad- 
vanced her  husband  to 
: the  highest  rank.  The 


Leonora 


tutelage 
the  king- 
age.  In 


real  ruler  was 
Consini.  The 
continued  after 
Mary  de  Medici.  Came  of  legal 

1617  this  state  of  affairs  was  terminated  by  the  as- 
sassination of  Consini,  the  execution  for  sorcery  of 
his  strong-minded  wife,  and  the  brief  banishment 
from  court  of  the  queen-mother. 

About  this  time  the  august  figure  of  Cardinal 

Richelieu  appear- 
ed upon  the  stage 
of  political  action. 
As  a provincial 
bishop  he  had  writ- 
ten some  extremely 
dull  books,  mostly 
against  the  Prot- 
estants. He  had  a 
genius  for  govern- 
ment, not  for  lit- 
erature. Invested 
with  the  cardinal’s 
hat,  lie  came  to 
court  as  the  friend  of  the  queen-mother,  but  very 
soon  he  developed  into  the  master  spirit  of  the  gov- 


RICHELIEU. 


ernment,  and  swayed  the  destinies  of  France  with  a 
more  absolute  hand  than  Catherine  de  Medici.  His 
aim  through  life  was  threefold  : to  crush  Protestant- 
ism, the  nobility  and  Austria.  He  never  for  a mo- 
ment lost  sight  of  either  object,  and  pursued  his 
purpose  with  a genius  which  has  given  his  name  im- 
mortal luster.  He  seemed,  viewed  from  the  stand- 
point of  passing  events,  to  vacillate.  He  varied  his 
policy,  now  helping  the  Protestants  in  the  Thirty- 
Years  War,  then  putting  down  their  sympathizers 
at  home,  and  still  again  bending  all  his  energies  to 
cripple  the  nobility,  irrespective  of  religion.  His 
eventful  life  terminated  in  1642,  success  having 
crowned  his  triple  ambition  to  a very  large  extent, 
especially  at  home. 

The  weak  Louis  XIII.  did  not  long  survive  his 
great  prime  minister.  Brave  in  war,  but  in  peace 
the  mere  tool  of  Richelieu,  he  gave  place  the  year 
following  the  death  of  that  illustrious  statesman  to 
Louis  XIV.,  called  Louis  the  Grand,  in  whom  the 
imperial  policy  of  the  cardinal  found  its  fullest  em- 
bodiment, and  by  whom  the  way  was  quite  fully 
prepared  for  the  horrors  which  came  during  the 
reign  of  his  grandson,  Louis  XVI.  The  Grand 
Monarch  wore  the  crown  from  1643  to  1715.  The 
first  years  of  his  reign  were  his  only  in  name.  It 
was  not  until  1661,  when  he  was  twenty-two  years 
of  age,  that  he  assumed  the  actual  control  of  affairs. 
Cardinal  Mazarin 
succeeded  Cardi- 
nal Richelieu,  and 
he  continued  the 
policy  of  his  pred- 
ecessor, and  ren- 
dered his  work 
complete.  When 
he  died,  early  in 
1661,  everything 
was  ready  for  au- 
tocracy, and  Louis 

XIV.  was  the  ideal  mazarin. 

autocrat.  His  motto  was  “ The  king  is  the  state.” 
The  feudal  barons  had  disappeared  or  been  reduced 
to  political  nonentity.  Lords  were  mere  courtiers 
and  pensioners.  Under  Richelieu  and  Mazarin  the 
crown  had  become  the  government  to  the  fullest 
possible  extent,  only  the  real  wearer  wore  also  the 
red  hat  of  a cardinal.  But  under  the  new  king, 
nowfullv  arrived  at  manhood,  the  real  and  the  seem- 


r 


TRIUMPH  AND  DECAY  OF  FRENCH  MONARCHY. 


269 


ing  agreed.  The  debased  aud  corrupt  nobility  ac- 
cepted the  situation  bheerfully,  well  pleased  to  spend 
their  days  luxuriously  basking  in  the  sunlight  of 
court  favors.  The  king  had  for  his  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  M.  Colbert,  one  of  the  greatest  of  all 
the  financiers  of  the  world,  and  under  his  adminis- 
tration of  revenue  matters  the  royal  coffers  were 
well  filled  ; the  times  were  good,  so  far  as  concerned 
the  court  and  its  retinue.  France  was  the  foremost 
nation  in  Europe.  The  other  courts  aped  the 
splendor  which  characterized  the  Grand  Monarchy 


had  its  dark  side.  The  Edict  of  Nantes  was  revok- 
ed in  an  evil  hour,  and  in  consequence  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  Huguenots,  many  of  them  skilled  arti- 
sans, lied.  They  were  gladly  received  in  Protestant 
countries,  and  they  took  their  profitable  industries 
with  them.  That  monstrous  mistake  of  the  Mag- 
nificent King  was  of  incalculable  benefit  to  Eng- 
land and  loss  to  France.  Then,  too,  he  fancied  he 
could  regulate  the  affairs  of  all  Europe  and  em- 
broiled his  country  in  a war  which  brought  almost 
the  entire  military  force  of  the  continent,  including 


BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  THE  PALACE  OF  VERSAILLES,  THE  RESIDENCE  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 


French  became  the  court  language  of  the  continent. 

In  intellectual  jmrsuits  the  French  made  greal 
strides  during  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
and  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Mon- 
taigne wrote  his  immortal  essays,  and  Descartes  his 
still  greater  work  on  philosophy.  Brilliant  dram- 
atists arose.  The  French  language  was  brought  to 
its  present  state  of  philological  perfection.  Archi- 
tecture flourished.  Internal  improvements  of  great 
importance  were  made.  The  land  was  cultivated 
intelligently  and  profitably.  The  nation  prospered 
in  war  and  in  peace.  The  golden  age  of  royalty  had 
come,  and  to  all  appearance  had  come  to  stay.  The 
glory  of  Versailles  was  world-wide.  Even  remote 
Siam  was  dazzled  by  its  splendor.  But  the  picture 


Great  Britain,  into  alliance  against  the  French.  It 
was  this  coalition  which  brought  out  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough  and  secured  for  England  the  “ glori- 
ous victory”  of  Blenheim.  Terrible  was  the  slaugh- 
ter of  the  French.  It  was  Waterloo  on  a small 
scale,  so  far  as  glory  and  carnage  were  concerned, 
but  peace  did  not  come  until  nine  years  later.  Blen- 
heim was  fought  in  1704.  The  long  and  desolating 
series  of  wars  waged  by  Louis  XIV.  resulted  in  some 
substantial  gains  to  France,  but  involved  the  masses 
of  the  people  in  most  extreme  misery. 

Literature  can  boast  some  illustrious  names  dur- 
ing this  reign.  The  sweet-souled  Fenelon  and  the 
eloquent  Bossuet  were  the  glory  of  the  church.  The 
disquisitions  of  Fenelon  upon  spiritual  life  are  in- 


O S> 


270  TRIUMPH  AND  DECAY  OF  FRENCH  MONARCHY. 


stinct  with  immortality.  Pascal  with  his  abrupt 
and  profoundly  suggestive  genius,  belonged  to  that 
period.  So  did  the  genial  and  lively  La  Fontaine, 
the  brilliant  and  creative  Racine,  Moliere,  La 
Bruyere  and  Boileau.  Great  ar- 
tists flourished,  Lebrun,  Regnard, 

Mignard  and  de  Sevigne  ; , also 
those  great  architects,  Perrault 
and  Mansard,  who  constructed 
the  Louvre  and  Versailles.  The 
French  Academy  had  been  found- 
ed in  Richelieu’s  day,  but  many 
academies  of  great  advantage  to 
the  cause  of  intellectual  progress 
flourished. 

All  things  have  an  end.  In  1715, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  hav- 
ing reigned  seventy-two  years, 
this  ideal  of  a despot,  this  Louis 
XIV.  in  whom  all  the  faults  and 
blight  of  absolutism  found  their 
fullest  expression,  died,  worn  out 
by  vice  and  the  cares  of  state. 

France  was  on  the  verge  of  an- 
archy. Ambition  had  been  sated. 

There  was  no  nation  so  high  in 
the  scales  of  national  glory,  none 
so  low  in  the  scale  of  happiness 
and  real  prosperity.  The  people 
had  been  sacrificed  to  the  extrav- 
agance of  the  court,  and  the 
court  had  experienced  the  vanity 
and  vexation  of  such  ineffable 
meanness.  The  magnificent  sov- 
ereign outlived  the  popularity 
won  by  his  grandeur.  As  the 
funeral  train  moved  through  the 
streets  the  people  indulged  in 
shouts  of  joy, — the  shadow  cast 
before  by  that  great  coming  event, 
the  French  Revolution. 

The  new  king,  Louis  XV.,  was 
an  infant  when  he  came  to  the  throne.  The  regency 
was  intrusted  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  until  his  death 
in  1723.  He  was  a debauchee  of  fairly  average  abil- 
ity and  character.  The  only  thing  to  make  his  rule 
memorable  was  the  encouragement  he  gave  to  the 
wild  scheme  of  speculation  originated  and  pushed  by 
John  Law,  known  as  the  “Mississippi  Bubble.”  Law 


saw  the  possibilities  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and 
the  advantages  of  paper  money.  Born  in  Edin- 
burgh, of  humble  parents,  he  laid  his  plans 
before  more  than  one  court.  Louis  XIV.  had  been 
deaf  to  his  seductions,  but  the 
Regent  was  captivated.  A bank 
of  circulation  and  deposit  was 
organized.  Paper  money  was  so 
easily  made  and  popular  withal 
that  the  government  went  into 
the  business  on  what  is  now  called 
the  fiat  plan.  An  era  of  wild 
speculation  ensued.  Everybody 
was  getting  rich.  Times  were 
flush.  Of  course  this  sort  of 
thing  was  of  short  duration.  The 
banks  failed,  the  paper  money 
lost  its  purchasing  power,  and 
the  whole  scheme  proved  a bub- 
ble. The  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
was  vastly  more  valuable  than 
even  Law  had  conceived,  but  it 
was  not  available  until  many 
years  later.  Indeed,  it  may  be 
said  that  John  Law  was  ahead  of 
his  times.  This  country  has  abun- 
dantly demonstrated  the  wealth 
of  that  valley  not  only,  but  the 
feasibility  of  a currency  based  on 
the  good  faith  of  the  government, 
as  well  as  the  bank-note  system. 
The  disasters  of  the  Law  craze 
contributed  largely  to  the  general 
discontent  with  the  existing  order 
of  things. 

There  were  some  very  able 
financiers  during  this  period  of 
vergence  upon  revolution.  The 
extravagance  of  Madame  Pom- 
padour and  other  royal  favorites, 
taxed  to  the  utmost  the  ingenuity 
of  those  having  in  charge  the 
royal  exchequer.  It  required  genius  of  a high  order 
to  meet  the  public  and  private  demands  upon  the 
king’s  purse.  The  people  were  burdened  with  ex- 
cessive taxation. 

During  this  period  much  effort  was  made  to  build 
up  a New  France.  In  India  the  French  had  a rea- 
sonable hope  of  rivaling  England,  and  in  America 


<2. 


TRIUMPH  AND  DECAY  OF  FRENCH  MONARCHY. 


they  were  well  established  and  started  in  the  execu- 
tion of  truly  imperial  plans.  From  Quebec  to  New 
Orleans  extended  the  country  claimed  by  France. 
Brave  and  self-denying  men,  like  LaSalle,  Cham- 
plain and  Marquette,  wrought  a great  work  in  the 
new  world.  But  the  court  was  too  corrupt  to  afford 
proper  support,  and  nothing  of  a permanent  nature 
remains  as  the  fruit  of  all  such  sowing,  except  the 
French  portion  of  Canada.  In  that  portion  of  the 
British  Empire  may  be  found  a people  who  repre- 
sent the  Ante-Revolutionary  French.  Their  ances- 
tors left  the  old  country 
before  the  new  era,  and 
their  descendants  suggest 
what  France  would  have 
been  had  the  Bourbons  and 
Bourbonism  remained  reg- 
nant in  the  French  nation. 

Louis  XV.  died  May  10, 

1774,  sixty-three  years  of 
age.  His  long  reign,  his  ir- 
regularities and  arrogance 
of  power,  had  completed  the 
destruction  of  the  mon- 
archy. Its  actual  fall  was 
now  only  a question  of  time. 

His  successor,  Louis  XVI., 
and  his  well  beloved  queen, 

Marie  Antoinette,  were  the 
victims  of  a series  of  wrongs 
for  which  they  were  not  re- 
sponsible. They  garnered 
the  harvest  of  Bourbon 
crimes.  This  country  owes  him  much,  for  it  was 
during  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  that  France  was 
the  very  efficient,  if  somewhat  secret,  ally  of  the 
United  States  in  the  war  of  Independence.  Lafay- 
ette was  not  the  only  eminent  Frenchman  of  his 
day  who  succored  us  in  time  of  need.  The  purse 
of  France  was  liberally  opened  to  us,  and  the  funds 
supplied  were  quite  as  useful  as  the  sword  of  Lafay- 
ette and  his  brave  associates.  Enmity  to  England 
was  not  by  any  means  the  only  incentive  to  French 
sympathy  with  America.  The  spirit  of  freedom 
was  moving  among  the  dry  bones  of  France,  and  in- 
tense interest  was  felt  in  the  cause  of  American 
liberty  on  that  account.  Beyond  a doubt  the  suc- 


271 


cess  of  the  thirteen  rebellious  colonies,  followed  as 
it  was  by  the  establishment  of  a genuine  republic, 
contributed  largely  to  the  revolutionary  cause.  The 
feasibility  of  self-government  on  a large  scale  was 
being  demonstrated,  and  operated  as  a powerful 
irritant  and  stimulant. 

It  is  now  time  to  call  attention  to  the  intellectual 
development  of  France  during  this  latter  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  The  post  of  honor  should 
be  assigned  to  that  coterie  of  learned  and  progres- 
sive men  who  produced  the  Encyclopedia.  D’Alem- 
bert and  Diderot  were 
the  leaders.  Voltaire  con- 
tributed to  it,  but  had 
his  individual  mission.  The 
object  of  that  great  literary 
work  was  the  emancipation 
of  thought  by  the  dissemin- 
ation of  knowledge.  It  was 
the  work  of  men  freed  from 
the  fetters  of  old  opinions, 
the  manacles  of  medieval 
superstition.  It  was  a great 
pioneer,  a proud  monument 
of  modern  intelligence  and 
mental  liberty.  Besides  this 
Encyclopedia  three  names 
should  here  be  recorded, 
Voltaire,  Rousseau  and  Buf- 
fon.  The  latter  was  a great 
naturalist,  and  as  sucli  did 
much  to  usher  in  the  pres- 
ent day  of  scientific  obser- 
vation and  classification.  Rousseau’s  was  a strangely 
inconsistent  and  unlovely  character,  but  he  had  a 
genius  for  the  ideal,  and  a passion  for  the  rights  of 
man.  He  set  forth  the  beauties  and  claims  of  liberty 
with  a persuasiveness  which  made  his  pen  one  of  the 
more  potent  factors  of  his  time.  But  the  supreme 
name  in  the  list  of  pioneers  of  the  Revolution  is 
that  of  Voltaire.  He  ranks  as  the  great  enemy  of 
the  Christian  church,  but  the  church  which  he  as- 
sailed, be  it  remembered,  was  very  different  from 
the  Christianity  of  the  present  time,  and  he  himself 
was  a believer  in  a personal  Deity  and  the  future  life. 
Voltaire,  more  than  any  other  man,  was  the  father 
of  the  French  Revolution. 


Li 


CHAPTER  X L V I. 

Triumph  op  French  Monarchy — The  States-General — The  Third  Estate — National  Assem- 
bly — The  Bastile — The  Emigrants — Flight  of  the  Royal  Family — Royalty  in  Prison — 
The  Legislative  Assembly — Change  of  the  Calendar — The  Jacobins — Trial  and  Execu- 
tion of  the  King — The  Girondists  and  Thomas  Paine — The  Reign  of  Terror — The 
Directory — St.  Bartholomew  Avenged — Napoleon  and  the  Revolution — Notable  Char- 
acters of  the  Revolutionary  Period:  Mirabeau,  Marie  Antoinette,  Charlotte  Corday, 
Marat,  Danton  and  Robespierre—  The  Revolution  and  Napoleon. 


XIII.  wore  the 


HE  triumph  of  French 
monarchy  over  both  feud- 
alism and  the  rights  of  the 
people  reached  its  highest 
culmination  in  the  dis- 
appearance from  the  poli- 
tics of  the  country  of  the 
States-General,  or  parliament  of 
France.  The  king  was  then  not 
only  supreme, but  single  in  author- 
ity, sharing  nothing  with  any 
class,  order  or  institution  in  the 
land.  The  reappearance  of  the 
States-General,  the  assembling 
once  more  of  that  body,  was  a no 
less  distinctive  recognition  of  the 
decay  of  absolutism.  The  date  of 
the  former  was  1644,  while  Louis 
crown ; the  date  of  the  latter  was 


1787,  when  Louis  XVI.  began  to  feel  the  need  of 
props  for  the  throne.  That  period,  143  years,  was 
one  of  splendid  misery,  of  gilded  and  gorgeous  in- 
famy. 

The  States-General  consisted  of  three  estates,  as 
they  are  generally  designated,  the  nobility,  the  cler- 
gy and  representatives  of  the  citizens.  The  right, 


however,  of  the  third  estate  to  sit  with  the  first  and 
second  estates  was  sharply  contested.  The  former 
stood  for  the  bourgeois,  or  towns-folk,  whose  import- 
ance was  a gradual  growth. 

Louis  XVI.  found  that  he  had  evoked  a danger- 
ous power,  resorted  to  a perilous  expedient.  The 
first  and  second  estates  were  tractable  enough,  but 
the  popular  or  bourgeois  element  had  acquired 
a self-poise  and  independence  which  alarmed  his 
majesty.  Hardly  had  this  parliament  been  convened 
before  a royal  decree  was  issued  for  its  dissolution. 
But  the  sovereign  was  not  sovereign.  When  the 
order  came,  Mirabeau,  the  Patrick  Henry  of  the 
French  Revolution,  boldly  refused  to  obey  the  man- 
date. He  belonged  to  and  spoke  for  the  third  es- 
tate. The  attempt  was  then  made  to  disperse  the 
body  by  the  bayonet,  but  that  plan  utterly  failed. 
Behind  the  bayonets  were  soldiers  who  were  patriots, 
and  they  refused  to  obey  orders.  So  far  from 
breaking  up  the  States-General,  they  formed  a mili- 
tia called  the  X ational  Guards.  At  the  head  of  this 
noble  military  body  was  the  grand  Marquis  Gilbert 
de  Lafayette,  whose  services  in  behalf  of  American 
liberty  had  endeared  him  to  the  friends  of  freedom 
in  his  own  land.  The  organization  had  for  its 
avowed  purpose  the  protection  of  the  National 


“FT 


•ns- 


(272) 


MEETING  OF  THE  STATES-GENERAL. 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 


Assembly,  the  new  and  improved  name  assumed 
by  the  undismayed  members  of  the  States-General. 

From  States-Gen- 
eral to  National  As- 
sembly was  a step  of 
incalculable  import- 
ance. It  was  with 
great  reluctance  that 
the  clergy  and  nobil- 
ity joined  the  new 
body.  The  king  tried 
most  assiduously  to 
maintain  the  royal 
prerogative.  All  sorts 
of  petty  devices  were 
resorted  to,  but  all  to 
lafayette.  no  purpose.  Mirabeau 

and  his  compatriots  resolved  to  secure  for  their 
country  constitutional 


government,  and  they 
were  not  to  be  baffled. 

The  spirit  of  high  resolve 
and  heroic  patriotism 
was  absolutely  dauntless. 

The  first  meeting  of 
the  National  Assembly 
was  held  May  5,  1789, 
and  it  was  on  the  14th  of 
the  following  July,  that 
the  Bastile  fell,  making 
a day  forever  fresh  in 
the  memory  of  every 
Frenchman.  July  Four- 
teenth is  to  France  much 
what  July  Fourth  is  to 
America.  The  Bastile  was  something  more  than 
an  ancient  jail,  as  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence was  something  more  than  a disavowal  of 
allegiance  to  the  British  Crown.  That  prison  was 
a body  animated  by  the  spirit  of  despotism  in  its 
most  hideous  form.  Built  by  Charles  V.,  in  1370,  it 
had  been  repaired,  enlarged  and  made  increasingly 
odious  by  subsequent  monarehs.  It  was  not  a prison 
for  criminals,  but  for  political  offenders,  uncon- 
victed, but  obnoxious  to  royalty,  or  to  some  court  fa- 
vorite. The  only  formula  used  in  condemning  one 
to  the  Bastile  was  the  lettre  de  cachet.  The  pris- 
oner was  left  in  ignorance  of  the  cause  or  duration 
of  his  punishment,  and  not  allowed  to  communi- 


cate with  friends.  Voltaire  was  once  incarcerated 
there.  On  the  fourteenth  of  July  the  populace  lit- 
erally leveled  the  massive  building  to  the  ground, 
killed  the  governor,  De  Launay,  and  liberated  the 
prisoners.  The  real  leaders  of  the  mob  were  women, 
respectable  but  plebeian.  Paris,  it  may  be  remarked, 
is  notable  for  the  prominence  of  its  women  both  in 
business  and  politics.  The  keys  of  the  Bastile  were 
sent  to  George  Washington,  and  by  him  presented  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  to  be  kept 
among  the  more  treasured  archives  at  the  capital 
of  the  republic  which  French  valor  and  gold  had 
done  so  much  to  establish. 

The  destruction  of  the  Bastile  was  so  swift  and 
complete  that  it  terrified  the  nobility.  Many  of 
them  fled  incontinently  from  the  country,  and  be- 
came refugees  at  foreign  courts.  They  were  called 
and  are  known  in  history  as  emigres,  or  emigrants. 

They  were  very  active 
throughout  the  Revolu- 
tionary period,  plotting 
for  the  defeat  of  liberty 
and  the  reestablishment 
of  despotism. 

The  king  and  queen 
were  very  much  alarmed 
by  the  great  uprising. 
They  could  not  be  wholly 
blind  to  the  significance 
of  that  destruction.  It 
certainly  boded  no  good 
to  monarchy.  The  royal 
family  retired  to  Ver- 
sailles, in  the  hope  of 
being  secure  from  popu- 
lar indignation  without  an  abandonment  of  the 
throne.  It  was  a half-way  measure  and  ill-advised. 
Presently  a vast  mob,  with  fishwomen  and  the  like 
at  the  front,  marched  thither.  Emboldened  by  the 
royal  flight  and  aggravated  by  the  journey,  they 
would  have  slain  the  king  and  queen  had  it  not  been 
for  the  kindly  and  brave  intervention  of  Lafayette. 
He  shielded  the  king  and  his  household,  at  the  same 
time  inducing  them  to  return  to  Paris.  He  acted 
in  the  capacity  of  a peacemaker  between  the  mob 
and  the  crown. 

The  king  was  now  a prisoner  in  his  own  palace, 
virtually,  and  the  populace  had  absolute  authority. 
The  leveling  process  begun  at  the  fall  of  the  Bastile 


7T 


o 


( A 

G>  ^ 

^ G) 

u. 

G\ 

1 

276  THE  FRENCH 

REVOLUTION. 

1° 

t 

was  rapidly  carried  to  an  unprecedented  length. 

of  “ the  year  of  our  Lord.”  common  to  all  Chris- 

Titles  were  abolished.  The  king  himself  was  Citi- 

tendom,  France  was  to  measure  time  by  distance 

zen  Louis  Capet,  and  the  queen  merely  a citizeness. 

from  the  culminating  point  of  the  French  Revolu- 

They  were  not  even  free,  but  rather  prisoners  in  the 

tion.  And  in  place  of  weeks  of  seven  days  were 

palace  of  the  Tuilleries. 

established  periods  of  ten  days.  The  folly  and 

In  an  evil  moment  the  royal  couple  tried  to  es- 

inconvenience  of  a provincial,  in  place  of  a 

cape,  and  join  the  Emigrants  beyond  the  border. 

cosmopolitan  calendar,  seemed  to  be  quite  over- 

They  were  foiled.  Recaptured  and  in  confinement, 

looked  in  a mad  frenzy  to  break  down  the  associa- 

their  condition  was  pitiable  in  the  extreme.  Just 

tions  of  the  Christian  era  with  the  new  order  of 

one  year  after  the  Bastile  fell,  and  in  commemora- 

things. 

tion  of  its  fall,  the  people  adopted  a Constitution. 

The  Republican  government  was  fatally  deficient 

That  was  a most  important  step  toward  freedom, 

in  conservatism,  which  is  as  necessary  in  reforma- 

and  would  have  been  even  if  the  constitution  had 

tion  as  radicalism. 

been  despotic  in  character.  The  bare  fact  that  the 

The  Anti-Christian  and  utterly  revolutionary 

people  had  secured  an  organic  law  was  of  the  most 

party  was  called  Jacobins.  The  name  applies,  pri- 

serious  moment.  That  constitution  compelled  the 

marily,  to  a political  society  founded  in  1789  and 

king  to  swear  fealty  to  it.  His  attempted  flight  was 

superseded  in  1794.  Carlyle  calls  them  “Lords  of 

regarded  as  a violation  of  his  oath.  For  that  un- 

the  Articles,”  adding,  “ they  originate  debates  for 

availing  endeavor  to  flee,  the  royal  household  were 

the  legislative ; discuss  peace  and  war ; settle  be- 

imprisoned  in  a lonely  castle.  I11  the  meanwhile 

forehand  what  the  legislative  is  to  do.”  This  society. 

the  Emigrants  had  not  been  idle.  They  sought  to 

or  club,  had  its  branches  in  all  parts  of  France.  At 

arouse  the  fears  and  enlist  the  sympathies  of  other 

first  Lafayette  and  other  moderate  republicans  be- 

European  monarchs  and  monarchists.  Their  ef- 

longed  to  it,  but  later  it  fell  under  the  influence  of 

forts  were  by  no  means  fruitless.  Soon  an  army  of 

Robespierre  and  Danton.  Mirabeau  died  early  in 

no  mean  dimensions  marched  into  France  towards 

the  revolution ; Lafayette  was  left  behind  in  the 

Paris,  sent  thither  from  Austria  and  Prussia  both. 

march  of  radicalism,  and  a reign  of  terror  was  in- 

The  object  of  these  military  operations  was  to  put 

augurated.  From  the  declaration  of  the  Republic 

an  end  to  the  Revolution.  But  that  only  made  a 

to  the  fall  of  Robespierre,  the  last  of  the  Jacobins, 

bad  matter  worse  for  the  king  and  his  friends.  The 

was  less  than  two  years,  but  in  that  brief  time  was 

revolutionists  were  abundantly  able  to  repel  inva- 

wrought  a work  which  shocked  the  humane  sensi- 

sion  and  suppress  discontent. 

bilities  of  the  world  and  has  never  ceased  to  be  a 

The  National  Assembly  was  not  quite  democratic 

reproach  to  the  cause  of  self-government. 

enough  to  suit  the  popular  demand,  and  the  more 

The  king,  “ Citizen  Louis  Capet,”  was  brought  to 

truly  representative  body,  the  Legislative  Assembly, 

trial  for  complicity  with  the  Emigrants  in  conspiracy 

took  its  place  for  a short  time.  On  the  twentieth 

against  the  republic,  December  11,  1792.  Upon 

of  September,  1792,  that  too  gave  place  to  the  still 

his  trial  Thomas  Paine,  who  had  rendered  the 

more  democratic  National  Convention,  as  it  was 

United  States  incalculable  service  as  a journalist 

called.  The  latter  decreed  the  total  and  perpetual 

during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  who  was  then  a 

abolition  of  royalty  in  France  and  the  permanent 

member  of  the  National  Convention,  made  a pow- 

establishment  of  a republican  form  of  government. 

erful  argument  in  defense  of  the  king,  or  rather,  in 

The  French  Republic  began  by  making  an  un- 

favor  of  mitigating  his  punishment  to  banishment 

wise  change  in  the  calendar.  Unmindful  of  the  im- 

to  America.  But  the  sentence  of  death  was  passed 

portance  of  uniformity  among  all  civilized  nations 

upon  him,  and  he  was  guillotined  January  21,  1793. 

in  the  measurement  of  time,  the  revolutionists  pro- 

The  queen  shared  his  fate,  after  a delay  of  a few 

posed  to  make  a radical  alteration.  Not  only  was 

months.  The  heir  to  the  crown,  the  Dauphin,  died 

time  to  be  measured  by  days  and  months  bearing 

in  prison  when  about  nine  years  of  age,  the  victim 

new  names  (in  itself  of  trivial  consequence),  but  the 

of  cruel  treatment. 

establishment  of  the  Republic  was  to  supersede  the 

The  opposers  of  these  extreme  measures  were 

Q 

birth  of  Jesus  Christ  for  dating  purposes.  Instead 

called  Girondists.  A great  may  of  them  were 

t 

' f 

6 ^ ^ © 

THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 


:77 


guillotined  for  their  moderation.  Mr.  Paine,  who 
belonged  to  that  party,  owed  his  escape  from  death 
to  a fortunate  accident  and  the  tardy  intervention 
of  the  United  States.  The  accident  referred  to 
was  this : his  door  was  chalk-marked  for  execution, 
as  was  supposed,  but  in  reality  the  mark  was  on  the 
inside  of  the  door  of  the  adjoining  cell,  and  when 
both  doors  were  closed  no  sign  of  death  was  vis- 
ible. That  blunder,  trivial  in  itself,  saved  the  life 
of  Thomas  Paine,  and  it  was  during  his  imprison- 
ment, while  waiting  for  death,  that  he  wrote  his 
treatise  on  religion,  called  “ The  Age  of  Reason.” 
Had  it  not  been  for  that  chalk-mark  blunder  the 
most  notable  attack  on  the  Christian  religion  ever 
penned  in  the  English  language,  before  the  present 
generation,  would  never  have  been  written.  Him- 
self an  extreme,  if  not  a violent  radical,  in  religion 
and  politics,  Paine  was  quite  too  conservative  to 
suit  the  leaders  of  the  French  Revolution. 

The  Reign  of  Terror  stands  out  in  history  as  a 
horrid  nightmare.  For  months  Paris  and  France 
at  large  seemed  wholly  given  up  to  the  ravages  of 
monstrous  cruelty.  In  the  name  of  freedom,  equal- 
ty  and  fraternity  the  most  outrageous  and  revolting 
crimes  were  perpetrated.  The  guillotine  was  kept  con- 
stantly busy  and  bloody.  It  was  not  alone  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Revolution  who  were  brought  to  the  block. 
The  mad  frenzy  of  the  period  decimated  the  ranks 
of  the  revolutionists  themselves.  Many  were  the 
victims  of  their  own  policy.  The  most  extreme 
radical  of  them  all,  Hebert,  was  brought  to  the  guil- 
lotine by  Robespierre  on  the  twenty-fourth  of 
March,  1794,  and  on  the  fifth  of  the  next  month 
Danton  shared  his  fate.  July  28th  of  the  same 
year  Robespierre  himself  was  executed,  thus  com- 
pleting the  circle  and  carrying  the  policy  of  terror  to 
its  logical  sequence.  The  Convention  was  no  longer 
put  in  the  background  by  the  leaders  of  the  Ja- 
cobins. 

Early  in  the  following  year  the  National  Conven- 
tion adopted  a new  constitution,  and  under  that 
organic  law  the  executive  authority  of  the  govern- 
ment was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a Directory,  con- 
sisting of  five  members.  The  intraetables  resisted 
this  substitution  of  regular  authority  for  anarchical 
cruelty,  and  their  resistance  brought  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  .to  the  front  for  the  first  time,  who  quelled 
the  Parisian  mob  October  5,  1795.  From  that  time 
on,  other  factors  of  more  or  less  prominence 


entered  into  the  history  of  France,  besides  the 
Revolution.  The  Reign  of  Terror  was  over,  but 
revolutionary  ideas  remained,  and  have  never 
ceased  to  be  fruitful  of  great  and  greatly  benefi- 
cent results. 

It  is  due  to  the  truth  of  history  to  add  that  the 
honors  of  the  Jacobin  period  were  really  insignifi- 
cant as  compared  with  that  one  horror,  the  Massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew  in  1572.  More  blood  was  shed 
that  one  night  than  during  all  the  period  from  the 
fall  of  the  Bastile  to  the  establishment  of  the  Di- 
rectory. After  two  centuries  the  supreme  crime 
of  French  history  was  avenged. 

The  wars  of  Napoleon  form  a separate  chapter. 
The  desperate  resolution  of  the  monarchical  gov- 
ernments of  Europe  t<?  prevent  the  establishment  of 
a permanent  republic  in  France  furnished  that 
“ grey-eyed  man  of  destiny  ” the  opportunity  to  dis- 
tinguish himself,  and  out  of  the  necessities  of  war 
erect  an  empire,  transient,  indeed,  but  none  the  less 
imperial.  The  inevitable  drift  of  Avar  is  toward  abso- 
lutism. The  executive  functions  of  government  Avere 
intrusted  to  a Directory  Avliich  felt  jealousy  of  Na- 
poleon’s rising  power.  But  between  the  reestablish- 
ment of  the  old  monarchy  and  the  peril  of  a new 
dynasty  there  Avas  no  choice  but  to  give  loose  rein 
to  “ the  man  -on  horseback.”  Napoleon’s  first  po- 
litical office  Avas  that  of  First  Consul,  which  title 
Avas  bestowed  upon  him  after  the  Italian  and  Egyp- 
tian campaigns.  That  Avas  just  as  the  eighteenth 
century  Avas  closing.  The  Directory  gave  place  to 
three  Consuls,  the  Corsican  being  the  first.  The 
other  two  were  little  more  than  figure-heads. 

With  the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  Re- 
public of  France  ceased  to  exist,  in  point  of  fact,  as 
a vital  force,  and  notwithstanding  a feAv  spasmodic 
movements,  Avas  dormant  for  seventy  years.  The 
empire  followed  the  consulate.  After  Marengo  and 
Ilohenlinden  Napoleon  Avas  made  Consul  for  life 
Avith  poAver  to  name  his  successor.  That  Avas  the 
substance  of  imperialism.  The  full  recognition  of 
it  soon  folloAved.  In  1804  he  Avas  elected  Emperor, 
not  of  France,  but  of  the  French,  a distinction  with 
some  difference.  The  Grand  Louis  had  claimed 
France  as  a family  estate ; the  greater  Bonaparte 
accepted  its  government  as  the  gift  of  the  people. 
Pope  Leo  had  crowned  Charlemagne  at  Rome ; Na- 
poleon, after  a lapse  of  many  centuries,  summoned 
his  successor,  Pius  VII.,  to  Paris  to  give  solemnity 


> 


-£  A 


278 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 


and  eclat  to  his  coronation  at  Notre  Dame.  The 
imposing  ceremony  occurred  December  2,  1804.  As 
Emperor  he  henceforth  waged  war,  made  laws  and 
carved  out  kingdoms.  His  achievements  as  a ruler 
were  great,  but  for  the  most  part  they  belong  to  the 
Consular  period  of  his  rule.  The  Code  Napoleon  is 
still  a grand  monument  of  legal  wisdom  and  ad- 
ministrative skill.  Although  bearing  his  name,  his 
only  credit  is  that  he  allowed  the  highest  political 
wisdom  of  the  French  Revolution  to  crystalize.  That 
was  a great  deal,  and  for 
it  he  deserves  liberal 
gratitude.  The  Code 
Napoleon  conserved  the 
best  results  of  what,  with 
all  its  faults,  was  the 
grandest  of  all  political 
uprisings,  and  whatever 
the  mutations  of  the 
government  since  then, 
the  country  has  never 
ceased  to  enjoy  the 
benefits  of  that  codifica- 
tion. Whether  king,  em- 
peror, president  or  com- 
mune has  held  sway  in 
France  during  the  pres- 
ent century,  the  common 
law  of  justice  and  the 
mechanism  of  public  af- 
fairs have  enjoyed  a 
stability  of  incalculable 
benefit.  Out  of  the  wild 
horrors  of  the  Reign  of  Terror  came  forth  a body 
of  laws,  and  a system  of  administration,  which  have 
enabled  France  to  prosper,  whatever  the  form  of 
government. 

It  remains  to  speak  more  in  detail  of  the  specially 
conspicuous  characters  of  the  revolutionary  period. 

At  the  head  of  this  list,  not  to  mention  here  Vol- 
taire, Rousseau  and  the  other  inspirers  of  the  move- 
ment, stands  Honore  Gabriel  Requetti  Mirabeau,  the 
first,  greatest  and  wisest  of  its  parliamentary  leaders. 
He  was  born  in  Provence  in  1749.  Massive,  ugly 
and  disfigured  in  person,  his  eloquence  was  of  the 
very  highest  order.  He  entered  the  last  States-Gen- 
eral  ever  assembled  as  a representative  of  the  third 
estate,  and  almost  from  the  first  became  the  leader 
of  the  popular  wing  of  that  body.  He  remained  the 


undisputed  leader  of  the  revolutionary  party  until 
his  death,  April  2,  1791.  He  was  not  a republican. 
His  theory  of  government  finds  its  expression  in  the 
limited  monarchy  of  Great  Britain  ; but  he  was  a re- 
former whose  plowshare  ran  deep  down  into  the  sub- 
soil of  despotism.  Had  the  improvements  which  he 
advocated  been  effected,  the  long  strides  toward  jus- 
tice and  liberty  which  he  recommended  been  actu- 
ally taken,  Louis  Capet  and  Marie  Antoinette  might 
have  been  saved,  and  the  Reign  of  Terror  been 

averted.  The  genius  of 
Mirabeau  has  at  last 
found  very  substantial 
embodiment,  and  the 
French  revolutionist’s 
highest  vindication  is  the 
present  republic  of 
France. 

A peculiar  interest 
attaches  to  the  melan- 
choly fate  of  Marie  An- 
toinette, fifth  daughter 
of  Maria  Theresa  of  Aus- 
tria, and  wife  of  Louis 
XVI.  A pure  and  lovely 
lady,  she  was  unfortu- 
nate in  having  a very 
haughty  manner  and 
being  a stickler  for  all 
court  etiquette.  She  was 
never  popular  at  court. 
Her  virtues  and  her  aus- 
terity combined  to  make 
her  disliked.  When  the  revolution  began  she  was  es- 
pecially unpopular  with 
courtiers  and  the  people. 

Under  the  trials  and  af- 
flictions of  her  royal  hus- 
band, and  their  ill-starred 
children,  she  developed 
a heroism  which  has 
made  her  an  object  of 
adoration  in  the  temple 
of  posthumous  fame. 

She  shared  the  calam- 
ities of  the  Bourbons  in 
honor  upon  the  house  of  the  Hapsburgs.  After 
long  imprisonment  she  was  brought  before  the  Rev- 
olutionary Tribunal  October  13,  1793,  where  she 


Marie  Antoinette. 

way  to  reflect 


high 


3 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 


k 


279 


defended  herself  with  sublime  indignation  and  elo- 
quence. But  all  to  no  purpose.  On  the  third  day 
following  she  was  borne  to  the  scaffold.  The  ride 
from  prison  to  the  guillotine  occupied  two  hours. 
On  either  side  of  her 
tumbril  were  rows  of 
soldiers,  and  the  streets 
were  filled  with  a jeering 
mob.  The  populace  saw 
in  her  simply  a con- 
spicuous representative 
of  immemorial  despot- 
ism and  spoliation. 

The  first  place  in  the 
roll  of  dishonor,  as 
guilty  of  perverting  a 
revolution  which  was  in 
itself  sublime,  belongs  to 
Jean  Paul  Marat,  a 
native  of  Switzerland. 

A physician  by  educa- 
tion, a dwarf  in  form, 
he  became  a popular  idol 
on  account  of  the  vigor  with  which  he  assailed  with 
his  pen  the  upper  classes,  including  the  rich  and  the 
titled.  From  September  12,  1789,  to  July  14,  1793, 
Marat  conducted  a journal  which  was  the  organ  of 
the  most  extreme  Jacobinical  ideas.  Among  other 
things  he  coolly  maintained  that  the  salvation  of 
France  demanded  the  guillotining  of  270,000  per- 
sons. His  was  the  task  of  making  the  press  subser- 
vient to  the  monstrous  policy  of  Danton  and  the 
other  terror- 
ists. His  jour- 
nal, issued  un- 
der different 
names,  sup- 
plied the  oil  to 
the  lamp  of 

popular  frenzy  and  political  horrors. 

Intense  was  the  feeling  all  over 
France  against  him.  Even  Danton 
came  to  tremble  lest  he  should  be 
“ hoist  by  his  own  petard.” 

This  man  Marat  met  his  fate  at  the 
hand  of  Charlotte  Corday,  a young  lady  of  Norman- 
dy, beautiful,  pious,  intellectual  and  enthusiastic. 
She  conceived  it  to  be  her  patriotic  and  religious  duty 
to  assassinate  Marat.  Accordingly  she  came  to  Paris, 


gained  admission  to  his  house,  found  him  in  a bath, 
plunged  a knife  into  his  heart  and  calmly  awaited 
her  fate.  The  assassination  occurred  July  13,  1793. 
A few  days  later  she  was  guillotined.  Lamartine 

expressed  the  verdict  of 
history  when  he  wrote, 
“ In  beholding  her  act 
of  assassination  history 
dares  not  applaud  ; nor 
yet,  while  contemplating 
her  sublime  self-devo- 
tion, can  it  stigmatize  or 
condemn.” 

Danton  was  hardly  less 
radical  and  relentless 
than  Marat.  He  was  an 
orator  very  popular  with 
the  lower  classes  of  the 
Paris  populace.  His 
stentorian  voice  was  al- 
ways raised  for  blood 
and  vengeance.  He  fill- 
ed the  position  of  Min- 
ister of  Justice  during  the  time  when  that  meant 
chief  of  the  guillotine.  So  long  as  the  Girondists, 
or  moderate  republicans,  furnished  victims  for  the 
knife  and  block,  Danton,  Marat  and  Robespierre, 

the  triumvirate  of  terror, 
cooperated,  but  when 
the  thirst  for  blood  de- 
manded victims  from 
among  the  Jacobins 
themselves,  dissension 
was  inevitable.  Danton 
was  an  atheist,  Robes- 
pierre a deist.  The  latter 
was  indeed  hostile  to  all 
existing  and  organized 
religions,  but  he  believed 
in  a Supreme  Being,  and 
caused  Danton  to  be  exe- 
cuted for  enthroning 
Reason  as  the  God  of 
worship.  Danton  fell 
April  5,  1794. 
Robespierre,  the  last  of  the  Jacobin  leaders  to  per- 
ish in  the  furnace  of  his  own  construction,  was  a 
lawyer  of  Arras.  In  the  early  part  of  the  Revolution 
he  bore  an  inconspicuous  part.  It  was  as  the  head 


>k 


280 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 


Robespierre. 


of  the  Jacobin  club  that  be  realized  bis  ambition. 
He  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  execution  of  the 
king,  and  the  prosecution  of 
the  Girondists.  After  the 
execution  of  Danton  and  the 
assassination  of  Marat  he 
was  virtually  dictator  of 
France.  Then  it  was  that 
he  attempted  to  undo  the 
( atheistic  influence  of  Danton 
sby  a speech  in  honor  of  the 
Deity.  He  made  himself 
ridiculous  by  posing  in  the 
character  of  a pietist,  and  to 
the  laugh  raised  over  his  deism  rather  than  to  the  de- 
testation of  his  cruelties,  may  be  attributed  his  fall 
and  execution.  His  power  and  prestige  were  drowned 
in  ridicule.  When  his  arrest  was  decreed  he  tried  in 
vain  to  lift  his  voice  in  self-defense.  The  privilege  he 
had  so  often  denied  to  others  was  refused  him,  and 
the  next  day  after  he  had  been  hurried  to  prison  he 
was  guillotined.  His  name  will  forever  stand  as  a 
synonym  for  the  horrors  of  the  Reign  of  Terror.  It 
was  his  bad  preeminence  to  be  foremost  in  disgracing, 
perverting  and  retarding  what  was,  despite  all  per- 
versions, the  grandest  and  most  beneficent  revolu- 
tion the  world  ever  saw. 

In  his  history  of  the  French  Revolution,  Lamar- 
tine, speaking  of  the  period  at  which  we  have  ar- 
rived says,  “ The  Revolution  had  only  lasted  five 
years.  These  five  years  were  five  centuries  for 
France.  Never  perhaps  on  this  earth  did  any  na- 
tion ever  produce  in  so  short  a time  such  an  erup- 
tion of  ideas,  new  notions,  characters,  geniuses,  tal- 
ents, catastrophies,  crimes  and  virtues.  Men  were 
born  like  the  instantaneous  personification  of 
things  that  should  think,  speak  or  act.”  While 
there  were  turmoil  and  terror  at  home,  there  were 
brilliant  achievements  in  battle.  Napoleon  was  not 


the  only  great  hero.  Hocke,  Jourdan,  and  Moreau 
were  commanders  of  consummate  ability,  but  they 
were  not  only  eclipsed  by  the  subsequent  splendors  of 
Napoleon,  but  by  the  stupendous  intellect  of  Carnot, 
Minister  of  War,  the  Stanton  of  France.  His  work 
for  the  armies  of  France  in  those  days  can  only  be 
appreciated  by  those  who  know  something  of  the 
debt  the  United  States  owes  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

When  Napoleon  returned  from  Egypt  (1799)  the 
Directory  had  become  very  unpopular,  and  the  way 
was  prepared  for  that  final  crisis,  known  as  the 
Revolution  of  the  18th  and  19th  Brumaire.  That 
was  the  movement  which  supplanted  the  Directory 
with  the  Consulate.  The  fear  of  another  Reign  of 
Terror  occasioned  the  transition.  Napoleon  was  in 
command  of  the  troops  in  and  about  Paris,  and  enter- 
ed the  Council  Chamber  not  to  go  out  until  he  hadin 
effect  revolutionized  the  government.  The  proceed- 
ings of  that  memorable  occasion,  as  narrated  by  An- 
derson, may  well  close  this  chapter : “ He  addressed 
them  [the  Council  of  the  Ancients]  declaring  that 
the  constitution  had  been  violated,  that  it  was  not 
strong  enough  to  save  France  from  anarchy ; he 
said  that  he  had  only  accepted  the  command  of  the 
troops  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  strong  arms 
of  the  nation  to  the  support  of  the  deputies  who 
constituted  its  head,  and  ended  by  promising  to  re- 
sign his  power  as  soon  as  the  danger  was  passed. 
He  afterwaids  entered  the  hall  of  the  Five  Hundred 
with  four  grenadiers  to  make  a similar  speech,  when 
the  whole  assembly  rose  as  one  man  with  cries  of 
‘Down  with  the  Dictator  !’ and  crowded  around  him, 
one  member  even  attempting  his  life ; but  he  was 
rescued  by  fresh  arrivals  of  troops,  and  left  the  hall. 
In  the  confusion  which  followed,  a report  was  cir- 
culated among  the  troops  that  the  deputies  had  at- 
tempted their  general’s  life ; and  a detachment  of 
grenadiers  then  entered  the  hall,  and  cleared  it  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet.” 


r 


<*r 


HE  genius  of  Richelieu  in- 
vested the  name  of  France 
with  the  supreme  splen- 
dors of  royalty;  Voltaire 
and  Diderot  lifted  it  to  the 
highest  rank  of  intellectu- 
al progress, 
and  Napoleon  illu- 
mined the  whole 
nation  with  mili- 
tary glory,  raising 
a martial  monu- 
ment which  even 
the  Franco-Prus- 
sian  War  could  not 
level  to  the  ground. 

Barbarian  though 
he  was,  emulous  of 
the  fame  of  Alexander  and  Caisar, 
rather  than  the  vastly  higher  honor 
of  constructing  a republican  edifice 
worthy  the  present  age  upon  the 
ruins  of  kingly  despotism,  he  fills 
so  large  a place  in  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  that  his  campaigns  demand  conspic- 
uous consideration.  In  him  we  see  the  supreme  effort 
of  the  old  idea  of  conquest  to  resist  a loftier  ambi- 
tion more  consonant  with  the  spirit  of  the  age, 


NAPOLEON  i. 


namely  the  popular  demand  for  equal  rights  and 
exact  justice. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  a native  of  the  small 
island  of  Corsica,  then  only  recently  added  to 
French  territory.  He  was  born  August  15,  1769. 
His  father  was  a lawyer  who  died  in  early  man- 
hood, leaving  the  care  of  a numerous 
family  to  his  energetic  widow.  Na- 
poleon was  the  second  son.  He  was 
educated  for  the  profession  of  arms 
at  Paris.  Being  snubbed,  as  he 
thought,  in  his  first  army  experience, 
he  applied  for  leave  to  tender  his 
sword  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  One 
can  but  regret  the  denial  of  his 
wish.  He  was  made  a lieutenant  in 
the  army  at  the  age  of  sixteen. 
When  Robespierre  fell  he  was  in 
danger  of  disgrace,  if  nothing  worse, 
for  he  was  suspected  of  sympathy 
with  that  monster.  But  his  insig- 
nificance shielded  him.  Ilis  first 
distinction  was  won  in  devising  an 
acceptable  and  successful  plan  for  quelling  the  mob 
which  assailed  the  convention  in  the  Tuilleries  soon 
after  Robespierre  had  fallen.  As  the  reward  of  his 
services  then  he  was  given  command  of  the  forces 
in  and  about  Paris. 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 


Napoleon’s  Place  in  History— Birth  and  Early  Career — The  Italian  Campaign — The 
Egyptian  Campaign — Napoleon  and  the  Allies  Join  Issues — Marengo  and  Hohenlinden 
— Austerlitz  and  the  Column  Vendome — Trafalgar,  Jena  and  Vienna — On  to  Moscow! 
and  the  Result— The  Fall,  Exile  and  Death  op  Napoleon. 


M2- 


The  next  spring  Napoleon  was  sent  to  Italy  to 
take  command  of  one  of  the  three  armies  engaged 
in  the  defense  of  the  Republic  against  the  “ Emi- 
grants ” and  their  monarchical  allies.  He  was  only 
twenty-seven  years  of  age,  very  short  and  slim. 
His  troops  early  and  always  loved  to  call  him  “ The 
Little  Corporal.”  The  Austrians  whom  he  encount- 
ered there  conceived  contempt  for  his  youth.  At 
Monte  Notte,  April  12,  179G,  he  won  his  first  victory 
over  the  enemies  of  his  country.  It  was  with  good 
reason  that  he  afterwards  dated  his  patent  of  no- 
bility from  that  battle.  His  next  exploit  was  the 
passage  of  his  army  over  the  river  Adda  at  Lodi. 
The  battle  of  Lodi  was  a brilliant  victory,  won  by 
bravery  and  skill.  So  remarkable  were  his  move- 
ments and  their  results,  that  he  soon  attracted  the 
attention  of  Europe,  and  was  seen  to  be  a great 
soldier.  He  destroyed  no  less  than  five  Austrian 
armies  in  that  Italian  campaign.  So  terrible  was 
the  destruction,  that  a year  after  he  took  command 
a treaty  of  peace  was  signed  by  which  France 
gained  great  advantage  and  Vienna  itself  was  spared 
the  ravages  of  sack  by  the  troops  of  Napoleon. 
Other  treaties  followed  as  fruits  of  that  campaign. 
He  returned  to  Paris  to  be  received  with  the  honors 
due  his  genius  and  successes. 

Napoleon  was  something  of  an  elephant  upon 
the  hands  of  the  republic.  To  provide  a safe  outlet 
for  the  restless  military  energies  of  himself  and  his 
soldiers,  who  had  fought  just  enough  to  want  to 
keep  on  fighting,  an  expedition  into  Egypt  was 
planned.  It  was  indeed  a wild-goose  chase,  if  ever 
there  was  one.  Soldiers  and  savans  set  sail  from  Tou- 
lon in  the  summer  of  1798,  with  no  definite  idea  of 
what  they  did  want.  Turkish  Mamelukes  met  them 
in  hostile  array.  The  “ Battle  of  the  Pyramids  ” was 
fought  with  success  to  the  French  arms.  The  British 
fleet,  under  Lord  Nelson,  attacked  the  French  fleet 
at  Alexandria,  and  won  a naval  victory  which  for  a 
short  time  cut  off  Napoleon’s  communication  with 
France,  but  he  easily  made  himself  master  of  Egypt, 
except  the  seaport  town  of  Acre,  garrisoned  by  Eng- 
lish troops.  He  mai'ched  into  Palestine,  and  returned 
to  confront  a Turkish  army,  and  gained  the  victory 
of  Aboukir,  which  closed  his  Egyptian  campaign. 
In  the  fall  of  1799  he  returned  to  France.  The 
people  hailed  him  as  a glorious  hero.  His  march 
through  France  was  a mighty  ovation,  and  the  hon- 
ors and  authority  of  First  Consul  came  to  him  in 


the  way  set  forth  in  the  previous  chapter.  Europe  saw 
in  the  new  head  of  the  French  government  an 
exceedingly  dangerous  character.  Previous  appre- 
hensions ripened  into  certainty,  and  from  hence- 
forth it  was  only  a question  of  time  when  the  com- 
bined power  of  the  other  nations  of  Europe  would 
crush  him  or  he  them.  For  fifteen  years  the  strug- 
gle continued,  with  only  slight  truces.  Finding 
himself  in  hostility  to  all  Europe,  Napoleon  seemed 
determined  to  conquer  and  reconstruct  the  whole 
continent, — not  that  either  he  or  the  allies  clearly 
appreciated  the  irrepressibleness  of  the  conflict  at  the 
outset,  but  that  from  the  time  the  hero  of  Lodi  and 
Aboukir  became  the  First  Consul  there  was  no 
alternative  for  either  of  the  two  parties  but  uncon- 
ditional surrender. 

In  May,  1800,  Napoleon  crossed  the  Alps  by  a 
way  supposed  to  be  impassable  and  swooped  down 
upon  the  Austrians.  The  battle  of  Marengo  was 
soon  fought  and  won.  About  that  time  another 
French  army  in  Germany,  under  Moreau,  gained 
the  splendid  victory  of  Hohenlinden.  By  mid- 
summer Najmleon  was  back  in  Paris,  assiduously 
applying  himself  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  France.  For  several  years  he  was  en- 
gaged in  developing  the  resources,  improving  the 
laws  and  political  institutions  of  the  country.  In 
1804  he  was  elected  emperor.  All  this  while  it  was 
evident  that  no  real  peace  had  been  negotiated  and 
on  both  sides  preparations  were  being  made  for  an- 
other encounter. 

Early  in  1805  Napoleon  took  the  field.  England 
made  no  secret  of  its  hostility,  and  Russia  and  Aus- 
tria formally  declared  war  against  France.  In 
October  Napoleon  entered  Germany,  and  on  the 
30th  of  November  he  took  posession  of  Vienna, 
occupying  the  splendid  palace  of  the  Schonbrunn. 
Twelve  days  later  was  fought  the  ever-memorable 
battle  of  Austerlitz.  The  energies  which  had  been 
accumulating  during  the  few  years  of  peace  were 
let  loose.  Napoleon  won  his  most  illustrious  vic- 
tory on  that  day.  Among  tlie  trophies  of  the  bat- 
tle were  twelve  hundred  Austrian  cannons.  They 
were  afterwards  melted  down  and  used  as  the  bronze 
for  the  famous  column  erected  at  Paris  in  memory 
of  that  victory  in  the  Place  Vendome. 

But  the  success  of  the  French  on  the  land  had 
an  offset  in  the  defeat  of  the  French  navy  in  the 
battle  of  Trafalgar,  fought  in  October  of  that  year. 


Q w 


282 


NAPOLEON  AND  HIS  CAMPAIGNS. 


< 


NAPOLEON  AND  HIS  CAMPAIGNS. 


RETREAT  OF  THE  FRENCH  FROM  MOSCOW. 


283 


©Tv" 


**x  a. 


NAPOLEON  AND  HIS  CAMPAIGNS. 


Lord  Nelson  very  nearly  annihilated  the  enemy. 
That  did  not,  however,  prevent  Napoleon  from  be- 
ing absolute  on  the  continent.  It  made  England 
undisputed  mistress  of  the  seas.  The  French  Em- 
peror none 
the  less  pro- 
ceeded to  cut 
up  Europe 
into  king- 
doms, and 
parcel  it  out 
among  his 
brothers  and 
favorites  as 
if  it  were  a 
private  es- 
tate. His  el- 
der brother, 

Joseph,  he 
made  king 
of  Spain, 
and  another 
brother  be- 
came the 
king  of  Hol- 
land. Prus- 
sia had  been 
neutral  and 
was  reward- 
ed with  Han- 
over, the  old 
possession  of 
the  present 
English  dy- 
nasty. Sev- 
eral of  the 
smaller  Ger- 
man states 
were  under 
Napoleonic 
“protection.” 

But  Freder- 
ick of  Prussia  did  not  long  remain  neutral.  As  soon 
as  he  declared  war  against  Napoleon  the  Eagles  of 
France  flew  to  Prussia.  The  battle  of  Jena  was 
fought,  and  the  victorious  French  Emperor  entered 
Berlin  in  triumph.  Still  another  brother  was  given 
a kingdom,  and  soon  the  royal  family  of  Portugal 
took  refuge  in  Brazil.  There  was  disaffection  in 


Germany  which  was  quelled  by  the  victories  of  Eck- 
muhl  and  Essling,  followed  by  another  occupancy 
of  Vienna,  and  the  treaty  of  Vienna.  Thus  the 
continent  was  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  “The  Lit- 
tle Corpor- 
al.” That 
was  in  the 
fall  of  1809. 

Napoleon’s 
star  had  now 
reached  its 
zenith. 

Flushed  by 
his  victories, 
lie  was  em- 
boldened to 
un  dert  a ke 
the  conquest 
ofllussia.  As 
the  winter  of 
1812-13  set 
in  he  set  out 
for  Moscow. 
After  a long, 
weary  march 
he  came  in 
sight  of  that 
ancient  cap- 
ital of  the 
Muscovite 
Empire.  The 
city  was  in 
flames.  The 
people  had 
set  fire  to  the 
town,  rather 
than  afford 
shelter  from 
the  wintry 
blast,  for  the 
enemy.  It 
was  a des- 
perate but  heroic  expedient.  The  desired  effect  was 
produced.  The  army  of  invasion  was  compelled 
to  return  through  the  snow.  The  loss  was  terrible. 
Of  the  four  hundred  thousand  French  soldiers 
who  started  on  that  expedition  only  about  fifty 
thousand  survived.  That  was  the  most  disastrous 
expedition  in  all  history.  It  crippled  the  force  of 


& _ 

7 & 


4^ 


286 


NAPOLEON  AND  HIS  CAMPAIGNS. 


Napoleon  beyond  all  recovery  and  made  Waterloo 
possible.  Fresh  troops  were  recruited  and  a power- 
ful army  was  soon  in  the  field.  Napoleon  had  no  idea 
of  surrender.  In  August 
of  1813  he  defeated  the 
allies  at  Dresden,  but 
was  obliged,  nevertheless, 
to  retreat  into  France. 

Blticher  led  130,000 
Prussians,  and  Welling- 
ton was  at  the  head  of  a 
powerful  English  army 
in  Portugal  and  Spain. 

Those  two  great  captains, 
destined  to  conquer  the 
great  conqueror,  slowly 
moved  toward  each 
other.  France  was  now 
for  the  first  time  since 
Napoleon  came  to  the 
front  the  battlefield.  On 
the  heights  of  Montmar- 
tre, overlooking  Paris, 

was  fought  a battle  which  resulted  in  victory  for  the 
allies,  and  on  the  31st  of  March,  1814,  Alexander 
of  Russia  and  Frederick 
of  Prussia  took  posses- 
sion of  Paris  and  dicta- 
ted terms  of  peace.  The 
Emperor  was  obliged  to 
abdicate  and  accept  im- 
prisonment upon  the 
island  of  Elba.  That 
little  island  was  to  be 
his  “ empire.”  There  he 
was  to  hold  miniature 
court.  It  was  a sweet 
revenge  to  think  of  the 
great  dictator  as  “ crib- 

o 

bed  and  cabined”  within 
such  narrow  limits. 

On  the  20th  of  April 
Napoleon  took  his  sor- 
rowful departure  for  that  island  but  on  the  first  of 
March  next  following  he  set  foot  upon  the  soil  of 
France  once  more.  He  had  eluded  the  vigilance  of 
the  allies.  Tremendous  was  the  popular  enthusiasm. 


The  Bourbon  who  had  been  placed  upon  the  throne, 
Louis  XVIII.,  was  powerless.  Popular  enthusiasm 
knew  no  bounds.  Everybody  seemed  to  be  in 

ecstasies  of  delight  over 
the  return  of  the  hero 
of  Austerlitz.  The  sol- 
diers and  people  vied  in 
enthusiasm.  The  king 
was  glad  to  escape  with 
his  life,  and  Napoleon 
was  Emperor  once  more. 
The  war  was  renewed. 
The  allies  were  not  con- 
tent to  allow  the  restor- 
ation of  the  empire. 
Early  in  June  a com- 
bined English  and  Rus- 
sian army  was  quarter- 
ed at  some  distance  from 
each  other  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Brussels  un- 
der Wellington  and  Blii- 
cher.  Napoleon  raised 
an  army  of  150,000  men  to  resist  them.  On  the 
18th  of  Jnne,  1815,  was  fought  the  battle  of  Water- 
loo. Wellington  was  al- 
most beaten,  but  Blilcher 
came  to  his  succor  just 
in  time  to  turn  the  scale. 
The  defeat  of  the  French 
was  utter.  On  the  twen- 
tieth instant  Napoleon 
re-entered  Paris,  a van- 
quished fugitive.  His 
plan  was  to  find  asylum 
in  America,  but  he  was 
arrested  by  the  allies 
and  sent  to  the  lonely 
island  of  St.  Helena 
from  which  he  never 
escaped.  Henceforth  he 
was  a close  prisoner  of 
war,  the  farce  of  a Lilli- 
putian empire  being  altogether  abandoned.  There 
he  died,  May  5, 1821,  and  with  him  perished  (it  may 
be  hoped  for  all  time  to  come)  the  last  ambition  of 
the  Universal  Empire. 


LATTER-DAY  FRANCE 


A Great  Experiment  and  its  Result — Louis  Philippe— Louis  Napoleon  and  iiis  Coup  d’etat 
— The  Empire — The  Siege  of  Paris  and  the  Avenging  of  Jena — The  Crisis— Centraliza- 
tion in  Prance— Importance  of  Paris — National  Contentment,  Land  and  “Rentes” — 
Religion  and  Education — Colonial  Possessions— Contemporary  French  Literature- 


I--2-'"' 


ITH  the  fall  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  a reaction  in 
favor  of  monarchy  set  in. 
The  French  natipn  seem- 
ed to  be  tired  of  all  that 
savored  of  newness,  and 
to  long  for  the  old  ways- 
Louis  XVIII.,  a Bourbon  in  blood  and 
character,  was  placed  upon  the  throne. 
He  did  much  to  restore  the  ancient  re- 
gime. His  death  occurred  in  1824,  and 
at  that  time  the  reaction  seemed  to  be  per- 
manent. The  king  himself  had  been  less 
reactionary  than  the  Council  which  sur- 
rounded him.  But  no  sooner  had  his 
brother,  Charles  X.,  succeeded  him  upon 
the  throne  than  the  depth  and  strength  of  the  sen- 
timent among  the  people  for  liberty  began  to  assert 
itself.  Charles  was  disposed  to  be  imperious  and 
presumptuous.  He  carried  things  with  a somewhat 
absolute  will,  the  monarchical  and  democratic  par- 
ties getting  warmer  and  more  bitter  all  the  time ; 
until  in  1830  the  king  was  compelled  to  give  up  the 
struggle.  Iiis  only  safety,  as  an  individual,  was  in 
abdication.  The  grim  specter  of  Louis  XVI.  terri- 
fied him  into  abdicating  in  favor  of  his  cousin  of 
the  Orleans  family,  who  was  crowned  Louis  Philippe. 


The  crafty  cousin  declined  the  scepter  as  a royal 
gift,  thereby  securing  a popular  confirmation  of  his 
authority,  for  so  democratic  a declination  brought 
out,  as  expected  and  designed,  an  expression  of  the 
people. 

For  eighteen  years  Louis  Philippe  ruled  France, 
careful  ever 
to  respect  the 
constitutional 
limitations  of 
his  preroga- 
tives. This 
king  was  not 
royal  in  vir^ 
tues  or  vices- 
Without  be- 
ing quite  what 
would  be  call- 
ed a bad  man 
he  was  sordid, 
avaricious  and 
tricky.  H 
best  trait  or 
characteristic 
was  a sincere  admiration  for  America  and  high  aj> 
preciation  of  the  just  place  among  nations  of 
the  United  States.  If  mediocre  in  mind  and 


(289) 


CHAPTER  XL  VI 1 1. 


uneventful  in  career,  he  was  remarkably  mod- 
ern in  his  sympathies.  King  though  he  was,  Louis 
Philippe  was  in  every  sense  a part  of  Latter-day 
France.  His  reign  terminated,  as  it  began,  in  abdi- 
cation. It  had  fairly  demonstrated  that  the 
French,  unlike  the  English,  would  not  voluntarily 
accept  monarchy,  however  hedged  about  by  popular 
concessions.  That  was  the  one  significant  thing 
about  the  reign  of  the  three  post-Napoleon ic  kings, 
more  especially  the  last  and  best  of  the  trio.  The 
great  experiment  of  royalty  in  the  France  of  the 
nineteenth  century  was  thoroughly  tried,  and  the 
fact  of  incompatibility  fully 
established. 

When  Louis  Philippe  laid 
down  the  scepter  the  election 
of  a President  was  the  first 
public  business  in  order. 

Choice  fell  on  Louis  Napo- 
leon, “ nephew  of  his  uncle,” 
and  that  solely  because  he 
was  the  nephew  of  the  man 
who  had  made  France  bril- 
liant with  military  glory.  He 
was  looked  upon  as  a hair- 
brained, weak  and  harmless 
young  man.  But  beneath  his 
placid  exterior  beat  a heart 
ambitious  of  imperial  power. 

His  secret  purpose  was  to  be 
to  his  uncle  what  Augustus 
Caesar  had  been  to  Julius 
Caesar.  He  proceeded  cau- 
tiously. His  age  at  the  time 
of  his  election  was  forty  years.  He  solemnly  swore 
to  deliver  the  trust  to  his  successor  four  years  later, 
but  had  no  intention  of  doing  so.  The  peasantry 
idolized  the  great  name  he  bore.  A few  conspirators 
were  taken  into  his  secret,  and  the  force  of  the  gov- 
ernment put  in  position  to  uphold  his  usurpation. 
The  first  overt  act  contemplated  was  to  amend  the 
constitution,  under  which  the  President  could  not 
be  elected  to  a second  term.  Finding  that  he  could 
not  peaceably  carry  his  point,  he  executed  that  great 
political  crime  known  as  the  Coup  d ’ etat  of  Decem- 
ber 2,  1851.  Arrests  and  assassinations  were  made 
with  a ruthless  hand,  and  before  the  country 
knew  what  was  being  done  the  republic  had  been 
strangled,  and  all  the  machinery  of  the  government, 


civil  and  military,  was  employed  to  enforce  con- 
formity to  the  will  of  the  usurper.  Two  weeks  later 
the  form  of  an  election  was  invoked  to  give  the 
semblance  of  popular  sanction  to  what  had  been 
done.  The  people  were  not  prepared  to  resist,  and 
the  “ plebiscite,”  or  election,  passed  off  as  the  con- 
spirators desired.  The  assumption  of  imperial  au- 
thority thus  had  the  appearance  of  popular  approval. 
“ The  empire  means  peace,”  said  the  new  emperor, 
and  he  was  right  for  a long  time. 

Louis  Napoleon  proved  a man  of  great  talent,  if 
His  reign  extended  until  the 
disasters  of  the  Franco-Prus- 
sian  war  broke  the  spell  of  his 
power  and  revolutionized  the 
government.  Under  him 
Paris  was  beautified  as  no 
other  city  ever  was,  and  for 
the  most  part  the  people 
prospered.  The  government 
was  respected  at  home  and 
abroad.  However  severely 
his  method  of  coming  to  the 
throne  was  condemned,  his 
use  of  power  seemed  to  be  in 
the  main  good,  and  it  was 
generally  thought  that  the 
empire  had  been  reestablished 
upon  a firm  basis.  Louis 
Napoleon  was  admitted  into 
the  brotherhood  of  royalty, 
and  was  perhaps  more  influ- 
ential for  some  fifteen  years 
in  the  general  affairs  of 
Europe  than  any  other  member  of  that  family.  In 
the  Crimean  war  the  French  bore  a part  commen- 
surate with  the  importance  of  the  nation.  Later, 
the  bayonets  of  France  protected  the  Pope  in  his 
temporality.  Whenever  the  Emperor  wanted  the 
sanction  of  a “ plebiscite  ” he  had  it.  His  first  not- 
able failure  was  in  trying  to  get  England  to  unite 
with  him  in  breaking  the  Southern  blockade  during 
the  civil  war  in  this  country,  and  the  kindred  scheme 
to  establish  Maximilian  of  Austria  as  Emperor  of 
Mexico.  His  hand  in  the  former  plot  was  not  dis- 
covered at  the  time,  but  his  part  in  the  abortive 
usurpation  in  Mexico  was  known  from  the  first.  The 
success  of  the  United  States  in  crushing  rebellion 
was  a death-blow  to  Napoleon’s  intervention  in 


290 


LATTER-DAY  FRANCE. 


/ 


<r- 


LATTER-DAY  FRANCE.  29 1 


American  affairs.  He  was  chagrined  and  somewhat 
humiliated,  but  not  seriously  weakened  thereby  in 
his  hold  upon  the  French  scepter. 

To  all  appearances  the  empire  was  strong  and 
sound  when  the  war  with  Prussia  began.  Its  real 
weakness  was  the  utter  corruption  of  the  govern- 
ment. With  a criminal  at  its  head  there  was  no 
soundness  in  the  body  itself.  The  empire  was 
honeycombed  by  swindles  of  all  sorts,  and  needed 
only  the  test  of  a great  war  to  disclose  its  rotten- 
ness and  overthrow  its  very  foundations. 

The  Franco-Prussian  War  has  been  described 
sufficiently, 
except  the 
siege  of  Pa- 
ris, which 
was  reserv- 
ed for  this 
connection. 

The  Ger- 
mans acted 
a subordin- 
ate part  in 
the  great 
drama  of 
that  siege. 

Within  the 
limits  of  the 
beleagured 
city  was  go- 
ing on  the 
contest  that 
gave  espe- 
cial significance  to  that  episode  of  war.  Practi- 
cally the  hostile  environment  was  little  else  than 
a great  opportunity  for  republicanism  to  arise 
from  the  tomb  and  throw  off  the  cerements 
of  death.  The  Coup  d’etat  had  not  killed  it. 
The  long  sleep  seemed  to  have  been  refreshing 
to  the  vigor  of  liberty.  At  first  there  was  bewilder- 
ment. Dazed  by  the  unaccustomed  light  of  free- 
dom, the  Parisians  were  precipitated,  at  first,  into  a 
frenzied  communism.  All  the  horrors  of  the  great 
revolution  were  revived.  Leaders,  maddened  by 
long  suppression  and  disasters  in  war,  sprang  to  the 
front  with  the  inauguration  of  another  reign  of  ter- 
ror. Some  very  worthy  people  wpre  cruelly  slaugh- 
tered. The  outlook  was  gloomy  in  the  extreme. 
Once  more  women  of  the  humbler  class  rushed 


wildly  about  as  if  they  were  daughters  of  the  three 
Furies.  Petroleum  was  used  as  an  agent  of  indis- 
criminate destruction.  The  Column  Vendome  was 
one  of  the  more  conspicuous  objects  of  destructive 
frenzy. 

But  that  delirium  of  retribution  was  brief,  and 
not  without  its  benefits.  It  served  to  show  the 
depth  and  intensity  of  the  sentiment  for  liberty. 
Humiliating  as  was  the  defeat  of  the  French  army, 
the  fall  of  the  empire  was  ample  compensation  to  the 
people,  and  in  the  darkest  hours  of  the  nation  the 
hope  of  Republicanism  shone  as  a star  of  the  morning 

in  the  hori- 
zon of  pop- 
ular opin- 
ion. 

Napoleon 
surrendered 
to  the  Prus- 
sians Sep- 
tember 4, 
1873,  and 
the  siege  of 
Paris  was 
complete  on 
September 
19th.  It  was 
on  the  sev- 
enth of  the 
next  month 
that  Gam- 
betta,  the 
one  great 

statesman  of  France,  then  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, with  authority  to  act  as  Minister  of 
War,  escaped  from  Paris  in  a balloon,  and  at 
once  set  about  organizing  an  army  of  relief. 
He  hoped  to  break  the  siege  by  attack  from  with- 
out. But  he  could  not.  In  January  following 
Paris  was  obliged  to  open  its  gates  to  the  enemy 
and  submit  to  such  terms  as  the  conquering  Ger- 
mans might  dictate.  Those  terms  were  the  surren- 
der of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  and  the  payment  of  an 
indemnity  of  $1,000,000,000,  the  Germans  to  en- 
tirely evacuate  the  country  only  after  all  the  money 
had  been  paid.  It  was  submission  to  these  hard 
terms  and  the  removal  of  the  Government  from  Paris 
to  Versailles  that  especially  fired  the  frenzy  of  the  com- 
munists. It  was  a proud  day  for  Kaiser  William,  who 


7T 


<0 


292 


LATTER-DAY  FRANCE. 


as  a youth  had  witnessed  Napoleon’s  march  through 
Berlin,  after  Jena,  to  ride  in  triumph  through  the 
streets  of  Paris.  France  was  humiliated  and  im- 
poverished, and  the  latest  (and  probably  the  last)  of 
the  Bonapartes  was  a fugitive,  destined  to  linger 
only  a few  sad  years  in  his  retreat  at  Chisselhurst, 
England,  from  which  his  son  and  heir  was  to  go 
forth,  bearing  a British  commission,  to  fall  a victim 
to  Zulu  savagery,  leaving  the  ex-Empress  Eugenie 
desolate.  Retribution  and  revenge  could  ask  no 
more. 

It  is  needless  to  follow  the  fluctuations  of  French 
politics.  The  prudence  and 
patriotism  of  the  people  tri- 
umphed. The  republic  found 
in  M.  Thiers,  the  first  presi- 
dent, a stateman  equal  to  the 
emergency.  As  long  ago  as 
the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe  he 
had  risen  to  eminence.  An 
author  and  a politician,  he 
was  trusted  by  the  nation,  and 
he  did  not  betray  his  trust. 

His  successor,  Marshal  Mac- 
Mahon,  although  in  sympathy 
with  the  imperial  party,  re- 
mained true  to  his  oath  as 
President  of  the  Republic. 

At  first  the  respective  parti- 
sans of  the  Bourbons,  the  Or- 
leanists  and  the  Bonapartists 
were  hopeful,  but  as  time 
wore  on  and  the  republic 
passed  successfully  through  petty  emergencies,  the 
people  settled  down  to  the  belief  that  the  republic, 
no  less  than  the  empire,  means  peace,  and  that  self- 
government  is  adapted  to  the  French  nation.  When 
M.  Grevy  came  to  the  Presidency  all  serious  appre- 
hensions of  reaction  disappeared.  The  crisis  was 
really  over. 

The  Republic  of  France  is  thoroughly  centralized. 
The  political  divisions  of  the  country  are,  36  prov- 
inces, 86  departments,  362  arrondissements,  2,700 
cantons  and  36,000  communes.  The  commune  cor- 
responds to  our  city  and  town  organizations.  The 
maire,  or  mayor,  is  appointed  by  the  national  gov- 
ernment, and  is  under  the  supervision  of  the  prefect 
of  a department.  There  is  an  under-prefect  for  each 
arrondissemcnt.  Cantons  are  divisions  for  elective, 


judicial  and  military  convenience.  The  American 
and  German  respect  for  state  rights  is  quite  foreign 
to  the  French  conception  of  politics.  Paris  and 
Lyons  have  some  local  self-government,  but  gener- 
ally speaking,  France  is  a thoroughly  centralized 
republic. 

Paris  has  an  importance,  as  compared  with  the 
rest  of  the  country,  quite  unknown  to  any  other  city 
on  the  globe.  London  is  not  England,  New  York 
is  not  the  United  States,  nor  Berlin  Germany,  to 
anything  like  the  extent  that  Paris  is  France.  In 
the  great  revolutions  of  the  last  century  and  in  sub- 
sequent uprisings,  the  city  took 
the  lead  and  controlled  events. 
The  great  names  of  France, 
whatever  the  department  of 
thought  and  action,  belong  to 
Paris.  Lyons  can  make  silk, 
the  vineyards  of  the  rural  dis- 
tricts slake  thirst,  and  Havre 
harbors  ships ; but  Paris  is 
the  focal  point  of  all  Frefich 
genius,  glory  and  achieve- 
ments. All  the  railroads  lead 
thither  and  all  the  aspirations 
of  the  people  tend  to  its  ag- 
grandizement. So  old  that 
Caesar  rebuilt  it,  yet  so  new 
that  it  is  the  very  flower  of 
modern  civilization,  it  is  the 
most  luxurious  city  on  the 
globe. 

The  French  may  be  set  down 
as  the  most  contented  people  of  Europe.  The 
emigration  from  there  is  almost  none  at  all, 
except  that  the  Basques  of  the  department  of 
the  Haute-Pyrenees  have,  many  of  them,  gone 
to  South  America  to  escape  military  proscrip- 
tion. The  ordinary  Frenchman  prefers  not 
only  his  native  land,  but  his  native  commune. 
Eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  people  are  born,  live  and 
die  in  the  same  place.  The  real  estate  is  divided 
among  no  less  than  5,550,000  proprietors.  No  less 
than  five  millions  of  freeholders  have  less  than  six 
acres  of  land  each.  The  public  debt  is  also  very 
widely  distributed.  In  1879  the  total  bonded  debt 
of  France  was  in  francs  19,862,035,783,  or  nearly 
84,000,000,000.  The  number  of  bondholders  was 
4,380,933,  or,  in  rough  numbers,  one  government 


FT 


\ Q_ 


bL 


LATTER-DAY  FRANCE. 


293 


bondholder  to  every  $1,000  of  the  public  debt.  The 
greater  part  of  this  debt  draws  three  per  cent,  in- 
terest, one-third  of  it  five  per  cent.  The  total  an- 
nual revenue,  or  rentes,  of  the  people  from  these 
bonds  is  748,404,952  francs.  There  is  no  thought 
of  paying  the  principal  of  this  debt.  It  is  held  at 
home  and  constitutes  a permanent  and  perfectly 
safe  investment.  Transactions  in  rentes  and  other  se- 
curities are  conduc- 
ted on  the  Bourse. 

The  population  of 
France  in  1880  was 
37,166,000.  The 
population  of  the 
provinces  wrested 
from  France  by  Ger- 
many as  a part  of 
the  results  of  the 
Franco-German  war 
may  be  set  down  at 
a million  and  a half. 

The  number  of  the 
depositors  in  savings 
banks  and  holders  of 
rentes  numbered  in  1879,  7,454,863.  The  people  are 
economical,  industrious  and  cheerful.  The  French 
masses  are  quite  illiterate.  Setting  aside  four  millions 
of  children  under  six  years  of  age,  and  it  may  be  said 
that  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  population  can  neither 
read  nor  write.  Once  Protestantism  seemed  likely  to 
be  the  religion  of  the  country,  but  by  the  latest  census 
98.02  per  cent,  of  the  people  are  Romanists,  only  1.6 
per  cent.  Protestants.  All  religions  are  equal  before 


the  law,  except  that  state  allowances  for  the  clergy 
are  confined  to  the  Roman  Catholics,  Protestants 
and  Jews. 

The  present  colonial  possessions  of  France  are 
utterly  insignificant.  They  contain  a population 
of  about  two  and  a half  millions,  but  with  the  excep- 
tion  of  two  thousand  natives  of  France  the  colonists 
are  barbarians,  most  of  them  downright  savages. 

Slavery  was  abolish- 
ed in  all  the  colo- 
nies in  1848. 

There  have  been 
some  great  authors 
in  France  since  Vol- 
taire, but  none  of 
those  belonging  to 
this  century  can 
claim  the  very  high- 
est rank  except  Vic- 
tor Hugo.  His  Les 
Miserahles  may  just- 
ly be  set  down  as 
the  greatest  novel 
ever  written.  Its 
popularity  was  prodigious  and  its  influence  incalcu- 
lable. Written  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that 
knowledge  is  the  great  reformatory  agency  in  the 
world,  it  has  a strength  and  vigor  of  thought  almost 
Shakspearean.  Dumas,  father  and  son,  deserve  hon- 
orable mention,  as  does  “George  Sand”  (Madam, 
Dudevant),  but  their  place  in  literature  is  not  among 
the  immortals.  Taine  and  Louis  Blanc  must  be  ac- 
corded exalted  praise  as  critics  and  that  is  all. 


f 


•'« s 


V 


I'M l!t  T*f . .■ .'. . iV: ' Tift. ; ,‘i  ."‘f  >, . . 


CELTIC,  GOTHIC  AND  MOORISH  SPAIN 


SHHHi 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 


Ibeeia  and  the  First  Age  of  Spain — The  Gothic  Period— Theological  Animosity — Invasion 
of  the  Mooes — The  Moorish  Kingdom  Established — The  Light  of  Cordova — Zarah  the 
Luxurious — The  Moorish  Civilization — Arrevoes  and  the  Religious  Reaction — Fall  of 
Cordova  and  Rise  of  Granada — The  Alhambra — The  Glory  and  Shame  of  Spain — The 
Fall  of  Malaga— The  Conquest  of  Granada. 


HE  present  nation  of  Spain 
comprises,  in  its  home  ter- 
ritory, an  area  of  225,600 
square  miles.  The  term 
Spanish  Peninsula,  or  The 
Peninsula,  is  used  to  des- 
ignate both  that  country 
and  Portugal.  The  latter 
did  not  have  a separate  existence 
until  a comparatively  late  date, 
and  the  old  name  Iberia  applies  to 
the  entire  peninsula  region.  The 
first  inhabitants,  called  Iberians, 
were  Celts.  The  Phoenicians  were 
the  first  to  introduce  civilization 
into  the  Peninsula.  They  estab- 
lished several  trading  posts  along 
the  coast.  These  were  followed  by 
several  Greek  colonies,  and  later  still  by  Cartha- 
ginian settlements.  During  the  second  Punic  Wars 
Spain  was  the  base  of  operations  for  the  Cartha- 
ginians under  Ilamilcar  and  Hannibal,  the  Romans 
under  Scipi®.  After  that  it  became  a part  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Then  for  the  first  time  the  leaven 
of  civilization  began  to  permeate  the  country.  As 
a part  of  the  great  Roman  Empire,  Iberia  produced 
many  men  of  note.  It  was  the  birth-place  of  the 


Emperors  Trajan,  Hadrian,  Antoninus,  Marcus 
Aurelius  and  Theodosius,  also  of  the  great  moral 
philosopher  Seneca,  the  poets  Lucan  and  Martial  and 
the  accomplished  rhetorician  Quintilian.  Very  early 
and  readily  it  accepted  Christianity.  It  is  thought 
by  some  that  it  was  introduced  by  St.  Paul  himself. 

When  the  Northern  horde  overran  the  Roman 
Empire  the  Iberian  Peninsula  was  a peculiarly 
tempting  field  for  spoliation.  That  was  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fifth  century.  Three  kingdoms  were 
formed,  the  Gothic  or  Visigothic,  the  Suevic  and 
the  Vandalic.  The  Vandals  were  soon  difiven 
across  the  Mediterranean,  and  their  present  descen- 
dants are  called  Berbers.  During  the  century  the 
Suevic  kingdom  was  absorbed.  The  new  'order  of 
things  which  succeeded  the  Roman  sway  was  Gothic. 
There  were  thirty-six  kings  of  the  latter  line,  none 
of  them  deserving  especial  mention.  Toledo  was  the 
chief  capital  of  Gothic  Spain,  but  Cordova  and 
Seville  were  flourishing  cities.  For  a time  the  Gothic 
kingdom  included  France.  It  rose  to  its  highest 
degree  of  splendor  under  Euric  who  fixed  his  capital 
at  Arles,  where  he  died  in  485. 

In  the  days  of  Gothic  supremacy  theological  war 
was  waged  with  the  greatest  fury.  Euric  was  an 
Arian,  as  were  the  other  earlier  kings  of  his  race, 
but  the  Franks  were  Athanasians.  Finally,  how- 


1 


(294> 


G> 


CELTIC,  GOTHIC  AND  MOORISH  SPAIN. 


295 


ever  the  power  of  Rome  was  felt  and  the  Arian 
faith  was  supplanted  by  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity 
which  Western  Europe  denominates  orthodox. 
The  clergy  acquired  more  power  in  Spain  than  any- 
where else.  The  synods  were  petty  parliaments  and 
the  bishops  exercised 
judicial  functions. 

The  church  could 
hardly  have  asked 
for  more  power  than 
it  enjoyed  in  Spain 
under  the  Goths. 

No  meritorious  liter- 
ary works  belong  to 
the  Gothic  period. 

It  was  a season  of 
barbarism  and  retro- 
gression. Slavery  ex- 
isted in  its  worst 
forms  and  the  land 
was  one  dreary  waste 
of  misery  and  crime, 
a vast  moral  and  in- 
tellectual desert. 

The  chapter  on 
the  Saracen  Empire 
served  as  an  intro- 
duction to  the  period 
of  Spanish  history 
upon  which  we  now 
enter.  The  Moors 
with  their  Crescent 
and  “good  Damas- 
cus blades,”  were 
invited  to  cross  over 
and  lend  a helping 
hand  to  one  of  the 
factions  in  a civil 
war  which  was  rag- 
ing between  the 
Goths  over  the  crown,  which  was  elective.  When 
they  got  there  they  proposed  to  stay.  Their  leader, 
Gebal-Tarik,  had  all  the  heroism  of  the  best  days  of 
Islam.  Like  Cortez  at  Vera  Cruz,  he  burnt  his 
ships,  and  thus  compelled  his  soldiers  to  protect 
themselves  by  the  scimetar  against  the  Goths  (for 
hardly  had  they  come  over  before  the  factions 
united  to  drive  them  back).  A three-days’  battle 
was  fought  which  resulted  in  the  complete  victor}' 


INTERIOR  OP  TOLEDO  CATHEDRAL. 


of  the  Moors.  In  a very  short  time  the  invaders 
had  driven  the  Christians  to  the  mountains  and 
taken  possession  of  all  the  fertile  plains  and  pros- 
perous cities  of  the  Peninsula  in  the  name  of  the 
Prophet.  Gebal-Tarik  was  soon  joined  by  Musa,  the 

Governor  of  North- 
ern Africa,  as  Emir, 
or  representative  of 
the  Caliph  at  Da- 
mascus. During  the 
Ommiad  dynasty 
Spain  remained  a 
province  of  the  Sar- 
acen Empire ; but 
when  that  dynasty 
fell  and  there  was 
division  among  the 
faithful  as  to  the 
rightful  leadership 
of  Islam,  it  became 
independent,  under 
the  royal  sway  of  a 
descendant  of  the 
old  dynasty  of  the 
Ommiads. 

The  Moors  had 
crossed  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar  in  April, 
711,  and  twenty-two 
years  later  Charles 
Martel  won  the  great 
victory  which  saved 
Europe  north  of  the 
Pyrenees  from  the 
invasion,  and  made 
that  chain  of  moun- 
tains the  boundary 
line,  in  the  West, 
for  some  seven  cen- 
turies, between  the 
two  religions  of  modern  times.  Twenty-two  years 
later  the  kingdom,  in  distinction  from  the  depend- 
ency, was  established,  with  Cordova  as  the  capital. 

The  first  Moorish  King  of  Spain  was  Abderahman, 
who  reigned  thirty  years,  and  was  a great  soldier,  a 
real  statesman  and  a humane  gentleman.  The  last 
was  Abdallah  the  Unfortunate,  sometimes  called 
Boabdil.  It  was  in  the  middle  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury that  the  former  came  into  his  kingdom, 


> 

..  v9 

C>  V 


37 


s> 


If- 


296 


CELTIC,  GOTHIC  AND  MOORISH  SPAIN. 


and  almost  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century 
when  the  latter  withdrew  from  his,  and  the 
Moorish  invasion  of  Spain  was  at  an  end  for  ever. 
During  that  long  period  there  was  almost  constant 
war  between  the  Moslems  and  the  Christians,  and 
these  different  religionists  were  at  war  among  each 
other.  Indeed,  the  Moors  were  fatally  weakened  by 
internal  dissensions,  rather  than  by  the  hostility  of 
the  Cross  and  the  Crescent. 


middle  of  the  ninth  century.  He  encouraged  all 
the  arts  of  industry.  The  poor  found  profitable 
employment,  especially  in  building  and  adorn- 
ing the  capital,  constructing  roads  and  bridges, 
planting  vineyards  and  raising  grain.  Men  of 
distinction  were  invited  to  the  court  without  re- 
gard to  race  or  religion.  To  him  succeeded  a series 
of  kings  who  were  kept  busy  in  trying  to  suppress 
insurrections  and  maintain  what  had  been  be- 


The  question  of  final  supremacy  rested  not  so 
much  on  which  church  was  the  stronger  as  which 
was  least  rent  and  torn  by  its  own  rivalries,  hates 
and  ambitions. 

It  was  in  Spain  that  the  civilization  of  the  Sara- 
cens attained  its  most  glorious  results.  The  best 
blood  of  Arabia  and  all  the  Moslem  lands  flowed 
thither  and  built  up  a nation  of  brave  soldiers,  eru- 
dite scholars  and  skilled  artisans.  Cordova  was  loner 

O 

the  seat  of  empire.  The  Christians  were  driven 
back  and  only  allowed  to  establish  themselves  in  the 
province  of  Asturias,  about  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  The 
second  king  to  reflect  honor  upon  the  throne  at 
Cordova  was  Abderahman  II.,  who  flourished  in  the 


queathed  to  them.  In  912  another  Abderahman,  in 
name  and  character,  came  to  the  throne,  under 
whom  the  kingdom  was  harmonious,  but  against 
whom  a very  formidable  Christian  army  marched. 
Under  Ramiro  II.  the  two  armies  met  near  Sala- 
manca and  a terrible  battle  ensued.  The  Christians 
were  greatly  discouraged  if  not  utterly  defeated, 
while  the  Moors  were  left  in  undisputed  possession 
of  their  magnificent  and  fertile  possessions.  This 
king  added  greatly  to  the  glory  of  Cordova. 

The  city  of  Zarah,  named  after  his  favorite  wife, 
was  built  as  a suburb  of  Cordova,  and  if  we  may 
give  any  credit  to  Moorish  chronicles,  it  was  the 
most  luxurious  city  of  palatial  residences  ever 


K 


CELTIC,  GOTHIC  AND  MOORISH  SPAIN. 


reared  upon  this  earth.  Built  at  the  base  of  a 
mountain,  it  enjoyed  a delightful  climate  almost 
uninterruptedly.  It  was  profusely  supplied  with 
fountains,  gardens,  parks  and  boulevards.  The 
houses  were  built  on  one  model  and  surrounded  by 
gardens,  terraces  and 
every  conceivable 
appliance  of  luxury. 

The  central  beauty 
of  Zarah  was  a pal- 
ace with  a roof  sup- 
ported by four  thous- 
and pillars  of  varie- 
gated marble,  inclu- 
ding not  only  sombre 
shafts  from  Egypt, 
and  white  shafts 
from  Italy,  but  state- 
ly malachite  from 
Russia,  procured 
through  tfhe  com- 
merce of  “ Novgorod 
the  Good.”  The 
floors  and  walls  were 
of  the  same  material, 
all  polished  to  the 
highest  degree.  Gold, 
burnished  steel  and 
precious  jewels  em- 
bellished the  ceiling. 

It  was  luxury  car- 
ried to  the  loftiest 
heights. 

But  the  chief  glory 
of  Cordova  and  its 
suburb  was  not  ar- 
chitectural or  ma- 
terial in  any  sense. 

Poetry,  history,  the 
exact  sciences,  geog- 
raphy,  chemistry,  medicine,  inventions,  discoveries, 
and  all  that  go  to  the  composition  of  culture,  found 
its  natural  center  there.  The  value  of  the  literature 
developed  cannot  be  measured  with  any  degree  of 
accuracy,  for  the  vandalism  of  the  Christians  who 
finally  expelled  the  Moors,  spared  nothing.  Whatever 
was  written  in  Arabic  characters  was  assumed  to  be 
the  Koran,  and  doomed  to  the  flames.  The  palaces 
were  torn  down,  the  gardens  desolated,  and  the  real 


treasures  of  the  city  destroyed.  But  much  which 
made  the  Renaissance  possible  and  beneficent  may  be 
traced  to  Cordova.  Not  that  the  Moors  in  Spain, 
any  more  than  the  Saracens  generally,  were  actual 
creators  of  a distinctive  civilization,  but  that  they 

found,  conserved, 
and  to  some  extent 
fused,  the  civiliza- 
tions of  Greece  and 
India.  They  were 
apt  scholars  and 
faitliful  transmit- 
ters. 

The  most  illustri- 
ous name  in  Cordo- 
va’s crown  of  glory 
is  Averroes,  a ripe 
scholar  and  pro- 
found philosopher. 

He  was  what  would 
be  called  an  agnostic 
in  our  day,  too  broad 
and  liberal  to  be  tol- 
erated even  in  toler- 
ant Cordova.  His 
philosophy  seems  to 
have  opened  the  eyes 
of  the  devout  be- 
lievers in  the  Pro- 
phet to  the  danger 
of  religion  from 
science.  He  was 
persecuted  as  a her-  \ 
etic.  His  genius  was 
the  glory  of  the 
twelfth  century,  and 
his  persecution  was 
the  triumph  of  the 
Koran  over  free 
thought  and  scien- 
tific inquiry,  the  turning-point,  in  fact,  of  the 
Moslem.  Had  his  spirit  of  progress  prevailed,  the 
regeneration  of  Europe  by  the  Moors  would  have 
been  probable ; but  orthodoxy  triumphed,  and  the 
country  was  held  within  the  narrow  limits  of  a book 
having  no  scientific  virtue,  and  Averroeism  was 
obliged  to  await  encouragement  and  development  in 
Christian  lands  ages  later.  The  Moors  in  Spain,  i 
like  the  Saracens  in  the  East,  marched  nobly  and 


*7[ 


v 


o 


298 


CELTIC,  GOTHIC  AND  MOORISH  SPAIN. 


swiftly  to  tlie  very  door  of  modern  civilization,  hut 
only  to  pause  upon  the  threshold  and  draw  back  for- 
ever. No  second  Averroes  came  to  lead  the  Moslem 
intellect  out  of  bondage  to  a Book. 

In  the  year  1234  the  Christians  took  Cordova, 
the  Moors  no  longer  being  succored  by  their  breth- 
ren in  Africa,  nor  able  by  themselves  to  withstand 
the  assaults  of  their  enemies.  Granada  then  became 
the  capital  of  the  Moslem  power  in  Spain,  and  so 
continued  to  be  to  the  end.  There  the  Mohamme- 


eitlier.  Jews  and  Christians  were  made  welcome. 
If  Granada  could  not  boast  the  Mosque  of  Cor- 
dova, the  Giralda  of  Seville,  or  the  palace  of  Zarah, 
its  Alhambra  was  even  a more  wonderful  triumph 
of  architecture  than  any  of  these.  Its  foundation 
is  ascribed  to  Mohammed  I.,  who  died  in  1273.  It 
was  a group  of  buildings  with  their  surroundings, 
rather  than  one  edifice,  with  the  royal  residence  as 
its  center.  It  was  peculiarly  Saracenic  in  this,  that  it 
combined  the  characteristic  merits  of  every  kind  of 


dans  rallied  and  maintained  themselves  for  two  cen- 
turies and  a half.  A recent  writer,  speaking  of  the 
kingdom  of  Granada,  says,  “ Its  fertile  valleys  em- 
braced the  garden  of  the  Peninsula ; its  industrious 
population  carried  agriculture  to  a degree  of  perfec- 
tion unknown  to  modern  times ; its  mountains 
yielded  great  quantities  of  the  precious  metals ; its 
manufactures  of  silk  and  porcelain  found  a ready 
market  in  the  courts  of  semi-barbaric  Europe ; the 
commerce  of  Alcmena  and  Malaga,  its  principal  sea- 
ports, extended  to  the  Indies,”  and  he  might  have 
added,  to  every  port  of  trade.  Within  that  succes- 
sor of  Cordova,  Granada,  gathered  a population 
of  a half  a million  people,  not  all  Mohammedans 


known  architecture,  Roman,  Babylonian,  Phoeni- 
cian, Persian,  Greek  and  Egyptian.  It  was  not 
only  a royal  residence  and  seat  of  government,  but 
it  was  also  a home  of  learning  and  intelligence. 
The  barbarism  of  Christian  Spain  has  wholly  de- 
stroyed much  and  greatly  defaced  all,  but  enough 
remains  to  testify  that  the  Alhambra  was  one  of  the 
marvels  of  the  world,  and  its  destruction  a vast 
public  crime. 

As  in  Condova,  so  in  Granada,  dissensions  made 
conquest  possible.  The  territory  of  Islam  was 
gradually  narrowed  by  Christian  encroachments. 
New  states  of  considerable  power  arose.  Portugal 
came  into  existence  in  1145 ; Navarre  extended 


3 


■yjs 


CELTIC,  GOTHIC  AND  MOORISH  SPAIN. 


299 


both  North  and  South  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  stron- 
ger than  either  were  Castile  and  Aragon,  especially 
the  former.  The  two  latter  were  united  when  Fer- 
dinand, King  of  Aragon,  married  Isabella,  Queen 
of  Castile.  Each  reigned  in  his  or  her  own  right, 
but  being  happy  in  their  marital  relations,  they 
formed  one  sovereignty.  Together  they  set  about 
overthrowing  the  Moorish  Kingdom,  and  they  were 
successful.  The  glories  of  Columbus  are  thus 
blended,  in  a sense,  with  the  shame  of  Boabdil,  the 
honor  of  discovering  a new  world  with  the  reproach 
of  quenching  the  brightest  light  in  the  old  world. 

The  first  campaign  of  destruction  was  directed 
against  Malaga.  That  Liverpool  of  its  day  fell  in 
1487.  The  people  were  sold  into  slavery  or  par- 
celed out  among  the  victors  as  prizes  of  war  in  the 
most  barbaric  manner.  The  more  beautiful  females 
were  sent,  in  large  numbers,  to  Rome,  Paris  and 
other  centers  of  power,  as  gifts,  in  accordance  with 
the  monstrous  conception  then  common  of  inter- 
national comity.  The  captured  city  was  repeopled 
with  Christian  Spaniards,  and  the  conquerors  were 
encouraged  to  plot  further  spoliation  and  slaughter, 
robbery  and  outrage. 

In  the  spring  of  1491  Ferdinand  raised  a power- 


ful army  and  encamped  with  his  host  within  a few 
miles  of  the  battlements  of  Granada,  determined 
to  complete  the  work  of  conquest.  Abdallah,  or 
Boabdil,  the  king  of  the  Spanish  Moors,  was  in  per- 
sonal command  at  Granada.  The  city  was  well 
adapted  to  defensive  warfare ; but  even  in  the  pres- 
ence of  impending  ruin  there  was  dissension,  and  to 
that  cause,  hardly  less  than  to  the  prowess  of  the 
besiegers,  the  beleagured  city  owed  its  fall,  for  fall 
it  did.  On  the  second  day  of  the  year  1492  it  was 
obliged  to  capitulate.  The  soldiers  of  the  Cross 
took  possession  of  the  Alhambra  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  and  the  vanquished  king  withdrew  with  his 
people  to  a small  mountainous  territory  in  the 
midst  of  the  Alpuxarrus  Mountains,  where  he  was 
allowed  for  a short  time  to  rule  as  governor,  and 
vassal  of  the  Christian  monarch.  But  the  Moors 
were  unequal  to  the  task  of  building  a third  king- 
dom upon  Spanish  soil.  Not  long  after,  Boabdil 
crossed  the  straits  of  Gibraltar  and  was  lost  among 
the  Moors  of  Africa.  With  him  did  not,  however, 
disappear  the  Arab  from  Europe.  There  lingered 
much  of  the  old  stock,  but  as  a separate  and  puis- 
sant political  power  the  Moor  ceased  to  exist  in 
Europe  with  the  fall  of  Granada. 


Spain  and  Portugal — The  Moors  and  Moriscoes — Persecution  of  the  Jews — The  Inquisition 
AND  AUTO-DA-FE— XlMENES  AND  TORQUEMADA — BlRTH  AND  EARLY  EXPERIENCES  OF  CHRISTO- 
PHER Columbus — The  Great  Discovery — Subsequent  Career  of  the  Great  Discoverer — 
Indian  and  African  Slavery— Last  Days  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 


CHAPTER  L. 


HE  marriage  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  (1469)  was 
the  union  of  two  loving 
and  ever  faithful  hearts. 
For  thir-  


ty  years 
they  liv- 
ed together  in 
harmony,  and  in 
their  marital  re- 
lations were  mod- 
els of  domestic 
virtue  and  grace. 

Never  was  there  a 
better  illustration 
of  the  adage,  “ In 
union  is  strength.” 

The  fall  of  Granada  was  the  first 
great  result  of  their  cooperative 
energy.  Castile  and  Aragon  were 
then  and  throughout  in  practical  unity,  and  out  of 
that  unity  grew  modern  Spain.  Neither  kingdom 
lost  its  individuality  at  once,  but  the  conquest  of  a 
splendid  country  like  Granada  by  their  united 
effort  rendered  any  separation  of  interest  imprac- 
ticable. A new  name  was  only  a question  of 
time.  Before  a common  heir  to  both  Castile  and 
Aragon  came  to  the  throne,  other  important 


additions  of  area  were  made,  and  it  required 
only  a matrimonial  alliance  with  Portugal  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  complete  unification  of  the 
Peninsula  under  one  throne.  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella made  the  necessary  pro- 
vision for  such  a consummation 
by  the  marriage  of  their  daugh- 
ter with  the  heir  of  Portugal, 
and  their  son  with  a daughter 

But 


of  the  King  of  Portugal. 


in  both  cases  death  prevented 
the  success  of  the  plan,  and 
instead  of  uniting  all  Iberia, 
the  country  became  two  king- 
doms as  now,  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal. 

In  the  fall  of  Granada,  Castile 
and  Aragon  had  no  assistance 
of  moment,  but  all  Europe  was 
delighted.  Christendom  felt 
that  the  overthrow  of  the  Saracens  in  Spain  was 
an  offset  for  failure  in  the  Crusades,  and  for 
encroachments  upon  the  Greek  Church  on  the 
Bosphorus  and  along  the  Danube.  Only  one 
thing  marred  the  satisfaction  of  the  pious,  and 
that  was  that  the  treaty  of  Granada  guaranteed 
to  the  Moors  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  religion. 
Under  that  arrangement  many  thousands  of  Mos- 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


(3°°) 


S) 


k. 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  30I 


lems  remained  in  the  land,  worshiping  God  accord- 
ing to  the  Koran.  But  the  perfidy  of  ecclesiastical 
counselors  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  A synod 
of  bishops  and  other  dignitaries  of  the  church  de- 
cided to  “solicit”  the  conversion  of  the  Mohamme- 
dans by  ordering  those  who  did  not  embrace  the 
Christian  religion  to  leave  the  country,  taking  with 
them  neither  gold  nor  silver.  Confiscation  and  ban- 
ishment, practically,  were  the  penalty  of  fidelity  to 
Islam.  And  this  policy  was  rigorously  carried  out. 
A great  many  accepted  Christianity,  receiving  bap- 
tism and  abstaining  from  every  form  of  Moslem 
worship.  To  recant  in  any  way 
was  sure  death.  Those  who  were 
thus  converted  became  known  as 
Moriscoes.  The  more  liberal  and 
educated  class  cared  little  for 
their  religion.  Those  who  clung 
to  the  old  faith  of  Mecca  were 
obliged  to  cross  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Some  of  them  settled 
along  the  northern  border  of 
Africa,  but  many  pushed  boldly 
southward  and  established  their 
seats  of  learning  and  other  in- 
stitutions in  Soudan.  The  Cres- 
cent owes  much  of  its  present 
power  among  the  Africans  of  the 
interior  to  the  banished  Moors  of 
Spain.  But  their  civilization 
succumbed  to  the  adverse  pressure 
of  a tropical  climate,  and  long 
since  lost  its  vitality.  It  should  be  added  that  not 
a few  of  the  more  heroic  Moors  were  either  burnt  at 
the  stake  or  sold  into  slavery  by  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  in  their  terrible  and  relentless  policy  of  ex- 
tirpation. Not  content  with  such  perfidy,  Ferdi- 
nand, near  the  close  of  his  reign,  sent  an  army  over 
into  Africa  to  plunder  the  Moors  by  wasting  their 
country  and  committing  every  species  of  outrage. 

Black  and  infamous  as  is  the  record  of  Spain’s 
treatment  of  the  Moors  at  this  time,  it  is  not  so  ut- 
terly detestable  as  the  record  of  Jewish  persecution. 
The  Moors  were  looked  upon  as  intruders  and  ene- 
mies of  the  country;  the  Jews  were  an  integral, 
loyal  and  useful  part  of  the  native  population.  They 
had  been  in  the  country  many  centuries,  for  the 
most  part,  and  were  in  all  respects  homogeneous,  ex- 
cept that  in  the  one  matter  of  religion  they  remain- 


ed true  to  their  ancestral  faith.  The  spirit  of  perse- 
cution was  stimulated  by  the  fall  of  Granada,  and 
in  the  same  year  an  edict  was  issued  requiring  those 
Jews  who  would  not  recant  to  leave  the  country, 
taking  neither  gold  nor  silver  with  them.  The  de- 
cree was  issued  in  March  to  go  into  effect  in  July. 
Very  few  of  the  people  recanted,  and  they  were 
hunted  down  pitilessly.  Vast  numbers  perished, 
and  those  who  escaped  suffered  terribly.  Some  laid 
down  to  die  on  the  sands  of  Africa ; others  perished 
of  disease  contracted  in  overcrowded  ships  in  which 
they  took  passage  for  other  parts  of  Europe.  At 
that  time  the  new  continent  had 
not  been  discovered,  and  nowhere 
was  there  a welcome  retreat  for 
these  distressed  people.  They  had 
enjoyed  liberty  under  the  Moors, 
and  acquired  large  landed  estates. 
Granada  wras  the  medieval  para- 
dise of  the  Hebrews.  To  be  up- 
rooted and  desolated  without 
cause,  and  contrary  to  treaty  ob- 
ligations, was  one  of  the  greatest 
crimes  of  history.  There  were 
probably  half  a million  Jews  in 
Spain  at  that  time.  They  were 
hunted  down  like  wild  beasts, 
and  even  the  King  of  Portugal 
was  not  allowed  to  harbor  them. 

The  great  instrument  of  this 
destruction  of  two  peoples,  the 
Moors  and  the  Jews,  was  the  In- 
quisition. It  had  existed  for  some  time  in  a lanquid 
way,  but  the  austere  Ferdinand  and  his  pious  wife 
were  persuaded  that  it  was  their  religious  duty  to 
ply  that  agency  of  conversion  unsparingly.  The 
belief  of  the  time  was  that  submission  to  the  rite  of 
baptism  was  salvation  from  hell,  and  that  heresy,  of 
whatever  kind  or  degree,  was  the  worst  form  of 
crime.  The  church  had  always  been  exceptionally 
influential  in  Spain,  but  now  it  was  absolute,  and 
the  Inquisition  (“bed  of  justice”)  was  the  supremo 
tribunal,  and  the  lurid  fire  of  the  auto-da-fe  made 
hideous  the  whole  sky  of  Spain.  France  had  her 
Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  but  that  was  a gentle 
shower  as  compared  with  the  flood  which  deluged 
Spain  with  blood  during  the  joint  reign  of  these  two 
conscientious  sovereigns.  Under  their  sway  the 
country  was  so  completely  subjugated  to  the  will  of 


JV 


s\J- 


3°2 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


Romish  priests  that  had  it  not  been  for  other  pos- 
sessions in  Holland  their  persecuting  descendants 
would  have  been  denied  the  grim  privilege  of  per- 
secution. Absolutely  no  mercy  was  ever  shown  to 
any  form  of  heresy  in  Spain,  and  never  was  a work 
of  destruction  more  thorough  or  cruel. 

In  this  policy  two  ecclesiastics,  as  well  as  two  sov- 
ereigns, were  conspicuous,  Torqueinada  the  Inquisi- 
tor, and  Cardinal  Ximenes,  the  Richelieu  of  Spain. 
The  former  had  been  the  confessor  of  Isabella,  and 
hadunlimitedinfluence  overlier.  Withno  thought  but 
to  extirpate  heretics  he  spent  his  life  in  the  service  of 
the  Inquisition. 

Ximenes  was  a 
statesman  of  ex- 
traordinary abil- 
ity and  thorough 
devotion  to  the 
church.  He 
sought  to  make 
the  church  and 
state  one,  and 
both  invincible. 

He  was  unscru- 
pulous, crafty 
and  heartless. 

Many  stories 
were  told  by  ec- 
clesiastical writ- 
of  the  per- 


ers 

sonal  goodness 
of  these  two 
men,  some  of 

which  have  found  their  way  into  received  history ; 
but  the  needless  outrages  which  Ximenes  encour- 
aged and  the  wealth  which  he  accumulated  stamp 
him  as  a monster  of  wickedness,  while  Torquemada 
was  more  bigoted  if  possible  than  the  cardinal, 
but  unstained  with  avarice.  Together  they  crushed 
and  destroyed  not  only  free  thought  but  learning 
and  progress.  Henceforth,  notwithstanding  the 
glories  of  the  New  AVorld,  Spain  declined  in  char- 
acter and  intelligence. 

The  same  year  that  Granada  fell  and  the  Jews 
were  robbed  and  banished,  America  was  discovered, 
and  all  under  substantially  the  same  impulse.  If 
neither  Torquemada  nor  Ximenes  may  claim  the 
credit  of  inducing  Isabella  to  enter  upon  the  enter- 
prise of  discovery  (for  to  her  rather  than  to  herhus- 


COLUMBUS  EXPLAINING  HIS  VOYAGE. 


band  was  Columbus  indebted)  it  was  none  the  less 
due  to  priestly  intervention.  It  was  the  great  nav- 
igator’s good  fortune  to  enlist  the  support  of  a 
former  confessor  of  the  queen,  and  the  influence  of 
that  ecclesiastic  was  decisive.  Thus  the  same  un- 
derlying motive  explains  both  the  shame  and  the 
glory  of  Spain. 

The  story  of  Columbus  is  peculiarly  interesting. 
A recent  writer  of  much  erudition  has  taken  pains 
to  show  from  official  documents  that  Christopher 
Columbus  was  anything  but  an  admirable  man  in 
character,  and  that  his  ill-fortune,  late  in  life,  was  due 

to  his  own  mis- 
conduct ; but  so 
vast  is  the  debt 
of  the  world  to 
him  that  the 
mantle  of  obliv- 
ion may  well  be 
thrown  over  all 
that.  He  de- 
serves to  be  held 
in  grateful  and. 
tender  memory. 
His  story  may 
be  briefly,  told. , 
Born  in  (^gnaka* 
in  1435,  the  son 
of  a wool-comb- 
er, at  fourteen 
he  became  a sail- 
or. His  native 
city  was  then  an 
important  but  declining  mart  of  maritime  trade. 
About  the  age  of  35 
lie  made  Lisbon,  Por- 
tugal, his  home,  and 
map-making  his  busi- 
ness. That  was  the 
golden  age  of  Portu- 
gal. King  John  was 
the  most  enterprising 
monarch  in  Europe, 
and  he  encouraged 
navigation  on  a liber- 
al scale.  The  ships  coi.rMnrs. 

of  Lisbon  skirted  the  African  coast  along  the  At- 
lantic and  penetrated  as  far  as  the  Azores  islaudsj 
continually  adding  to  geographical  and  maritime 


'N 


J 


r 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


3°3 


The  argument  which  he  used  was  that  by  a short 
cut  to  India  immense  treasures  would  be  secured, 
the  gospel  of  Christ  extended,  and  the  revenue  de- 
rived be  sufficient  to  equip  another  crusade  against 
the  Moslem.  That  was  an  age  of  superstition  and 
avarice,  and  he  held  out  the  inducements  most 
likely  to  be  influential.  A wealthy  Spaniard, 
Alonzo  Pinzon,  offered  to  defray  one-eighth  of  the 
expense,  and  the  Queen  undertook  the  fitting  out 
of  three  vessels  for  the  expedition,  pledging,  says 
the  narrative,  her  personal  jewels.  This,  however, 
is  quite  improbable,  for  Granada  had  just  fallen,  and 
its  plunder  had  enriched  the  coffers  of  both  Castile 
and  Aragon. 


fives  Indians,  a misnomer  which  has  clung  to  them 
ever  since,  and  given  to  the  islands  discovered  the 
name  of  West  Indies.  He  returned  with  many 
specimens  of  the  country,  including  several  of  the 
Aborigines.  Among  the  products  found  and  intro- 
duced into  Europe  were  potatoes,  tobacco  and  In- 
dian corn.  Ilis  return  was  hailed  as  a great  event 
all  over  Europe.  In  Spain  he  was  honored  by  the 
people  and  the  sovereigns  as  befitted  his  supreme 
achievement. 

A second  expedition  soon  set  sail  for  the  new 
world,  indulging  the  most  extravagant  anticipa- 
tions. Everybody  was  wild  with  golden  expectations. 
But  very  little  was  found  to  meet  the  views  of  the 


knowledge.  Map  making  was  thus  a progressive 
science,  no  less  than  a trade.  The  roundness  of  the 
world  had  been  philosophically  established,  the  mar- 
iner’s compass  discovered,  and  the  way  prepared  for 
the  circumnavigation  of  the  world ; but  no  one 
seemed  to  have  conceived  the  idea  of  trying  to  reach 
the  farthest  east  by  sailing  directly  west,  until 
that  idea  took  possession  of  the  mind  of  Columbus. 
He  spent  several  years  in  trying  to  secure  the  funds 
by  royal  patronage  for  his  voyage.  He  was  repeat- 
edly refused  and  rebuffed  and  almost  discouraged. 


This  most  memorable  of  all  expeditions  sailed 
from  Palos  October  12,  1492.  It  was  with  the  ut- 
most difficulty,  toward  the  last,  that  Columbus  could 
keep  his  sailors  from  turning  back,  but  finally,  on 
the  12th  of  December,  land  was  discovered  and 
reached.  He  had  found  the  island  of  San  Salva- 
dor. The  natives  received  the  voyagers  with  open 
arms  of  friendship.  They  cruised  about  some  days, 
discovering  several  islands,  including  Hayti,  or  San 
Domingo,  and  Cuba.  Supposing  he  had  reached 
the  land  for  which  he  had  sailed,  he  called  the  na- 


LANDING  OP  COLUMBUS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD—  afteb  a Painting  by  Puebla. 


IL 


““ 


3« 


"Cl 


3°4 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


adventurers.  After  coasting  along  the  east  shore 
of  South  America,  finding  neither  a passage  to  In- 
dia, nor  gold  and  silver  mines,  many  returned  home 
in  disgust  and  others  remained  sullen  with  discon- 
tent. A reaction  set  in,  and  Columbus  was  super- 
seded in  command  of  the  colony  established  in 
Cuba  by  Bobadilla,  who  ordered  the  Admiral  home 
in  chains.  That  injustice  created  a feeling  in  his 
favor,  and  he  was  sent  back  the  third  time  as  gov- 
ernor of  the  colony.  That  was  in  1501.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  Span- 
iards in  the  new  world 
had  enslaved  the  na- 
tives, and  under  pre- 
text of  converting 
them  to  Christianity, 
were  subjecting  them 
to  extirpating  cruel- 
ties. The  natives  of 
those  once  happy 
islands  were  early 
annihilated  by  their 
inhuman  task-mas- 
ters, and  their  places 
supplied  by  importa- 
tions of  Negroes.  If 
Columbus  was  not 
responsible  for  slavery 
he  did  nothing  to 
prevent  or  ameliorate 

it.  In  conception  of  justice  he  was  not  in  advance 
of  his  age.  Not  only  was  the  enslavement  of  two 
races  introduced  in  America  in  his  time,  but  the  use 
of  bloodhounds  in  chasing  the  fugitive  slaves. 
Half  a century  saw  the  native  population  swept 
from  those  islands  by  the  atrocity  of  the  Spaniards. 

Disappointed  in  his  search  for  gold,  and  saddened 
by  the  results  of  his  genius,  Columbus  returned  to 


Spain,  and  in  the  year  1506  he  died,  poor,  heart- 
broken and  neglected.  After  his  death  he  was  re- 
stored to  popular  favor,  and  his  remains  removed 
to  Hayti  for  interment.  In  1795  the  bones  of  the 
great  discoverer  were  removed  to  their  present  in- 
terment, the  Cathedral  of  Havana,  Cuba.  It  was 
not  until  about  the  time  of  his  death  that  the  Span- 
ish dream  of  gold  and  silver  was  realized. 

The  principal  events  of  the  eventful  joint  rule  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  have  now  been  narrated. 

The  Queen  died  in  the 
odor  of  sanctity  Nov- 
ember 26,  1504,  in  the 
forty-fourth  year  of 
her  age  and  the  thirti- 
eth of  her  reign.  Of 
her  children  there  re- 
mained only  one 
daughter,  J oanna,  and 
she  was  insane.  Jo- 
anna’s son  Charles, 
afterwards  illustrious 
as  Charles  V.,  was  the 
heir  of  Castile  and 
Aragon,  on  his  moth- 
er’s side ; and  on  the 
side  of  his  father, 
Philip,  son  of  Maxi- 
milian of  Germany, 
also  heir  of  the  Neth- 
erlands, and  he  was,  as  it  proved,  heir  also  of 
the  German  Empire.  Ferdinand  survived  Isa- 
bella a few  years,  marrying  the  niece  of  the 
King  of  France.  His  last  years  were  unevent- 
ful, and  may  well  be  passed  over.  His  life-work  was 
completed  when  the  woman  who  was  really  his 
“ better-half  ” passed  away.  He  lagged  superfluous 
until  January  22,  1516,  when  he  too  passed  away. 


7 


-^1 


k- 


CHAPTER  LI 


Isabella’s  Character  and  Death — Spanish  Union — Philip  and  Juana — Character  op 
Ferdinand — Charles  V. — Philip  the  Catholic — Marriage  with  “ Bloody  Mary  ” — The 
“Invincible  Armada ’’—The  Escurial— Portuguese  and  Spanish  Crowns — Philip  the 
Imbecile — The  Moriscoes  and  Spain — Philip  IV.  and  Spain — The  Last  op  the  IIapsburgs 
— First  op  the  Bourbons — Continued  Decline — Loss  op  Territory — Napoleon  and  Spain 
— Joseph  Bonaparte — The  Bourbons  Restored — Louis  Philippe’s  Trick  and  What  Came 
op  it— “The  Apostolic  Junta  and  Carlism” — Charles,  Karl  and  Carlos — Ferdinand 
AMI.  and  Queen  Regent  Maria  Christina— Isabella  II. — Provisional  Government — The 
Republican  Experiment  and  Castelar — Amadeus  I.  and  Marshal  Prim — Another  Inter- 
regnum-Bourbons Again  Restored— Alfonso  and  the  Present  Government — Spanish 
Art  and  Literature,  Murillo,  the  Cid,  Calderon,  Cervantes,  Don  Quixote  and 
the  National  Ballads. 


T 


of  her 
which 
ial  in 
justly 


HE  personal  virtues  of  Isa- 
bella, and  the  service  she 
rendered  the  world  as  the 
patron  of  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus will  evermore  en- 
shrine her  name  in  the  af- 
fections of  mankind.  Pure 
in  heart  and  free  from 
guile,  she  no  doubt  maintained  “a 
conscience  void  of  offense.”  She 
was,  however,  very  far  from  being 
a model  ruler.  The  policy  of  the 
government  toward  Moors,  Jews 
and  heretics  was  cruel  and  unjust. 
She  herself  was  the  victim  of 
superstition,  and  so  far  miscon- 
ceived the  sphere  of  civil  authority 
as  to  devote  herself  largely  to  the 
regulation  of  the  religious  affairs 
subjects  by  means  of  persecution.  But  all 
she  did  or  sanctioned  in  that  line  seems  triv- 
comparison  with  what  followed.  She  was 
styled  the  Catholic  Queen,  but  it  was  not 


until  after  her  death  that  Catholic  Spain,  in  the 
most  pronounced  sense  of  the  term,  came  into  view 
and  held  its  ground  as  the  supreme  political  expres- 
sion of  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 

We  have  used  the  name  Spain  from  the  first  and 
treated  the  country  as  if  it  were  one ; but  in  point 
of  fact,  as  the  reader  has  observed,  there  were  sev- 
eral states,  each  independent  of  the  other,  Castile 
being  the  most  powerful  and  Aragon  second.  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella  never  merged  their  kingdoms, 
but  their  personal  union  proved  in  effect  the  mar- 
riage of  States.  It  may  be  said  that  when  Ferdi- 
nand followed  his  consort  to  the  grave  their  two 
kingdoms,  with  their  accessories,  were  merged  into 
one  nation. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  had  been  unfortunate  in 
their  children.  Several  died  young,  and  when  the 
illustrious  queen  died  her  only  heir  was  Juana,  wife 
of  Philip,  Archduke  of  Austria,  son  and  heir  of 
Maximilian  I.,  Finperor  of  Germany.  By  her  will, 
executed  October  12,  1504,  Isabella  bestowed  the 
crown  of  Castile  upon  Juana  as  “ Queen  Proprie- 
tor ” and  her  husband.  By  the  Concord  of  Sala- 


(3°5) 


; A, 


306 


CATHOLIC  SPAIN. 


inanca,  a year  later,  it  was  arranged  that  Castile 
should  be  governed  jointly  by  Ferdinand,  Philip 
and  Juana.  Philip  and  his  wife  were  in  the  Neth- 
erlands at  the  time.  The  year  following  they  re- 
turned to  Spain,  and  it  was  very  soon  evident  that 
this  tripartite  agreement  would  lead  to  very  serious 
trouble.  But  before  the  year  closed  Philip  died 
suddenly.  His  poor  wife  was  crazed  by  her  be- 
reavement, never  recovering  her  reason.  She  lin- 
gered many  years,  a melancholy  lunatic.  There  was 
no  room  for  dissension.  All  conceded  to  Ferdinand 
the  sovereignty  of  the  whole  country.  He  held  it 
until  151G,  when  death  claimed  him.  By  his  will 
he  left  the  kingdom  to  the  young  son  of  poor  Ju- 
ana, known  in  history  as  Charles  V.,  with  Cardinal 
Ximenes  as  ruler  of  Castile  until  Charles  should 
come  into  his  kingdom,  and  Ferdinand’s  natural 
son,  the  Archbishop  of  Saragossa,  in  charge  of  Ara- 
gon during  the  same  period.  Ximenes  was  a great 
statesman,  a brave  soldier  and  a learned  divine,  a 
man  of  great  power.  He  founded  the  university  of 
Alcala  and  translated  the  Bible.  Of  Ferdinand  and 
his  rule  Harrison  gives  this  testimony : 

“ Ferdinand  was  a bigot ; he  was  not  free  from 
the  taint  of  perfidy  tossed  to  and  fro  so  freely  in 
that  age ; he  was  parsimonious,  subtle  and  insin- 
cere ; he  utterly  lacked  geniality,  and  never  threw 
off  the  gravity  which  he  thought  becoming  the 
Spanish  grandee  ; he  indulged  in  vicious  gallantries 
in  egotistic  designs,  in  an  ill-assorted  second  mar- 
riage ; he  was  suspicious,  vulgar  and  uneducated ; 
all  this  one  is  willing  to  grant,  and  yet  concede  that 
there  were  elements  of  true  grandeur  in  his  charac- 
ter. In  the  judgment  of  many  of  his  contempora- 
ries, he  was  the  most  renowned  and  glorious  monarch 
in  Christendom.  Impartial,  economical,  indefati- 
gable in  his  application  to  business,  he  was  neither 
an  epicure  nor  ostentatious  ; he  loved  history,  horse- 
manship, the  rites  and  ritual  of  a splendid  church 
ceremonial,  knightly  virtues  and  chivalrous  un- 
dertakings ; and  with  unusual  control  over  his 
temper,  undaunted  personal  courage,  and  a far-see- 
ing political  sagacity,  lie  made  few  bad  mistakes, 
and,  by  wonderful  good  fortune,  raised  Spain,  joint- 
ly with  his  magnanimous  queen,  from  a conglom- 
eration of  reciprocally  hostile  states  into  a spacious 
and  concentrated  European  empire.” 

Charles  V.  was  sixteen  years  of  age  when  his 
grandfather  died.  Little  more  than  a year  later  he 


CHARLES  v. 


assumed  the  reins  of  government,  and  the  year  next 
following  he  was  elected  Emperor  of  Germany.  No 
monarch  had 
ever  swayed  so 
vast  an  em- 
pire. Besides 
the  splendid 
kingdom  of 
Spain,  inclu- 
ding quite  a 
large  part  of 
Italy,  and  the 
angust  em- 
pire of  Ger- 
many, were 
his  vast  Am- 
erican posses- 
sions, already 
growing  into 
enormous  im- 
portance. 

His  reign  extended  from  1516  in  Spain  and  1519  in 
Germany  until  1555,  when  he  voluntarily  abdicated 
in  favor  of  his  sou  Philip  II.,  known  fitly  as  Philip 
the  Catholic,  retiring  himself  to  a monastery  to 
prepare  for  death. 

Subsequent  chapters  will  narrate  the  founding  of 
American  colonies,  some  of  them  imperial.  In  a 
general  way  it  may  be  said  that  his  reign  witnessed 
nearly  all  the  settlements  which  grew  into  that 
chain  of  republics  extending  from  the  United  States 
to  Patagonia.  In  1526  he  was  married  to  Isabella 
of  Portugal,  a union  which  ultimately  brought  the 
entire  Spanish  peninsula  under  one  scepter  for  a 
time.  The  death  of  Charles  V.  occurred  September 
21,  1558,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  His 
last  act  was  the  execution  of  a codicil  to  his  will  in 
which  he  solemnly  and  quite  superfluously  enjoined 
it  upon  Philip  to  “ exterminate  every  heretic  in  his 
dominions  and  cherish  the  Inquisition.” 

Fortunately  for  Germany,  Philip  II.  never  wore 
the  elective  imperial  crown  ; hut  his  hereditary  and 
inalienable  sovereignties  raised  him  to  the  supreme 
rank  among  the  kings  of  Europe. 

Queen  Catherine,  the  divorced  wife  of  Henry  VIII. 
of  England,  was  the  sister  of  Charles,  and  Philip 
married  for  his  first  wife  the  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Catherine,  Mary,  known  in  English  annals  as 
Bloody  Mary.  On  her  part  it  was  a love  match, 


" 


o > 


o 


J- 


CATHOLIC  SPAIN. 


3°7 


but  not  so  on  his  side.  She  was  several  years  the 
senior  of  her  profligate  and  bigoted  husband.  From 
the  first  he  hated  Protestantism  with  more  in- 
tensity than  he  loved  pleasure,  and  herein  there  was 
a bond  of  sympathy  between  them ; but  to  reside  on 
English  soil  and  be  enveloped  in  the  fog  of  an  un- 
congenial court  was  intolerable  to  him.  He  re- 
mained briefly  with  his  unloved  royal  wife,  only  that 
he  might  undo  what  her  father  and  her  brother, 
Edward  IV.,  had  sought  to  do.  The  papacy  was 


his  tactics  ;and  tried  to  gain  England  by  conquest. 
A vast  navy,  or  Armada,  was  fitted  out  for  the  pur- 
pose. An  auspicious  storm,  supplemented  by  British 
bravery,  destroyed  the  Armada  and  saved  En- 
gland. That  was  a great  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  En- 
gland. The  “ Invincible  Armada  ” consisted  of  140 
ships.  It  set  sail  in  May,  1588.  Eighty-one  of  the 
vessels  were  sunk.  The  fate  of  the  Armada  was, 
in  some  important  respects,  to  the  modern  world 
what  the  battle  of  Salamiswasto  the  ancient  world, 


restored,  temporarily.  When  the  retrogressive  work 
seemed  to  be  accomplished,  Philip  left  his  wife  in 
her  own  dominions,  crossing  the  channel,  never  to 
set  foot  again  on  English  soil.  Ilis  unhappy  wife 
had  no  charms  for  him,  and  her  importunities  for 
his  return  made  no  impression  upon  his  obdurate 
heart. 

Hardly  had  the  sad  queen  been  borne  to  her  last 
home,  before  the  serpentine  Philip  began  to  make 
overtures  of  marriage  to  her  sister  and  successor, 
Elizabeth.  But  she  was  not  to  be  wooed  and  won  by 
any  suitor,  least  of  all  by  a man  she  loathed  and  a 
sovereign  she  distrusted.  She  was  a staunch  Prot- 
estant. Failing  to  win  by  courtship,  Philip  changed 


England,  small  and  despised,  was  able  to  hold  in 
check  the  vast  and  unwieldy  forces  of  Spain,  and 
as  the  success  of  Xerxes  and  his  Persians  over  the 
Greeks  would  have  changed  the  current  of  ancient 
civilization,  so  the  success  of  Philip  and  his  Castil- 
ians would  have  changed  the  whole  trend  and  char- 
acter of  modern  civilization. 

The  first  four  years  of  Philip’s  reign,  to  resume 
the  thread  of  continental  history,  were  employed  in 
establishing  his  authority  in  Italy.  Devout  papist 
though  he  was,  he  forced  the  pope  himself  to 
sue  for  mercy.  But  nearly  all  his  energies  were  ex- 
pended in  carrying  out  his  father’s  codicil,  and  Ilis 
Holiness  freely  and  fully  forgave  him  all  his  Italian 


3°8 


CATHOLIC  SPAIN. 


transgressions.  The  long  reign  of  Philip  II.  ex- 
tended into  the  year  1598.  In  Spain,  the  only  part 
of  his  kingdom  in  which  he  really  felt  at  home, 
Protestantism  had  no  lodgment,  but  in  the  Neth- 
erlands it  was  very  strong.  The  political  privileges 
of  his  Dutch  subjects  were  atone  time  confirmed,  but 
with  unflinching  pertinacity  he  strove  to  crush  her- 
esy. That  terrible  war  belongs,  for  the  most  part, 
to  a previous  chapter.  In  1579  a union  of  the  sev- 
en Protestant  provinces  of  the  Netherlands  against 
Philip  was  formed,  with  William  of  Nassau  and 
Orange  at  its  head.  It  was  not  until  1648  that 
Spain  recognized  the  independence  of  the  Dutch 
Republic.  Philip  died  with  that  horrible  war  still 
in  progress.  His  long  and  detestable  life  was  unre- 
lieved by  a single  ray  of  nobility.  As  a husband  he 
was  faithless,  as  a father  a murderer,  his  son  and 
heir,  Don  Carlos,  being  the  victim  of  his  inhuman- 
ity. The  policy  he  adopted  drained  the  wealth  of 
Mexico  and  Peru  to  maintain  wars  instigated  by 
superstition,  and  thus,  instead  of  allowing  Spain  to 
profit  by  the  influx  of  precious  metals  from  the 
new  world  he  used  the  matchless  resources  of  his 
crown  to  destroy,  impoverish  and  depopulate  the 
lands  over  which  he  ruled. 

The  Escurial,  built  by  this  monarch,  was  at  once 
his  palace  and  his  tomb.  Its  somber  walls  stand  as 
a monument  of  the  most  calamitous  reign  in  all 
history.  A somewhat  too  gushing,  but  in  this  in- 
stance excusably  picturesque,  historian  says  of  this 
architectural  marvel : 

“ A mausoleum,  a monastery,  a palace,  a church, 
a museum,  a marvelous  reliquary,  where  the  bones 
and  limbs  of  hundreds  of  saints  were  devoutly  ac- 
cumulated ; a city  of  corridors,  doors,  windows,  and 
apartments  ; a great  library,  a gigantic  picture-gal- 
lery, a network  of  tanks  and  towers,  a confession- 
stool  for  princely  humility,  a village  of  Ilieronymite 
monks,  a town  clinging  to  the  sides  of  the  mountain- 
wilderness  of  the  Guadarramas,  a swarming  clois- 
ter, an  austere  hermitage,  a fortress, — what  was  not 
this  wonderful  edifice,  begun  by  Juan  Baptista 
de  Toledo  in  1563,  and  occupying  30  years  of 
Philip’s  life  before  it  was  finished?” 

It  was  in  the  year  1563  that  Philip  II.  made  Ma- 
drid the  permanent  capital  of  Spain,  which  it  has 
remained  ever  since.  In  1581  Philip  received  hom- 
age at  Lisbon  as  King  of  Portugal,  intending  to 
make  Madrid  the  central  city  of  the  entire  peniu- 


PHILIP  III. 


sula.  Henry,  the  cardinal  and  king  of  that  coun- 
try, had  died  the  year  before,  and  under  some  color 
of  right  Philip  demanded  the  crown.  His  demand 
was  not  conceded  until  a Spanish  army  had  deso- 
lated the  land. 

The  successor  of  Philip  II.  was  the  imbecile 
Philip  III.,  who  had  all  his  father’s  vices  without 
his  ability.  .-t, 

A weak  tool 
of  priests,  he 
was  simply 
clay  in  the 
hands  of  the 
ecclesiastical 
potters.  The 
chief  feature 
of  his  reign 
was  the  de- ' 
mand  of  the”N^ 
clergy  for  the 
slaughter  of 
the  Moriscoes 
or  Moors  who 
still  remained  in  the  country  and  professed  com- 
pliance with  the  religious  requirements  of  the  laws. 
During  the  reign  of  Philip  IL.they  had  been  cruelly 
persecuted,  but  it  was  reserved  for  the  son  to  finish 
the  work.  They  numbered  about  one  million  souls 
and  constituted  the  better  portion  of  the  popula- 
tion. They  were  the  intelligent  husbandmen,  skill- 
ful artisans  and  learned  scholars  of  Spain.  Under 
their  influence  and  fostering  care  the  industries,  arts 
and  manufactures  of  the  land  had  maintained  some 
thrift,  notwithstanding  the  paralizing  policy  of 
Philip  the  Catholic.  The  priests  were  for  mur- 
dering them  all.  But  the  secular  influence  at  the 
court  succeeded  in  somewhat  modifying  the  decree. 
The  Moriscoes  were  ordered  to  leave  the  country, 
taking  nothing  with  them.  No  less  than  one  hundred 
thousand  lives  were  lost  in  carrying  out  this  decree. 
At  one  stroke  was  fatally  crippled  the  skilled  indus- 
try of  the  country,  and  important  productions,  such 
as  the  raising  of  cotton,  rice  and  sugar,  were  cut  off. 
Large  tracts  of  hitherto  fertile  lands  became  utterly 
waste,  and  ever  since  have  served  only  as  lurking- 
places  of  robbers  and  wild  beasts. 

It  is  needless  and  would  be  tedious  to  follow 
the  downward  course  of  Catholic  Spain  in  detail. 
There  was  never  any  very  important  departure  from 


<*T 


Of 

7 


CATHOLIC  SPAIN.  309 


the  policy  of  persecution  foreshadowed  by  Isabella’s 
bigotry  and  fully  established  by  Charles  Y.  From 
the  accession  of  that  first  king  of  the  house  of 
Hapsburg,  1516,  until  the  death  of  the  last  of  the 
Hapsburgs,  Charles  II.,  1700,  the  population  de- 
clined from  ten  to  six  millions.  There  were  only 
five  kings  of  this  line,  beginning  and  ending  with 
a Charles  and  having  three  Philips  between.  Each 
king  in  this  line  was  a weaker  edition  of  his  prede- 
cessor until  the  dynasty  itself  ran  out  and  became 
extinct  with  the  death  of  Charles  II. 

When 
Philip  IV. 
came  to 
the  throne 
there  were 
it  is  esti- 
mated, 9, 

000  mon- 
asteries i n 
Spain,  be- 
sides un- 
numbered 
nunneries, 
and  friars, 
priestsand 
ecclesiasti- 
cal vam- 
pires innu- 
merable. 

During 
the  reign 
of  this 
feeble  and 
vicious 

monarch  civil  wars  were  chronic  in  many  parts'  of 
the  kingdom,  and  in  1640  Portugal  resumed  its 
national  individuality.  In  his  reign  the  independ- 
ence of  the  Netherlands  was  acknowledged  and 
several  American  possessions  were  lost. 

The  last  of  the  Spanish  Hapsburgs  was  Charles 
II.  (the  Charles  who  out  of  regard  to  his  being  Em- 
per  of  Germany  is  usually  designated  Charles  V. 
having  been  in  reality  Charles  I.  of  Spain.)  This 
pitiful  wreck  of  a man  was  on  the  throne  from 
1665  to  1700.  Under  him  the  population  of  Spain 
decreased  3,000,000,  and  the  population  of  Madrid 
which  had  been  as  high  as  400,000  fell  to  200,000. 
Speaking  of  the  condition  of  the  country  under 


this  king,  Niemann  says,  “ The  army,  once  so  cele- 
brated, was  now  worth  nothing ; it  had  neither  able 
leaders  nor  reliable  soldiers ; the  arsenals  and  maga- 
zines were  empty ; the  fleets  rotted  in  the  docks ; 
the  art  of  building  ships  was  forgotten ; of  sea 
charts  there  were  none,  and  Spanish  pilots  were  no- 
toriously ignorant.  The  poverty  was  so  great  that 
even  the  royal  servants  could  not  be  paid,  and  the 
members  of  the  royal  household  went  hungry.” 

Fortunately  this  Charles  was  physically  impotent. 
Nature  lifted  from  the  country  the  incubus  of  that 

detestable 
dynasty. 

The  last 
of  all  the 
Hapsburgs 
bequeathed 
his  crown 
to  the 
gr  a ndson 
of  “ the 
Grand 
Monarch,” 
LouisXIV. 
of  France- 
That  first 
of  all  the 
Bourbons 
to  sit  upon 
the  only 
throne  now 
occupied 
by  a Bour- 
bon, was 
Philip  IY. 

This  arrangement  did  not  suit  Austria,  England 
and  Holland,  who  wanted  Charles,  Archduke  of 
Austria,  to  succeed  as  Charles  III.,  apprehensive 
that  France  and  Spain  might  be  consolidated.  The 
War  of  Succession  which  followed  continued  thirteen 
years.  It  was  during  this  war  that  Marlborough  won 
immortal  fame  as  a soldier,  and  the  British  navy  un- 
der Admiral  Rook  of  England  took  Gibraltar.  France 
assisted  Philip,  but  in  the  end  he  was  obliged  to  part 
with  a very  considerable  portion  of  his  kingdom. 
England  took  the  pillars  of  Hercules  for  her  portion, 
and  that  gateway  to  the  Mediterranean  has  proved 
the  very  key  to  maritime,  and,  largely,  to  European 
supremacy.  Austria  acquired  by  the  treaty  of 


C) 


3IQ 


CATHOLIC  SPAIN. 


Utrecht  as  her  share  of  Spanish  plunder,  Naples, 
Sardinia,  Milan,  and  what  remained  to  it  in  the 
Netherlands.  Sicily  was  given  to  Savoy.  The  reign 
of  Philip  was  a long  one.  He  held  the  scepter  un- 
til 1746.  The  country  improved  somewhat  under 
him.  The  loss  of  possessions  in  Europe  beyond 
the  national  limits  of  the  kingdom  was  highly  bene- 
ficial. 

Philip  IV.  was  succeeded  by  Ferdinand  VI.  This 


are  told,  during  all  that  period.  He  was  not  popu- 
lar, however.  The  clerical  influence  was  entirely 
and  bitterly  hostile.  The  priests  kejit  the  people 
from  sympathy  with  progressive  and  reformatory 
ideas. 

When  Charles  IV.  came  to  the  throne,  1788,  the 
ecclesiastics  resumed  their  former  sway  over  the 
affairs  of  state.  It  was  this  king  who  in  1795  ceded 
to  France  the  island  of  Hayti.  The  year  following 


weak  and  inefficient  sovereign  wore  the  crown  thir- 
teen years.  During  that  period  the  country  de- 
clined once  more.  At  the  time  he  came  to  the 
throne  war  was  being  waged  between  the  great  pow- 
ers of  Europe,  as  usual,  but  two  years  after  his  ac- 
cession the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  negotiated, 
and  after  that  Ferdinand  lived  in  peace.  He  could 
not  be  induced  by  even  the  offer  of  Gibraltar  once 
more  to  join  in  the  general  war  which  raged. 

At  the  death  of  Ferdinand,  Charles  III.,  his 
brother,  came  to  the  throne.  For  twenty-nine  years 
he  occupied  the  throne,  and  tried  to  improve  the 
j condition  of  the  country.  The  Inquisition  was  held 
in  check.  Only  three  victims  were  burned  by  it,  we 

a 

Vjs — 


an  alliance  with  France  was  negotiated  which  re- 
sulted in  enabling  Napoleon  to  employ  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  forces  of  Sjiain  to  further  his  own 
ambitious  designs  and,  ultimately,  to  appropriate 
the  kingdom  itself.  In  the  great  naval  battle  of 
Trafalgar  Lord  Nelson  very  nearly  annihilated  the 
Spanish  fleet.  About  that  time  Trinidad  was  lost 
to  Spain,  and  acquired  by  England.  It  was  during 
this  same  reign  that  Spain  ceded  Louisiana  to 
France. 

In  March,  1808,  there  was  a revolution  which 
deposed  Charles  and  raised  to  the  throne  Ferdi- 
nand VII.  Both  appealed  to  Napoleon,  who  settled 
the  matter  by  ordering  them  both  to  abdicate, 


THE  ROCK  OF  GIBRALTAR. 


CATHOLIC 


which  they  did,  whereupon  he  appointed  his  elder 
brother,  Joseph  Bonaparte,  King  over  Spain.  This 
appointment  was  made  June  5th.  Joseph  entered 
Madrid  July  20th.  The  opposi- 
tion rallied  around  Ferdinand 
and  drove  the  amiable  Joseph 
out  of  the  capital.  Thereupon 
Napoleon  himself  took  the 
matter  in  hand.  He  restored 
his  brother  in  December.  A 
new  element  in  the  conflict  of 
Napoleon  with  Europe  soon  de- 
veloped itself.  The  Duke  of 
"Wellington  came  on  from  In- 
dia, and  coming  by  way  of 
Portugal,  carried  the  war 
against  Napoleon  into  the  Span- 
ish peninsula.  The  disaffection 
of  the  country  rallied  around. 

Wellington,  adding  materially 
to  his  strength.  Ferdinand  was 
restored  to  the  throne  in  1814.  It  was  in  the  year 
1809  that  the  Peninsula  War  began.  Wellington 
won  a victory  at  Talavera  in  1809,  but  for  the  most 
part  was  obliged  during  the  five 
years  to  fall  back  upon  his 
Portuguese  base,  until  the  Rus- 
sian disaster  of  Napoleon.  Af- 
ter that,  Wellington  made  rapid 
progress  in  the  expulsion  of  the 
French  from  Spain.  The  treaty 
of  Valencia,  by  which  Napoleon 
formally  abandoned  all  claims 
to  Spain  was  signed  in  Decem- 
ber, 1813.  The  Cortes  promptly 
invited  Ferdinand  to  take  the 
reins  of  government,  and  rule 
in  accordance  with  a constitu- 
tion which  had  been  formed 
nearly  two  years  previously. 

The  reign  of  Ferdinand  VII., 
which  really  began  with  the 
year  1814,  extended  until  1833. 

He  belonged  to  the  Dark  Ages, 
and  both  disregarded  the  constitution  and  persecuted 
those  who  had  invited  him  to  the  throne.  He  ruled 
in  accordance,  however,  with  the  average  public 
sentiment  of  the  country.  The  people  were  better 
pleased  with  him  than  they  would  have  been  with 


SPAIN.  31 1 


a better  ruler,  so  complete  and  demoralizing  was 
the  clerical  domination.  The  inquisition  was  re- 
stored with  all  its  attendant  abominations. 

It  was  during  this  reign  that 
the  colonies,  which  had  made 
some  progress  toward  inde- 
pendence during  the  rule  of  the 
Bonaparte,  achieved  independ- 
ence. It  may  be  stated  here 
that  Joseph  Bonaparte  came  to 
the  United  States,  and  upon  a 
pleasant  estate  in  New  Jersey 
spent  the  last  years  of  his  life 
quietly  and  respectably,  leaving 
behind  him  a reputation  as  a 
worthy  gentleman  of  no  special 
force  of  character.  In  1819 
Spain  sold  Florida  to  the  United 
States  for  85,000,000  and  the 
recognition  of  certain  boundary 
claims  on  the  Mexican  frontier. 
With  all  his  medieval  and  ecclesiastical  tenden- 
cies Ferdinand  was  not  reactionary  enough  to  suit 
the  priests.  They  wanted  the  “ good  old  times  ” of 
the  Ilapsburgs  restored.  They 
formed  “The  Apostolic  Junta” 
and  incited  the  Carlist  insurrec- 
tion, which,  with'some  interrup- 
tions continued  for  half  a cen- 
tury to  be  an  element  of  discord 
in  Spain. 

We  have  used  the  name 
Charles  thus  far  in  this  chapter, 
because  it  is  generally  employed, 
but  the  name  which  is  Charles 
in  English  and  Karl  in  German 
is  Carlos,  or  Don  Carlos,  in  Spain. 
Don  in  Spanish  and  Dom  in 
Portuguese,  originally  meant 
lord,  although  subsequently  a 
mere  proper  name.  With  this 
much  explanation  we  proceed 
with  the  Carlist  movement. 
When  Napoleon’s  star  set  and 
Ferdinand  VII.  came  to  the  throne,  the  latter  had  a 
younger  brother,  Don  Carlos.  The  king  was  a de- 
bauchee of  the  lowest  type.  He  had  several  wives 
and  no  children,  and  having  quarreled  with  his 
brother,  he'was  sorely  distressed  by  the  thought  that 


ISABELLA  II. 


39 


■MQ. 


312  CATHOLIC  SPAIN. 


Don  Carlos  would  be  his  successor  upon  the  throne. 
The  counselors  of  the  royal  household  persuaded  the 
king  and  queen  that  for  the  sake  of  baffling  Don 
Carlos  it  would  be  right  for  the  queen  to  be  untrue 
to  her  marriage  vow.  The  fruit  of  that  suggestion 
was  a daughter,  Isabella.  The  dilemma  was  as 
great  as  ever,  however,  for  by  the  Salic  law,  which 
had  been  introduced  by  the  first  Bourbon  and  was 
binding  upon  that  dynasty,  whether  in  France  or 
Spain,  only  males  were  heirs  to  the  crown.  A sec- 
ond child  was  also  a daughter.  The  king  then, 
1830,  proclaimed  the  repeal  of  the  Salic  law,  and 
that  the  elder  daughter,  Isabella,  was  the  heir  ap- 
parent. There  was  repugnance  to  the  repeal  of  the 
Salic  law  throughout  Spain,  and  extensive  prep- 
arations for  civil  war  followed.  Both  sides  were 
prepared  for  the  struggle,  thought  to  be  inevitable 
upon  the  death  of  the  king.  The  clergy  and  peas- 
antry generally  espoused  the  cause  of  Don  Carlos, 
while  the  more  liberal  element  was  won  over  to  the 
side  of  Isabella  by  the  promise  of  respect  for  the 
constitution. 

In  the  meanwhile  Louis  Philippe  came  to  the 
French  throne  and  espoused  the  cause  of  Isabella, 
it  being  agreed  that  she  should  marry  a husband 
chosen  for  her,  and  in  case  of  failure  of  issue  the 
crown  was  to  go  to  the  children  of  the  other 
daughter.  The  wily  French  King  provided  an  im- 
potent imbecile  as  the  husband  of  Isabella,  marry- 
ing Isabella’s  sister  to  his  own  son,  thus  hoping  to 
secure  the  crown  for  his  own  family,  upon  the  death 
of  Isabella,  who,  he  well  knew,  could  have  no  legit- 
imate offspring  so  long  as  her  husband  lived. 
Rendered  desperate  by  this  trick,  the  queen  con- 
tracted a morganatic  marriage  by  which  she  had 
several  children,  the  present  King  Alfonso  being 
the  elder. 

A new  and  more  liberal  constitution  was  promul- 
gated in  1834,  and  the  Inquisition  was  abolished, 
the  liberal  party  rallied  to  the  support  of  Isabella, 
or  rather,  of  her  mother,  the  queen  regent,  and  what 
was  more  helpful  to  her,  English,  French  and  Port- 
uguese troops  helped  her  suppress  Carlism.  By  1840 
the  first  Carlist  war  was  over. 

Isabella  II.  was  a mere  child  when  Ferdinand 
VIII.  died.  The  regency  fell  to  the  queen-mother, 
Maria  Christina,  a woman  of  great  ability.  For 
some  time  the  royalists  were  called  Cliristinos.  She 
was  not  at  heart  a liberal,  and  as  soon  as  the  Carlists 


were  vanquished  she  made  no  concealment  of  her 
true  nature.  The  constitution  was  ignored.  But 
in  a few  months  she  was  obliged  to  lay  down  the 
reins  of  government.  The  Cortes  made  Espartero 
regent.  He  devoted  himself  to  the  material  im- 
provement of  the  country,  building  roads,  working 
the  mines,  etc.  In  1843  the  Cortes  declared  Isa- 
bella to  be  of  age.  Maria  Christina,  who  had  been 
living  in  France,  soon  came  back,  but  her  suprema- 
cy was  short  lived.  Gen.  Narvaez  was  prime  minis- 
ter of  Spain  from  1844  to  1851  with  some  interrup- 
tions. He  was  a truly  great  statesman,  almost  the 
only  one  Spain  had  produced  since  Ximenes. 
Through  the  perilous  times  of  that  period,  especially 
the  revolutionary  uprising  of  1848,  he  carried  the 
kingdom  successfully. 

The  guileful  marriages  of  the  queen  and  her 
younger  sister,  already  mentioned,  occurred  in  1846. 
Don  Francisco  de  Bourbon  was  the  withered  trunk 
to  which  the  queen  was  tied.  The  sister  Louisa 
was  married  to  the  young  Duke  Montpensier,  who 
was  destined  to  be  an  important  factor  in  Spanish 
politics.  The  queen  was  justly  indignant  at  the 
trick  played  upon  her  by  the  Citizen  King  of 
France,  and  her  career  was  deeply  disgraceful.  In 
public  ajid  private  life  she  was  a reproach  to  her 
sex  and  her  nation.  Many  of  the  best  men  were 
banished.  The  greatest  leader  of  the  liberals,  how- 
ever, O’Donnell,  was  for  some  time  a tremendous 
power.  From  1858  to  1863  he  was  at  the  head  of 
the  government,  distasteful  as  he  was  to  the  queen. 
For  several  years  thereafter  Spain  was  in  a state 
bordering  on  chaos,  and  resulting  in  the  expulsion 
of  the  royal  family.  “ The  act,”  says  a recent  his- 
torian, “ which  led  to  the  immediate  exile  of  Isa- 
bella, then  enjoying  the  sea-baths  of  San  Sebastian, 
was  the  pronunciamento  of  Cadiz,  of  September  19, 
1868.”  That  declaration  of 
reform  was  signed  by  Duke 
Torre. Marshal  Prim,  Admiral 
Topete,  and  other  leading 
men  of  the  kingdom.  So 
strong  was  this  movement 
that  the  queen  had  to  accept 
the  situation  without  a blow. 

A provisional  government 
was  formed  with  Serrano  at 
the  head  as  regent  or  president  of  the  ministry,  and 
Prim  as  war  minister,  Lorenzana  as  foreign  secre- 


SERRANO. 


0 

t 


> 

9 


CATHOLIC  SPAIN. 


3*3 


tary,  Ortiz  minister  of  justice,  Topete  minister  of 
the  marine,  Figuerola  finance  minister,  Sagasta 
minister  of  the  interior,  Zorilla  minister  of  com- 
merce, Lopez  de  Ayala  for  the  colonies.  After  some 
hesitation  the  Cortes  finally  decided  upon  a mon- 
archy as  the  form  of  government  to  be  adopted. 
The  Duke  of  Montpensier,  Don  Fernando,  King  of 
Portugal,  and  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern, 
were  put  forward  as  candidates  for  the  vacant 
throne.  The  latter  was  Prim’s  candidate.  His 
candidacy  occasioned  the  Franco-Prussian  war. 
His  name  was  withdrawn  by  his  father  in  July, 
1870.  In  November  following,  Amadeus,  son 
of  Victor  Emanuel,  and  Duke  of  Aosta,  was 
elected  king  under  the  title  of  Amadeus  I.  Just 
before  his  arrival  Marshal  Prim  was  assassin- 
ated. That  was  a death-blow  from  which  the  prin- 
ciple of  constitutional  monarchy  in  Spain  never  re- 
covered. Amadeus  was  an  amiable  young  man,  and 
that  was  about  all  there  was  to  him.  He  wore  the 
crown  from  January,  1871,  to  February,  1873,  when 
“ the  republic  succeeded  the  monarchy  as  quietly  as 
one  sentinel  succeeds  another.” 

The  first  “ president  of  the  executive  power  ” was 
Senor  Pi  y Marzall,  a scholarly  gentleman  of  the 
press,  also  a jurist  and  reformer  on  general  princi- 
ples. After  five  weeks  he  resigned,  and  Nicholas 
Salmeron  took  the  reins  of  government  for  a few 
weeks,  to  be  succeeded  by  the  really  great  and 
splendid  Emilio  Castelar.  He  held  sway  for  some 
months.  Hopes  were  entertained  of  a permanent 

republic ; but 
the  nation  was 
unprepared  for 
it.  In  1874 
Serrano  came 
into  power 
again  as  re- 
gent, and  in 
January,  1875, 
the  house  of 

\V^"  W 'CP*'  Bourbon  was 

margall.  castelar.  restored  in  the 

person  of  Isabella’s  oldest  son,  the  worthy  Alfonso 
XII.  He  was  born  in  1857.  Of  the  government 
as  now  constituted,  Harrison  says : 

“Under  him  Spain  enjoys  an  hereditary,  consti- 
tutional monarchy.  The  king  is  inviolable ; the 
executive  rests  in  him,  the  legislative  power  in  king 


and  cortes.  Senate  and  congress  compose  the 
cortes,  and  their  meetings  are  annual.  Deputies 
from  Cuba  were  admitted  in  1878.  The  king  con- 
vokes, suspends  or  dissolves  cortes,  appoints  the 
president  and  vice-president  of  the  senate  from  the 
senate  alone,  and  has  responsible  ministers.  Local 
self-government  is  allowed  to  the  various  provinces, 
districts,  and  communes,  with  which  neither  execu- 
tive nor  cortes  can  interfere  except  in  cases  of  arbi- 
trary or  unconstitutional  assumption.  The  estab- 
lished religion  is  Catholic,  which  is  maintained  by 
the  state,  and  a limited  freedom  of  worship  is  al- 
lowed to  Protestants,  though  it  must  be  private.” 
Ever  since  1835  local  self-government  has  been  on- 
joyed  in  Spain.  But  notwithstanding  all  the  lati- 
tude allowed  under  the  present  regime,  there  seems 
to  be  very  little  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Span- 
ish people  to  share  in  the  improvements  of  the  age. 
The  term  “Catholic  Spain”  is  hardly  less  applica- 
ble now  than  when  first  applied  to  the  country. 

Spain  has  some  art  of  which  it  may  justly  boast, 
and  a very  little  literature  of  high  merit.  Murillo, 
one  of  the  great  masters  in  painting,  was  a Spaniard. 
The  Cid  is  an  epic  of  the  very  highest  rank.  It  is 
based  on  a historical  character.  The  Cid  Campea- 
dor  was  the  ideal  of  a hero  cherished  by  the  Chris- 
tians of  Spain,  as  against  the  Moors.  The  latter 
represent  him  as  a highwayman,  the  scourge  of 
honest  people.  He  flourished  in  the  last  of  the  11th 
and  first  of  the  12th  centuries.  The  Song  of  the 
Cid  was  composed  a century  or  so  later.  From  it 
dates  Castilian  poetry,  a distinct  product,  not  bor- 
rowed from  the  Moors  or  any  other  people,  but  a 
truly  national  body  of  literature.  A convent  of 
Benedictine  monks  at  Cardegna  was  devoted  to  the 
memory  of  the  Cid,  for  there  is  his  tomb,  as  the 
Benedictines  claim,  and  there  are  his  banner,  buck- 
ler, cup  and  cross.  Philip  II.  had  the  Cid  canonized 
by  the  pope,  but  his  true  apotheosis  was  the  work  of 
an  unknown  poet.  Cid  is  the  Spanish  corruption 
of  the  Arabic  word  for  chief — seid.  He  was  also 
called  Campeador,  or  Champion. 

He  was  the  beau  ideal  of  devotion  to  the  Crown 
and  Cross.  Macaulay  says  of  this  epic : “ It  glows 
with  an  uncommon  portion  of  the  fire  of  the  Iliad,” 
and  Southey  says,  “ It  is  decidedly  and  above  all 
question  the  finest  poem  in  the  Spanish  language.” 
On  the  same  subject  Harrison  remarks : “ The 
death  of  the  Cid  seems  to  have  been  the  birth  of 


"CJ 


CATHOLIC  SPAIN. 


r 


Castilian  poesy — a poesy  different  as  possible  from 
that  of  the  polished,  ingenious,  and  impressionable 
Moors  who  haunted  palace,  delighted  in  commen- 
taries, and  sent  messages  of  battle  or  reconciliation 
in  verse  characterized  by  an  incomparable  poetic 
technique.  The  Castilian  popular  verse  clung  faith- 
fully to  reality ; it  was  full  of  dreams  of  national 
grandeur  obscurely  foreshadowed ; it  deified,  with  an 
intuitive  political  sense,  the  great  champion  of  the 
people  and  opponent  of  an  unjust  ruler ; it  trans- 
formed an  historic  king,  half  a century  after  his 
death,  into  an  idealized  and  half-fabulous  hero. 

“ There  were  three  Cids : the  cavalier,  who  could 
fight  better  than  all  others,  who  protected  and  gov- 
erned his  king  when  he  was  not  fighting  him,  bru- 
tally vigorous  and  frank,  inaccessible  to  tender  feel- 
ing, a violater  of  holy  places ; then  a nobler,  loy- 
aller,  cliivalric,  Christian  Cid,  who  grew  out  of  the 
impassioned  reverie's  and  reminiscences  of  the  author 
of  the  Song  of  the  Cid  in  1200 — a champion  fer- 
vently adoring  the  Eternal,  blessed  with  visions  of 
archangels,  absolutely  devoted  to  the  king  and  fa- 
therland, full  of  fatherly  tenderness  for  his  daugh- 
ters, Dona  Elvira  and  Dona  Sol,  full  of  dignity  and 
glory  arising  from  a consciousness  of  just  deeds  and 
chivalrous  enterprises,  the  noblest  type  of  honor,  re- 
ligion, patriotism,  and  knightliness ; and  lastly,  the 
Cid  of  the  romanceros  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who 
is  a sort  of  Cid  galant,  overflowing  with  fine  talk 
and  sentimental  rhodomontade.” 

In  1681  Spain  lost  by  death  a truly  great  drama- 
tist, Calderon.  His 
works  have  never 
been  translated. 

His  bicentennial 
was  celebrated  with 
great  pomp  in 
Spain,  and  was 
received  with  ex- 
pressions of  warm 
admiration  from 
the  literati  of  other 
nations. 

The  supreme 
name  in  Spanish 
literature  is  Cervantes,  a brave  soldier  who  lost  the 


CERVANTES. 


use  of  his  left  arm  fighting  in  the  ranks  in  that  bril- 
liant and  important  sea-fight  with  the  Ottoman  fleet, 
the  battle  of  Lepanto,  fought  late  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  His  Don  Quixote  is  widely  read  in  many 
languages.  It  is  a prose  satire  upon  the  mock  hero- 
ism of  cliivalric  romances,  the  novels  of  his  day.  It 
has  been  said  that  Cervantes  laughed  chivalry  out  of 
Europe.  It  would  be  more  accurate  to  say  that  he 
rent  and  exposed  to  just  ridicule  the  tinseled  robe 
of  romance  which  it  wore  as  regal  purple,  for  chiv- 
alry itself  died  when  fire-arms  came  into  use. 

Quite  a large  body  of  national  ballads  of  un- 
known authorship  exists  in  the  Spanish  language 
which  are  eminently  creditable.  Through  Lock- 
hart’s admirable  translations  they  have  been  added 
to  the  treasures  of  English  literature. 

The  colonial  possessions  of  Spain  at  the  present 
time  consist  of  the  islands  of  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  the 
Philippine  Islands,  Caroline  Islands,  and  Palos,  the 
Marian  Islands,  and  a small  area  (483  square  miles) 
in  Northern  Africa,  Fernando  Po  and  Annabon. 
total  area  113,678  square  miles;  total  population, 
6,399,347.  The  first,  second  and  third  alone  have 
any  importance,  and  they  are  dwelt  upon  more  es- 
pecially under  the  head  of  “ Central  America  and 
the  Isles  of  the  Sea.” 

The  length  of  railroads  in  Spain  on  the  first  day 
of  1880,  was  4,067  miles,  with  1,242  miles  more  in 
the  course  of  construction.  The  government  has 
liberally  subsidized  the  lines,  but  they  are  owned 
and  operated  by  private  enterprise.  Not  much  more 
than  half  the  soil  of  the  kingdom  is  under  any 
sort  of  cultivation,  and  the  average  productiveness 
of  the  land  under  tillage  is  much  less  than  formerly. 

The  supreme  characteristic  of  Spain  is  that 
peculiarly  brutal  and  demoralizing  amusement, 
the  bull  fight,  the  favorite  Sunday  entertain- 
ment of  the  people  of  all  classes.  It  consists 
simply  of  an  encounter  between  an  infuriate  beast 
and  a trained  athlete  and  swordsman,  with 
every  advantage  on  the  side  of  the  man.  Occa- 
sionally he  is  gored  by  the  horns  of  the  maddened 
brute.  This  sort  of  barbarity  is  a relic  of  the 
gladiatorial  arena  of  Rome,  and  is  at  once  cause 
and  effect  of  the  demoralized  national  character 
of  the  Spanish  people. 


V 


PORTUGAL  AND  THE  PORTUGUESE 


Portugal,  Old  and  New — Lisbon,  its  Capture,  Earthquake  and  Population — Last  Days  op 
Alfonso — Maritime  Supremacy — Zarga  and  Madeira — Vasco  da  Gama,  the  Azores  .and 
Cape  op  Good  Hope — Da  Gama  and  India — Portugal  and  Brazil — Dom  Sebastian  and 
Sebastianism — Subsequent  Portuguese  Events — Port  Wine — Camoens’  Lusiad. 


IIE  distinctive  history  of 
Portugal  dates  from  1095, 
with  a subsequent  period  of 
mergence  in  Spain.  Prior 
to  that  time  it  was  an 
indistinguishable  part  of 
Spain  (using  the  modern 
term  for  the  Iberian  Pen- 
insula). Before  that  time  it  had 
been  subject,  in  turn,  to  the  Ro- 
mans, Visigoths,  and  Moors.  At 
the  close  of  the  eleventh  century 
Alfonso  V.,  King  of  Leon  and 
Castile,  wrested  from  the  Moors 
that  part  of  their  European  posses- 
sions lying  between  the  Minho  and 
Douro,  and  gave  it  to  his  son- 
aw,  Henry,  who  called  himself 
Count  of  Portugal.  The  name  was  suggested  by 
the  capital,  Porto  Cale.  Henry’s  son  Alfonso  had 
the  title  of  king  conferred  upon  him  by  the  pope,  in 
reward  for  his  gaining  a victory  over  the  Moors  at  the 
battle  of  Ourique,  1139,  in  consequence  of  which  vic- 
tory his  possessions  were  extended  to  the  Tagus. 
By  the  middle  of  the  following  century  the  king- 
dom comprised  substantially  the  same  territory  as  it 
does  to-day. 

The  area  of  Portugal  is  36,510  square  miles,  and 


the  population  a trifle  over  four  millions.  The 
period  of  mergence  in  Spain  was  from  1580  to 
1640,  during  which  time  three  sovereigns  of  that 
country,  Philip  II.,  III.,  and  IV.,  ruled  over  the  en- 
tire peninsula.  There  have  been  thirty-five  sover- 
eigns of  Portugal,  not  counting  the  Spanish  usurp- 
ers, the  present  king,  Louis  I.,  coming  to  the 
throne  in  1861.  The  Portuguese  call  the  period  of 
the  three  Philips,  “the  Captivity.”  When  once  the 
scepter  of  the  Spaniard  was  broken  the  country  be- 
came singularly  free  from  both  foreign  intervention 
and  domestic  revolution.  But  those  years  of  tran- 
quillity have  been  years  of  utter  insignificance. 
The  just  pride  and  real  importance  of  Portugal  goes 
back  of  “the  Captivity.”  For  the  most  part  Portu- 
guese history  is  a dreary  wilderness,  but  a few  epi- 
sodes of  interest  are  found  here  and  there  in  its 
record,  like  oases  in  a desert. 

The  first  Portuguese  king  was  a very  remarkable 
man,  the  inconsequential  nature  of  his  realm, 
rather  than  his  personal  character,  being  the  expla- 
nation of  His  comparative  obscurity.  His  conquests 
over  the  Moors  were  the  first  important  steps  to- 
ward their  final  subjugation.  Li  order  to  extend 
his  dominion  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus  he  was 
obliged  to  take  Lisbon,  then  a Moorish  city,  and  the 
richest,  most  populous  and  best  fortified  town  on 
the  peninsula.  It  is  supposed  to  have  had  at  that 


"7 ' 


(315) 


<a 


S> 


PORTUGAL  AND  THE  PORTUGUESE. 


time  a population  of  at  least  four  hundred  thou- 
sand. It  was  the  chief  center  of  trade  between 
Europe  and  Africa.  In  laying  siege  to  it  the  great 
king  had  the  genius  and  good  fortune  to  secure  the 
effective  alliance  of  the  English,  German  and 
Flemish  crusaders,  just  starting  out  for  the  Second 
Crusade.  It  was  a co-operation  which  enabled  Al- 
fonso to  attack  by  land  and  water,  albeit  he  himself 
had  no  ships.  In  recognition  of  the  service  rendered 
by  English  allies  an  Englishman  by  the  name  of 


Not  only  did  Alfonso  I.  maintain  and  enlarge 
the  borders  of  Portugal,  but  he  also  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  that  maritime  greatness  which  raised 
the  Portuguese  kingdom  to  its  highest  summit,  and 
may  be  said  to  constitute  the  one  claim  of  the  na- 
tion to  pre-eminence.  He  encouraged  marine  expe- 
ditions, conferring  knighthood  upon  those  who  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  that  line.  In  this  policy 
he  was  impartial  as  between  natives  and  foreigners. 
He  sowed  the  seed  of  a bountiful  harvest.  Indeed, 


VIEW  OP  LISBON. 


Gilbert  was  appointed  first  bishop  of  Lisbon.  It 
may  be  added  that  Lisbon  now  has  a population  of 
about  250,000.  In  1755  it  suffered  a most  desolating 
earthquake  followed  at  once  by  a terrible  conflagra- 
tion. Not  less  than  30,000  lives  were  lost.  A por- 
tion of  the  present  city  antedates  that  calamity,  but 
the  greater  part  of  Lisbon  was  completely  destroyed. 

The  long  reign  of  this  first  king  of  Portugal  was 
almost  constantly  occupied  with  war.  Sometimes 
he  was  fighting  neighboring  Christians,  sometimes 
adjacent  Saracens,  and  sometimes  Moors  from 
across  the  Mediterranean.  His  final  exploit  was  a 
bold  and  successful  sortie  upon  an  army  from 
Morocco  which  laid  laid  siege  to  Lisbon. 


it  is  hardly  less  to  Portugal  than  to  Spain  that  the 
world  owes  the  discovery  of  America,  albeit  the 
Portuguese  court  declined  to  render  Columbus  the 
succor  he  finally  secured  from  the  Queen  of  Castile. 
Had  it  not  been  for  what  Columbus  did,  saw  and 
learned  at  Lisbon  the  fire  of  discovery  would  never 
have  been  kindled  in  his  brain. 

It  was  in  1184  that  Alfonso  died.  It  was  not 
until  the  year  1419,  that  Portuguese  seamanship 
demonstrated  its  superiority  and  Portugal  gained  its 
first  foothold  abroad.  In  that  year  an  enterprising 
tar,  Zarga,  made  a voyage  of  discovery  in  a south- 
western direction.  His  boldness  was  rewarded  with 
the  discovery  of  . the  beautiful  island  of  Madeira, 


o 

t 


nearly  a thousand  miles  away.  The  Azores  islands 
and  Cape  Verde  were  later  discoveries.  Madeira  be- 
came famous  for  its  wine,  also  for  its  rich  yield  of 
sugar  before  Cuba  eclipsed  it.  The  island  is  small 
and  has  been 
mainly  useful  to 
Europe  of  late  as 
a retreat  for  in- 
valids, especially 
sufferers  from 
lung  difficulties. 

The  climate  is  ab- 
solutely delicious. 

There  were  no  in- 
habitants upon  it 
when  discovered, 
and  the  present 
people  are  a mix- 
ed race,  the  Por- 
tuguese and  Ne- 
gro blood  being 
intermingled. 

Slavery  existed 
there  once,  but 
was  long  since 
abolished.  The 
last  vestige  of 
slavery  in  the 
Portuguese  col- 
onies was  wiped 
out  in  1878.  The 
total  colonial  pos- 
sessions of  Portu- 
gal embrace  709,- 
469  square  miles 
and  a population 
of  over  three  mil- 
lions, mostly  in 
Africa  and  the 
islands  adjacent 
to  the  dark  con- 
tinent. But  these  possessions  are  trivial  as  compared 
with  what  originally  seemed  likely  to  be  Portugal’s 
share  in  the  Orient  and  the  New  World. 

The  Azores  islands  were  discovered  twenty  years 
later  than  Madeira.  The  great  achievement  of 
Portuguese  enterprise,  however,  was  the  discoverv 
of  the  passage  to  the  East  Indies  by  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  What  Columbus  vainly  sought  by 


sailing  westward,  missing  it  only  to  find  something 
incomparably  better,  was  found  by  skirting  along 
the  western  coast  of  Africa.  Ships  from  Lisbon  had 
long  been  doing  a thrifty  trade  with  the  Africans, 

finding  a region 
previously  sup- 
posed to  be  unin- 
habited, peopled 
by  a race  of  sav- 
ages who  were 
only  too  eager  to 
exchange  for  the 
baubles  of  civili- 
zation ivory  and 
other  precious 
things.  It  had 
been  the  theory 
of  Ptolemy  that 
Africa  extended 
westward  as  it  ex- 
tended south- 
ward. The  Por- 
tuguese found 
that  just  the  op- 
posite was  the 
case,  and  that  en- 
couraged them  to 
push  their  way 
farther  and  far- 
ther in  the  hope 
of  finding  a point 
at  which  land 
ceased.  Their 
hope  was  realiz- 
ed. Repeated  ex- 
peditions were 
made  without 
success,  beyond 
the  farther  exten- 
sion of  com- 
merce, until  Vas- 
co da  Gama  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  sail- 
ed along  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa.  The  people  he 
found  to  be  less  barbarous  than  the  negroes  of  the 
west ; at  least  he  came  upon  some  evidences  of  semi- 
civilization, and  traces  of  intercourse  with  Asia. 
Feeling  his  way  along  the  coast  cautiously,  he 
crossed  the  Indian  Ocean  and  landed  on  the  coast  of 
Malabar,  May  22, 1498.  He  was  absent  from  Lisbon 


RURAL  FESTIVITIES. 


PORTUGAL  AND  THE  PORTUGUESE. 


> 


► 


318 


PORTUGAL  AND  THE  PORTUGUESE. 


two  years,  returning  with  a rich  cargo  of  Indian 
goods. 

A revolution  in  oriental  traffic  was  now  inevitable. 

The  Isthmus  of  Suez  had  long  been  closed,  ex- 
cept for  caravans,  and  intercourse  between  the 
far  East  and  Western  Europe  was  partly  by  land 
and  partly  by  the  Mediterranean.  But  henceforth 
an  easier  and  less  expensive  route,  thanks  to  Yasco 
da  Gama,  was  practicable. 

Portugal  was  in  a position  to  make  good  use  of 
the  discovery  made,  for  it  had  a large  merchant  ma- 
rine and  for  a long  time  was  ruled  by  a public-spirited 
monarch.  The  Portuguese  carried  on  trade  in  In- 
dia without  rivalry  or  check  during  a period  of 
many  years.  But  in  1525  King  John  III.  became 
more  interested  in  crushing  out  Islam  heresy  and 
Judaism  by  the  Inquisition  than  in  developing  the 
Indian  trade.  The  general  character  of  the  country 
was  seriously  impaired  by  this  policy,  and  the  way 
thus  prepared  for  the  displacement  of  the  Portu- 
guese in  the  East  by  a more  intelligent  and  secular 
people.  The  rise  of  the  British  Empire  in  Hindoo- 
stan,  and  of  the  supremacy  of  the  British  flag  upon 
every  sea  was  made  possible  by  the  baneful  influ- 
ence of  the  church  in  Portugal.  As  that  empire 
rose,  Portuguese  commerce  dwindled  until  now  it  is 
hardly  the  shadow  of  its  former  greatness. 

This  same  King  John  established  a kingdom  in 
America,  Brazil,  which  is  now  a very  considerable 
power.  It  had  been  discovered  in  1510  by  Pedro 
Alvarez  Cabral,  who  entered  with  zeal  into  the  pro- 
ject of  Christianizing  that  portion  of  the  new  world. 
The  Brazil  of  to-day  is  the  proudest  living  monu- 
ment of  the  golden  age  of  Portugal. 

King  John  was  succeeded  in  1557  by  his  infant 
son,  Dom  Sebastian.  When  this  sovereign  came  to 
years  of  independence  (he  never  reached  years  of 
discretion)  he  was  absolutely  eager  to  subjugate  the 
Moors  across  the  Mediterranean.  He  gathered  a 
magnificent  army,  and  in  1577  set  sail  from  Lisbon, 
resolved  to  carry  the  war  into  Africa  and  accom- 
plish a great  deliverance  for  Christendom.  He  bail 
powerful  auxiliaries  from  other  nations  of  Europe. 
A great  battle  was  fought  August  3,  at  Atcacer 
Quibir.  The  Europeans  were  utterly  defeated,  and 
Dom  Sebastian  himself,  who  led  his  forces  in  per- 
son, was  lost.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  killed, 
stripped  and  mutilated  beyond  recognition.  But 
his  fate  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  remarkable 


mysteries  of  all  history.  All  sorts  of  stories  were 
told  by  those  who  pretended  to  have  seen  him  alive 
after  the  battle,  and  his  subjects  were  disposed  to 
believe  that  he  had  escaped  and  would  return.  So 
strong  was  this  belief  that  it  developed  highly  inter- 
esting results.  A body  supposed  to  be  his  was  bur- 
ied with  all  possible  honors  in  the  monastery  of  Be- 
lem at  Lisbon,  but  the  hope  of  his  survival  was  still 
cherished. 

One  especial  cause  of  Sebastianism  (as  this  curi- 
ous hope  came  to  be  called)  was  the  danger  of  na- 
tional annihilation,  which  his  death  involved.  He 
had  no  direct  heir,  and  Philip  of  Spain  claimed  the 
throne.  His  claim  could  not  be  disputed,  and  “ the 
Captivity  ” followed,  during  all  which  time  the 
credulous  Portuguese  persisted  in  expecting  Sebas- 
tian’s return.  The  church  fostered  the  delusion  that 
he  was  on  a distant  island,  and  would  some  fine  day 
sail  up  the  Tagus  with  a splendid  and  irresistible 
fleet.  This  hope  has  not  entirely  died  out  even  yet, 
and  all  through  “ the  Captivity  ” served  to  keep  alive 
the  national  sentiment.  It  contributed  largely  to 
the  preservation  of  a patriotism  which  made  Portu- 
gal improve  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  utter 
imbecility  of  the  court  at  Madrid  to  regain  its  indi- 
viduality as  a nation. 

The  revolution  by  which  Portugal  escaped  ab- 
sorption into  Spain  occurred  in  1640,  and  was 
effected  with  very  little  bloodshed.  The  kingdom 
held  on  the  tenor  of  its  way,  suffering  little  from 
war  and  much  from  superstition,  until  the  Napole- 
onic wars.  Obliged  to  take  sides,  the  government 
formed  an  alliance  with  England  and  the  other 
Allies.  Napoleon  sent  a small  army  into  the  coun- 
try, declared  the  throne  vacant  and  the  country  a 
part  of  France.  That  was  in  1807.  The  nominal 
head  of  the  government  was  Queen  Maria,  but  she 
being  insane,  the  regency  had  been  conferred  upon 
John  Maria  Joseph,  Prince  of  Brazil.  That  was  in 
1792.  When  the  French  soldiery  came,  he  set  sail 
from  Lisbon,  for  Rio  Janeiro.  When  the  empire  of 
Napoleon  fell,  Prince  John  returned  to  Spain, 
leaving  his  son,  Dom  Pedro,  Regent  of  Brazil. 
It  was  in  1822  that  the  latter  became  Emperor 
of  Brazil,  and  complete  separation  occurred, 
and  that  without  any  bloodshed.  In  a few  years 
Dom  Pedro  came  into  possession  of  the  crown  of 
Portugal  also,  but  he  soon  surrendered  it  to  his 
daughter  Donna  Maria,  preferring  to  remain  at  Rio 


<3T 


PORTUGAL  AND  THE  PORTUGUESE. 


Janeiro.  Before,  that,  however,  he  had  granted 
the  people  a constitution.  Not  long,  after  civil  war 
arose  in  Portugal,  furnishing  an  excuse  for  British 
interference,  which  reduced  the  country  to  a condi- 
tion of  semi-subjugation  to  England.  Its  foreign 
policy  has  ever  since  been  what  the  British  desired  it 
to  be,  except  as  there  were  occasional  “ perfidies,  ” as 
the  English  writers  brand  every  attempt  at  self-as- 
sertion on  the  part  of  Portugal. 


Portugal  is  famous  for  its  wine.  Its  vintage  and 
the  country  itself  both  derive  their  name  from  the 
seaport  town  of  Oporto.  This  wine  was  brought  in- 
to prominence  by  the  British  policy  of  encouraging 
its  importation  into  England,  while  discouraging  by 
heavy  duties  the  importation  of  French  wines,  a 
policy  which  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  in  the  early 
years  of  the  present  century  France  and  England 
were  at  war,  while  Portugal  was  the  passive  ally  of 
the  British.  Besides,  the  English  preferred  port  to 
claret  and  other  light  wines. 


The  Portuguese  can  boast  only  one  really  great 
name  in  literature,  Camoens,  author  of  that  grand 
and  truly  classic  epic,  the  Lusiad.  The  old  Roman 
name  for  Portugal  was  Lusitania,  and  the  poem 
which  bears  a name  derived  from  the  same  root  re- 
counts the  proudest  achievements  in  the  history  of 
the  nation,  for  the  epic  is  founded  on  the  maritime 
exploits  of  Da  Gama,  who  is  its  hero.  Camoens’ 
own  life  was  one  of  adventure  by  land  and  sea,  es- 


pecially in  the  far  East.  He  was  fully  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  enterprise,  and  his  elaborate  verse  is 
the  noblest  literary  monument  ever  raised  in  honor 
of  the  dominant  spirit  of  that  age.  The  great  man 
drained  to  the  dregs  the  cup  of  ingratitude.  He 
died  a pauper  in  the  city  of  Lisbon.  After  his  death 
the  Portuguese  became  aware  of  his  genius  and 
have  ever  cherished  his  memory.  He  is  the  one  lit- 
erary man  of  that  country  deserving  of  even  men- 
tion. His  Lusiad  belongs  in  the  best  of  the  world’s 
classics. 


4 


Iceland,  Denmark,  Norway  and  Sweden,  the  Countries  Embraced — Iceland  and  its  Liter- 
* ature — Denmark — The  Danes  in  History — Hamlet — Norway  and  the  Norwegians — Area, 

Population  and  Emigration — Climate,  Soil  and  Productions — The  Birth  op  a Literature 
— Sweden  and  Protestantism — Gustavus  Adolphus — The  Swedes  in  America— Decline 
op  Sweden — Present  Government  and  Condition  op  Sweden — Natural  Resources  op  the 
Country — Scandinavian  Mythology— Greenland,  and  the  Norsemen  in  America. 


^ 


; HE  term  Scandinavia  is 
no  longer  in  use,  except 
historically,  but  the  in- 
habitants of  Sweden,  Nor- 
. way,  Denmark  and  Ice- 
land are  still  called  Scan- 
dinavians. Although  not 
living  under  one  govern- 
ment, they  form,  substantially, 
one  people.  Distinct  yet  insepar- 
able, they  are  several  nations,  but 
one  people. 

In  immemorial  times  and  until 
about  the  eleventh  century  the 
Scandinavians  spoke  one  tongue. 
The  language  now  has  two  branch- 
es besides  the  original,  the  Dan- 
ish and  the  Swedish.  The  original 
speech  is  preserved  in  truly  pristine  purity  in  Ice- 
land, and  that  frigid  land  must  have  jieculiar  inter- 
est for  every  student  of  Norse  history.  It  was  in 
the  ninth  century  that  the  country  was  settled  by 
Scandinavian  colonists.  That  bleak  island  now  has 
a population  of  less  than  one  hundred  thousand 
persons,  but  during  all  these  ages  it  has  preserved 
the  songs  and  stories  of  their  ancestors  in  the  primi- 
tive language  of  Scandinavia,  enriching  the  litera- 


ture with  much  which  commands  the  admiration 
of  scholars. 

For  something  more  than  three  hundred  years 
(928  to  1262)  Iceland  was  a happy  republic.  The 
people  are  still  remarkable  for  their  intelligence. 
They  are  brave,  pure  and  amiable.  “ The  old 
tongue,”  says  Peterson,  “ which  is  the  foundation  of 
the  three  Scandinavian  languages,  they  have  kept 
during  3000  years  in  its  original  purity,  and  the 
humblest  workman  can  read  and  write,  and  is 
thoroughly  conversant  with  the  Sagas,  the  history 
and  the  laws  of  his  country  and  the  Bible.”  Ice- 
land is  600  miles  from  Norway,  250  miles  from 
Greenland  and  500  from  Scotland.  The  long 
winters  give  ample  leisure  for  study.  Once  a depen- 
dency of  Denmark,  the  country  is  now  entirely  inde- 
pendent, only  the  King  of  Denmark  is  the  heredi- 
tary head  of  the  Icelandic  government.  To  all 
intents  and  purposes  the  country  is  a republic  in 
which  all  citizens  are  equal  before  the  law.  The 
climate  admits  of  very  little  agriculture.  The  pur- 
suits of  the  people  are  pastoral  and  piscatorial. 
The  country  is  of  a volcanic  formation.  The 
Hecla  is  the  chief  volcano  of  the  island,  and  in  its 
neighborhood  is  the  great  Geyser  or  Hot  Sulphur 
Spring.  The  houses  of  the  people  are  built  of  lava 
blocks  and  moss.  In  evervthing  but  climate  and 


-71 


c/ 

vr 


(3  2°) 


a}2 


THE  SCANDINAVIANS. 


321 


soil,  which  could  hardly  be  worse,  Iceland  is  an 
earthly  paradise. 

The  once  proud,  but  now  insignificant,  kingdom 
of  Denmark  consists  of  the  peninsula  of  Jutland 
and  several  adjacent  islands  of  the  Baltic  Sea. 
Copenhagen  is  the  capital.  The  government  is  a 
limited  monarchy.  The  present  king,  Christian 
IX.,  is  best  known  as  the  father  of  Alexandra,  Prin. 
cess  of  Wales,  Maria  Dagmar,  Empress  of  Russia, 
and  G-eorgios  I.,  King  of  Greece.  The  executive 
power  is  vested  in  the  king  and  his  ministry,  the 


the  ninth  century.  In  the  eleventh  century  they 
very  nearly  completed  the  conquest  of  Britain,  their 
king  at  that  time  being  Canute,  the  greatest  sover- 
eign of  his  age.  It  was  under  him  that  Denmark 
was  Christianized.  Near  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 
century  Queen  Margaret  the  Dane  effected  the  con- 
quest of  all  Scandinavia,  uniting  Sweden  and  Nor- 
way to  Denmark.  That  consolidation  was  called 
“ The  Union  of  Calmar.”  Margaret  died  in  1411, 
and  her  nephew  Eric  was  appointed  her  heir,  but 
each  nation  chose  its  own  ruler.  Thirty-seven  years 


VIEW  OF  COPENHAGEN. 


law-making  power  being  vested  in  the  Rigsdag,  with 
its  senate,  called  Landsthing  and  its  lower  house, 
called  Tolkething.  These  branches  of  the  legisla- 
ture represent,  as  their  names  would  indicate,  respect- 
ively the  landed  aristocracy  and  the  people  at 
large.  The  state  religion  is  the  Lutheran.  Absolute 
freedom  of  worship  is  enjoyed,  but  there  are  very  few 
dissenters  from  the  established  church.  Protestant- 
ism in  Denmark  dates  from  1530.  Elementary  educa- 
tion is  universal  and  obligatory.  There  is  a pros- 
perous university  at  Copenhagen  and  thirteen  col- 
leges located  in  the  different  large  towns  of  the  country. 

Tho  Danes  apjieared  first  upon  the  surface  of  his- 
tory as  piratical  invaders  of  England.  That  was  in 


e 


later  Denmark  chose  Christian  I.,  Count  of  Olden- 
burg, its  king,  and  the  house  of  Oldenburg  wore  the 
Danish  crown  from  1448  to  1863.  There  were  six- 
teen kings  of  that  dynasty,  with  an  average  reign  of 
twenty-six  years.  The  present  sovereign  belongs  to 
the  Multiplex  house  of  Schleswig-Uolstein-Sonder- 
burg-Glueksburg,  to  which  name  might  properly  be 
added,  Hesse-Cassel. 

For  many  generations  Denmark  avoided  complic- 
ity with  general  European  affairs,  but  it  became 
somewhat  involved  in  the  Napoleonic  Wars  as  an 
ally  of  France.  That  alliance  resulted  in  the  loss  of 
Norway.  The  great  uprising  in  Europe  against  des- 
potism in  1848  extended  to  that  kingdom  and  re- 


G> 


£ 


322 


THE  SCANDINAVIANS. 


suited  in  securing  for  the  people  a truly  liberal  con- 
stitution, one  under  which  the  real  authority  of  the 
crown  is  reduced  to  the  minimum.  The  latest  ap- 
pearance of  Denmark  upon  the  international  stage 
of  action  was  in  the  Schleswig-Holstein  War  set 
forth  in  German  history. 

The  highest  distinction  of  Denmark  is  not  histor- 
ical, but  histrionic.  The  genius  of  Shakspeare  made 
use  of  a semi-historical,  semi-mythical  episode  in  the 
annals  of  the  Danish  court  as  the  canvas  on  which 
to  paint  his  masterpiece,  Hamlet.  The  Danes  have 
a vivid  tradition  of  the  melancholy  prince,  and  point 
with  pride  to  his  supposed  grave  at  Elsinore.  There 
was  an  old  play  of  Hamlet  which  Shakspeare  re- 
wrote and  into  which  he  infused  the  life  and  light  of 
genius.  The  historical 
basis,  so  far  as  there  is 
any,  belongs  to  the  six- 
teenth century. 

When  the  allies,  after 
their  victory  over  Napo- 
leon at  Waterloo,  de- 
prived Denmark  of  Nor- 
way, in  punishment  for 
French  alliance,  they  pro- 
posed to  cede  the  latter 
to  Sweden ; but  the  Nor- 
wegians made  such  an 
earnest  and  manly  pro- 
test against  it  that  Nor- 
way was  recognized  as  an  independent  kingdom, 
although  under  the  same  dynastic  head  as  Sweden. 
The  union  with  Denmark  covered  the  long  period 
from  1387  to  1814.  In  the  early  days  of  Scandina- 
via the  Norwegians  were  the  leading  element  and  the 
land  conquered  by  the  'Scandinavians  in  France 
(912),  was  called  Normandy. 

With  an  area  of  122,869  square  miles,  Norway  has 
a population  of  about  2,000,000.  It  is  an  agricul- 
tural and  pastoral  country,  especially  the  latter.  It 
has  two  large  towns,  Christiana,  with  a population  in 
1880  of  116,801,  and  Bergen  about  one-third  the  size 
of  the  metropolis.  Great  numbers  of  the  people 
emigrate  to  this  country.  In  1873  the  emigration 
reached  13,865.  It  has  fallen  off  somewhat  since, 
but  is  still  great  and  constant.  The  State  of  Minne- 
sota lias  a very  large  percentage  of  Scandinavian 
population. 

Norway  can  boast  the  largest  merchant  marine,  in 


proportion  to  population,  in  the  world.  At  the  end 
of  1879  the  shipping  of  that  country  numbered 
8,125  vessels,  of  a total  burthen  of  1,509^477  tons, 
manned  by  58,609  sailors.  There,  as  in  Denmark, 
the  Lutheran  church  is  everywhere  predominant, 
and  education  is  compulsory.  The  legislative  author- 
ity is  vested  in  the  Storthing,  divided  into  two 
branches,  the  Lagthing  and  the  Oldenthing.  The 
executive  authority  is  exercised  by  the  king  nomin- 
ally, but  really  by  a council  of  state  composed  of  two 
ministers  and  nine  counselors. 

Norway  extends  1,080  miles  from  north  to  south, 
with  a breadth  varying  from  270  to  20  miles.  The 
coast  line  is  fringed  with  islands  and  indented  with 
fjords.  The  chief  river  is  Glommen,  or  Stor-Elven, 

as  one  part  of  it  is  called. 
Owing  to  the  gulf -stream 
the  country  is  not  as  cold 
as  the  latitude  would  in- 
dicate. But  for  that 
ocean  river,  Norway 
would  be  uninhabitable. 
The  chief  source  of 
revenue  is  timber.  The 
pines,  firs  and  birch  of 
that  land  are  of  great 
value.  The  fisheries  and 
mines  are  also  very  con- 
siderable sources  of  reve- 
nue, especially  the  for- 
mer. The  iron,  copper  and  silver  mines  yield  less 
than  a million  dollars  a year,  all  told,  while 
the  annual  catch  of  fish  exported,  including 
oysters,  cannot  be  worth  less  than  85,000,000.  The 
rivers  fairly  swarm  with  salmon  and  salmon  trout. 

Since  its  separation  from  Denmark  Norway  has 
developed  a distinctively  national  literature,  and 
can  boast  one  name  of  world-wide  fame,  Bjornstjern 
Bjornson.  Hans  Christian  Andersen  is  the  best 
known  Scandinavian  author.  The  Synnove  Solbak- 
ken,  published  in  1856,  is  regarded  as  the  beginning 
of  Norwegian  literature. 

Sweden  is  really  the  major  part  of  Scandinavia, 
of  which  Gustavus  Wasa  was  the  first  great  sove- 
reign. That  monarch  did  much  to  strengthen  the 
nation  and  weaken  the  clergy.  His  reign  began  in 
1523.  The  country  was  at  that  time  torn  and  tor- 
mented with  ecclesiastical  strife,  and  so  it  continued 
to  be  until  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  when 


THE  SCANDINAVIANS. 


323 


Lutheran  Protestantism  completely  triumphed  there, 
as  in  Denmark  and  Norway.  The  Scandinavians 
never  had  any  real  affiliation  with  Rome  on  the  part 
of  the  people.  The  popular  heart  was  not  enlisted 
by  popish  devices.  The  last  Catholic  king  of  Swe- 
den was  Sigismund.  He  was  succeeded  in  1600  by 
Charles  IX.,  a zealous  Protestant.  Eleven  years  later 
his  great  son,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  known  as  the 
“ Swede  of  Victory,”  ascended  the  throne  and  reigned 
twenty -one  years.  That  reign  was  a splendid  period 
in  Swedish  history,  a memorable  one  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  In  the  terrible  war  between  Protest- 
antism and  Catholicism,  in 
which  nearly  all  Christendom 
was  enlisted,  he  took  a conspic- 
uous part.  The  history  of  the 
Thirty-Years  War  has  for  an  in- 
tegral part  of  its  record  the  ex- 
ploits of  that  great  soldier  and 
majestic  man.  He  gave  his  life 
to  the  cause  of  Protestantism. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  was  re- 
markable for  the  breadth  of  his 
sympathies  and  the  vastness  of 
his  plans.  Not  content  with 


conserving  the  interests  of  Swe- 
den, and  helping  in  the  religious 
disenthrallment  of  Europe,  his 
thoughts  went  out  to  America. 

It  was  in  his  day  that  the  most 
beneficent  settlements  on  this 
continent  were  made,  and  that 
the  seeds  of  the  United  States  were  sown, 
a wholly  independent  way,  he  projected  a settlement 
in  the  new  world,  which  he  hoped  would  be  the 
nucleus  of  an  ideal  nation.  The  first  Swedish  colony 
in  America  dates  from  1637,  five  years  subsequent 
to  the  death  of  Gustavus,  but  none  the  less  the  idea 
was  his.  That  colony  established  itself  on  the  land 
between  Cape  Ilenlopen  and  Trenton  Falls.  Dela- 
ware is  a part  of  what  was  then  New  Sweden.  The 
Swedes  had  very  little  to  do,  as  it  proved,  in  the  civil- 
ization of  this  continent,  but  the  dream  of  their 
great  king  has  been  more  than  realized. 

Although  Gustavus  Adolphus'  had  the  honor  of 
raising  Sweden  to  rank  among  the  great  powers  of 
Europe,  the  kingdom  attained  its  highest  glory  un- 
der Charles  XI.  (1660  to  1697).  The  peace  of  West- 


Acting hi 


phalia  (1648)  had  added  largely  to  the  territory  of 


the  kingdom.  When  Charles  XII.  came  upon  the 
throne  he  had  beneath  his  sway  a magnificent  em- 
pire. He  left  it  almost  in  rums.  Many  victories 
were  won  over  his  enemies,  but  the  country  was  im- 
poverished. His  reign  extended  from  1697  to  1719. 
His  successor  was  his  sister,  Ulrica  Eleonora.  Un- 
der her  a constitutional  government  was  formed. 
Gradually  the  area  of  Sweden  was  narrowed  until 
very  little  remained  except  Sweden  proper.  In  1814 
Norway  came,  as  we  have  seen,  to  form  a dynastic 
union  with  Sweden,  but  that  was  not  an  important 
union.  The  union  is  declared  to  be  perpetual,  “with- 
out prejudice,  however,  to  the 
separate  government,  constitu- 
tion and  code  of  laws  of  either 
Sweden  or  Norway.”  The  law 
of  royal  succession  is  the  same 
in  both.  In  the  event  of  an 
absolute  vacancy  of  the  throne 
the  two  Parliaments  assemble 
for  the  election  of  a common 
king. 

The  present  organic  law  of 
Sweden  dates  from  1809,  al- 
though liberal  changes  were 
made  later,  the  latest  being  hi 
1866.  The  government  is  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  that  of 
Norway,  including  religion  and 
education.  There  are  two  Swe- 
dish universities,  the  one  at  Up- 
sala  being  the  chief.  It  numbers 
among  its  alumni  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  the  great 
scholar  and  author  who  founded  what  is  known  as 
the  Church  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  was,  besides, 
a great  scientist. 

The  area  of  Sweden  is  170,979  square  miles;  the 
population  in  1879  was  4,568,901.  The  emigration 
from  there  to  this  country,  which  may  be  said  to 
have  begun  in  1860,  reached  its  maximum  in  1869, 
during  which  year  it  reached  39,064.  The  Swedes 
are  numerous  in  the  Northwest.  Stockholm  and 
Goteborg  are  the  two  largest  cities  of  Sweden.  It  is 
estimated  that  49  per  cent,  of  the  country  is  produc- 
tive soil,  including  pasturage.  Wheat  is  raised  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  kingdom,  rye,  oats  and  potatoes 
being,  however,  the  chief  products  of  the  arable  land. 
The  iron  mines  are  of  great  value  and  importance. 

The  Scandinavians  of  to-day  can  certainly  boast 


S) 


THE  SCANDINAVIANS. 


no  originality  in  religion.  Even  their  modernized 
form  of  Christianity  was  borrowed  from  Germany, 
the  Lutheran  church  being  everywhere  prevalent. 
But  that  people  may  well  be  proud  of  the  fullness, 
definiteness  and  originality  of  their  old  mythology. 
Its  record  is  contained  in  two  collections,  called  the 
Eddas.  The  Elder  Edda  is  in  verse  and  dates  back 
to  1056  ; the  younger  is  a prose  work  and  dates  from 
1640.  In  those  books  are  preserved  the  religious 
conceptions  and  myths  of  ancient  Scandinavia.  Odin 


dinavian  divinities,  their  wars,  loves,  drinking  bouts 
and  various  exploits.  Poets  find  in  these  stories  rich 
material  for  verse. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  part  taken  by 
Sweden  in  the  early  settlement  of  this  country.  It 
is  claimed  by  the  Scandinavians,  and  with  good  rea- 
son, too,  that  their  ancestors  were  really  the  first  dis- 
coverers of  this  continent.  In  the  ninth  century  an 
Icelander,  Gunbjorn,  discovered  Greenland.  He  was 
soon  followed  by  Eric  the  Bed.  Eric  gave  the 


is  the  Jupiter  of  that  mythology,  yet  he  has  strongly 
marked  individuality,  showing  an  origin  quite  inde- 
pendent of  classic  mythology.  The  universe,  accord- 
ing to  the  Scandinavian  theory,  rests  on  the  great 
tree,  Ygdrasill.  The  gods  dwell  in  Asgard,  and  there 
stands  Valhalla,  the  great  hall  of  Odin.  Thor,  the 
Thunderer,  is  Odin’s  mighty  son.  Jotunheim  is  the 
home  of  the  Giants.  Frey  is  the  god  of  sunshine 
and  rain,  seedtime  and  harvest.  Ilis  sister  Freya  is 
the  goddess  of  love.  The  English  names  of  the  days 
of  the  week  were  derived  from  and  are  perpetual 
memorials  of  Scandinavian  mythology.  Loki  is  the 
deity  of  evil.  Many  are  the  legends  told  of  the  Scan- 


country  he  found  the  name  of  Greenland,  his  ac- 
count of  the  country  agreeing  with  the  name  he  gave 
it.  Two  settlements  were  made  upon  the  western 
continent.  It  was  generally  supposed,  until  recently, 
that  Greenland  only  was  explored ; but  it  is  now 
highly  probable  that  the  adventurous  keel  of  the 
Norsemen  plowed  along  the  American  coast  as  far 
south  as  New  England,  and  perhaps  farther,  hut  in 
the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  came  that 
terrible  scourge,  the  plague,  which  destroyed  the  sur- 
plus population,  killed  the  germs  of  colonial  enter- 
prise and  utterly  uprooted  whatever  may  have  been 
already  planted  on  these  shores. 


?>  V 


^1 


j£_ 


Ilf : IB  ,11 


The  Home  op  the  Glacier— The  Helveti — Medieval  Switzerland — The  Story  op  William 
Tell — The  Alps — Glaciers  and  Avalanches— Zwingle,  Calvin  and  Servetus— Swiss 
Heroism  and  Local  Self-Government — The  Federal  Government — Education  and  Indus- 
try in  Switzerland — The  Republic  op  Andorra — San  Marino,  the  Paradise  op  Office- 
Holders — Monaco  and  Gambling — Roumania — Servia — Montenegro. 


£ 


T*“ 


* 


’ HE-  name  Switzerland  is  de- 
rived from  Schwytz,  one  of 
the  twenty-five  cantons  of 
the  Confederation.  It  is 
the  very  pinnacle  of  Eu- 
rope, nestling  in  the  Al- 
pine crags,  protected  from 
France,  Germany,  Austria  and  It- 
aly by  mountain  barriers.  With  an 
area  of  15,988  square  miles  and  a 
population  of  two  millions  and  a 
half,  only  69  per  cent,  of  the  land 
can  be  called  productive,  and  not 
much  of  that  is  really  good  soil 
The  stupendous  mountain  ranges 
are  pecuniarly  valuable  mainly  as 
they  attract  visitors.  Grain-raising 
and  cattle  breeding  furnish  em- 
ployment and  support  for  the  bulk  of  the  people,  but 
the  chief  source  of  Swiss  revenue  is  the  entertain- 
ment of  strangers.  The  Alps  are  visited  every  season 
by  tourists  from  all  over  the  world,  men  and  women 
seeking  pleasure  in  scaling  the  lofty  peaks  which  may 
be  said  to  be  the  natural  home  of  the  glacier. 

In  the  days  of  Roman  conquest  the  inhabitants  of 
that  mountainous  region  were  known  as  Helveti.  In 
the  wars  between  the  Gauls  and  the  Romans,  and 


later,  between  the  Romans  and  the  Germans,  they 
bore  some  part,  occasionally  rising  to  a good  deal  of 
prominence.  They  were  brave  soldiers,  and  once 
gained  supremacy  over  the  warriors  of  Rome,  but 
their  triumph  was  of  short  duration,  and  bore  no 
fruit.  The  Helveti  repeatedly  sought  to  change 
their  sterile  mountain  fastnesses  for  homes  in  the 
tempting  valleys  east  and  west  of  them,  but  they 
were  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  their  strongholds. 
In  time  their  land  became  a Roman  province,  and 
served  as  a barrier  for  the  protection  of  Rome  from 
the  Teutons.  After  the  northern  horde  had  overrun 
Italy  and  destroyed  the  Empire  of  the  AVest,  the  Os- 
trogoths, Alemans,  Franks  and  Burgundians  swept 
over  Switzerland  witli  the  besom  of  desolation. 

In  879  the  first  kingdom  of  Burgundy  was  organ- 
ized, including  Switzerland,  but  after  a century  and 
a half  of  inglorious  independence  the  Carlovingian 
dynasty,  absorbed  it.  The  people  were  not  averse  to 
being  under  the  imperial  yoke,  but  the  bailiff  or 
vicegerents  of  the  emperor  were  very  distasteful. 
The  only  noteworthy  rulers  were  the  dukes  of  Zah- 
ringen,  who  held  sway  during  the  twelfth  century. 
One  of  the  dukes  of  Zahringen  instituted  the  house 
of  Ilapsburg,  the  protector  of  the  forest  lands  of  the 
duchy,  and  out  of  that  protectorate  grew  the  rule  of 
the  Hapsburgs  in  Switzerland. 


7 


(325) 


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a 


1 


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As  long  ago  as  the  days  of  the  Ilelveti  we  hear  of 
“ Confederates,”  but  the  present  Confederation  is  of 
mucli  later  origin.  Its  first  organization  dates  back 
to  1291  when  the  three  forest  cantons  of  Schwytz, 
Uri,  and  Unterwalden  formed  a league.  Out  of  that 
association  grew  the  Confederation,  much  as  the 
American  Union  grew  out  of  the  confederation  of  the 
original  thirteen  states.  Napoleon  was  right  when 
he  said  to  a Swiss  deputation,  “Nature  made  you  to 
be  a federative  state,”  at  least  such  seems  fated  to  be 

the  case.  

With  oc- 
casional 
interrup- 
tions the 
cantons 
have  al- 
ways’been 
free  and 
united. 

The 
national 
hero  was 
W illiam 
Tell.  His 
very  ex- 
iste  nee 
lias  been 
question- 
ed, and 
certain  it 
is  that  all 
known  of 
of  him  is 
more  le- 
gendary than  historical.  The  story  is  this  : Tell  was 
a hunter  living  in  the  canton  of  U ri  in  the  early  part 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  At  that  time  the  Haps- 
burg  dynasty  claimed  sovereignty  over  Switzerland. 
An  Austrian  bailiff  named  Gessler  raised  a cap  on  a 
pole  in  the  market-place  of  Altorf  to  which  every- 
body was  ordered  to  bow  in  token  of  submission  to 
the  government.  Tell  belonged  to  an  organization 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  off  the  yoke  of 
oppression,  and  he  refused  obedience.  Gessler  con- 
demned him  to  death,  but  reprieved  him  on  condition 
that  he  would  shoot  an  apple  from  the  head  of  his 
own  son.  Being  a remarkable  bowman,  he  ventured 
the  shot,  and  hit  the  apple  without  harming  the  boy. 


VIEW  OF  BASLE. 


The  tyrannical  bailiff  noticed  that  Tell  had  two  ar- 
rows, and  asked  him  why  he  had  more  than  one,  to 
which  the  intrepid  archer  replied,  “ If  I had  hit  my 
son  I should  have  shot  you.”  The  critics  pronounce 
this  story  a legend  common  to  all  Aryan  nations, 
found,  with  slight  variations,  in  Persia,  Denmark, 
Iceland  and  elsewhere. 

But  the  chief  interest  of  Switzerland  is  that 
vast  system  of  mountains  which  culminates  in 
Mont  Blanc.  The  Alps  extend  from  the  Mediterra- 
nean Sea, 
between 
Marseil- 
les and 
Nice,  ir- 
regularly 
eastward 
to  about 
18°  east 
longitude 
and  45° 
30 ' north 
latitude. 

The 
Rhine, 
Rhone 
and  the 
Danube 
are  the 
great  riv- 
ers which 
rise  in 
those 
moun- 
tains. 


The  Alps  cover  an  area  of  nearly  100,000  square 
miles,  extending  some  700  miles  from  east  to  west, 
varying  in  breadth  from  50  to  200  miles,  with  an 
average  elevation  of  7,700  feet.  There  are  no  less 
than  seven  hundred  peaks  which  tower  into  the  re- 
gion of  perpetual  snow.  Among  these  are  Mont 
Blanc,  15,784  feet  high ; Grand  Ceroin,  14,815  ; Fin- 
steraarhorn,  14,025;  Schreckhorn,  14,815;  Mont 
Cenis,  11,785,  and  Jungfrau,  13,114.  There  are  six- 
teen passes,  the  most  notable  being  the  great  St.  Ber- 
nard, between  the  valley  of  the  Rhone  and  Piedmont. 
Napoleon  crossed  it  in  1800.  More  than  two  thou- 
sand years  before,  Hannibal  the  Great  had  crossed 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Little  St.  Bernard  pass, 


SWITZERLAND  AND  LESSER  EUROPE. 


SWITZERLAND  AND  LESSER  EUROPE. 


which  connects  Geneva,  Savoy  and  Piedmont.  In 
Switzerland  the  Alps  are  not  enriched  with  minerals, 
coal  only  being  found  there ; but  hi  some  outlying 
portions  of  the  great  chain  iron,  lead  and  quicksil- 
ver abound.  The  distinctive  Alpine  animals  are  the 
chamois,  the  ibex,  the  goat,  and  the  famous  dogs  of 
St.  Bernard. 

The  vast  accumulations  of  ice  and  snow  in  the 
Alpine  peaks,  called  glaciers,  have  been  carefully 


rough  and  undulating,  not  unfrequently  scarred  by 
deep  clefts.  Toward  the  lower  end  these  ice  masses 
are  usually  strewn  with  sand  and  coarse  gravel,  and 
trains  of  large  blocks  that  disguise  the  natural  color. 
In  former  conditions  of  the  earth’s  surface  they  at- 
tained enormous  dimensions,  but,  if  we  except  those 
of  Greenland,  not  yet  explored,  none  are  known  that 
exceed  about  30  miles  in  length  and  two  or 
three  miles  in  breadth.”  These  stupendous  ac- 


studied  by  geologists.  It  is  scientifically  certain 
that  glaciers  once  extended  over  countries  where  they 
are  no  longer  found,  and  that  the  traces  of  them 
throw  light  upon  our  knowledge  of  the  earth.  The 
Alps  are  the  chief  arena  for  the  present  display  of 
this  kind  of  phenomenon.  They  are  described  by 
Ball  as  “ continuous  masses  of  ice  that  originate  in 
the  region  of  perpetual  snow,  but  extend  far  below 
the  snow-line,  often  reaching  the  zone  of  forests,  and 
sometimes  descending  into  inhabited  districts  in  the 
midst  of  corn-fields  and  fruit  trees.  The  ice  is  very 
different  in  appearance  from  what  is  commonly  seen 
in  winter  on  streams  and  lakes.  The  surface  is 


cumulations  of  ice  and  snow  are  at  perpetual  men- 
ace. They  occasionally  slip  from  their  moorings  and 
rush  downward,  carrying  death  and  desolation  as 
they  go.  Sometimes  the  slightest  cause,  as  tlie  vi- 
bration of  air,  will  precipitate  a glacier.  A glacier 
in  motion  is  called  an  avalanche.  The  mere  sound 
of  a bell  has  been  known  to  turn  a glacier  into  an 
avalanche.  Some  parts  of  the  Alpine  valleys  are 
uninhabited  on  account  of  the  frequent  occurrence 
of  these  avalanches. 

The  first  real  triumph  over  the  Alps  was  achieved 
when  the  Mont  Ccnis  tunnel  was  completed.  That 
grand  work  of  engineering  is  one  of  the  wonders  of 


■*. 


3 


t 


328 


SWITZERLAND  AND  LESSER  EUROPE. 


the  modern  world.  It  was  begun  in  August,  1857, 
and  completed  as  a tunnel  in  December,  1870.  It 
was  thrown  open  to  traffic  hi  the  following  Septem- 
ber. It  lacks  only  thirty  yards  of  being  eight  miles 
long.  It  cost  $15,000,000.  Trains  run  through  it 
in  about  twenty  minutes.  It  comiects  Italy  and 
France. 

We  may  now  return  to  a consideration  of  the  peo- 
ple, their  ways,  history,  condition  and  industries. 
The  Swiss  are  a very  simple-minded  people.  Their 
one  prominent  native  name,  aside  from  the  mythical 


residence  there  dates  from  1541  to  1564,  the  latter 
date  being  the  time  of  his  death.  During  that 
time  his  influence  was  almost  autocratic.  His 
austere  theology  and  cruel  bigotry  found  their 
most  extreme  expression  in  the  burning  at  the 
stake  of  Servetus  for  the  crime  of  being  a Unitarian 
hi  theology.  Many  ineffectual  attempts  have  been 
made  to  cleanse  the  skirts  of  Calvin  from  the  blood 
of  Servetus.  The  former  was  indeed  opposed  to  burn- 
ing the  poor  heretic,  preferring  to  kill  him  hi  a less 
horrible  way,  but  his  execution  was  approved  by  Calvin. 


Tell,  is  Zwingle,  one  of  the  illustrious  names  of  the 
religious  Keformation.  He  was  a contemporary  of 
Martin  Luther  and  contributed  much  to  Protestant- 
ism in  its  infancy.  About  one  million  and  a half 
of  the  population  belong  to  the  Protestant  church, 
leaving  a million  for  the  Catholic  faith.  But  Zwin- 
gle did  less,  however,  for  the  Protestant  cause  than 
John  Calvin.  The  latter  was  a Frenchman,  but  ho 
resided  for  a long  time  in  Geneva,  and  may  fairly  he 
claimed  as  a part  of  Switzerland.  Born  in  1509,  he 
fled  to  Geneva  from  the  papal  persecutions  in  France 
in  the  year  1536.  His  first  residence  was  short.  He 
pushed  on  to  Strasburg,  but  in  1540  he  was  invited 
by  the  senate  of  Geneva  to  return.  His  permanent 


The  Swiss  have  always  been  good  soldiers.  One 
of  the  most  brilliant  victories  of  history  was  their 
triumph  over  the  Austrians  at  the  battle  of  Morgar- 
ten,  in  1313.  It  has  well  been  called  the  Ther- 
mopylae of  Switzerland.  Their  bravery,  reinforced  by 
the  admirable  natural  facilities  for  defense,  has  pro- 
tected them  from  conquest.  For  a longtime  now 
the  great  powers  of  Europe  have  abandoned  all  idea 
of  interference  with  Switzerland.  The  French 
Revolutionists  attempted  to  regulate  the  affairs  of 
those  cantons,  but  the  Congress  of  Vienna  (1815) 
acknowledged  and  guaranteed  the  independence  of 
the  Swiss.  Each  canton  has  its  own  constitution 
and  local  self-government,  and  three  of  the  cantons 


^r*v 


SWITZERLAND  AND  LESSER  EUROPE. 


329 


are  divided  eacli  into  two  states.  “ Their  constitu- 
tions,” says  Niemann,  “range  from  purely  democratic 
to  perfectly  representative  systems,  but  each  constitu- 
tion must  be  sanctioned  by  the  federal  assembly 
before  it  can  come  into  force.  The  ecclesiastical 
authorities  hi  the  Reformed  church  are  the  synods, 
assemblies  of  the  whole  clergy ; and  at  their  side 
stands  in  each  canton,  as  the  highest  administrative 
authority,  an  ecclesiastical  council — hi  Geneva  a 
consistory.”  The  Roman  Catholic  church  has  five 
bishoprics. 


Any  person  eligible  to  the  assembly  is  also  eligible 
to  the  council  and  the  presidency.  There  is  also  a 
federal  court,  having  jurisdiction  over  all  cases  aris- 
ing between  the  confederation  and  the  canton, 
between  canton  and  canton,  also  between  the  govern- 
ment, federal  or  local,  on  the  one  side  and  an  indi- 
vidual or  a corporation  on  the  other. 

The  country  has  three  universities,  Bern,  Zurich, 
and  Basle ; and  three  professional  schools  of  emi- 
nence, Geneva  and  Lausanne  theological  seminaries 
and  law  schools,  and  the  law  school  at  Freiburg. 


VIEW  OF  ZURICH. 


The  central  government  has  a constitution  which 
has  undergone  many  changes.  The  present  organic 
law  of  the  confederation  dates  from  1874.  The  con- 
gress of  Switzerland,the  federal  assembly,  consists  of 
a national  council  with  one  member  for  every  20,000 
inhabitants,  and  the  council  of  states,  corresponding 
to  our  national  senate.  There  is  a federal  council 
exercising  executive  functions,  composed  of  seven 
members,  elected  by  the  federal  assembly.  The  pres- 
ident of  that  council,  chosen  annually  by  the 
council  itself,  is  president  of  the  Confederation. 
The  president  is  not  eligible  to  re-election  until  after 
he  lapse  of  a year  from  the  expiration  of  his  term. 


Watch -making  is  the  chief  industry  in  Switzerland. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the  Republics  of  Andorra 
and  San  Marino,  also  the  Principalities  of  Monaco, 
Pomerania,  Servia  and  Montenegro. 

Andorra  is  the  name  of  a valley  and  a republic 
which  nestles  like  an  eagle’s  eyre  far  up  among  the 
mountains.  It  is  situated  among  the  Eastern  Pyre- 
nees, between  the  French  department  of  Ariege  and 
the  Spanish  province  of  Lerida.  Ever  since  the  days 
of  Charlemagne  it  has  been  independent,  forming  a 
line  of  demarkation  between  Spain  and  France. 
There  were  not  more  than  12,000  inhabitants  by  the 
latest  census.  They  are  very  primitive,  kindly  and 


V s 


v 


•V  <2- 


33° 


SWITZERLAND  AND  LESSER  EUROPE. 


hospitable  mountaineers.  The  area  of  the  republic 
is  149  square  miles.  The  government  is  entrusted 
to  twenty-four  consuls.  There  is  nothing  worthy  of 
note  in  the  history  of  Andorra. 

San  Marino  is  at  once  the  oldest  and  smallest  re- 
public in  the  world.  The  area  is  22  square  miles, 
the  population  a little  less  than  10,000.  There  are 
five  villages  within  its  narrow  limits.  The  largest 
has  the  same  name  as  the  republic,  and  is  the  capi- 
tal. San  Marino  is  situated  in  eastern  central  Italy. 
It  dates  back  to  the  fourth  century  when  St.  Mari- 


it  is  not  the  least  among  the  nations.  That  distinc- 
tion belongs  to  Monaco,  which  is  as  independent  as 
if  it  were  the  first  power  on  the  globe.  Monaco  is  a 
village  of  less  than  two  thousand  inhabitants.  With 
its  surrounding  territory  it  has  an  area  of  six  square 
miles,  the  total  population  being  3,127.  It  is  situ- 
ated on  a high  promontory  in  the  Gulf  of  Genoa.  It 
has  two  claims  to  distinction.  As  a watering-place 
its  mild  climate  makes  it  a resort  for  consumptives 
and  other  invalids.  But  its  chief  notoriety  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  it  is  a legalized  gambling-place,  famous 


nus,  a pious  stone-mason,  fled  thither  with  a few  fol- 
lowers to  escape  the  Diocletian  persecution.  The 
country  has  some  good  pasturage,  and  produces 
fruit,  silk-worms  and  wine.  San  Marino  is  the  par- 
adise of  officeholders.  Its  little  army  of]  819  men 
has  131  officers,  and  the  political  affairs  of  the  re- 
public are  intrusted  to  a senate  consisting  of  sixty 
life  members,  an  executive  counsel  of  twelve,  elect- 
ed annually,  and  two  presidents,  elected  for  six 
months.  This  has  been  the  form  of  government 
since  1847. 

Although  San  Marino  is  the  smallest  of  republics, 


the  world  over  for  the  extent,  variety,  and  openness 
of  its  games.  Professional  gamesters  and  respecta- 
ble tourists  are  there  found  upon  a common  level, 
the  former  habitues,  the  latter  constantly  coming 
and  going,  the  players  of  to-day  being  for  the  most 
part  different  persons  from  those  of  yesterday. 
What  is  done  with  more  or  less  secrecy  in  the  rest 
of  the  world  may  be  called  the  sole  employment  and 
industry  at  Monaco.  Speaking  on  this  subject,  a 
recent  writer  says  that  the  Prince  receives  about 
8350,000  per  annum  for  allowing  the  gambling  to 
be  conducted  within  his  principality,  and  that  the 


(D 


SWITZERLAND  AND  LESSER  EUROPE. 


331 


- (0 


* 


present  prince  is  entirely  under  the  influence  of  the 
Jesuits.  This  least  country  of  Europe  is  great  only 
as  an  evil.  The  Prince  resides  in  Paris. 

Roumania  was  formed  as  a province  of  Turkey  in 
1861,  out  of  the  union  of  two  minor  principalities, 
Wallachia  and  Moldavia.  The  representatives  of 
the  people  met  at  the  capital,  Bucharest,  May  21, 
1877,  and  proclaimed  absolute  independence  of  Tur- 
key. The  Berlin  Congress,  in  the  following  year, 
confirmed  the  proclamation.  Its  area  is  48,307 
square  miles ; population  something  over  5,000,000. 
Bucharest  is  a city  of  over  220,000  inhabitants. 
The  people  are,  for  the  most  part,  Greek  Christians. 
The  government  is  an  elective  and  strictly  limited 
constitutional  principality.  The  present  prince  is 
Karl  I. 

Servia  gained  independence  of  Turkey  at  the  same 
time  and  in  the  same  way  as  Roumania.  It  was  vir- 
tually free,  however,  as  early  as  1829.  The  present 
prince,  Milan  II.,  is  the  fourth  of  his  dynasty,  the 
house  having  been  founded  by  Milos,  leader  hi  the 
Servian  war  against  Turkey,  which  lasted  from  1815 
to  1829.  The  Servians  are  Slavs,  of  the  Greek 
church,  except  in  a small  district  mainly  peopled  by 
Mohammedans.  The  area  of  Servia  is  20,850 
square  miles ; population  nearly  2,000,000.  The 
country  and  the  people  are  wild  and  rude.  The 


government  is  similar  in  form  to  that  of  Roumania. 
Belgrade  is  the  capital,  with  a population  of  less 
than  30,000. 

Montenegro  is  a small  and  barbaric  principality 
near  the  Adriatic  sea,  serving  as  a wall  between 
Turkey  and  Austria,  the  Moslem  and  the  Christian. 
The  Turk  was  never  able  to  subdue  the  Montene- 
grins, who  are  a tribe  of  Servians  intensely  devoted 
to  the  Greek  church.  The  population  is  not  over 
250,000,  but  the  Prince,  or  Hospodar,  can  raise  an 
army  of  20,000  at  any  time,  especially  if  the  object 
is  to  war  upon  the  Turks.  Russia  has  often  found 
great  advantage  in  Montenegrin  sympathy.  The 
reigning  prince  is  Nicholas  I.  The  country  has  a 
constitution  of  the  modern  sort.  By  the  treaty  of 
Berlin,  Montenegro  gained  from  Turkey  the  town 
and  district  of  Dulcigno,  on  the  Adriatic,  which  sur- 
render was  not  actually  made  until  1880,  and  then 
only  under  the  pressure  of  the  great  powers.  The 
area  of  this  principality  is  3,550  square  miles.  The 
country  has  neither  roads  nor  villages.  Forests 
abound,  and  acorn-fed  swine  are  the  chief  source  of 
revenue.  The  agriculture  is  carried  on,  the  little 
there  is  of  it,  in  a very  primitive  way,  and  that 
almost  wholly  by  women.  It  may  be  added  that  the 
same  is  true  as  regards  women  and  agriculture,  only 
in  a less  degree,  of  the  entire  continent  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER  LV. 


English  Greatness — National  Terms — Early  Britons — Julius  Caesar  in  Britain — The  Druids 
— Roman  Conquest  of  the  Island — Independence — Advent  of  the  Anglo-Saxon — Chris- 
tian Evangelization— Irish  and  Roman  Church  Influences— Synod  of  Whitby — Danish 
Incursion — Alfred  the  Great — Canute  and  the  Anglicization  of  the  Danes — Dunstan — 
Edward  the  Confessor— The  Norman  Invasion— Harold  and  William— Battle  of  Hast- 
ings— The  Conquest  of  England — Domesday  Book  and  Realty — Henry  I. 


ITH  this  chapter  begins  the 
history  of  the  most  re- 
markable people  in  the 
world,  historical  or  actual. 


coun- 


Besides 
mother 

try,,  great  hi 
itself,  is  that 
Greater  Brit- 
ain, which  in- 
cludes the 
United  States. 

This  republic 
is  indeed  peopled  by  the 
representatives  of  many 
lands,  still  it  forms  one 
mighty  nation,  speaking 
the  English  language,  in- 
heriting its  traditions, 
and  governed  in  great 
part  by  its  common  law.  Restricted  and  insular  as  is 
the  term  England,  it  is  certain  that  the  word  English 
is  the  most  comprehensive  term  in  any  speech,  besides 


CiBsar  Lauding  in  Britain. 


having  in  it  the  promise  of  a still  more  vast  future. 
England,  Scotland  and  Wales  constitute  one  island, 
Great  Britain  ; and  by  “ the  British  Isles  ” is  meant 
not  only  that  island,  but  Ireland  and  the  minor 

specks  of  land  in  the 
adjacent  waters,  subject 
to  the  British  crown. 
The  proper  designation 
of  all  those  islands,  hi 
a political  point  of  view 
is  the  United  Kingdom. 
The  term  British  Em- 
pire is  much  broader, 
including  as  it  does  all 
the  outlying  possessions 
under  the  rule  of  the 
English  crown  and  the 
British  constitution, 
and  upon  which,  liter- 
ally speaking,  the  sun 
never  sets.  As  the  Ro- 
man Empire  was  the 
growth  and  outgrowth 
of  the  city  of  Rome,  so  the  British  Empire  is  the 
growth  and  outgrowth  of  England,  a country  of 
hardly  more  than  fifty  thousand  square  miles.  In 


(332) 


3 


3. 


71 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


a semi-historical,  half-poetical  way  the  country  is 
sometimes  designated  Albion,  sometimes  Britannia, 
or  Britain. 

The  original  inhabitants  of  the  country  were  Brit- 
ons, from  whom  the  present  Welsh  claim  descent. 
Celts  and  Piets,  hardly  distinguishable  from  the 
the  Britons,  may  fairly  be  classed  among  the  first 
settlers  of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  England  proper. 
In  the  ancient  world  that  part  of  the  globe  bore  no 
important  part.  The  Phoenicians  are  supposed  to 
have  been 
the  first  to 
pass  the 
pillars  of 
Hercules, 
and  dis- 
cover the 
great  isl- 
and of  the 
North  At- 
1 a n t i c . 

Learning 
of  the  ex- 
istence of 
the  rich 
tin  mines 
of  Corn- 
wall, they 
carried  on 
quite  an 
extensive 
trade  with 
the  Corn- 
ish miners. 

But  it  was 
not  until 

the  eagle  eye  of  Julius  Caesar  looked  across  the  chan- 
nel and  conceived  the  purpose  of  annexing  Britain  to 
the  Roman  Empire  that  it  really  became  a part  of  the 
historical  world.  lie  crossed  the  straits  of  Dover  in 
B.  C.  55.  His  commentaries  give  a somewhat  glowing 
account  of  the  people  and  of  their  progress  towards 
civilization.  Of  their  religion,  Druidism,  he  wrote, 
“They  teach  that  the  soul  is  imperishable,  passing  at 
deatli  into  another  body.  They  consider  this  belief 
a potent  incentive  to  bravery  in  battle,  removing  as 
it  does  the  fear  of  death.”  The  priests  were  called 
Druids,  and  they  were  not  only  ministers  of  religion, 
but  also  ministers  of  justice,  and  in  geheral  the  in- 


333 


tellectual  aristocracy  of  the  country.  The  religious 
rites  observed  were  horrible,  for  they  practiced  hu- 
man sacrifice,  sometimes  immolating  many  victims 
at  one  time. 

Julius  Csesar  crossed  to  England  twice  during  his 
Gallic  and  Germanic  Wars,  but  he  did  little  more 
than  to  gain  and  disseminate  information  about  the 
country.  It  was  in  A.  D.  43,  that  England  was 
really  annexed  to  the  empire.  The  attacking  army 
was  first  led  by  Plautius,  but  soon  the  Emperor 

Claudius 
himself 
appeared 
upon  the 
s cene. 
When  he 
returned 
to  the  con- 
tinent Ves- 
pasian (af- 
ter  wards 
emperor) 
was  left  in 
command. 
The  isl- 
anders de- 
fended 
themselves 
with  brav- 
ery, but 
of  course 
they  were 
impotent 
as  against 
such  an 
enemy  as 

Rome  at  the  zenith  of  its  power.  About  twenty 
years  elapsed  when  a rebellion  broke  out.  The 
leader  of  the  Britons  was  Boadicea,  queen  of  one  of 
the  tribes  or  counties  of  Britain.  This  brave  woman 
rallied  the  natives  to  her  standard  of  revolt,  regard- 
less of  tribal  fealty,  and  she  gained  some  very  con- 
siderable successes.  She  took  London,  then  as  ever 
the  chief  city  of  the  island,  and  laid  it  in  ashes* 
But  the  Romans  rallied  their  forces,  and  in  a deci- 
sive battle  slew  no  less  than  eighty  thousand  Britons. 
Seeing  that  all  was  lost,  the  gallant  Boadicea  com- 
mitted suicide  by  taking  poison. 

In  A.  D.  78,  Agricola  was  sent  to  Britain,  com- 


Q 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


334 


missioned  to  complete  the  conquest  of  the  island 
and  then  to  undertake  in  a thorough  and  humane 
way  to  civilize  the  people.  They  were  not  far  be- 
hind their  conquerors  in  civilization  even  then.  He 
was  so  far  successful  that  a very  considerable  part 
of  England  was  made  thoroughly  loyal  to  the  Ro- 
man Emperors.  The  intractable  and  irreconcila- 
ble took  refuge  in  Wales,  Scotland  or  the  north 
countries.  It  was  a difficult  task  to  hold  the  rude 
outside  barbarians  in  check  and  protect  Romish 
England  from  predatory  incursions.  Large  forts 
were  built  and  great  walls  along  the  friths  of  Forth 
and  Solway.  Towns  sprang  up  in  which  Latin  was 
spoken,  and  the  literature  of  that  language  was 
read.  Classic  mythology  largely  supplanted  Dru- 
idical  barbarity.  Gradually  the  island  grew  in  favor 
and  importance.  Helena,  the  mother  of  Constan- 
tine the  Great,  was  a Briton.  She  was  also  a Chris- 
tian. The  introduction  of  Christianity  occurred 
early  in  the  present  era,  but  just  when  and  by  whom 
the  first  seeds  were  sown  is  uncertain.  It  was 
upon  English  soil  and  by  British  soldiers  that  the 
first  Christian  emperor,  Constantine,  was  proclaimed 
emperor.  The  Emperor  Honorius  released  the  Brit- 
ons from  imperial  allegiance.  That  was  in  410.  A 
few  months  later  Alaric  entered  Rome  in  triumph, 
and  the  Empire  of  the  West  fell.  The  most  west- 
ern portion  of  it,  however,  may  be  said  to  have 
escaped  the  humiliation  of  Gothic  conquest  by  hav- 
ing first  been  set  free  from  the  yoke  of  Rome. 

Independence  of  the  empire  was  a dubious  bless- 
ing. The  Scots  and  Piets  of  Scotland  and  Wales 
made  themselves  very  troublesome.  London,  York 
and  Lincoln,  more  Roman  than  British,  could  not 
defend  themselves  from  the  rude  barbarians.  The 
townsfolk  were  wealthy  and  cultivated,  but  their 
wealtli  seemed  to  draw  upon  them  despoiling  ene- 
mies, and  culture  was  no  match  for  brute  force. 
Their  condition  soon  became  unendurable.  Before 
the  fifth  century  was  half  gone,  they  felt  compelled 
to  seek  protection  from  without.  In  their  distress 
they  applied  to  the  sea-rovers  of  Scandinavia,  and 
the  cry  for  help  was  heard,  the  prayer  for  succor 
answered,  but  not  in  the  spirit  of  kindness.  It  was 
the  wolf  and  the  lamb. 

In  449  Britain  became  England,  or,  rather,  the 
transformation  began  then.  It  occurred  in  this 
wise : In  response  to  the  call  for  help  the  Angles  of 
Schleswig,  and  the  Saxons  of  Holstein,  with  some 


Jutes  from  Jutland,  crossed  the  angry  waters  be- 
tween their  land  and  the  fair  island  of  distress 
south  of  them.  The  event  seemed  trivial  in  im- 
portance, but  it  proved  of  the  most  far-reaching 
consequence.  Much  of  the  blood  of  the  Britons 
courses  in  British  veins  to-day ; but  the  language 
and  national  characteristics  of  the  people  are  almost 
wholly  Anglo-Saxon. 

The  religious  and  other  institutions  of  the  Britons 
were  obliterated  from  the  country.  There  were 
several  petty  kingdoms  and  much  dissension  among 
the  new  comers ; but  they  were  so  far  harmonious 
that  they  succeeded  in  destroying  the  cities,  churches, 
schools  and  agricultural  improvements  of  the 
Romanized  Britons  and  holding  in  awe  the  savages 
beyond  the  border.  Essex  and  Wessex,  Bercia  and 
Deira,  were  the  names  of  those  kingdoms,  with  a 
fifth,  Mercia,  more  powerful  than  any  of  the  rest. 
The  people  were  divided  into  two  classes,  earls  and 
churls.  The  former  held  land  and  were  the  aristoc- 
racy ; the  latter  were  the  peasant  class.  A promi- 
nent feature  of  those  times  was  local  self-govern- 
ment. The  villages  and  towns,  for  the  most  part, 
governed  themselves.  The  town  rulers  were  called 
ealdermen  or  aldermen.  The  Britons,  properly  so 
called,  never  again  exercised  any  very  considerable 
influence  over  the  affairs  of  that  island.  The  name 
of  England  soon  became  and  remained  entirely  ap- 
propriate. The  chief  wars  which  followed  were 
waged  by  different  branches  of  the  Anglican  family, 
or  its  near  kinsfolk. 

Late  in  the  sixth  century  some  of  these  Anglo- 
Saxons  appeared  in  the  slave  market  at  Rome,  and 
attracted  the  attention  of  that  eminent  pope,  Greg- 
ory the  Great.  Finding  whence  they  came,  and 
that  the  gods  of  Scandinavia  were  worshiped  there, 
albeit  the  Cross  had  once  flourished  in  Briton,  he  re- 
solved to  evangelize  the  English.  St.  Augustine  of 
Rome  (not  the  supremely  eminent  saint  of  that 
name)  was  delegated  to  the  important  task.  That 
was  in  597.  The  first  convert  was  the  King,  or  Earl 
of  Kent,  Ethelbert.  His  wife  was  a Christian 
Frank.  The  first  English  bishopric  was  established 
at  Canterbury.  Thirty  years  later,  Edwin  of  North- 
umbria accepted  the  new  faith.  He  was  the  founder 
of  Edwinsburg  or  Edinburgh.  In  633  the  kingdom 
of  Mercia  undertook  the  championship  of  the  old 
faith.  Many  a bloody  war  was  waged  in  the  cause  of 
these  rival  religions.  In  680  all  England  became 


«> 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


335 


Christian.  This  complete  triumph  of  Jesus  over  Thor 
was  largely  due  to  the  intelligence  and  zeal  of  mis- 
sionaries from  Ireland.  The  latter  island  was  far 
more  civilized  than  England  a thousand  years  ago. 
Schools  and  churches  flourished,  and  the  Irish 
church  of  that  day  had  no  connection  with  Rome. 
It  was  somewhat  in  rivalry  with  it,  especially  as  re- 
gards spiritual  authority  in  England.  It  became 
necessary  to  convoke  a synod  to  determine  which 
the  English  church  should  ally  itself  with,  the  Irish 


and  adventurous  Norsemen  were  tempted  to  invade 
England  by  the  thrift  of  the  island  under  its  An- 
glican masters.  A very  considerable  civilization  had 
grown  up,  and  where  Roman  towns  had  been  razed 
to  the  ground  in  whole  or  part,  new  cities  had  come 
to  attest  a renewed  prosperity.  In  scholarship  and 
letters  the  Venerable  Bede  won  a high  place  by  his 
learning  and  genius  as  early  as  the  eighth  century. 
The  England  of  the  original  English  had  gradually 
attained  to  a fair  degree  of  national  unity  and  en- 


i 

A.  — 

■r  r 


or  the  Roman  church.  That  council,  the  Synod  of 
Whitby,  met  in  G64,  and  its  decision  was  in  favor 
of  Rome.  The  great  royal  champion  of  Rome,  Eg- 
bert, King  of  Wessex,  succeeded  in  conquering  all 
England.  He  belonged  to  the  first  years  of  the 
ninth  century,  and  was  a cotemporary  of  Charle- 
magne. Egbert  may  be  said  to  have  founded  the 
English  crown,  and  was  thirty-six  degrees  removed 
from  Queen  Victoria  by  lineal  descent,  or  rather 
ascent. 

We  must  now  turn  back  to  a great  crisis  which 
arose  in  English  affairs  in  the  eighth  century.  This 
was  the  incursion  of  the  Danes.  Those  powerful 


lightenment  when  the  disturbing  element  from  Den- 
mark was  introduced  into  the  country.  That  por- 
tion of  the  island  which  was  English  without  being 
directly  and  originally  subject  to  Wessex,  did  not 
seriously  object  to  a change  of  sovereignty.  After 
a contest  of  nearly  a century  the  Danes  succeeded 
in  establishing  themselves  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
island,  but  they  made  no  marked  impression  upon 
the  future  of  the  country. 

In  the  year  871  Alfred  the  Great  succeeded  to 
the  throne.  His  reign  extended  to  the  second  year 
of  the  tenth  century.  Those  thirty  years  were  es- 
pecially memorable,  for  small  as  was  his  kingdom, 


42 


O 


336 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


Alfred  better  deserved  the.  title  of  Great  than  did 
any  other  medieval  sovereign  unless  it  be  Charle- 
magne. During  the  first  of  his 
reigrn  he  "was  in  constant  warfare 
with  the  Danes,  succeeding  in 
narrowing  their  area  and  sub- 
jecting  them  to  a degree  of  vas- 
salage. One  battle,  however, 
proved  a brilliant  Danish  victory, 
and  the  king  was  obliged  to  take 
refuge  in  disguise.  It  was  dur- 
ing that  period  of  eclipse  that  he 
served  as  house-servant,  and  was 
whipped  for  letting  the  bread 
burn.  But  he  soon  rallied  his 
forces  and  regained  his  losses. 

Alfred  was  a skillful,  brave  and 
powerful  warrior.  His  real  claim 
to  greatness  rests,  however,  on  his 
statesmanship  and  his  zeal  for 
learning.  He  was  the  most  civilized  ruler  of  the 
age.  The  laws  were  reformed,  more  especially  in 
their  administration,  and  schools  established, 
fred  was  the  founder  of  the 
British  navy,  and  the  especial 
patron  of  strictly  English  liter- 
ature, to  which  he  made  valu- 
able personal  contributions.  He 
was  especially  eager  to  advance 
popular  education.  He  trans- 
lated several  works  from  the 
Latin  into  English.  These  were 
mainly  historical.  His  ytalace- 
schools  for  the  instruction  of 
the  sons  of  the  nobility,  may  be 
said  to  have  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  university  education  in 
England. 

The  next  British  sovereign 
of  note  was  Canute  the  Dane. 

His  reign  was  from  101G  to 
1035.  From  vassalage  to  the 
Saxon  crown  he  rose  to  su- 
premacy over  both  the  English 
and  the  Danes  of  the  island.  His  policy  was  to 
harmonize  the  people,  and  he  treated  the  English 
Avith  justice.  On  his  mother’s  side  Canute  could 
boast  descent  from  Alfred.  With  him  the  dis- 
tinctive mark  of  Denmark  was  obliterated  forever 


from  Britain,  for  albeit  a Dane,  he  Avas  in  spirit  a 
thorough  Englishman.  Alfred’s  son,  EdAvard  the 
Elder,  Avas  the  first  to  take  the 
title  of  King  of  England,  but  the 
England  of  Canute  Avas  a step  in 
advance,  for  it  merged  into  one 
(with  the  English  as  the  one)  the 
tAvo  Scandinavian  elements  of  the 
people.  He  Avas  the  only  great 
sovereign  the  land  enjoyed  from 
Alfred  to  William  of  Normandy, 
but  not  the  only  great  ruler,  for 
Dunstan,  although  a subject, 
ruled  the  destinies  of  England 
under  several  kings,  and  Avas  a 
man  Avorthy  of  the  highest  honor 
and  deathless  gratitude.  The 
kings  under  Avhom  Dunstan  flour- 
ished Avere  Edmund  I.,  Edred, 
Edwy,  and  Edgar,  the  period 
covered  being  from  940  to  9?5.  A devout  monk 
Avith  a passionate  fondness  for  music,  poetry  and 
literature,  he  Avas  none  the  less  a man  of  affairs. 

His  aim  Avas  to  make  England 
united  and  great.  The  kings 
Avith  whom  he  had  to  do  could 
not  appreciate  him,  and  his  la- 
bors Avere  made  doubly  arduous 
by  their  imbecility.  It  must  be 
conceded  that  Dunstan  was 
somewhat  hampered  as  a re- 
former by  superstition,  and  he 
Aveakened  his  influence  for  good 
by  zeal  for  ecclesiastical  regula- 
tions, especially  clerical  celiba- 
cy. He  did  much,  hoAvever,  to 
improve  the  laAvs  and  encour- 
age education,  herein  nobly  sup- 
plementing the  Avork  of  Alfred. 

From  Canute  to  William  Avas 
a sAvif t descent.  A feAV  troublous 
years  succeeded  the  death  of  the 
great  Dane,  Arhen  Edward  the 
Confessor  came  to  the  throne. 
His  early  life  had  been  spent  at  the  court  of  Nor- 
mandy, and  he  Avas  more  Norman  than  English  in 
his  tastes  and  ideas.  During  the  tAventy-four  years 
of  his  reign  (1042  to  10G6)  the  higher  offices 
of  the  government  Avere  largely  filled  Avith  foreign- 


's- 


s> 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


ers.  Weak  in  mind,  he  was  swayed  by  others.  For- 
tunately there  was  one  patriotic  Englishman  who 
exerted  a powerful  influence  over  him,  Godwin,  earl 
of  Wessex,  and  after  him  his  son  Harold.  It  was 
during  this  reign  that  Scotland  was  the  scene  of 
those  bloody  deeds  made  immortal  in  the  drama  of 
Macbeth,  and  England’s  part  in  the  overthrow  of 

that  foul  traitor  is 

fairly  set  fortli  by 
Shakspeare.  And  it 
may  well  be  remarked 
here  that  the  histori- 
cal plays  of  that  su- 
preme genius  are  of  in- 
calculable value  from 
the  standpoint  of  Brit- 
ish history,  affording 
as  they  do  wonderful 
insight  into  the  spirit 
of  the  times.  But 
Edward’s  most  mem- 
orable act  was  not 
succoring  Malcolm  of 
Scotland.  It  was  be- 
stowing his  kingdom 
upon  his  cousin  Will- 
iam of  Normandy. 

Such  was  his  partial- 
ity for  the  Normans 
that  he  wished  to  be 
succeeded  by  one  of 
their  number.  At 
least  William  himself 
set  up  this  claim,  and 
not  without  some  show 
of  truth.  However, 
in  his  last  hours  Ed- 
ward bestowed  the 
crown  upon  Earl 
Harold,  son  of  Godwin,  but,  unfortunately,  the 
latter  had  once  been  shipwrecked  upon  the  Nor- 
man coast,  and  while  held  a prisoner  he  signed 
a complete  renunciatioh  of  all  claim  to  the  En- 
glish crown  in  favor  of  Duke  William.  When, 
therefore,  Harold  came  to  the  throne  William  de- 
manded compliance  with  the  promise  made.  The 
Saxon  persisted  that  the  pledge  was  exacted  of  him 
under  duress  and  was  not  binding.  William  there- 
upon gathered  his  forces  and  invaded  England.  The 


BATTLE  OF  HASTINGS,  DEATH  OF  HAROLD. 


battle  of  Hastings  was  the  result.  That  battle  oc- 
curred in  1066.  In  it  Harold  was  slain  and  his  army 
put  to  utter  rout.  The  Saxon  cause  was  lost,  irrev- 
ocably. What  the  folly  of  Edward  the  Confessor 
had  begun  the  sword  of  William  the  Conqueror 
finished. 

We  have  now  seen  the  Briton  give  place  to  the 

Anglo-Saxon,  and  the 
latter  assimilate  the 
Dane,  and  now  still 
another  element  was 
introduced  into  the 
English  race,  the  last 
of  all,  for  the  Nor- 
man was  the  final 
really  foreign  ingredi- 
ent in  the  strictly  En- 
glish blood.  In  the 
task  of  making  one 
people  out  of  many 
England  has  shown 
a wonderful  power, 
and  the  work  of  as- 
similation is  still  going 
on  in  other  parts  of 
the  British  islands,  es- 
pecially in  Scotland ; 
but  the  Saxons  who 
were  so  ingloriously 
conquered  at  Hastings 
have  proved  the  real 
masters  of  the  situa- 
tion. Notwithstand- 
ing the  political 
change  made,  England 
remained  English,  and 
the  Norman,  like  the 
Dane,  gradually  lost 
his  identity,  merged  in 
that  of  the  descendants  of  the  Angles,  the  Jutes  and 
the  Saxons.  It  is  necessary  to  bear  these  general 
facts  in  mind,  as  a safeguard  against  being  deceived 
as  to  the  actual  importance  of  the  Norman  conquest. 

It  was  not  the  battle  of  Hastings  and  what  im- 
mediately followed  which  constitutes  the  Conquest.  So 
complete  was  that  initial  victory  that  William’s  right 
to  the  crown  of  England  was  at  once  conceded.  On 
Christmas-day  of  that  same  year  (1066)  occurred  his 
coronation  at  Westminster  Abbey,  the  Archbishop  of 


O 


338 


OLD  ENGLAND. 


York  officiating.  The  new  king  prof  essed  great  respect 
for  the  laws  of  England,  and  was  rather  lenient  in  his 
treatment  of  the  vanquished.  After  a few  months, 
during  which  all  went  smoothly,  William  returned 
to  his  Duchy  of  Normandy,  to  look  after  his  affairs 
there.  Hardly  had  die  sailed  away  when  the  spirit 
of  insubordination  manifested  itself,  and  it  became 
evident  that  the  battle  of  Hastings  had  not  really 
subdued  the  nation.  The  duke  returned  with  all 
the  force  he  could  command,  and  then  began  a long, 
bitter  and  desolating  war.  Inch  by  inch  William 
conquered  England,  and  terrible  was  his  revenge 
upon  those  whom  he  branded  as  rebels.  Frightful 
tales  of  horror  are  told,  and  large  tracts  of  culti- 
vated fields  were  utterly  devastated,  the  slaughter 
of  the  people  being  ruthless.  These  waste  places 
he  maintained  as  hunting  grounds.  Game  laws  were 
mtroduced  for  the  preservation  of  wild  beasts 
at  the  expense  of  the  conquered  Saxons,  that  the 
conquerors  might  have  the  pleasure  of  killing. 
The  people,  to  a large  extent,  were  reduced  to  a 
state  of  serfage  little  better  than  downright  slavery. 

To  render  the  conquest  more  secure,  William 
caused  his  English  kingdom  to  be  surveyed,  and  a 
record  to  be  made  of  the  survey.  That  record  is 
called  Domes-day  Book,  and  detestable  as  was  its  ori- 
gin and  object,  it  may  be  called  the  beginning  of  an 
incalculably  important  system  of  land  records. 
The  present  practice  of  keeping  public  records  of 
all  real  estate  titles  is  of  quite  recent  introduction, 
still,  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  system  is  found 
in  that  vestige  of  the  Norman  conquest.  The  lands 
taken  from  the  vanquished  Saxons  were  either  re- 
tained or  parceled  out  among  the  barons  from  Nor- 
mandy. To  a very  large  extent  the  present  English 
titles  to  lands  are  traced  back  to  the  Conquest.  The 
king  did  not  bestow  those  estates  absolutely,  or  in 
fee  simple,  but  conditionally,  on  the  feudal  plan.  If 
the  landholder  or  his  heirs,  failed  to  render  satis- 
factory service  to  the  crown,  the  land  itself  could  be 
reclaimed  by  a decree  of  forfeiture,  or  escheat.  It  fol- 
lows that  the  landed  property  of  England  could 
now  be  largely  redistributed  by  law  without  the  vio- 
lation of  any  “ vested  right  ” or  infringement  upon 
the  British  constitution.  Possibly  the  land  tenure 
system  introduced  by  William  may  eventually  prove 
the  lever  of  a most  radical  reform  in  English  realty. 

William  was  a man  of  war  apart  from  his  cam- 
paigns in  England,  but  his  continental  struggles 


were  not  important,  and  he  was  not  a really  potent 
factor  hi  the  affairs  of  France,  to  which  his  duchy 
belonged.  While  engaged  in  devastating  the  town 
of  Nantes,  belonging  to  his  liege  lord,  Philip  of 
France,  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  killed. 
His  death  made  glad  the  hearts  of  his  subjects. 
He  had  even  quarreled  with  his  own  sons,  and  the 
elder,  Robert,  had  raised  the  standard  of  revolt. 
In  the  struggle  that  followed  William  came  very 
near  being  slain  by  the  sword  of  his  own  son.  He 
was  overthrown,  but  filial  regard  saved  his  life. 

When  the  career  of  William  came  to  an  end,  Rob- 
ert inherited  Normandy  and  his  brother  William 
Rufus,  England.  To  a third  brother,  Henry,  was 
bequeathed  the  maternal  fortune,  which  was  very  con- 
siderable, but  no  part  of  either  the  kingdom  or  the 
duchy.  About  this  time  the  Crusades  began,  and 
Robert  mortgaged  his  duchy  to  Rufus  to  raise 
money  to  join  the  expedition  for  the  rescue  of  the 
Holy  Sepulcher.  While  the  Knight  of  the  Cross  was 
in  “ Paynim  land  ” his  royal  brother  was  accidentally 
killed  in  the  chase,  and  Henry  at  once  claimed  both 
England  and  Normandy.  There  was  none  to  dis- 
pute his  claim,  until  Robert’s  return,  and  then  it 
was  too  late.  Henry  I.  held  fast  to  both  possessions, 
being  a skillful  politician,  a brave  soldier  and  an  un- 
natural brother.  Robert  died  hi  prison.  This  first 
of  the  Henrys  reigned  thirty-six  years.  He  was  call- 
ed Beauclerc,  or  “the  good  scholar.”  Under  him  the 
country  made  some  progress,  but  not  much,  and 
almost  none  at  all  under  his  successor,  Stephen,  a 
grandson  of  William  the  Conqueror,  his  mother  be- 
ing Adele,  Countess  of  Blois.  For  twenty  years 
Stephen  kept  the  land  in  a state  of  anarchy  and 
misery.  The  crown  really  belonged  to  Henry’s 
daughter,  Maude,  who  had  been  the  wife  of  the  Ger- 
man Emperor,  Henry  V.,  and  later  of  Geoffrey, 
Count  of  Anjou,  but  the  English  of  that  day  did 
not  take  kindly  to  the  idea  of  a queen,  and  Maude 
was  singularly  destitute  of  tact.  After  several  in- 
effectual attempts  to  gain  the  crown,  she  retired  to 
a convent  and  ended  her  days  as  a pious  nun.  The 
basis  of  the  compromise  was  the  agreement  that 
Stephen  should  wear  the  crown  until  death  when 
Henry,  the  son  of  Maude  and  Geoffrey,  should  suc- 
ceed him,  an  arrangement  which  was  carried  out  in 
good  faith.  The  death  of  Stephen  occurred  in 
1154,  and  the  accession  of  Henry  II.  proved  the 
beginning  of  a new  series  of  events. 


a|V 


W 


OLD  ENGLAND 


w> 


PLANTAGENETS. 


*5* 


AND  THE 


CHAPTER  LVI. 


The  Sprat  of  Broom-Blossom— Thomas  a Becket — Strongbow  and  Irish  Subjugation — The 
One  English  Pope  of  Rome — The  Sorrows  of  Henry  II. — Richard  Cceur  de  Leon — King 
John  and  Magna  Charta — Henry  III.  and  Parliament — Prince  Edward  and  the  Barons 
— Roger  Bacon  the  Medieval  Scientist — The  Two  Bacons  Compared — Westminster 
Abbey— Architecture  and  Freemasonry — Retrospect  of  Old  England. 


_s>  T,  *— 

=> 


ITH  the  coronation  of  Hen- 
ry II.  begins  the  rule 
of  the  Plantagenets, 
sometimes  called  the  An- 
gevine  dynasty  of  En- 
glish kings.  The  Planta- 
genets  held  the  scepter 
from  1154  to  1485,  or  until  the  battle  of 
Bosworth  gave  the  ascendancy  to  the  Tu- 
dors. The  Dukes  of  Buckingham  and 
Chandos  continue  to  call  themselves 
Plantagenets.  The  term  originated  in 
the  fact  that  Henry's  father,  Geoffrey  of 
Anjou,  was  accustomed  to  wear  a spray  of 
broom-blossom  in  his  hat,  the  French 
name  for  which  is  genet.  It  is  not  propos- 
ed in  this  chapter  to  follow  the  course  of  history  to 
the  Tudors,  but  only  to  the  accession  of  the  first 
Edward,  whose  broad  statesmanship  raised  the  na- 
tion into  so  much  more  prominence  than  the  dynas- 
ty, that  he  constitutes  a great  landmark  in  English 
history. 

Henry  had  extensive  continental  possessions.  Be- 
sides the  dukedoms  of  An  jou  and  Normandy,  he 
was,  through  his  queen,  Eleanor,  Lord  of  Aquitaine. 
T he  three  possessions  constituted  about  one-half  of 
the  present  France.  The  first  notable  reform  which 


he  introduced  was  a well-directed  blow  at  the 
clergy.  Hitherto  a priest  was  amenable  only  to  an 
ecclesiastical  tribunal,  however  heinous  his  crime, 
but  he  abolished  this  un- 
just “benefit  of  clergy.” 

Thomas  a Becket,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  the 
first  Englishman  since  the 
Conquest  to  hold  that  high 
office,  .refused  to  obey  the 
law.  He  appealed  to  the 
pope  and  took  refuge  at 
the  French  court.  The 
pope  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  clergy  and  threat- 
ened the  king  with  excom- 
munication, but  he  stood 
firm.  A partial  reconcili- 
ation was  finally  effected, 
and  Becket  returned  to 
the  see  of  Canterbury. 

That  was  in  1170.  The 
archbishop  showed  no 
disposition  to  obey  the  law. 
four  barons,  at  the  instigation  of  the  king,  assassin- 
ated him.  Three  years  later  he  was  canonized,  and 
his  shrine  at  Canterbury  has  ever  since  been  a 


STRONGBOW. 


The  result  was  that 


(339) 


Q. 


OLD  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PL ANT AGENETS. 


34° 


sacred  spot  to  those  who  sympathize  with  his  views 
of  clerical  independence,  of  secular  law  and  justice. 
To  allay  the  tempest  raised  by  the  ecclesiastics, 
Henry  consented  to  do  penance  at  the  shrine  of 
the  “ martyr  ” after  he  was  sainted. 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  that  England 
gained  her  first  foot- 
hold in  Ireland.  The 
Earl  of  Pembroke, 
called  “ Strongbow,” 
led  an  army  of  - his 
own  immediate  follow- 
ing across  St.  George’s 
Channel  and  carved 
out  for  himself  a pet- 
ty kingdom  which  he 
claimed  to  hold  in  the 
name  of  the  Britisli 
sovereign.  The  foot- 
hold thus  gained  was 
the  Province  of  Lein- 
ster. From  that  time 
to  date  England  has 
asserted  a fictitious 
claim  to  rule  a peojfie 
persistently  unrecon- 
ciled to  any  interfer- 
ence with  home  rule. 

That  usurpation  dates 
from  1172.  The  reign 
of  Henry  the  Second 
continued  forty  years, 
during  which  time 
much  was  done,  be- 
sides the  abridgment 
of  clerical  authority, 
to  correct  abuses.  The 
rights  of  the  barons 
were  respected,  while  their  arrogance  was  re- 
stricted. It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  principles  of  jus- 
tice found  more  recognition  in  him  than  in  any 
ruler  of  that  century.  He  was  also  a patron  of 
learning.  It  may  be  remarked  that  it  was  about 
this  time  that  Nicholas  Breakspear,  an  English 
prelate,  was  made  pope,  being  the  only  Englishman 
to  hold  the  keys  of  St.  Peter.  He  took  the  name 
of  Adrian  IV.  Henry  had  enough  Saxon  blood  in 
his  veins  to  be  satisfactory  to  that  element  of  the 
people.  With  the  Norman  barons  he  was  less  popu- 


lar. His  reign  was  largely  a struggle  for  the  cur- 
tailment of  baronial  power.  It  was  under  him  that 
the  august  judicial  system,  or,  as  Green  calls  it,  “ the 
fabric  of  English  judicial  legislation,”  commenced, 
and  a glimpse  is  afforded  of  the  great  charter  granted 
by  his  son  John.  His  reign  was  an  education,  pre- 
paratory to  the  su- 
preme event  at  Run- 
nymede,  of  which  we 
are  presently  to  hear. 

This  great  king  died 
with  the  clouds  of  ad- 
versity thick  and 
thickening  about  his 
head.  His  two  elder 
sons  were  dead,  and 
the  remaining  two, 
Richard  and  John,  en- 
gaged in  a plot  against  i 
their  royal  father,, 
whose  last  days  were 
filled  with  sadness. 

The  older  of  the 
two  sons  of  Henry 
II.  is  known  in  his- 
tory as  Richard  Coeur 
de  Leon  (Richard  of 
the  Lion  Heart).  He 
was  a brave  Crusader. 
Many  a romantic  story 
is  told  of  his  personal 
prowess.  With  a touch 
of  poetry  in  his  nature, 
he  was  a great  patron 
of  minstrels  and  trou- 
badours. But  apart 
from  the  glamour  of 
romance, Richard  lives 
in  history  as  a royal  knight-errant,  and  that  is 
about  all. 

The  younger  brother,  John,  who  succeeded  to  the 
crown  in  1199  and  wore  it  until  1216,  was  treacher- 
ous and  despicable,  yet  sagacious  and  brave.  He 
was  a great  general,  a powerful  king,  but  he  is  best 
known  for  something  which  he  was  forced  to  do  in 
spite  of  himself,  and  to  which  he  never  intended  to 
he  faithful.  We  refer  to  the  Great  Charter,  or 
Magna  Charta,  wrung  from  him  by  the  barons  of 
the  realm  at  Runnymede.  John  is  sometimes  called 


_£> 


OLD  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PLANTAGENETS.  34I 


Lackland.  His  reign  extended  from  1199  to  1216. 
The  charter  was  signed  June  19,  1215.  It  was  in 
effect  a royal  pledge  to  respect  the  rights  of  the  bar- 
ons, the  clergy  and  the  people.  That  truly  august 
document  constitutes  the  fundamental  part  of  the 
British  constitution.  A council  of  the  clergy  and 
the  nobility  was  held  two  years  before  the  charter 
was  signed,  for  the  purpose  of  devising  ways  and 
means  to  secure  that  safeguard  against  royal  usur- 
pation. Cardinal  Langton  fairly  earned  the  honor 
of  organizing  this  important  victory  over  absolut- 
ism. For  once  the  church  was  on  the  side  of  prog- 
ress and  liberty.  The  king 
had  the  support  of  the 
pope,  Innocent  III.,  but 
Langton  persisted  in  his 
patriotic  purpose.  The 
charter  as  originally  signed 
by  King  John  contained 
sixty-one  articles.  It  was 
frequently  renewed  with  ad- 
ditions by  subsequent  sov- 
ereigns. The  right  of  trial 
by  a jury  of  one’s  equals,  or 
peers,  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
important  guaranty  of  the 
entire  charter.  No  taxa- 
tion without  the  consent  of 
the  taxed  was  another  great 
principle,  and  one  which 
developed  into  the  right  of 
the  House  of  Commons  hi 
England  and  the  House  of  Representatives  in  the 
United  States  to  originate  all  revenue  bills. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  King  John  was  a 
very  brave  and  able  man,  he  not  only  failed  utterly 
to  hold  in  check  his  English  subjects,  but  he  lost 
the  dukedom  of  Normandy,  which  was  seized  by  the 
French  king,  and  henceforth  the  title  became  ex- 
tinct. His  reign  was  singularly  inglorious,  and  his 
name  is  exceptionally  infamous  in  royal  annals. 
But  had  the  one  notable  act  of  his  life  been  vol- 
untary, it  would  have  made  him  to  the  English  peo- 
ple much  what  Abraham  Lincoln  is  to  the  colored 
people  of  America.  As  it  was,  he  neither  re- 
ceived nor  deserved  the  slightest  credit  for  affixing 
the  royal  sign  manual  to  the  charter. 

The  death  of  this  baffled  despot  left  the  crown  to 
his  son,  Henry,  then  only  eight  years  of  age.  For 


three  years  the  kingdom  was  ruled  by  a regent 
of  patriotism  and  statesmanship,  Earl  Pembroke. 
The  king  was  declared  of  age  when  sixteen  years 
old  (1223),  taking  the  title  of  Henry  III.  It 
was  during  his  reign  that  the  great  council  of  the 
nation  became  known  as  the  parliament,  and  began 
to  assume  its  proper  function  as  the  really  supreme 
authority  in  the  land.  Henry  was  a weak  king,  and 
that  fact  was  fortunate  for  the  nation.  It  was 
farther  fortunate  that  he  was  a spendthrift.  He 
needed  money,  and  had  to  apply  to  parliament  for 
appropriations.  Every  application,  whether  granted 
or  denied,  served  to  em- 
phasize the  parliamentary 
jurisdiction.  But  the  church 
of  Rome  was  quite  as  eager 
to  take  advantage  of  Hen- 
ry’s imbecility  as  the  people 
were,  and  during  this  reign 
ecclesiastical  usurpation 
made  considerable  headway. 
Parliament  showed  a piti- 
ful incapacity  for  govern- 
ment. For  many  years  the 
country  was  in  a state  bor- 
dering on  anarchy.  The 
reign  of  this  king  extend- 
ed from  1216  to  1272. 
The  nobility  seemed  infatu- 
ated with  a sense  of  their 
own  importance,  and  finally, 
in  1264,  they  deprived  the 
king  of  all  authority,  holding  him  and  his  fam- 
ily, with  one  exception,  prisoners.  That  excep- 
tion was  Edward.  This  prince  was  a brave  and 
able  man,  and  a good  son.  After  a long  strug- 
gle he  succeeded  in  breaking  the  power  of  the 
barons  and  restoring  his  father  to  the  throne.  The 
leader  of  the  barons  was  Earl  Leicester.  In  itself 
considered,  the  Barons’  War  could  not  be  commend- 
ed, but  out  of  it  grew  the  House  of  Commons,  or 
borough  representation,  and  when  the  smoke  of  the 
conflict  had  rolled  away  it  was  found  that  immense 
progress  had  been  made. 

The  chief  interest  of  that  long  reign  was  not  the 
clash  of  arms,  but  the  increase  of  intelligence.  It 
was  during  that  period  that  Roger  Bacon  nourished, 
a friar  with  an  appreciation  of  science  worthy  the 
nineteenth  century.  He  was  so  very  far  ahead  of 


” 


k*. 


342 


OLD  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PLANTAGENETS. 


liis  times  that  he  was  almost  forgotten  centuries 
before  he  was  understood.  He  was  a voice  crying 
in  the  wilderness  of  ignorance,  pleading  for  knowl- 
edge, awakening,  however,  hardly  an  echo  of  sym- 
pathy. Oxford  was  the  seat  of  learning  where  he  la- 
bored with  the  greatest  assiduity  to  serve  the  cause  of 
learning.  It  was  during  the  reign  of  Henry  III. 
that  the  English  universities  began  to  be  recognized 
centers  of  influence.  The  Crusades  had  stimulated 
zeal  for  knowledge,  the  barbaric  West  having  come 
in  contact  with  the  more  civilized  Saracens.  From 
the  schools  of  Cordova  and  Bagdad  came  incen- 
tives to  a higher  education  than  the  Christians  of 
the  Dark  Ages  had 
known.  In  all  this 
England  had  its  full 
share,  and  Roger 
Bacon  deserves  the 
honor  therefor.  His 
just  rank  is  quite  as 
high  as  was  that  of 
his  more  illustrious 
namesake,  Francis 
Bacon,  only  the  lat- 
ter lived  at  a time 
when  the  seed  sown 
fell  upon  fallow 
ground,  and  bore 
much  fruit.  Of  Opus 
Magus  of  the  elder 
Bacon  and  the  No- 
vum Orgammi  of  the 
younger  Bacon  it 
might  well  be  said,  “ unlike,  but  not  unequal.”  Both 
were  written  in  Latin,  the  English  being  considered 
as  an  utterly  unfit  vehicle  of  literature.  It  was  not 
until  the  next  century  that  anything  of  intrinsic  merit 
was  contributed  to  literature  in  the  English  language. 
Roger  Bacon  was  more  concerned  with  the  essence 
of  things  than  with  their  form,  with  science  than 
with  literature.  To  learning  he  added  invention. 
The  telescope,  microscope,  spectacles,  and  many 
astronomical  and  mathematical  instruments,  have 
been  claimed  to  be  his  invention  ; so  also  is  gun- 
powder. Whether  he  actually  invented  or  only 
introduced  these  appliances  of  civilization,  he  cer- 
tainly deserves  great  credit  for  trying  to  inaugurate 
a better  state  of  affairs.  He  tried  to  substitute  as- 
tronomy for  astrology,  chemistry  for  alchemy. 


Westminster  Abbey  dates  from  this  reign.  A 
church  was  built  upon  that  site  by  Edward  the 
Confessor,  but  the  present  edifice  belongs  to  the 
reign  of  the  third  Henry.  It  is  there  that  the  sover- 
eigns of  England  receive  coronation,  and  beneath 
its  pavements  many  of  them  have  found  sepulcher. 
Very  many  of  the  more  eminent  men  of  England 
were  either  buried  there  or  have  had  monuments 
erected  or  tablets  ascribed  to  their  honor  in  that 
august  abbey.  Kings,  statesmen,  soldiers,  poets  and 
explorers  there  find  a common  place  of  association. 

Some  progress  was  made  during  this  reign  in  art. 
Many  manuscript  books,  elaborately  illuminated  or 

painted,  are  still  ex- 
tant, showing  very 
considerable  skill 
with  the  brush.  Ar- 
chitecture received 
much  attention,  es- 
pecially the  Gothic 
style  of  structure. 
Masonry  acquired  a 
marked  prominence 
during  that  period. 
These  masons  were 
free  men.  The  great- 
er part  of  the  labor 
of  that  day  was  per- 
formed by  slaves  or 
serfs,  who  were 
bought  and  sold  like 
cattle.  British  com- 
merce can  hardly  be 
said  to  have  existed,  the  foreign  traffic  of  the 
island  being  in  the  hands  of  the  Hanseatic  League, 
or  Free  Cities  of  Germany. 

During  the  period  now 
not  be  said  to  have  contributed  much  to  the 
improvement  of  mankind,  beyond  giving  proof 
of  an  advanced  idea  of  civil  liberty.  Night 
has  rested  upon  the  nation,  but  the  star  of 
Runnymede  is  the  harbinger  of  dawn.  A turn- 
ing-point has  been  reached,  a fork  in  the  road 
of  history. 

The  Plantagenets  continue 
throne,  but  the  betterment  of 
a whole,  has  gone  on  until  at 
tional  development  Old 
disappear. 


traversed  England  can- 


England 


to  sit  upon  the 
the  kingdom,  as 
this  stage  of  na- 
may  be  said  to 


<5" 


Modern  England — The  Ambition  of  Edward  I. — Conquest  of  Wales— Llewellen,  and  the 
Welsh  Policy  of  Edward — Prince  of  Wales — Arthurian  Legends — Temporary  Subjec- 
tion of  Scotland — William  Wallace — Robert  Bruce — The  Death  of  Edward  I.  and 
Scotch  Independence — The  Chief  Glory  of  the  First  Edward — Treatment  of  the 
Jews — Edward  II. — Edward  III. — The  French  War  and  the  Black  Prince — General 
Character  of  the  Edwardian  Age — Geoffrey  Chaucer — John  Wycliffe — The  Black 
Plague — Richard  II.  and  Wat  Tyler — The  Last  of  the  Plantagenets. 


ed  aristocracy,  many  of  whom  were  enjoying  posses- 
sions not  vested  in  them  by  provable  title.  But  he 
soon  abandoned  that  idea.  Any  such  “ new  ver- 
sion ” of  Domesday  Book  would  arouse  a tempest, 
and  he  did  not  care  to  inaugurate  another  “Barons’ 
War.”  Wisely  reconsidering  his  initial  purpose,  he 
changed  his  plan,  and  selected  as  his  line  of  policy 
the  subjugation  of  the  original  Britons  who  had 
taken  refuge  in  the  mountains  of  the  west  and 
north.  No  thought  of  recovering  lost  territory  on 
the  continent  was  entertained.  He  aspired  to  rule 
the  entire  island.  He  succeeded  in  the  west  and 
failed  in  the  north,  but  he  none  the  less  foreshad- 
owed English  destiny,  as  regards  Great  Britain. 

The  Welsh  were  not  an  easy  people  to  conquer. 
Brave  of  heart,  they  had  the  advantage  of  almost 
impregnable  natural  fortifications.  The  mountains 
of  Wales  are  admirably  adapted  to  a defensive  war. 
The  Welsh  were  often  at  war  among  themselves,  be- 
ing divided  into  numerous  clans,  but  they  were 
none  the  less  quick  to  unite  for  the  repulsion  of  a 
common  danger.  They  were  troublesome  neighbors. 
Descended  as  they  were  from  the  original  proprie- 
tors of  English  soil,  they  thought  it  no  crime  to 
make  reprisals.  Often  they  would  descend  in  pred- 
atory bands  and  pillage  the  adjacent  country.  The 


CHAPTER  LVII 


ITH  the  reign  of  Edward,” 
says  Green,  “ begins  Mod- 
ern England.”  This  ep- 
och is  unmarked  by  any 
revolutionary  cataclysm. 
“ From  that  time,”  he  ex- 
plains, “kings,  lords,  com- 
mons, the  courts  of  justice,  the  forms  of 
public  administration,  local  division  and 
provincial  jurisdictions,  the  relations  of 
church  and  state,  in  great  measure  the 
framework  of  society  itself,  have  all  tak- 
en the  shape  which  they  still  essentially 
retain.”  For  more  than  half  a century 
all  connection  with  Normandy  had  ceased, 
and  long  before  that,  fear  of  any  further 
incursions  of  barbaric  hordes  from  the  North  had 
disappeared.  French  was  the  language  of  govern- 
ment and  Latin  of  literature,  but  the  people  clung 
tenaciously  to  English,  a tenacity  which  was  des- 
tined to  triumph  completely.  The  age  of  the  three 
Edwards  was  a grand  epoch  in  England’s  greatness. 

When  the  troublous  and  long  reign  of  Henry  III. 
closed,  Edward  I.  was  fighting  the  Moslem.  TJpon 
learning  his  father’s  death  he  returned  home.  His 
first  thought  was  to  have  a reckoning  with  the  land- 


43 


(343) 


3 


into  the  retreat  of  the  Cymry  and  the  “fabric  of* 
W elsh  greatness  fell  at  a single  blow/5 — fell,  however, 
to  rise  again,  and  for  four  years  the  British  lion  was 
held  at  bay  by  the  last  real  Prince  of  Wales.  The 
king  was  obliged  to  surround  Llewellyn  and  gradu- 
ally close  in  upon  him.  The  bold  prince  fell  in  bat- 
tle, and  Wales  was  annexed  to  England  in  1282, 
substantially  as  now.  The  king  adopted  a liberal 
policy,  treating  the  people  with  just  liberality.  By 
the  “ Statute  of  Wales,”  the  more  barbarous  customs 
of  the  country  were  abolished,  the  English  jurispru- 
dence adopted,  trade  guilds  in  the  towns  established, 
and  local  rights  protected.  The  people  were  allowed 


and  were  presented  to  the  infant  son  of  the  King, 
who  had  been  born  on  Welsh  soil.  This  first  En- 
glish Prince  of  Wales  was  the  second  son  of  the 
king,  and  the  chiefs  supposed  that  he  would  rule 
their  country  alone,  or  at  least  that  the  title  would 
be  distinctive  and  permanent ; but  before  the  child 
reached  maturity  his  elder  brother  died,  and  thus 
the  Prince  of  Wales  became  the  heir  apparent  to 
the  English  throne,  and  ever  since  then  the  title  has 
simply  served  as  the  designation  of  the  oldest  son 
of  the  ruling  monarch,  a title  witli  no  real  jurisdic- 
tion or  special  connection  with  the  affairs  of  Wales. 

In  this  connection  may  be  introduced  the  Arthu- 


CASTLE  CAERNARVON. 


344 


MODERN  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PLANTAGENETS. 


subjugation  of  Wales  came  to  be  regarded  as  a na- 
tional necessity.  The  nursery  rhyme  “Taffy  was  a 
Welshman,  Taffy  was  a thief,”  which  is  familiar  to 
English-speaking  children  to  this  day,  may  be  set 
down  as  a waif  from  Old  England,  a vestige  of  a 
prejudice  which  once  rested  on  a solid  foundation. 
Edward  I.  set  about  the  annexation  of  those  moun- 
taineers in  right  good  earnest. 

The  leader  of  the  Welsh  forces  was  the  bold  and 
cliivalric  Llewellyn  ap  Griffith.  Edward  marched 


to  hold  fast  to  their  original  language  and  main- 
tain their  distinctive  characteristics,  which  they  do 
to  this  day.  Their  language  is  totally  distinct  from 
the  English,  and  their  literature  is  said  to  be  rich, 
especially  in  poetry. 

Llewellyn  was  a prince,  and  Edward  told  the 
Welsh  chiefs  that  if  they  would  meet  him  at  the 
great  castle  of  Wales,  Caernarvon,  he  would  give 
them  a prince  who  had  never  spoken  a word  of  En- 
glish and  was  a native  of  Wales.  They  accepted, 


o 


\ 


s<  J- 


MODERN  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PLANTAGENETS. 


345 


rian  legends,  or  myths  concerning  King  Arthur  and 
the  Knights  of  the  Round  Table.  Those  legends 
figure  prominently  in  English  tradition  and  verse. 
No  such  persons  ever  existed  ; at  least  they  have  no 
place  in  authentic  history.  Robin  Hood  was  a ver- 
itable highwayman,  probably,  a Saxon  who  turned 
freebooter  to  make  reprisals  upon  the  Norman  bar- 
ons who  were  titled  robbers.  The  common  people 
loved  him  for  his  lawless  espousal  of  justice,  and  his 
memory  has  ever  been  held  in  esteem  by  the  yeo- 
manry of  “ Merrie  England.”  The  mythical  Arthur 
goes  back  of  the  Saxons.  He  belongs  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  primitive  Britons.  The  network  of 
romance  which  has  been  woven  about  that  name 
and  its  associates  may  be  designated  as  the  dream  of 
the  refugees  who  fled  to  the  mountains  of  Wales. 
The  enchanter  Merlin,  who  formed  one  of  good 
King  Arthur’s  company,  was  the  “ Mother  Shipton” 
of  the  Welsh,  and  it  was  a prophecy  of  Merlin  which 
inspired  the  forlorn  hope  led  by  Llewellyn. 

The  ambition  of  Edward  was  more  easily  but  less 
permanently  gratified  in  Scotland.  That  part  of 
the  island  had  formerly  acknowleged  some  allegiance 
to  the  English  crown,  but  Richard  of  the  lion  heart 
had  released  the  Scotch  king  from  all  allegiance  on 
the  payment  of  a sum  of  money,  used  by  him  in  the 
Crusades.  Not  long  after  Edward  came  to  the 
throne  a dispute  arose  across  the  border  as  to  who 
should  inherit  the  Scotch  kingdom.  Edward  was 
asked  to  settle  the  matter,  which  he  finally  did  upon 
conditions  of  a renewal  of  the  acknowledgment  of 
Scotland  as  a fief,  or  dependency,  of  the  English 
crown,  and  its  king  as  his  vassal.  That  made  a par- 
tial union  of  the  countries. 

The  Scotch  king,  Baliol,  soon  rebelled,  and  the 
famous  William  Wallace  came  to  the  front  as  the 
hero  of  Scotland.  Wonderful  exploits  are  attributed 
to  him,  and  the  English  army  was  nearly  destroyed 
when  the  martial  genius  of  Edward  saved  it,  and 
made  him  master  of  the  situation.  He  showed  len- 
iency to  all  except  Wallace,  whom  he  beheaded  hi 
the  Tower  of  London.  The  Scotch  have  never  failed 
to  chervil  his  memory  gratefully. 

All  this  was  early  in  the  long  reign  of  Edward.  A 
generation  passed,  and  Scotland  seemed  to  be  securely 
English.  But  a greater  than  William  Wallace  was 
raised  up — Robert  Bruce.  This  nobleman  spent  his 
earlier  days  at  the  English  court,  a semi-prisoner. 
Coming  to  manhood,  patriotism  fired  his  heart  and 


he  returned  to  his  native  land  to  head  a revolt  in 
favor  of  absolute  national  independence.  His  most 
staunch  supporter  was  James  Douglas,  and  together 
they  fired  the  heart  of  Scotland.  Edward  himself 
was  absent  upon  the  continent  at  the  time  the  war 
began,  and  his  armies  were  so  badly  beaten  that  he 
made  haste  to  patch  up  a peace  with  the  king  of 
France,  returned  and  took  the  field  in  person,  inspir- 
ing his  army  with  new  hope.  But  he  was  too  old  to 
bear  the  burdens  of  the  campaign,  and  sank  beneath 
them,  his  death  resulting  in  the  entire  success  of  the 
Scotch  cause.  Scotland  remained  independent  until 
James,  the  first  of  the  Stuarts  upon  the  throne  of 
England,  came  by  natural  inheritance  to  wear  both 
crowns,  and  the  Welsh  policy  of  Edward  was  extend- 
ed to  Scotland,  thus  rendering  the  entire  island  in- 
deed one  nation. 

The  glory  of  Edward  was  not  military,  but  civil, 
for  he  was  a broad-minded,  far-seeing  and  eminently 
practical  statesman.  First  of  all,  parliament  as- 
sumed during  his  reign  its  modern  shape,  and  ceased 
to  be  an  irregular,  inchoate  and  experimental  body. 
Under  his  reign  it  became  a well-defined  legislature, 
and  to  this  day  a statute  of  Edward  I.  is  as  much 
the  law  of  England,  if  unrepealed,  as  a statute  of 
Victoria.  Judicial  reforms  were  effected  of  the  high- 
est importance.  Instead  of  appeals  to  force  and 
chance,  relics  of  crude  barbarism,  reliance  was 
placed  upon  the  administration  of  justice  in  accord- 
ance with  the  principles  of  order  and  fairness  laid 
down  in  Magna  Charta.  The  relations  of  church 
and  state  were  regulated  in  a way  to  curb  the  arro- 
gance of  ecclesiastical  authority.  The  establish- 
ment of  judicial  districts  was  a great  step  in  ad- 
vance. That  splendid  fabric  known  as  the  British 
Constitution  is  indeed  a system  of  law  gradual  in 
its  growth,  antedating  English  history  and  still  in 
process  of  completion ; and  its  corner-stone,  the 
Great  Charter,  was  laid  by  the  unwilling  hands  of 
John  Lackland ; but  the  framework  of  the  mag- 
nificent superstructure  belongs  to  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward I.,  and  that  not  in  rudiments  alone,  often  in 
exact  detail  as  well.  Borough  representation,  which 
he  introduced,  had  in  it  the  very  essence  of  civil 
liberty.  Some  of  the  Boroughs  failed  to  be  repre- 
sented, attendance  upon  the  sessions  of  parliament 
being  looked  upon  in  that  day  as  a burden,  much 
as  service  upon  the  jury  now  is.  There  was  never 
any  pecuniary  compensation  for  the  service,  but 


A 


346 


MODERN  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PLANTAGENETS. 


gradually  an  irksome  duty  came  to  be  recognized 
as  a high  privilege. 

During  the  reign  of  the  first  Edward  the  Jews 
were  subjected  to  bitter  persecution,  and  finally  to 
expulsion.  The  number  banished  was  about  six- 
teen thousand,  most  of  whom  were  robbed  and 
slaughtered  before  they  could  make  good  their  es- 
cape. From  that  time  until  the  Protectorate  of 

Cromwell  there  were  hard- 

ly  any  Jews  in  England. 

No  part  of  Europe  has  es- 
caped the  infamy  of  Jew- 
ish persecution. 

The  reign  of  Edward  I., 
sometimes  called  Long- 
shanks, extended  from 
1272  to  1307,  and  then 
the  Prince  of  Wales  took 
the  throne  as  Edward  II. 

His  reign  extended  over  a 
period  of  twenty  years. 

They  were  melancholy 
years.  The  king  had  no 
fitness  for  government  and 
was  singularly  unfortu- 
nate. To  no  purpose,  ex- 
cept personal  and  nation- 
al humiliation,  did  he 
prosecute  the  Scotch  war 
in  which  his  father  lost 
his  life.  The  worthless 
foreigner  who  was  his  first 
favorite,  Piers  Gaveston 
of  Gascony,  was  so  very 
obnoxious  to  the  people 
that  he  had  to  be  banished. 

The  queen,  Isabel  of  France,  cared  far  more  to  ad- 
vance the  interest  of  her  brother,  Charles  IV.,  than 
of  her  husband.  When  the  two  sovereigns  quarreled 
she  raised  an  army  to  oppose  Edward,  and  defeated 
him,  took  him  prisoner,  and  hanged  his  prime  minis- 
ter, Hugh  Despenser.  A parliament  soon  after  con- 
vened, declared  the  king  deposed  and  his  son  Edward 
III.  the  sovereign  of  England.  A few  months 
later  the  unhappy  ex-king  was  ruthlessly  murdered 
in  the  castle  of  Kenilworth,  the  victim  of  the  cru- 
elty of  Isabel  and  her  vile  associate  in  crime  and 
power,  Roger  Mortimer.  Thus  ended  one  of  the 
most  inglorious  and  unhappy  reigns  in  English  annals. 


Edward  III.  wielded  the  scepter  forty  years,  in- 
cluding the  first  three  years  of  his  reign,  during 
which  his  mother  and  Mortimer  held  practical  sway. 
In  1330  he  sent  his  mother,  a prisoner,  to  a castle 
in  Norfolk,  executed  her  accomplice,  and  inaugu- 
rated a career  of  his  own.  His  first  thought  was 
to  regain  Scotland,  but  he  soon  abandoned  that 
scheme  to  devote  his  attention  to  a higher  ambition, 

which  was  to  be  the  king 
of  France,  claiming  the 
crown  by  right  of  inher- 
itance. The  Salic  law 
which  bars  royal  females 
from  succession  prevailed 
in  France,  and  so  his  title 
was  fatally  defective,  for 
he  based  his  right  alone 
upon  his  mother’s  title. 
He  none  the  less  stoutly 
made  the  claim,  and  for  a 
century  the  two  countries 
were  at  war.  For  a much 
longer  time  the  British 
sovereigns  insisted  upon 
appending  to  their  legiti- 
mate title  the  words  “ and 
king  of  France.”  Edward 
III.  began  the  war  in  1338. 
It  was  not  until  1346  that 
any  important  movement 
occurred,  when  the  fa- 
mous battle  of  Cressy 
was  fought.  The  English 
force  was  small,  but  the 
day  was  won.  The  glory 
of  that  victory  belongs 
to  Edward’s  son,  then  only  fifteen  years  old, 
“ The  Black  Prince,”  as  he  was  called,  on  account 
of  the  color  of  his  armor.  Prodigies  of  valor  are 
related  of  the  boy,  and  his  after  life  gives  some 
plausibility  to  them.  The  glories  of  Cressy  were 
soon  followed  by  the  siege  and  fall  of  Calais.  A 
brief  truce  was  negotiated  which  continued  ten 
years  when  it  was  broken  by  another  battle  in 
which  the  English  won  a brilliant  victory.  The 
actual  advantage  to  the  English  was  slight,  however, 
for  only  a few  cities  on  the  coast  were  ceded  to  En- 
gland by  the  peace  which  was  finally  agreed  upon 
in  1374.  Edward  lived  to  burv  his  chivalric  sou, 


iTv 


MODERN  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PLANTAGENETS. 


the  Black  Prince,  two  years  after  the  peace,  him- 
self following  the  next  year,  leaving  the  crown  to 
the  son  of  the  illustrious  prince  whose  death  had 
been  mourned  as  a national 
calamity. 

The  century  covered  by  this 
chapter  is  peculiarly  rich  in 
developments  of  an  encour- 
aging nature.  The  mere  po- 
litical history  of  the  period  is 
a small  part  of  it.  It  is  in 
the  progress  of  the  untitled 
many  and  the  aristocracy  of 
the  brain  that  the  real  glory 
of  the  Edwardian  age  appears. 

It  was  not  the  heroes  of  war, 
from  Llewellyn  to  the  Black 
Prince,  nor  yet  the  statesmen 
of  parliament  and  the  judges 
of  the  assizes,  who  deserve  es- 
pecial praise.  There  had  been 
brave  warriors  and  noble  pa- 
triots before.  The  grand  fact 
of  the  period  is  that  England  ceased  to  be  divided 
into  enslaved  Saxons  and  despotic  Normans,  the 
entire  people  becoming  truly  English  in  character. 
Instead  of  Robin  Hood 
with  his  merry  robbers, 
despoiling  the  nobles  and 
sharing  his  booty  with 
the  peasants,  the  most 
popular  personage  in 
English  traditions,  we 
have  people  respecting 
the  rights  of  others  and 
tasting  the  sweets  of 
manly  privileges. 

The  supreme  name  of 
this  period  was  that  of 
Geoffrey  Chaucer,  the 
father  of  English  litera- 
ture. He  was  a truly 
great  poet  and  thorough- 
bred Englishman.  The 
literature  of  Old  En- 
gland, so  far  as  it  had  intrinsic  merit,  was  in  Latin. 
The  poetry  of  Beowulf  and  Caedmon,  like  the  prose 
of  King  Alfred,  the  Venerable  Bede  and  Asser,  can 
lay  claim  to  no  intrinsic  merit.  Besides,  their  En- 


glish was  a language  quite  different  from  modern 
English.  But  Chaucer  belongs  to  the  vital  present. 
His  Canterbury  Tales  have  indeed  some  indelicacies, 
many  variations  in  orthog- 
raphy, and  a few  words  now 
obsolete.  It  is  none  the  less 
true  that  he  is  a perpetual 
wellspring  of  good  English 
and  delightful  verse.  Born 
in  1328,  his  last  breath  was 
drawn  as  the  fifteenth  century 
came  upon  t*he  stage.  A 
member  of  the  nobility,  a court 
favorite,  happy  in  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  life,  he  was 
still  the  poet  of  the  people. 
A voluminous  writer,  he  com- 
posed more  prose  than  poetry, 
but  his  elaborate  poem,  the 
Canterbury  Tales,  is  the  one 
immortal  production  of  his 
genius. 

Side  by,  side  with  Chaucer 
stands  John  Wycliffe,  the  first  to  give  a complete 
copy  of  the  Bible  to  the  English  people  in  their 
own  tongue.  Wycliffe  was  born  in  1324,  and  lived 

until  1384.  Much  of  his 
time  was  spent  at  Oxford 
where  he  was  a teacher  of 
note.  His  translation  was 
the  work  of  his  ripe  age. 
In  translating  it  he  used 
the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  so 
many  of  the  terms  em- 
ployed are  the  original 
Latin  slightly  Anglicized. 
It  was  a blow  at  the 
Romish  church  which 
none  of  his  contempo- 
raries seemed  to  appreci- 
ate. Chaucer  and  Wyc- 
liffe, working  singly,  yet 
together,  did  much  the 
same  work  for  the  litera- 
ture and  religion  of  their 
country  that  Martin  Luther  did  for  the  literature  and 
religion  of  Germany,  for  they  laid  the  foundations  of 
whatever  developed  on  British  soil  in  letters  and  wor- 
ship. Chaucer  is  called  a skeptic  by  Green,  but 


EDWARD,  THE  BLACK  PRINCE. 


DEATH  OF  EDWARD  III 


k- 


348 


MODERN  ENGLAND  AND  THE  PL ANTAGENETS. 


Wycliffe  was  in  spirit  a veritable  Puritan,  and  the 
mighty  streams  of  influence  which  flowed  from  them 

i.SI'IV/’-V 


JOHN  WYCLIFFE. 

soon  commingled  and  proved  of  incalculable  bless- 
ing, secular  and  religious.  Chaucer  was  the  avant 
courier  of  the  Renaissance,  as  that  term  maybe  under- 
stood in  the  light  of  French  history,  while  Wycliffe 
was  a radical  religious  reformer.  Besides  his  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible,  he  wrote  and  otherwise  grandly 
wrought  against  the  papacy,  producing  a profound 
impression,  and  winning  to  his  cause  a no  less  eminent 
man  than  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster  and 
father  of  the  royal  house  of  Lancaster.  The  Pope 
himself  was  alarmed,  as  well  he  might  be,  although 
the  troublous  times  immediately  following  postponed 
the  inauguration  of  the  distinctive  church  of  En- 
gland, and  all  the  reforms  connected  therewith. 

There  was  one  gloomy  feature  of  this  period,  for 
it  was  in  1349  that  the  Black  Death  made  its  first 
appearance,  that  most  fatal  epidemic  of  all  history. 
It  swept  over  the  Continent  and  the  Britisli  isles 
with  unexampled  furor.  No  authentic  record  of 
mortality  was  kept,  and  we  only  know  that  it  was  a 
horror  unimaginable.  Large  towns  had  grown  up 
without  sanitary  provisions,  such  as  water,  sewerage 
and  the  like,  and  the  filth  was  unendurable.  The 
laws  of  health  were  disregarded  and  the  superstitious 
people  attributed  their  calamities  to  Providence.  The 
futility  of  priestcraft  and  penance  to  stay  the  rav- 


ages of  the  pestilence  did  much  for  the  cause  of  re- 
form, awakening  in  the  public  mind  thoughts  akin 
to  scientific  reflections. 

In  the  eleventh  year  of  his  age  Richard  II.,  the 
son  of  that  popular  favorite.  The  Black  Prince, 
came  to  the  throne.  That  was  in  the  year  1377. 
That  boy-king  never  reached  years  of  real  discretion. 
His  uncle,  John  of  Gaunt,  was  the  first  sovereign 
power  behind  the  throne,  an  able,  ambitious  and  un- 
scrupulous man.  Early  in  this  reign  occurred  the 
rebellion  of  the  peasants  against  the  Poll-tax,  led  in 
Essex  by  a thresher  called  Jack  Straw,  and  in  Kent 
by  a ditcher  known  as  Wat  Tyler,  or  Walter  the 
Tyler.  The  former  never  came  to  anything  serious, 
but  Wat  Tyler  rallied  a vast  mob,  marched  upon 
London,  sacked  and  destroyed  the  Palace  of  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster,  committed  other  depredations, 
and  succeeded  in  wringing  from  the  King  several 
charters  allowing  the  laboring  people  a few  cardinal 
rights.  The  peasants  only  demanded  “the  abolition 
of  slavery  for  themselves  and  their  children  forever ; 
reasonable  rent,  and  the  full  liberty  of  buying  and 
selling  like  other  men  in  all  fairs  and  markets,  and 
a general  pardon  of  all  past  offenses.”  The  con- 
cession to  these  demands  was  not  sincere,  and  soon 
the  charters  were  revoked,  Tyler  assassinated  and 
the  people  dispersed.  Good,  however,  was  accom- 
plished, for  the  temper  of  the  populace  had  been 
shown  and  a wholesome  awe  of  the  peasants  in- 
spired. 

Richard  was  alike  unpopular  with  high  and  low. 
His  nature  was  exceptionally  unlovely.  He  was  con- 
tinually quarreling  with  his  uncles  and  his  cousins. 
Some  he  killed  and  some  he  banished.  Among  those 
diiven  into  exile  was  Henry  Bolingbroke,  Duke  of 
Hereford,  son  of  J ohn  of  Gaunt.  Soon  after  banish- 
ment he  became  by  the  death  of  his  father,  Duke 
of  Lancaster.  Having  raised  a small  army  across  the 
channel,  he  ventured  back  in  1399.  The  unpopu- 
larity of  Richard  was  such  that  the  Duke  soon  found 
himself  master  of  the  situation  and  he  proceeded  to 
usurp  the  throne.  The  deposed  king  was  sent  to 
Pontefract  castle  a prisoner,  where  he  soon  ended 
his  days,  probably  assassinated  by  royal  command. 
Thus  ended  the  last  of  the  Plantagenets. 


— 


-5— E- 


e5^s 


LANCASTER  AND  YORK. 


^TH 


erh 


CHAPTER  LVIII. 

The  Period  of  the  Roses— A Duel,  What  Led  to  it  and  What  Came  of  it— Henry  IV.— 
lA  The  Lollards  and  Wycliffe— Henry  V.  and  the  English  in  France— Beginning  of  the 

English  Navy— Henry  VI.— End  of  the  One  Hundred  Years’  War— The  English  Re- 
gency— Jack  Cade  and  his  Insurrection— The  War  of  the  Roses— Edward  IV.— War- 
wick "The  King-maker ’’—Edward  V.— Richard  III.—  Bosworth  Field—1 The  Blending  of 
the  White  Rose  and  Red  in  the  House  of  Tudor. 


**7T 


HE  first  of  the  Plantage- 
nets,  Henry  II.,  came  to  the 
throne  in  1154  ; the  last 
of  the  house,  Richard  II., 
left  it  the  last  year  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  Then 
followed  three  Ilenrys,  the 
Fourth,  Fifth  and  Sixth, 
forming  the  House  of  Lancaster, 
and  covering  the  period  from 
1309  to  1461.  To  the  Lancasters 
succeeded  three  representatives 
of  the  house  of  York,  Edward 
IV.  and  Y.  and  Richard  III.,  ex- 
tending from  1461  to  1485.  Those 
eighty-six  years,  the  period  of  the 
roses,  will  now  engage  our  atten- 
tention. 

Ten  years  after  the  coronation  of  Richard  II., 
the  youngest  and  ablest  of  his  uncles,  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  took  up  arms  in  rebellion.  He  was  so 
far  successful  that  he  dictated  terms  of  settlement 
to  the  king,  for  a time,  hut  soon  the  royal  power  so 
far  gained  the  ascendancy  that  the  duke  was  im- 
prisoned at  Calais,  then  an  English  possession  in 
France.  Gloucester  soon  thereafter  died  of  apo- 


plexy, according  to  the  governor  of  the  city ; of  poi- 
son, according  to  current  and  subsequent  opinion. 
Among  the  adherents  of  Gloucester  were  two  dukes, 
Norfolk  and  Henry  Bolingbroke,  Duke  of  Here- 
ford. The  latter  was  the  son  of  John  of  Gaunt. 
In  1398  these  ducal  dignitaries  had  a quarrel  which 
they  proposed  to  settle  by  a duel.  Hearing  of  it, 
and  glad  of  an  excuse,  the  king  banished  them 
both,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  for  life  and  Bolingbroke 
for  ten  years.  At  that  time  the  venerable  father  of 
Henry  was  alive.  He  was  Duke  of  Lancaster.  He 
did  not  long  survive  the  banishment  of  his  eldest 
son  and  heir.  At  his  death  the  king  seized  and  ap- 
propriated to  the  crown  the  dukedom  of  Lancaster. 
Hereford  watched  his  opportunity,  and  when  Rich- 
ard went  to  Ireland  in  the  summer  of  1399  to  con- 
duct in  person  the  Irish  war,  Henry  Bolingbroke 
landed  on  English  soil  with  a small  but  intrepid 
following.  The  returned  exile  had  no  designs  upon 
the  throne,  but  simply,  as  he  protested,  came  back 
for  the  purpose  of  claiming  his  inheritance  of  Lan- 
caster. But  the  king  had  a great  many  enemies 
and  the  times  were  ripe  for  dynastic  revolution. 

On  the  north  was  Scotland  and  across  the  English 
channel  was  France,  both  eager  for  revenge,  and 
glad  of  an  opportunity  to  assist  a rebel.  The  Pcr- 


(349) 


To 


Q. 


350  LANCASTER  AND  YORK. 


cies  of  Northumberland  brought  their  forces  to  the 
support  of  Bolingbroke,  who  soon  found  himself  at 
the  head  of  an  army  of  60,000  men.  Even  the  re- 
gent who  was  in  charge  of  the  kingdom  while  the 
king  was  in  Ireland,  the  Duke  of  York,  went  over 
to  Henry’s  side.  Richard  came  back  with  a very 
considerable  army,  but  his  soldiers  deserted  and  he 
was  taken  prisoner  and  conducted  to  London. 
There  he  executed  a formal  abdication.  That  was 


the  people  in  forgetfulness  of  the  flaw  rn  his  title, 
he  plunged  into  foreign  war,  managing  to  retain 
his  crown  until  in  1413  death  claimed  him.  No  sover- 
eign ever  held  fast  to  his  scepter  and  yet  had  more 
occasion  than  Henry  of  Lancaster  to  say,  “Uneasy 
rests  the  head  that  wears  a crown.” 

During  the  reign  of  Richard  II.  the  incipient 
cause  of  Protestantism  had  made  a great  deal  of 
headway.  It  was  in  1393  that  parliament  passed 


September  29,  1399.  The  next  day  parliament  de- 
posed him  by  due  process  of  law  on  the  ground  of 
malfeasance,  and  the  banished  duke  who  had  re- 
turned to  claim  a duchy  was  duly  installed  as  king 
of  England  under  the  name  of  Henry  IV. 

A crown  thus  won  was  not  retained  without  con- 
stant effort.  On  the  north  was  Scotland  and  across 
the  channel  was  France,  both  ready  to  assist  insur- 
rection, and  the  spirit  of  faction  ran  so  high  that 
the  opposition  did  not  hesitate  to  seek  foreign  alli- 
ance. To  gain  the  especial  support  of  the  church, 
Henry  inaugurated  persecution,  being  the  first  En- 
glish king  to  burn  heretics.  In  the  hope  of  uniting 


the  “ Statute  of  Premunire ,”  which  provided  that 
“ whoever  should  procure  from  Rome  or  elsewhere, 
excummunications,  bulls,  or  other  things  against 
the  king  and  his  realm,  should  be  put  out  of  t’he 
king’s  protection,  and  all  his  lands  and  goods  for- 
feited.” The  leader  in  this  anti-papal  movement 
was  John  Wy cliff e,  a very  learned  professor  in  Ox- 
ford University,  and  translator  of  the  Bible  into  En- 
glish. During  Henry’s  reign  a strenuous  effort  was 
made  to  suppress  and  undo  the  work  of  Wycliffc. 
In  1401  it  was  enacted  that  “ all  persons  convicted 
by  their  bishops  of  holding  heretical  opinions,  and 
who  should  refuse  to  abjure  the  same,  should  be 


burned  to  death,”  and  this  statute  was  not  allowed 
to  be  a dead  letter.  Wycliffe  himself,  “ The  Morn- 
ing Star  of  the  Reformation,”  died  peacefully  in 
the  year  1384.  In  the  days  of  Richard  II.  and 
Henry  IV.  the  Protestants  were  called  “ Lollards.” 

Henry  V.  was  just  ripening  into  manhood  when 
upon  the  death  of  his  father,  March  20,  1413,  he 
was  called  to  the  cares  of  state.  The  wild  pranks 
of  his  youth  and  the  coarse  tastes  of  the  times  are 
well  set  forth  by  Shakspeare  in  connection  with 
that  unique  character,  Sir  John  Falstaff.  Rising 
superior  to  the  evil  omens  of  his  boyhood,  the  young 
king  showed  a masterly  genius  for  public  affairs. 
In  the  hope  of  curing  factiousness  he  entered  with 
great  zeal  upon  the  prosecution  of  war  with  France. 
The  brilliant  victory  of  Agincourt,  a repetition  of 
Cressy,  made  every  loyal  English  heart  true  to  his 
cause.  The  British  sword  seemed  invincible,  and 
France  was  at  the  mercy  of  Henry  V.  Step  by  step 
the  French  Unicorn  receded  before  the  British  Lion. 

In  1420  the  famous  treaty  of  Troyes  was  made, 
in  accordance  with  which  Henry  married  Catherine, 
daughter  of  the  King  of  France,  and  was  pro- 
claimed regent  of  France,  the  French  king  of  that 
day,  Charles  VI.,  being  insane.  The  force  of  this 
treaty  was  not  recognized  by  the  Orleanists,  how- 
ever, and  real  peace  was  not  secured.  For  nearly 
two  years  the  king  continued  to  be  engaged  in  war 
upon  the  soil  of  France,  when  he  died,  leaving  a 
son  nine  months  old.  In  two  months  Charles  also 
died,  and  thus  the  infant  heir  of  two  kingdoms, 
Henry  VI.,  became  king  of  England  and  France. 
Many  of  those  who  disputed  the  regency  of  the  father 
conceded  the  validity  of  the  claim  of  the  son  to  the 
throne  of  France  as  well  as  England.  But  there 
was  in  France  a party  which  supported  the  claim 
of  the  son  of  Charles  VI.,  in  preference  to  the 
grandson,  holding  the  treaty  by  which  the  Dauphin, 
the  Prince  of  Orleans,  had  been  deprived  of  the 
royal  inheritance,  null  and  void. 

Before  proceeding  with  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  it 
deserves  to  be  noted  that  Henry  V.  was  the  founder 
of  the  British  navy.  Prior  to  his  reign  the  govern- 
ment had  no  ships  of  its  own,  but  relied  upon  tem- 
porary loans  of  vessels  from  maritime  towns  and 
the  merchant  marine  of  private  subjects.  The  fifth 
of  the  I Lenrys  inaugurated  a very  important  change 
when  he  built  the  first  really  formidable  man-of- 
war  England  could  ever  boast. 


To  return  now  to  the  course  of  events  under  the 
infant  heir  to  two  thrones,  we  find  troublous  times. 

No  doubt  but  that  if  Henry  VI.  had  been  of  ma- 
ture age  and  a sovereign  of  moderately  good  ability 
and  character,  the  dream  of  Franco-English  unity 
might  have  been  realized.  But  this  prospect  was 
soon  dashed  to  the  ground,  the  possibility  even 
never  returning. 

By  the  terms  of  the  will  the  Duke  of  Bedford  was 
made  regent  of  France,  a man  of  commanding  abil- 
ity. Paris  was  in  his  hands,  and  the  only  consider- 
able French  town  not  garrisoned  by  English  troops 
was  Orleans.  The  continuance  of  the  struggle  on 
the  part  of  the  Orleanists  or  French  patriots  seemed 
useless;  but  just  when  all  was  lost,  Joan  of  Arc, 
more  specifically  mentioned  in  the  history  of  France, 
came  upon  the  field  of  action,  inspiring  patriotism 
by  her  fanaticism,  and  reversing  completely  the  for- 
tunes of  the  war. 

Bedford  died  and  the  English  were  obliged  to 
abandon  the  continent.  The  Maid  of  Orleans  sought 
to  deliver  France  from  foreign  rule,  but  she  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  the  still  better  thing,  saving  En- 
gland from  the  danger  of  having  its  nationality 
compromised  and  perhaps  lost.  The  savior  of  two 
nations,  she  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  victim  of  the 
unutterable  meanness  of  both.  Charles  VII.,  un- 
cle of  Henry  VI.,  mounted  the  throne.  England 
had  lost  all  continental  possessions  except  Calais. 
The  Hundred-Years  War  between  the  two  nations  i 
came  to  an  end  in  the  year  1453. 

Returning  now  to  English  soil,  we  find  the  coun- 
try profoundly  disturbed.  There  was  constant  fric- 
tion during  Henry’s  minority  between  the  young 
king’s  uncle,  Humphrey  of  Gloucester,  and  Cardinal 
Beaufort.  Each  claimed  the  regency.  Gloucester 
was  foully  murdered,  but  the  advantage  did  not  ac- 
crue to  the  cardinal.  Two  years  before  that  the 
king,  always  weak  and  almost  imbecile,  married 
Margaret  of  Anjou,  and  she,  together  with  her  spe- 
cial friend,  William  de  la  Pole,  Duke  of  Suffolk, 
ruled  the  realm  after  Gloucester’s  taking  off.  The 
utter  failure  of  the  English  in  Franco  occasioned 
the  banishment  and  subsequent  murder  of  Suffolk, 
and  the  fall  of  that  royal  favorite  was  soon  followed 
by  several  insurrections.  The  most  formidable  of 
these  (not  counting  the  War  of  the  Roses)  was  the 
rising  in  Kent  of  twenty  thousand  men  led  by  John 
Mortimer,  better  known  as  Jack  Cade.  The  insur- 


ed 


44 


p 


352  LANCASTER  AND  YORK. 


gents  marched  to  London  and  encamped  upon 
Blackheath.  They  demanded  certain  much-needed 
reforms  in  the  laws  relating  to  labor  and  taxes. 
The  city  council  of  London  recognized  the  justice 
of  the  claims  made.  The  king  was  removed  to  Ken- 
ilworth castle,  and  there  was  every  prospect  of  a sat- 
isfactory settlement  of  the  demands  made.  But 
Cade  could  not  curb  the  plundering  disposition  of 
his  followers,  and  the  Londoners  were  obliged  to 
take  up  arms  against  them  in  self-defense.  The  re- 
sult was  Cade  was  obliged  to  flee,  many  of  his  fol- 
lowers being  slain.  In  his  flight  he  was  himself 
killed,  and  all  the  reforms  promised  were  defeated. 

The  loss  of  France  embittered  the  English  nation 
and  served  as  a sort  of  blood  poison.  The  suppura- 
tion from  the  Lancastrian  wound  poured  its  deadly 
pus  into  the  veins  of  both  rival  factions,  and  pro- 
duced that  terrible  civil  war,  the  War  of  the  Roses, 
so  called  because  the  faction  of  Lancaster  wore  a 
red  rose  and  the  adherents  of  the  house  of  York  a 
white  rose  as  tlreir  respective  badges.  The  first  out- 
break was  at  St.  Albans  in  1455.  For  forty  years 
the  conflict  raged  with  occasional  truces. 

The  year  following  the  expulsion  of  the  English 
from  France,  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  was  appointed 
Protector  of  the  kingdom  by  Parliament.  The  Duke 
of  Somerset,  Edward  Beaufort,  was  the  leader  of 
the  branch  of  the  house  of  Lancaster  which  opposed 
this  protectorate.  In  less  than  a year  Henry  re- 
sumed the  reins  of  government,  a triumph  of  Som- 
erset. Thereupon  York  took  the  field  in  hos- 
tility to  his  rival.  The  battle  of  St.  Alban’s  (May 
23,  1455)  followed,  resulting  in  the  defeat  of  York. 
A partial  peace  was  then  effected,  hut  in  1459  the 
hostilities  were  resumed.  This  time  the  white  rose 
of  York  was  in  the  ascendancy,  and  the  king  was 
captured,  his  queen  and  son  finding  refuge  in  Scot- 
land. The  Duke  boldly  claimed  the  crown,  but 
Parliament  compromised  the  matter  by  providing 
that  Henry  was  to  reign  until  death,  when  Richard 
of  York,  instead  of  Henry’s  own  son  Edward,  should 
succeed  to  the  throne.  This  adjustment  was  not 
at  all  satisfactory  to  the  Lancasters.  “ Many  of  the 
great  nobles,”  says  a cotemporary  historian,  “ rallied 
to  the  support  of  the  young  Prince  Edward,  and 
the  Duke  of  York  was  defeated  at  Wakefield  a 
little  later.  The  duke  was  killed  in  the  action,  and 
his  head,  ornamented  with  a paper  crown,  was 
placed  over  the  gate  of  the  city  of  York.  His  son, 


the  Earl  of  Rutland,  was  captured  and  murdered  in 
cold  blood  by  Lord  Clifford.  Edward,  the  eldest 
son  of  Richard,  was  now  Duke  of  York.  He  at 
once  took  up  the  cause  of  his  house,  defeated  the 
royal  forces  at  Mortimer’s  Cross,  and  followed  up 
his  victory  by  a renewal  of  the  bloody  executions 
begun  by  the  rival  party.  Queen  Margaret  won  a 
victory  over  the  Yorkist  force  in  the  second  battle 
of  St.  Albans,  and  rescued  the  king  from  them.  She 
failed  to  improve  her  advantage,  however,  and  the 
Duke  of  York  marched  boldly  into  London,  where 
he  was  declared  king  by  the  people  and  a large  as- 
semblage of  nobles,  prelates  aud  magistrates,  March 
3d,  1461.” 

Edward  IV.,  first  of  the  three  kings  of  the  house 
of  York,  was  born  upon  French  soil,  Rouen,  in 
1441.  Although  he  was  made  king  in  1461,  the  W ar 
of  the  Roses  had  not  ceased.  The  Lancastrians 
cherished  the  hope  of  dethroning  him  until  the  bat- 
tle of  Tewkesbury,  May  4,  1471,  when  Edward  was 
completely  victorious.  But  before  that  time  his  for- 
tunes were  various.  Three  years  after  his  corona- 
tion he  married  Elizabeth  Woodville,  which  served 
as  an  excuse  for  an  outbreak,  under  the  lead  of  the 
Earl  of  Warwick.  This  earl  is  one  of  the  more  not- 
able characters  in  English  history. 

Richard  Neville,  Earl  of  Warwick,  known  as  “the 
king-maker,”  was  first  cousin  of  Edward  IV.  He 
was  the  wealthiest  Englishman  of  his  day,  at  least 
he  enjoyed  the  largest  revenue  of  any  subject  of  the 
realm,  and  rivaled  the  king  himself  in  the  magnifi- 
cence of  his  mode  of  living.  He  had  done  more 
than  any  other  one  man  to  place  Edward  upon  the 
throne  of  England,  and  he  made  no  secret  of  his 
greatness.  He  assumed  to  be  a power  behind  the 
throne  mightier  than  the  monarch  who  sat  upon  it. 
At  the  time  the  king  married  Elizabeth,  one  of  his 
own  subjects,  the  lordly  Warwick  was  at  the  French 
capital  negotiating  for  his  sovereign  the  hand  of  a 
princess  of  France.  He  was  so  much  incensed  at 
this  that  he  gave  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  the 
king’s  younger  brother  Clarence,  without  royal  per- 
mission, and  upon  an  uprising  in  Yorkshire  against 
certain  levies  in  1469  he  and  Clarence  put  them- 
selves at  the  head  of  the  insurgents.  In  the  battle 
of  Edgecot  which  soon  followed,  the  royal  forces 
were  defeated,  the  father  and  brother  of  the  queen 
beheaded. 

A brief  reconciliation  followed.  In  1470  hostili- 


ol 


1 


LANCASTER  AND  YORK. 


353 


ties  broke  out  again.  This  time  Warwick  was 
obliged  to  seek  safety  in  flight  to  France.  There 
the  famous  king-maker  entered  into  negotiations 
with  Queen  Margaret  for  the  restoration  of  Henry 
VI.,  to  the  English  throne,  the  marriage  of  Prince 
Edward  of  Lancaster  with  his  own  daughter  and  the 
recognition  of  Clarence  as  the  heir  presumptive  to 
the  prince.  By  that  arrangement  he  would  make 
it  reasonably  certain  that  the  crown  would  be  in- 
herited by  the  Warwick  blood.  Louis  X.  was  then 
upon  the  French  throne.  He  favored  Warwick,  and 


her  of  the  house  of  Neville  for  two  generations 
perished  by  the  sword,  with  the  solitary  exception  of 
George,  Archbishop  of  York.  The  daughter  of 
Warwick,  who  had  married  Prince  Edward,  was 
wedded  in  1472  to  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  af- 
terward Richard  III.,  but  even  then  none  of  the 
blood  of  the  “ king-maker  ” ever  flowed  in  the  veins 
of  royalty. 

This  last  enterprise  of  the  great  Warwick  paved 
the  way  for  a renewal  of  hostilities  between  France 
and  England.  In  1475  the  English  again  invaded 


TOWER  OF  LONDON. 


the  plan  worked  well.  The  seemingly  hi  vincible  earl 
returned  to  England,  marched  upon  London,  took 
it  and  restored  poor  Henry  the  Sixth,  Edward  flee- 
ing to  Holland. 

But  Warwick’s  career  was  nearly  at  an  end.  Some 
six  months  later  Edward  returned  with  a force  of 
Dutch  and  Flemings,  and  the  battle  of  Barnet  was 
fought,  April  14,  1471,  in  which  the  great  earl  was 
slain.  A few  weeks  later  Queen  Margaret  and 
Prince  Edward  were  both  taken  prisoners,  and  the 
latter  slain.  In  the  following  June  Henry  himself, 
the  last  of  the  Lancasters,  was  put  to  death  in  the 
Tower  of  London.  That  ended  the  War  of  the 
Roses.  It  is  said  that  in  that  war  every  male  mem- 


the  French  territory  for  the  purpose  of  subjugation. 
Nothing  came  of  the  expedition,  however,  except 
that  Louis  agreed  to  pay  a pension  to  the  English 
crown  and  betrothed  his  heir,  the  Dauphin  Charles, 
to  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  king  of  England,  a 
conclusion  and  result  quite  unsatisfactory  to  the 
English  people,  who  still  clung  to  the  hope  of  con- 
tinental possessions.  The  betrothal  just  mentioned 
was  not  carried  out.  Louis  afterwards  secured  for 
his  son  and  heir  the  hand  of  Anne,  daughter  of  the 
German  Emperor,  Maximilian.  Edward  resolved 
to  avenge  this  insult,  and  retrieve  his  popularity 
with  his  own  i>eople  by  another  and  more  extensive 
invasion  of  France.  But  in  the  midst  of  his  prep- 


354 


LANCASTER  AND  YORK. 


arations,  April  9,  1483,  he  died,  leaving  his  two  sons 
Edward,  aged  thirteen  years,  and  Richard,  who  was 
only  ten  years  old. 

Edward  V.  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  reigned  at 
all.  Upon  the  death  of  his  father  he  departed  for 
London,  hut  before  he 
had  reached  his  destin- 
ation his  uncle,  Richard 
of  Gloucester,  whose 
hideousness  stands  re- 
vealed in  the  dramati- 
zation of  Shakspeare, 
had  him  seized  and 
lodged  in  the  Tower. 

Soon  after,  his  name- 
sake, the  younger 
brother  of  the  young 
king,  was  placed  in  the 
same  royal  prison. 

The  poor  boys  were  soon 
murdered  and  the  un- 
natural uncle  became 
king  of  England. 

Richard  III.  assumed 
the  kingly  office  July 
6,  reigning  two  years. 

During  this  period  he 
may  be  said  to  have 
assiduously  tried  by 
good  government  to 
purchase  pardon  for  the 
crimes  with  which  his 
coronation  robes  were 
stained.  In  this  he  sig- 
nally failed.  The  dis- 
affection was  too  great 
to  be  resisted.  The 
Earl  of  Richmond, 

Henry  Tudor,  became  the  leader  of  the  dis- 
affection. He  was  the  grandson  of  Owen  Tudor 

and  Catherine,  widow  of  Henry  Y.  On  the  ma- 


ternal side  of  the  house  he  was  the  heir  to  the 
Lancastrian  claims  to  the  throne.  Fortunately 
for  Henry,  he  was  an  exile  in  Brittany,  and  his 
confederates  on  English  soil  were  discovered, 
arrested  and  executed  before  he  had  crossed  the 

channel.  But  the  spirit 
of  rebellion  could  not 
be  kept  down.  Many 
nobles  united  in  invit- 
ing the  exiled  earl  to 
return  and  claim  the 
scepter.  He  was  saga- 
cious enough  to  pro- 
pose to  put  an  end  for- 
ever to  the  cruel  and 
senseless  War  of  the 
Roses  by  marrying  Eliz- 
abeth, daughter  of  Ed- 
ward IV.  Landing  on 
English  soil  at  Milford 
Haven  early  in  August, 
1485,  Richmond  joined 
battle  with  Richard  on 
the  22nd  of  that  month 
on  the  field  of  Bos- 
worth.  Richard  com- 
manded his  own  army 
in  person,  was  defeated 
and  slain.  Richmond 
was  proclaimed  king 
upon  the  battlefield, 
and  the  entire  nation 
acquiesced,  amid  uni- 
versal satisfaction  that 
the  bloody  rivalries  of 
the  Lancasters  and  the 
Yorks  had  at  last  ter- 
minated happily  in  the 
union  of  both  houses,  and  their  disappearance 
from  the  royal  annals,  equally  absorbed  in  the 
house  of  Tudor. 


CHAPTER  LIX. 


Henry  vn.  and  his  Times— The  Times  and  Character  op  Henry  VIII.— Domestic  Life 
of  “Bluff  Hal”— Reform  and  its  Limitations— Henry’s  Will— Edward  VI.  and  Lady 
Jane  Grey — Bloody  Mary — The  Accession  of  Elizabeth— Her  First  Suitor  and 
the  Armada— Mary  Queen  of  Scots — Elizabeth  and  her  Friends— The  Elizabethan 
Age— England  Under  the  Tudors— Ireland  and  the  Tudors. 


§3®£f. 


*5l 


HE  long  reign  of  Henry 
VII.  (1485-1509)  was  sub- 
stantially free  from  civil 
strife.  By  marrying  Eliz- 
abeth of  York  he  made 
assurance  of  the  close  of 


the  W ars 
of  the  Ros- 
es doubly 
sure.  Some 
pretenders 
\ there  were, 
but  no  very 
formidable 
claimants- 
This  king 
was  exceedingly  avaricious, 
although  not  without 
breadth  of  mind. 

If  he  did  not  secure  for  his 
country  the  honor  of  pat- 
ronizing Christopher  Co- 
lumbus, as  he  had  the  opportunity  to  do,  he  was 
not  slow  to  take  advantage  of  the  great  discovery 


made  by  that  navigator.  No  sooner  had  the  ex- 
istence of  America  become  known  than  English 
maritime  enterprise  began  to  give  promise  of  its 
incomparable  future.  As  early  as  1490  Henry  com- 
missioned the  Cabots,  of  Bristol,  father  and  son,  to 
go  on  a voyage  of  discovery,  and  after  them  came 
Gilbert,  Drake,  Frobisher 
and  Hawkins.  It  is  true 
that  the  immediate  results 
of  those  expeditions  were 
not  important,  but  the 
spirit  of  adventure  was 
stimulated  and  the  seed 
sown  came  to  a plentiful 
harvest  eventually.  The 
War  of  the  Roses  had  de- 
stroyed serfdom,  or  villan- 
age  in  England,  for  sub- 
stantially the  same  reason 
that  the  civil  war  in  the 
H nited  States  destroyed 
American  slavery,  and  thus 
the  way  was  prepared  for 
commercial  and  industrial 
thrift.  The  king’s  greed  for 
money  had  an  indirect  tendency  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. It  was  during  the  reign  of  the  first  of  the 


(355) 


k 


356 


THE  TUDORS. 


Tudors  that  a French  writer  declared,  “ Of  all  the 
states  in  the  world  that  I know,  England  is  the 
country  where  the  commonwealth  is  best  governed 
and  the  people  least  oppressed.” 

By  the  time  Henry  the  Seventh  gave  place  to  his 
son,  Henry  the  Eighth  (1509),  all  questions  as  to 
the  succession  were  at  an  end,  and  the  latter  entered 
upon  his  inheritance  under  the  most  auspicious  cir- 
cumstances. Marrying  Catherine  of  Spain,  he  may 
be  said  to  have  made  the  most  brilliant  matrimonial 
alliance  possible  at  that  day.  The  reign  of  this  sov- 
ereign extends  over  a period  of  thirty -eight  years, 
and  occupies  a large  place  in  the  historic  thought  of 
the  world.  His  was  a 
many-sided  career,  full 
of  varied  experiences. 

To  appreciate  the  cir- 
cumstances which  con- 
spired to  make  the 
career  of  Henry  the 
Eighth  and  the  En- 
gland of  that  period 
illustrious,  one  must 
call  to  mind  the  dis- 
coveries of  Columbus 
and  Da  Gama ; the 
invention  of  Guten- 
burg;  the  rise  of  the 
Ottoman  empire  upon 
the  ruins  of  the  Byzan- 
tine empire ; the  Re- 
formation in  Germany,  and  the  Renaissance  in 
France.  A new  day  had  dawned  upon  Europe. 
The  wealth  of  India  and  the  Montezumas  was  begin- 
ning to  pour  in  upon  Western  Europe,  and  new  op- 
portunities to  arise.  England  was  no  longer  the 
outer  edge  of  creation,  but  the  center  of  the  world. 
It  was  a time  to  expand  the  thoughts  of  men,  and 
without  being  a man  of  the  finest  parts,  Henry 
VIII.  was  certainly  a ruler  of  far  more  than  ordi- 
nary ability,  and  his  especial  vices  as  an  individual 
were  the  occasion  of  his  chief  virtue  as  a king. 
Licentious  and  heartless,  he  put  aside  Queen  Cath- 
erine to  marry  Anne  Boleyn.  That  was  in  itself  an 
inexcusable  crime,  but  in  its  consequences  the  great- 
est of  national  blessings.  Hie  character  thus  had 
compensations  even  where  most  reprehensible. 

This  reign  was  early  drawn  into  war  with  France 
and  Scotland,  some  French  towns  being  taken  on 


MARRIAGE  OF  HENRY  VIII.  AND  ANNE  BOLEYN. 


the  continent,  and  the  brilliant  victory  of  Flodden 
Field  being  won  across  the  Tweed.  But  war  was 
neither  the  business  nor  the  pastime  of  this  king. 
To  get  rid  of  his  lawful  wives  seemed  to  have  been 
his  chief  occupation  for  some  time.  Cardinal  Wol- 
sey  undertook  to  bring  this  about  in  the  case  of 
Catherine  within  the  pale  of  the  Catholic  church 
and  -with  the  connivance  of  the  pope.  But  that  was 
impossible,  so  strong  was  the  Spanish  influence  at 
the  Vatican.  For  failure  herein  the  magnificent 
cardinal  fell  into  disgrace  and  finally  died.  The 
pretext  for  the  application  for  divorce  was  that 
Catherine  was  the  widow  of  Henry’s  older  brother, 

Arthur,  who  had  died 
two  months  after  mar- 
riage and  prior  to  the 
death  of  Henry  the 
Seventh.  With  the 
hypocrisy  not  unusual 
in  those  days  he  feigned 
conscientious  fear  that 
he  was  displeasing  God. 
What  Wolsey  failed  to 
do  was  essayed  by  an- 
other ecclesiastical  tool, 
Thomas  Cranmer,  af- 
terwards burnt  at  the 
stake  by  Bloody  Mary 
for  the  part  he  took  in 
these  divorce  proceed- 
ings, and  for  Protes- 
tantism. Cranmer’s  idea  was  to  get  an  opinion 
from  the  universities  first,  in  the  hope  that  Che  pope 
would  be  influenced  by  the  judgment  of  the  learned. 
Here  was  a significant,  if  tentative,  recognition  of 
the  growing  power  of 
education.  It  may 
be  remarked  that  the 
king  had  shown  con- 
siderable sincere  sym- 
pathy with  the  pro- 
gressive tendency  of 
the  day,  the  New 
Learning  as  it  was 
called,  although  in  his 
desire  to  win  favor 
with  the  pope  he  had 
written  a treatise  in  denunciation  of  Luther  and  his 
doctrines.  Some  of  the  universities  gave  the  desired 


CRANMER. 


Tv 


T 


k. 


THE  TUDORS.  357 


opinion,  but  the  pontiff  of  the  church  remained  ob- 
durate. Resolved  to  be  rid  of  his  wife,  come  what 
would,  Henry  defied  the  pope  and  unconditionally 
cut  loose  from  Rome.  Catherine  was  swiftly  dis- 
posed of  then,  and  Anne  installed  in  her  place. 

The  king  soon  tired  of  Anne  Boleyn  also,  but  in- 
stead of  a divorce,  had  her  beheaded,  marrying  one 
of  her  maids-of -honor,  Jane  Seymour,  the  very  next 
day.  She  died  within  a year.  Three  other  wives 
followed  during  the  libidinous  life  of  this  monster, 
Anne  of  Cleves,  Catherine  Howard  and  Catharine 


•Parr.  The  three  children  who  came  to  the  throne 
were  borne  to  him  by  the  three  earlier  wives.  Edward 
^ I.,  who  was  the  third  Tudor  sovereign,  was  the  son 
of  Jane  Seymour;  Mary,  of  Catherine;  Elizabeth, 
of  Anne  Boleyn.  Such  was  the  life  of  him  whom 
his  subjects  were  wont  to  call  “ Bluff  Hal.” 

The  policy  of  the  crown  was  to  magnify  royal 
authority  and  curtail  the  jurisdiction  of  parliament. 
Wolsey  ruled  without  parliament  as  far  as  possible, 
and  1 homas  Cromwell  who  succeeded  him  in  politi- 
cal influence,  sought  rather  to  use  that  body  as  a 
subservient  tool,  filling  it,  as  far  as  he  could,  with 
the  mere  creatures  of  the  crown. 

One  notable  disgrace  to  this  reign  was  the  behead- 


ing of  the  great  and  upright  chancellor,  Sir  Thomas 
More,  his  offense  being  that  he  remained  a devout 
and  consistent  Romanist.  Henry’s  severance  from 
the  church  of  Rome,  which  occurred  in  1533,  re- 
sulted in  stripping  monasteries  and  churches  of 
their  vast  wealth.  He  was  not,  however,  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  more  radical  ideas  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  the  sword  of  persecution  fell  heavier  on 
dissenting  Protestants  than  upon  persistent  papists. 
He  seemed  to  take  Rome  as  his  model,  rather 
than  Geneva,  only  he  wished  to  have  the  head- 


ship of  church  and  state  the  same,  strictly  national. 

By  act  of  parliament  Henry  the  Eighth  had  been 
allowed  to  settle  the  succession  in  his  will.  The 
provision  he  made  was  that  Edward  should  be  the 
immediate  successor,  and  if  he  died  without  heirs, 
his  older  sister,  Mary,  should  be  the  first  to  succeed, 
and  if  she  too  died  childless,  the  younger  sister, 
Elizabeth,  should  inherit  the  kingdom,  and  if  she 
also  passed  away  without  heirs,  the  crown  should  go 
to  the  heirs  of  Henry’s  younger  sister,  Mary,  Duch- 
ess of  Suffolk,  in  preference  to  the  family  of  his 
elder  sister,  Margaret,  wife  of  James  IV.  of  Scot- 
land. All  these  contingencies  arose.  Edward  was 
ten  years  old  when  his  father  died,  and  in  six  years 


<F~ 


■V 


358 


THE  TUDORS. 


lie  too  passed  away,  leaving  no  heir.  His  sisters  also 
died  childless.  The  family,  too,  of  the  Duchess  of 
Suffolk  became  extinct.  The  will  was  carried  out, 
and  yet  its  purpose  was  singularly  defeated  when 
James  VI.  of  Scotland,  son  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 
came  to  be  J ames  I.  of  England,  he  being  a descend- 
ant of  Margaret  Tudor  Stuart. 

Edward  YI.  was  a very  pious  boy,  wholly  under 
Protestant  influence.  During  his  reign  the  church 
of  England  was  brought  quite  near  to  the  Lutheran 
standard.  Mass  was  abolished,  the  reading  of  the 
Bible  encouraged.  The  religion  favored  by  the 
state  may  be  said  to  have  become  thoroughly  mod- 
ernized. So  feeble  was  the  poor  young  king  that 
the  succession  early  became  a matter  of  intense  so- 
licitude. It  was  known  that  Mary  was  a zealous  pa- 
pist. In  their  solicitude  for  the  church  the  advisers 
of  the  king  persuaded  him  to  name  the  grand- 
daughter of  the  Duchess  of  Suffolk,  Lady  Jane 
Grey,  his  successor.  For  this  he  had  no  lawful 
authority,  and  much  as  the  ruling  class  deplored  the 
accession  of  a Romanist,  they  resolved  to  uphold  the 
law.  The  result  was  that  the  unfortunate  and  per- 
sonally innocent  Lady  Jane  was  beheaded,  with  the 
instigators  of  the  movement. 

With  the  death  of  the  last  of  all  the  Edwards, 
and  the  swift  punishment  of  the  Grey  party,  Mary 

came  to 
the  throne 
filled  with 
bigotry, 
eager  to  be 
revenged 
upon  the 
faith  that 
had  had 
so  much 
to  do  with 
the  troub- 
les of  her 
moth  er. 
In  addi- 
tion to 
this,  was 

QUEEN  MARV.  her 

riage  to  and  eager  love  for  Philip  of  Spain. 
During  the  five  years  of  her  reign  (1553-1558) 
nothing  was  left  undone  which  could  be  done 
to  restore  England  to  harmony  with  Rome. 


Many  Protestants  were  brought  to  the  stake.  But 
all  her  efforts  were  futile.  Blood  enough  she  shed 
in  reaction,  but  her  success  was  temporary.  The 
really  permanent  result  of  her  reign  was  the  loss  of 
England’s  one  remaining  foothold  on  the  continent, 
Calais.  The  French  recovered  that  town,  to  the 
almost  fatal  chagrin  of  the  queen,  and  the  fierce 
indignation  of  the  English  people.  It  was  to  En- 
gland a blessing  in  disguise. 

We  have  reached  now  the  reign  of  the  last  and  in- 
comparably the  greatest  of  the  Tudors,  “ the  Virgin 
Queen,”  Elizabeth.  It  began  1558  and  closed  1603, 
thus  covering  the  most  brilliant  and  glorious  period 
of  English  history,  with  reference  to  which  she  her- 
self might  well  say,  “ All  of  which  I saw  and  part 
of  which  I was.”  Twenty-four  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  her  coronation,  already  disciplined  in  the 
school  of  adversity,  keenly  alive  to  the  perils  of  her 
position,  she  proved  the  right  woman  in  the  right 
place.  Masculine  in  form,  massive  in  intellect,  im- 
petuous in  temper,  she  was  a remarkable  adept  in 
all  the  arts  of  government. 

Elizabeth  early  announced  to  Parliament  her  pur- 
pose to  live  and  die  a virgin  queen.  The  first  suitor 
for  her  hand  was  Philip  of  Spain,  actuated  no  doubt 
by  motives  of  policy.  His  suit  was  not  so  much  as 
entertained.  From  that  time  on  there  was  implac- 
able enmity  between  the  two  sovereigns,  culmina- 
ting in  the  “Invincible  Armada.”  Spain  was  the 
most  powerful  kingdom  of  Europe  at  that  time,  es- 
pecially on  the  high  seas.  It  was  on  the  31st  of  July, 
1588,  that  the  one  hundred  and  thirty  ships  of 
Philip’s  Armada  were  seen  off  the  British  coast,  in- 
tent on  repeating  the  story  of  William  of  Normandy. 
The  English  ships  were  small  and  few,  but  the 
“ruler  of  the  Queen’s  navee”  was  the  dauntless 
Drake.  The  invading  squadron  was  compelled  by 
him  to  sail  northward,  and  was  struck  by  a terrible 
storm  which  shattered  it  into  hopeless  wreck.  That 
was  the  culmination  of  the  last  attempt  to  “ beard 
the  lion  in  his  den.”  Since  then  England  has  been 
secure  from  invasion,  free  to  regulate  her  own  af- 
fairs. Philip  reduced  England  to  an  extremity 
which,  with  Elizabetli  at  the  helm,  was  her  oppor- 
tunity to  establish  the  principle  of  national  security 
upon  an  impregnable  Gibraltar. 

Other  suitors,  whether  foreign  kings  or  lordly 
subjects,  were  easily  disposed  of ; but  she  had  a 
world  of  trouble  with  her  beautiful  cousin,  Mary 


ST 


THE  TUDORS. 


Queen  of  Scots.  She,  like  the  other  Mary,  was  a 
staunch  Catholic.  The  papal  party  looked  to  her 
to  restore  the  mother  church.  Catholic  sovereigns 
espoused  her  cause.  To  what  extent  she  was  really 
guilty  of*  plotting  for  the  overthrow  of  Elizabeth,  it 
is  hard  to  say.  Beautiful  in  person  and  captivating 
in  manners,  she  was  regarded  as  a dangerous  rival. 
She  had  a 
checkered  ca- 
reer ; married 
first  to  the 
French  Dau- 
phin, after- 
wards Francis 
II.,  and  later, 
upon  her  re- 
turn to  Scot- 
land as  a wid- 
ow, she  became 
the  wife  of 
Lord  Darnley, 
the  grandson 
of  Margaret 
Tudor,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry 
VII.  In  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots 
vested  the  re- 
siduary title  to 
the  English 
crown,  and  she 
was  the  hope 
of  the  papal 
party.  If  she 
had  no  sinister 
designs  upon  that  crown,  it  was  certain  that 
a very  considerable  party  in  England  stood  ready 
to  employ  unlawful  means  to  precipitate  her  com- 
ing into  the  kingdom.  In  the  meanwhile  trouble 
came  for  Mary  at  her  own  court.  Her  favorite, 
Rizzio,  was  killed  by  Darnley,  and  not  long  after 
Darnley  himself  was  killed  by  the  Earl  of  Bothwell, 
to  whom  she  gave  her  hand  in  a few  weeks.  This 
marriage  provoked  a popular  uprising  which  re- 
sulted in  her  being  forced  to  sign  her  abdication  in 
favor  of  her  son  James,  with  a regency.  Not  long 
after  she  escaped  and  took  refuge  in  England. 
Elizabeth  afforded  her  asylum  and  professed  sym- 
pathy, but  her  ministers  of  state  were  apprehensive 


QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 


of  treason,  and  after  long  years  of  waiting  brought 
Mary  to  trial  for  complicity  with  Philip  in  the  expe- 
dition of  the  Armada.  Her  complicity  in  the  mur- 
der of  Darnley  had  been  proved  before.  Convicted 
of  treason,  Elizabeth  signed  her  death-warrant,  and 
she  was  beheaded.  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  has  long 
been  a favorite  object  of  romantic  interest,  but  in 

strict  justice 
she  hardly 
merited  special 
commiseration. 

Among  her 
subjects  Queen 
Elizabeth  had 
two  favorites 
at  different 

times,  the  Earl 
of  Leicester 
and  the  Earl 
of  Essex,  nei- 
ther of  whom 
deserve  es- 
pecially  the 
prominence 
generally  giv- 
en them.  In 
Lord  Burleigh 
and  Sir  Walter 
Baleigh  she 
had  realstates- 
men  and  fast 
friends.  Sir 
Francis  Drake, 
who  sailed 
around  the 
world,  received  the  order  of  knighthood  from  her 
royal  hand  on  board 
his  own  ship.  Her 
mariners  showed 
wonderful  enterprise 
in  the  New  World 
and  India.  The 
common  people 
might  well  be  classed 
among  her  friends, 
for  during  her  reign 
the  condition  of  the 

agricultural  and  in-  bib  waltkk  raleigh. 

dustrial  classes  improved  immensely,  The  Eliza- 


< <5- 


k 

(O 

i 


i 

~ 


45 


o 


Jt 


36° 


THE  TUDORS. 


bethan  Age  was  the  golden  age  of  English  litera- 
ture. During  that  period  flourished  William  Shak- 
speare,  who  scaled  all  the  peaks  of  thought  and 
flooded  the  land  and  age  with  glory.  But  we  re- 
serve all  further  discussion  of  literature  for  a sub- 
sequent chapter. 

There  was  much  which  was  barbaric  in  England 
when  the  last  of  the  Tudors  died.  She  herself  was 
coarse  and  rude  to  a shocking  degree.  In  profanity 
she  could  vie  with  “ our  army  in  Flanders.”  It  is 
none  the  less  true  that  during  the  reign  of  the  great 
house  of  Tudor  the  nation  rose  from  the  mere  rudi- 
ments of  greatness  to  rank  with  the  foremost  na- 
tions of  Europe.  Once  rid  of  the  idea  of  becoming 
great  by  continental  conquest  and  possessions,  Brit- 
ain set  about  in  right  good  earnest  becoming  in  deed 
as  in  name.  Great  Britain. 

As  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second,  En- 
gland cast  covetous  glance  across  the  channel  and 
sent  an  army  into  Ireland  for  its  subjugation ; but 
it  was  the  Tudors  who  really  decided  the  fate  of 
that  unhappy  island.  There  was  no  centralization. 
Britain  became  great  because  the  petty  kingdoms 
were  consolidated  into  one  nation,  while  Ireland, 
which  in  the  eighth  century  was  far  more  advanced 
of  the  two,  dwindled  away  and  lost  its  splendid  op- 
portunity through  the  calamitous  influence  of  the 
tribe  and  the  clan,  in  distinction  from  the  country. 
For  a long  time  the  “ English  Pale,”  or  the  area  of 
actual  British  rule  in  Ireland,  was  very  limited. 
Henry  VII.  determined  to  extend  it,  but  pursued  his 
purpose  only  feebly.  Henry  VIII.  was  more  fully 
bent  on  Irish  subjugation.  Under  his  reign  nobles 
and  people  felt  the  hand  of  a master.  The  last  of  the 
Henrys  took  the  title  of  King,  instead  of  Lord  of 
Ireland,  and  his  successors  upon  the  throne  have 
never  ceased  to  hold  fast  both  the  shadow  and  the 
substance  of  Irish  sovereignty. 

To  suppress  the  national  sentiment,  the  language, 
dress,  customs  and  laws  of  the  country  were  prohib- 
ited. The  fact  that  Henry  was  at  enmity  with  the 
pope  made  loyalty  to  Rome  an  expression  of  patriot- 


ism in  Ireland.  Edward  the  Sixth  was  actuated 
more  by  zeal  for  Protestantism  than  by  political 
considerations  in  his  endeavors  to  extend  English 
authority  in  Ireland.  When  Mary  came  to  the 
throne  and  Protestantism  lacked  the  support  of  the 
government,  it  almost  immediately  melted  away. 
She  was  not  disposed  to  abandon  the  island  to  itself, 
by  any  means,  but  her  personal  sympathies  were  with 
the  Irish  in  matters  of  religion.  Elizabeth  was  in 
sympathy,  of  course,  with  the  Protestantism  of  her 
brother,  rather  than  the  papacy  of  her  sister ; but 
she  took  a secular  view  of  the  Irish  question,  and 
under  her  the  power  of  the  British  crown  was  felt 
throughout  the  entire  island.  “ Every  vestige,” 
says  Green,  “ of  the  old  Celtic  constitution  of  the 
country  was  rejected  as  barbarous.  The  tribal 
authority  of  the  chiefs  was  taken  from  them  by  law. 
They  were  reduced  to  the  position  of  great  nobles 
and  landowners,  while  their  clansmen  rose  from 
subjects  into  tenants,  owing  only  fixed  and  custom- 
ary dues  and  services  to  their  lords.  The  tribal  sys- 
tem of  property  in  common  was  set  aside,  and  the 
commercial  holdings  of  the  tribesmen  turned  into 
the  copy-holds  of  English  law.  In  the  same  way 
the  chieftains  were  stripped  of  their  hereditary  jur- 
isdiction and  the  English  system  of  judges  and  trial 
by  jury  substituted  for  proceedings  under  Brehon, 
or  customary  law.  To  all  this,”  he  blandly  adds, 
“ the  Celts  opposed  the  tenacious  obstinacy  of  their 
race.”  After  giving  many  details  in  regard  to  the 
colonization  of  Ulster,  which  was  the  culmination 
of  the  Irish  policy  of  the  Tudors,  Green  observes, 
“ The  evicted  natives  withdrew  sullenly  to  the  lands 
which  had  been  left  them  by  the  spoiler;  but  all 
faith  in  English  justice  had  been  torn  from  the 
minds  of  the  Irishry,  and  the  seed  had  been  sown 
of  that  fatal  harvest  of  distrust  which  was  to  be 
reaped  through  tyranny  and  massacre  in  the  age  to 
come.”  Parnell  in  solitary  confinement  for  words 
spoken  in  parliamentary  debate,  and  that  by  the 
orders  of  a Liberal  ministry,  is  a continuation  of 
what  might  be  called  Tudorism  in  Ireland. 


*•  -U 


71 


* 


^ v/^^vto  v7o  -/tj  -yn  -jffyu/i  zoe  UAr/rj-^Ti  -/7V-/S}  -j/z-jrj'/ri  z/y&yy>  un  ~/r- 


STUARTS  AND  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


* * * * * 


* * *■  * * 


-jj^u/^r/rr/rj'JT-  -y/zu/zun  -jo*  ur>-y. 


nioty/su/^jfcyrz-jnvyyunu&uywr^jryxnuyzufrurj-yyzv/zynunununu. 


r>  -j,-z  -y/z  zoxyn-yjo  XT* 


•CHAPTER  LX. 

James  I.  and  the  Gunpowder  Plot— Sir  Walter  Raleigh — Tobacco  and  Potatoes— Kino 
James’ Version  of  the  Bible — Virginia  and  New  England — Charles  I.  and  the  Royal  Pre- 
rogative—Eliot,  Pym,  Hampden  and  Cromwell — The  Long  Parliament — Cavaliers  and 
Roundheads— Regicide— The  Commonwealth— The  Protectorate— Charles  II.— James  II. 
— William  and  Mary— Anne  and  Marlborough— The  Stuarts,  and  England  at  the  Close 
of  that  Dynasty'. 


T was  on  the  24th  of  March, 
1003,  that  “ Good  Queen 
Bess,”  as  the  English  often 
called  her,  passed  from 
earth,  and  in  accordance 
with  her  wish,  J'ames,  the 
sixth  king  of  Scotland  by 
that  name,  succeeded  her,  his  title 
as  King  of  England  being  James  I. 
Then  at  last  was  accomplished  the 
union  of  Scotland  and  England.  The 
new  sovereign  had  been  carefully  nur- 
tured in  the  Presbyterian  faith,  albeit 
his  mother  was  a staunch  papist,  but 
his  sympathies  were  with  neither  of 
those  churches.  Episcopacy  suited  his 
taste.  Both  the  Presbyterians  (or  Puri- 
tans, as  they  were  called  in  England) 
and  the  Catholics  had  expected  his  countenance 
and  support,  and  he  disappointed  them  both. 
The  disaffected  factions  were  intense  in  their  indig- 
nation, and  the  king’s  friends  seriously  apprehended 
trouble,  and  not  without  reason.  A little  more  than 
a year  after  his  coronation  the  famous  Gunpowder 
Plot  was  discovered,  a conspiracy  which  has  never 
ceased  to  fill  the  average  British  heart  with  a holy 
horror  of  the  papacy.  This  plot  was  devised  by 


Robert  Catesby  to  blow  up  the  parliament  house 
while  that  body  was  in  session.  A cellar  beneath  it 
had  been  hired,  and  filled  with  thirty-six  barrels  of 
gunpowder,  concealed  beneath  a pile  of  wood.  The 
session  was  delayed,  from  various  causes,  until  No- 
vember 5,  1605,  and  that  day  was  finally  fixed  for 
the  explosion.  It  was  the  most  diabolical  conspir- 
acy ever  hatched.  A few  days  before  the  session 
began,  a Catholic  member  of  the  House  of  Lords 
was  warned  not  to  take  his  seat  at  the  opening  of 
the  session.  This  was  a suspicious  circumstance, 
and  served  to  put  the  government  on  its  guard. 
Guy  Fawkes,  who  was  to  light  the  fatal  match,  was 
seized  in  the  act  of  entering  the  cellar  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  session.  A search  soon  disclosed  the 
horrid  conspiracy.  The  sensation  produced  was 
profound,  and  to  this  day  Guy  Fawkes  is  annually 
burned  in  effigy  on  the  night  of  November  5th  by 
the  populace,  and  the  papal  cause  in  England  has 
never  recovered  from  the  injury  it  then  received. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  James  was  the  arrest  and 
conviction  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  on  the  false  charge 
of  conspiring  against  the  king’s  life.  That  brilliant 
ornament  of  the  Elizabethan  age  may  well  be  called 
the  father  of  English  America.  To  him  belongs 
the  honor  of  founding  a colony  of  his  countrymen 
It  did  not  remain  permanently, 


in  Virginia  in  1590 


(361) 


-i)\\ 


I 


THE  GUNPOWDER  CONSPIRATORS— From  an  Old  Engraving. 


would  not  grow  to  advantage  in  England,  and  if  se- 
cured -at  all  must  be  cultivated  in  its  native  land. 
But  Sir  Walter  found  that  another  American  prod- 
uct, the  potato,  would  thrive  on  English  soil,  or 
rather,  “ on  Irish  ground,”  for  he  planted  some 
brought  from  America  upon  his  estate  in  Ireland, 
and  from  that  experiment  came  the  use  in  that 
country  of  this  great  staple  of  food. 

King  James  was  a noted  pedant.  Utterly  desti- 
tute of  genius,  hardly  blessed  with  average  talent, 
he  had  an  inordinate  opinion  of  his  own  ability.  lie 
conceived  himself  to  be  an  author  of  brilliant  parts. 
He  wrote  much,  but  nothing  of  any  value.  In  the 
literary  world  his  only  claim  to  distinction  is  the 


the  two  leading  Anglo-American  colonies,  Virginia 
in  1607  and  New  England  in  1620,  of  which  we  need 
not  further  speak  here,  except  to  add  that  the  for- 
mer was  due  to  the  love  of  tobacco,  the  latter  to  the 
love  of  God. 

The  laws,  during  the  reign  of  James  I.,  against 
all  religious  dissenters,  Puritans  and  Catholics,  were 
very  severe,  but  his  son,  Charles  I.,  who  came  to  the 
.throne  July  16,  1625,  was  filled  with  a determina- 
tion to  assert  still  more  strongly  the  royal  preroga- 
tive in  matters  of  taxation,  faith  and  worship. 
Louis  the  Grand  of  France  had  no  more  exalted 
opinion  of  royalty  than  did  this  second  of  the  Stu- 
arts. He  conceived  it  to  be  the  privilege  of  the  king 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


but  it  none  the  less  laid  the  foundation  of  the  colo- 
nial policy  of  England,  and  to  have  done  that  was 
glory  enough  for  any  man.  He  introduced  the  In- 
dian plant,  tobacco,  in  Europe,  at  least  in  England, 
where  it  speedily  gained  popular  favor,  notwith- 
standing the  king  was  bitterly  opposed  to  its  use. 
James  went  so  far  as  to  write  a book  called  “ A 
Counterblast  to  Tobacco,”  but  to  no  purpose.  The 
weed  grew  in  favor,  and  the  demand  for  it  had 
much  to  do  with  the  renewed  and  successful  attempt 
to  establish  a settlement  in  Virginia.  Tobacco 


fact  that  the  so-called  authorized  English  version 
of  the  Bible,  the  one  used  by  the  Protestants  of  all 
denominations,  bears  his  name.  He  had  nothing  to  do 
with  making  the  translation,  except  to  favor  and  con- 
voke the  assembly  of  learned  divines  at  Westminster 
which  made  that  august  translation.  Some  fifty 
persons  were  employed  four  years  at  the  task. 

The  death  of  James  I.  occurred  March  27,  1625, 
when  he  was  fifty-nine  years  of  age,  and  had  been 
upon  the  throne  of  England  twenty-two  years.  The 
great  events  of  his  reign  were  the  establishment  of 


C/iris  top  tier 

Thomas  Guido  Robert  Thomas 

Winter 


<5 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


363 


to  do  about  what  he  pleased.  But  the  British  par- 
liament was  not  the  French  States  General.  By 
his  day  the  House  of  Commons  had  become  a tre- 
mendous power.  During  the  first  half  decade  of 
his  reign  he  called  three 
parliaments,  in  each  one 
of  which  the  Commons 
demanded  the  redress  of 
grievances  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  of  the 
Great  Charter,  before 
making  appropriations 
for  the  public  sendee  and 
the  royal  household. 

There  was  a deadlock  in 
each  case,  and  the  parlia- 
ments were  dissolved 
without  legislative  action. 

The  queen  was  a French 
princess,  and  the  chief 
counselors  of  the  crown, 

Buckingham,  Strafford, 
and  Laud,  attempted  to  play  the  role  of  Richelieu. 
It  was  in  the  third  parliament  of  Charles  that  the 
famous  Petition  of  Rights  was  offered,  and  secured 
from  the  king 
some  concessions, 
afterwards  viola- 
ted. One  of  the 
first  and  most  con- 
spicuous leaders 
of  the  Commons 
was  Eliot,  ancestor 
of  John  Eliot,  the 
great  Indian  apos- 
tle. He  was  be- 
headed before  the 
popular  cause  had 
gained  much  liead- 


Cromwell’s  first  speech  in  the  Commons  was  made 
in  1629,  and  Hampden’s 
resistance  of  illegal  taxa- 
tion dated  from  1638.  All 


way. 

with 

I’ym, 

and 


Associated 
him  were 
Hampden 
Cromwell. 


The  two  latter  fill  — 


the  larger  place  in  history.  John  Hampden  stoutly 
refused  to  pay  taxes  unjustly  and  unconstitutionally 
levied  by  the  king  in  disregard  of  parliamentary 
authority.  His  resistance  was  made  a test  case  and 
proved  a wonderful  advantage  to  the  popular  cause. 


OLIVER  CROMWELL. 

the  while  the  contest 
gained  in  stubbornness 
on  both  sides. 

There  was  trouble  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland 
also,  especially  the  for- 
mer. The  king  tried  to 
force  Episcopacy  upon 
the  Presbyterians  across 
the  Tweed,  and  they  were  fired  with  indignation. 
The  Irish  were  less  rebellious,  for  once,  than  the 
Scotch,  and  were  easily  pacified  by  Strafford.  That 

statesman  was  so 
elated  with  his 
success  in  Dublin 
that  he  persuaded 
the  king  to  call 
still  another  par- 
liament, thefifthof 
his  reign.  It  met 
on  the  3d  of  No- 
vember, 1640,  and 
is  known  as  the 
celebrated  Long 
Parliament.  One 
of  the  first  things 
it  did  was  to  im- 
peach Strafford. 
He  died  upon  the 
scaffold  the  fol- 
lowing year.  Laud 
was  sent  to  the  Tower ; a bill  passed  providing 
for  triennial  meetings  of  parliament,  and  the 
abolition  of  that  very  odious  secret  tribunal,  the 
Star  Chamber.  The  more  the  king  conceded,  the 
louder  the  demands  for  redress,  and  the  more  reso- 


o *r 


oK 


364 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


lute  the  Commons,  the  more  arrogant  did  Charles 
become. 

Open  war  broke  out  in  1642  between  the  crown 
and  Parliament,  the  Episcopalians  adhering  to  the 
cause  of  the  king,  the  Puritans  quite  as  warmly  es- 
pousing the  cause  of  Parliament.  The  former  were 
called  Royalists  or  Cavaliers,  the  latter  Roundheads. 
The  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  allied  themselves 


Charles  then  fled  to  Scotland.  He  was  given  up, 
tried  by  the  Commons  for  treason,  found  guilty  and 
beheaded  January,  1649.  The  court  which  tried 
him  was  extra-constitutional  and  in  the  nature  of  a 
court-martial,  although  composed  of  members  of 
parliament.  Many  of  the  Roundheads  disapproved 
the  regicide,  but  the  king  had  forfeited  his  right  to 
the  crown,  and  his  execution  was  another  lonv 


CROMWELL  DISSOLVING  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT. 


with  the  Roundheads  on  condition  that  Presbyteri- 
anism should  be  established  in  England.  Such  was 
the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  as  it  was  called. 
Now  Cromwell  came  more  prominently  to  the  front 
than  ever.  In  parliament  he  had  been  less  conspic- 
uous than  Pym,  but  in  war  he  was  the  master  mind, 
llis  “Ironsides”  were  terrible  in  battle.  In  1644 
they  won  the  victory  of  Marston  Moor  and  the  next 
year  the  decisive  field  of  Naseby  was  won. 


step  toward  the  rule  of  the  people  by  the  people. 

The  Commonwealth  was  now  declared,  that  is,  a 
government  by  the  Commons  without  king  or 
House  of  Peers.  In  Ireland  Charles  II.,  sou  of 
Charles  I..  was  declared  king,  but  Cromwell  soon 
crushed  out  the  Irish  rebellion,  practicing  horrible  j 
cruelty  in  so  doing.  The  royal  cause  struggled  on 
a little  louver,  but  bv  1651  the  contest  was  over, 
and  the  younger  Charles  found  asylum  at  the 


k. 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


365 


French  court.  For  two  years  more  the  Long  Par- 
liament remained  in  session,  performing  the  func- 
tions of  government,  Cromwell  being  merely  the 
head  of  the  army.  In  April  of  that  year  the  blunt 
soldier  marched  with  troops  into  the  House  and 
dispersed  that  body  in  an  unceremonious  manner, 
and  the  parliament  which  had  begun  thirteen  years 
before  and  had  previously  lost  its  upper  house  or 
head,  and  was  well  called  “ The  Rump,”  passed  out 
of  existence  into  perpetual  history,  memorable  for 
justice  rather  than  law. 

In  1653  began  the  Protectorate,  and  it  continued 
until  1660.  A parliament  summoned  by  Cromwell 
conferred  upon  him  the  office  of  Lord  Protector,  af- 
terwards made  for  life,  with  power  to  name  his  suc- 
cessor. This  wonderful  man  held  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment until  1658,  singularly  indifferent  to  the 
forms  of  law,  an  autocrat  without  being  a tyrant.  His 
rule  was  little  else  than  martial  law  on  a grand 
scale,  but  under  his  sway  the  nation  progressed  rap- 
idly  and  was  a tremendous  power  in  the  world. 
During  that  irregular  period  England  wrested  the 
mastery  of  the  Channel  from  the  Dutch  fleet,  and 
thus  gained  a naval  ascendancy  of  inestimable  val- 
ue to  the  commerce  of  the  country.  Cromwell  was 
a patriot  and  a benefactor,  if  somewhat  lawless  and 
high-handed.  He  failed  mainly  in  not  adapting  his 
government  to  the  constitutional  traditions  and  re- 
specting the  established  order  of  things.  His  son, 
Richard  Cromwell,  whom  he  named  his  successor, 
was  neither  fitted  for  the  cares  of  state  nor  ambi- 
tious of  public  honor.  In  1660  the  Protectorate 
ceased  to  exist  without  a struggle. 

Charles  II.  was  in  Holland  when  the  Cromwellian 
fabric  of  government  fell  asunder.  He  published  a 
declaration  of  amnesty  and  toleration,  returned  and 
was  received  with  every  demonstration  of  public  sat- 
isfaction. His  reign  extended  to  1685,  and  was  un- 
eventful. The  court  was  noted  for  its  profligacy. 
Charles  himself  was  an  easy-going,  pleasure-loving 
time-server,  secretly  accepting  a pension  from  the 
King  of  France,  caring  little  for  the  public  or  his 
own  honor  so  long  as  he  could  “eat,  drink  and  be 
merry.”  The  nation  got  on  very  well  with  such  a 
king.  Tie  was  at  heart  a Catholic,  but  no  bigot. 
The  fate  of  his  father  exercised  a wholesome  re- 
straint upon  his  inclinations.  He  longed  to  help 
the  papal  cause  on  the  Continent,  but  was  too  timid 
to  do  so.  Ilis  death  occurred  in  February,  1685. 


WILLIAM  OF  ORANGE. 


When  Charles  the  Voluptuary  died  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  austere  brother,  James  II.,  whose  reign 
of  three  years  was  a futile  endeavor  to  restore  the 
papacy.  This  king  was  conscientious  in  his  devotion 
to  the  mother  church,  and  felt  it  to  be  his  sacred 
duty  to  revive  the  ancient  worship.  To  this  end,  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Inquisition,  he  inaugurated  the 
“ Bloody  Assizes,”  a series  of  trials  held  by  Chief 
Justice  Jeffries,  proverbial  for  his  injustice.  The 
nation  was  in  no  mood  to  tolerate  this  policy,  and 
an  invitation  was  sent  to  his  daughter  Mary  and 
her  husband,  William  of  Orange,  to  come  over  and 
take  the  scepter.  The 
invitation  was  ac- 
cepted, and  a revo- 
lution of  the  great- 
est importance  ef- 
fected without  stain- 
ing English  soil  with 
blood.  J ames  was 
so  very  unpopular 
that  he  was  glad  to 
escape  with  his  fam- 
ily in  disguise. 

Mary  was  indeed  a Stuart,  but  her  husband  was 
coequal  with  her  in  authority,  and  he  was  thorough- 
ly imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Protestantism  as  it  had 
been  developed  in  the  Dutch  struggle  with  Spain. 
The  only  real  strength  of  James  was  his  continued 
recognition  as  king  of  England  by  Louis  XIV.  of 
France,  and  the  sympathy  of  the  Catholics  in  Ire- 
land. To  the  latter  island  he  made  his  way  with  a 
small  army  supported  by  French  gold.  On  Irish  soil 
was  fought  the  famous  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  the  cel- 
ebration of  which  has  occasioned  so  many  riots  be- 
tween Orangemen  (so  named  from  William  of  Or- 
ange) and  the  Irish  Catholics.  That  battle  occurred 
July  1,  1690,  and  was  a signal  victory  for  William 
and  the  Orangemen  over  James  II.  and  the  Irish, 
his  supporters.  In  1694  Queen  Mary  died,  but  Wil- 
liam continued  to  hold  the  reins  of  government 
until  his  death,  1702. 

During  the  previous  year  parliament  had  passed 
the  Act  of  Settlement  (for  William  and  Mary  were 
childless)  by  which  the  succession  was  conferred  up- 
on Mary’s  sister  Anne,  wife  of  Prince  George  of 
Denmark,  she  being  a Protestant  and  the  wife  of  a 
Protestant,  while  the  son  of  James,  who  was  after- 
wards known  as  the  Pretender,  was  a papist.  After 


•y{<s 


£ A 


366 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


Anne  and  her  children  the  succession  should  go  to 


QUEEN  ANNE. 

the  dowager,  Electress  Sophia,  a granddaughter  of 
James  I.,  “ and  her  heirs  being  Protestants.”  The 
reign  of  Anne,  from  1702  to  1714,  was  memorable 


for  the  splendid  victories  of  the  English  army  in 
Flanders,  under  the  command  of  that  greatest  mili- 
tary genius  of  his  age,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough. 
To  him  England^  owes  Nova  Scotia  and  Minorca. 
It  was  also  memorable  as  a period  during  which 
many  famous  authors  lived ; the  postoffice  system 
was  adopted,  the  country  prosperous,  and  the  union 
of  the  “ United  Kingdom  ” made  stronger  and  more 
equable. 

For  a little  more  than  a century  the  Stuarts  wore 
the  English  crown,  except  as  it  was  temporarily  ta- 
ken from  them.  As  a dynasty  it  was  inglorious  and 
mediocre ; but  the  nation  stead  ily  advanced  in  all 
that  constitutes  national  greatness,  and  from  being  an 
insignificant  island,  a mere  appendage  to  Europe, 
it  rose  during  the  era  of  the  Stuarts  to  the  very 
front  rank,  Marlborough  and  his  troops  being  hard- 
ly less  potent  in  continental  affairs  than  Wellington 
and  his  troops  were  a century  later.  But  it  was  even 
more  to  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country  than 
to  military  genius  and  valor  that  the  England 
of  that  period  owed  its  commanding  position  in  the 
family  of  nations. 


V 


► 


I ENGLAND 


PRESENT  * 


The  Decay  of  Royalty — The  Georges — William  IV. — Victoria — A Short  Retrospect— 
Blenheim  and  Gibraltar— Wesley,  Whitefield  and  the  Methodists— Dr.  Johnson  and 
Lexicography — Blackstone  and  the  Common  Law — Wilberforce  and  African  Slavery — 
Colonial  and  International  Intervention— Results  of  the  Revolutionary  and  Napo- 
leonic Wars — The  Corn  Laws  and  Free  Trade — Political  Parties — Party  Leaders — 
Royalty,  its  Palaces  and  Revenues — Parliament — The  Ministry — The  United  King- 
dom and  British  Empire — Colonial  Possessions. 


ODERX  England  may  be 
said  to  date  from  the 
bloodless  revolution 
which  cost  James  II. 
his  crown.  His  expul- 
sion from  the  kingdom 
not  only  secured  Prot- 
estanism  from  all  dan- 
ger of  a papal 
reaction,  but 
it  subordina- 
ted the  royal 
prerogative  to 
the  will  of  the 
people.  Hence- 
forth the  sov- 
ereignty will 
not  merit  much  attention,  be- 
ing a very  insignificant  part  of 
Present  England.  To  clear  the 
way  for  “ weightier  matters  ” 
than  crowns  and  scepters,  with- 
out entirely  ignoring  the  royal 
family,  it  is  proposed  to  narrate 
the  notable  dynastic  facts  be- 
fore entering  upon  the  heart  of  the  subject  before 


GEORGE  I. 


us  in  this  chapter.  Queen  Anne  died  August  1, 
1714.  In  accordance  with  the  Act  of  Settlement 
passed  by  parliament  in  1701,  George  I.,  Elector  of 
Hanover,  succeeded  her  upon  the  throne.  His 
reign  continued  thirteen  years.  Sir  Horace  Wal- 
pole, whose  motto  was,  “ Every  man  has  his 
price,”  was  the  foremost  politician  (statesman  he 
was  not)  of  that  reign.  Walpole  became  premier 
under  George  the  First,  and 
continued  to  hold  that  position 
fifteen  years  under  his  succes- 
sor, George  II.  The  most  mem- 
orable feature  of  the  reign  of 
the  first  of  the  Georges  was  the 
South  Sea  Bubble.  That  gi- 
gantic speculation  dates  back 
to  Queen  Anne’s  reign,  the 
South  Sea  Company  having 
been  chartered  in  1711.  It  was 
a scheme  to  monopolize  British 
trade  along  the  coast  of  Spanish 
America.  In  a few  years  the 
company  became  a formidable 
rival  of  the  Bank  of  England  in 
financial  influence.  Its  pros- 
perity was  purely  speculative.  It  had  the  effect 


N> 


46 


(367) 


368  PRESENT  ENGLAND. 


to  stimulate  a vast  amount  of  speculation.  A 
wild  period  of  financial  lunacy  set  in.  The  bub- 
ble bfirst  in  1720,  and  thousands  of  families  were 
ruined  by  it.  It  was  cotemporary  with  and  similar 
to  Law’s  Mississippi  scheme,  which  crazed  and  bank- 
rupted France. 

The  reign  of  the  second  George  was  a long  one,  ex- 
tending to"  1760,  and  the  period  was  one  of  great  im- 
portance, but  the  king  himself  had  very  little  to  do 
with  the  actual  accomplishment  of  any  of  the  great 
results  to  be  hereafter  set  forth.  At  his  death  his 

grandson,  George  III., 
came  into  the  royal  in- 
heritance. His  reign 
extended  from  1760  to 
1820,  covering  the  pe- 
riod of  the  Revolution- 
ary War  which  freed 
this  country  from  Brit- 
ish tyranny,  also  the  ca- 
reer of  Napoleon.  In- 
sane as  this  king  un- 
doubtedly was  during  a 
george  in.  part  of  His  reign,  his  ca- 

pacity for  affairs  of  state  mattered  little.  The  pop- 
ularity of  parties  and  party  leaders  determined  the 
policy  of  the  government.  During  the  last  ten 
years  of  this  reign  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  regent. 
The  regency  terminating  with  the  death  of  the  de- 
mented king  in  1820,  the  prince  was  crowned  George 
IV.  He  occupied  the  throne  ten  years.  The  third 
George  was  obstinate  and  finally  demented,  but  mor- 
ally a most  worthy  sovereign,  while  his  son  and  suc- 
cessor was  a debauchee  of  the  vilest  sort.  In  his 
domestic  life  the  last  of  the  Georges  was  unhappy 
and  disreputable.  At  his  death  his  brother,  the 
Duke  of  Clarence,  succeeded  to  the  crown  as  William 
IV.  For  seven  years  he  wielded  the  feeble  scepter  of 
the  great  kingdom.  Dying  childless,  the  succession 
fell  to  the  lot  of  Victoria,  daughter  of  his  brother,  the 
Duke  of  Kent.  Ascending  the  throne  in  1837,  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  she  is  now  in  the  enjoyment  of 
a long  and  prosperous  reign.  In  1840  she  married 
Prince  Albert  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  who  died  in 
1861.  Personally  she  is  very  popular ; politically 
she  is  merely  what  the  nation  decrees,  through  par- 
liamentary elections.  Her  heir,  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  continuance  of  mon- 
archy in  England  depends  on  the  will  of  the  people. 


Having  traced  the  sovereigns  of  England  in  their 
decline  to  the  present  time,  we  now  turn  to  the  prog- 
ress of  Present  En- 
gland. In  order  to 
appreciate  the  civil- 
ization which  is  the 
crowning  honor  of 
to-day,  it  is  necessary 
to  look  back  a little 
to  the  period  covered 
by  the  preceding 
chapter. 

It  was  during  the 
reign  of  Charles  II. 
that  the  Royal  So-  V,CT0RIA  AND  PRINCE  ALBERT‘ 
ciety  for  the  Promotion  of  Science  was  formed 
in  London,  and  most  excellently  well  did  it 
merit  the  name,  for  right  royally  did  it  foster  the 
growth  of  exact  knowledge.  In  1619  Harvey  dis- 
covered the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and  thus  laid 
the  foundation  of  physiology,  and  from  that  time 
on  the  spirit  of  Roger  Bacon  has  seemed  to  animate 
the  British  mind,  producing,  later  in  the  century, 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  whose  discovery  of  the  law  of 
gravitation  was  an  epoch  in  science.  The  first  En- 
glish newspaper  was  printed  in  1641,  six  years  after 
the  post-office  system  had  been  established.  The 
first  toll-gate  was  erected  in  England  in  1663,  which 
was  the  beginning  of  passable  roads  for  wagons. 
The  foreign  trade  which  had  only  just  begun  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  became  very  large  in  the  seven- 
teenth, especially  with 
India.  The  use  of  tea 
began  late  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century. 

The  Bank  of  Enland 
was  established  in 
1694,  during  the  reign 
of  William  and  Mary, 
from  which  reign 
dates  the  national 
debt  of  Great  Britain. 

If  a national  debt  is  victoria— 1880. 

not  a national  blessing,  it  may  yet  be  safely  asserted 
that  its  contraction  was  necessary  in  this  case  to 
the  development  of  the  nation,  if  not  to  its  absolute 
existence.  By  the  aid  of  the  money  borrowed  on 
the  strength  of  the  national  credit  England  was  en- 
abled to  raise  and  equip  the  armies  and  navies  indis- 


0 

> 


i 


P7 


14- 


present  ENGLAND. 


369 


perisable  to  expansion  from  a petty  kingdom  to  a 
mighty  empire. 

It  was  in  the  year  1704  that  Marlborough  won 
the  splendid  victory  of  Blenheim  and  other  hard- 
fought  battles,  which  came  near  wrecking  the  pow- 
er of  Louis  XIV.  During  the  same  year  Sir  George 
Rooke  carried  by  storm  the  fortress  of  Gibraltar, 
which  made  England  Mistress  of  the  Mediterranean 


George  Whitefield  in  1714.  The  younger  Wesley 
was  the  author  of  many  very  popular  hymns,  while 
the  other  two  men  succeeded  by  their  eloquence  and 
zeal  as  preachers  in  making  a most  profound  im- 
pression upon  the  English-speaking  people  of  two 
hemispheres.  They  founded  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  in  England  and  America.  The  char- 
acteristic which  the  denomination  has  always  had, 


1 


Sea,  with  its  inexhaustible  wealth  of  commerce,  an 
advantage  of  more  substantial  value  to  the  people 
than  all  the  mines  of  Peru  and  Mexico.  In  losing 
Gibraltar  Spain  lost  much,  but  England  gained  in- 
comparably more;  the  former  being  unable  to  make 
full  use  of  the  advantage  involved  in  the  possession 
of  that  rock. 

Among  the  more  noteworthy  characters  of  the 
eighteenth  century  should  be  mentioned  the  Wes- 
leys, John  and  Charles,  and  their  co-worker,  White- 
field.  They  were  born  early  in  the  century,  John 
Wesley  in  1703,  his  brother  Charles  in  1708,  and 


exceeding  enthusiasm  in  the  work  of  conversion, 
it  derived  from  them.  They  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  an  organization  which  has  been  a tremen- 
dous influence  in  the  world.  Whitefield  was  a 
prodigy  of  eloquence,  but  John  Wesley,  by  his 
astonishing  industry  as  an  organizer,  writer  and 
preacher,  fairly  earned  the  supreme  honor  of  estab- 
lishing a church  which  now,  when  only  a little  more 
than  a century  old,  numbers  in  communicants  be- 
tween four  and  five  millions  of  souls. 

Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  is  fairly  entitled  to  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  Father  of  the  Dictionary. 


370  PRESENT  ENGLAND. 


Born  in  1709,  educated  at  Oxford,  lie  was  an  author 
by  profession.  From  1747  to  1755  his  time  was 
mainly  devoted  to  his  great  work,  “ The  Dictionary 
of  the  English  Language,”  an  incomparable  service 
to  the  cause  of  letters.  Attached  to  him  as  a sort 
of  literary  lackey  was  Boswell,  who  preserved  and 
published  the  most  minute  details  of  the  life  and 
conversation  of  the  great  lexicographer.  It  may  be 
remarked  that  important  as  was  the  service  of  John- 
son in  defining  the 
right  spelling,  pro- 
nunciation  and 
meaning  of  En- 
glish words,  the 
reallysupreme  hon- 
or in  the  line ' of 
lexicography  be- 
longs to  an  Ameri- 
can of  that  same 
and  the  succeeding 
century,  Dr.  Noah 
Webster. 

In  the  depart- 
ment of  legal  liter- 
ature no  name  can 
be  compared  to 
that  of  Sir  William 
Blackstone,  whose 
C o m m e ntaries, 
written  about  the 
middle  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century, 
were  the  first  clear, 
intelligible  and  sci- 
entific presentation 
of  the  English  common  law.  Ilis  work  is  still  a 
text-book,  studied  by  every  law  student,  and  to  be 
found  in  every  law  office  in  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  wherever,  in  fact,  the  common  law 
prevails  or  is  a subject  of  study. 

One  more  Englishman  of  the  eighteenth  century 
deserves  mention,  William  Wilberforce,  the  great 
Emancipator.  He  was  a man  of  immense  wealth, 
and  in  early  manhood  an  ordinary  member  of  the 
House  of  Commons  ; but  in  1787,  when  about  thirty 
years  of  age,  he  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  the 
cause  of  abolishing  the  African  slave  trade.  Burke, 
Pitt  and  Fox,  the  great  political  triumvirate  of  that 
day,  nobly  seconded  his  efforts,  and  after  a struggle 


of  twenty  years  his  philanthrcrpy  was  crowned  with 
success.  In  the  course  of  that  struggle  the  British 
public  sentiment  upon  the  infamy  of  slavery  was 
raised  to  a standard  so  high,  and  made  to  rest  upon 
a foundation  so  secure,  that  British  influence,  where- 
ever  felt,  has  always  from  that  day  been  brought  to 
bear  (with  inconsequential  exceptions)  in  opposition 
to  the  hideous  traffic  and  the  horrible  institution  of 
slavery.  And  it  is  very  largely  due  to  this  British 

sentiment  that  it 
may  now  be  said 
that  slavery  has 
been  wiped  from 
the  face  of  the 
globe,  its  few  re- 
maining vestiges 
being  in  process  of 
extinction. 

As  the  wars  be- 
tween America  and 
England  belong  to 
the  history  of  the 
United  States,  so 
the  campaigns 
which  resulted  in 
Waterloo  beloug  to 
French  history.  It 
may  be  well  to  ob- 
serve-here,  however, 
that  each  produced 
a radical  influence 
upon  the  policy  of 
England.  George 
III.,  yielding  to  the 
influence  of  Lord 
North,  sought  to  compel  the  colonies  to  remain  de- 
pendencies, quite  irrespective  of  public  sentiment 
in  the  colonies ; but  for  a 
long  time  now  it  has  been  un- 
derstood in  England  and  the 
colonial  portion  of  the  British 
Empire  that  the  question  of 
national  independence  really 
rests  with  the  colonists  them- 
selves. The  New  Dominion 
and  Australasia  remain  in  the  lord  north. 
United  Kingdom  from  actual  choice,  and  no 
war  for  independence  would  be  necessary  to  sep- 
aration. Thus,  it  may  be  said  that  the  Thirteen 


PRESENT  ENGLAND. 


Colonies  secured  for  the  colonies  of  the  present  Great 
Britain  the  right  which  they  secured  for  themselves, 
its  exercise  beiug  discretionary  with  those  who  ought 


triumph  of  the  free  trade  policy  in  England,  a 
policy  which  grew  out  of  and  proved  helpful  to  the 
manufacturing  interest  of  the  country. 


The  regu- 


LONDON  FROM  GREENWICH  PARK. 


in  all  justice  to  decide  it.  The  Revolutionary  War 
was  thus  a great  lesson  of  non-intervention  in  colo- 
nial affairs.  The  Napoleonic  war,  on  the  contrary, 
was  a great  lesson 
of  intervention. 

It  made  England, 
in  a certain  high 
sense,  master  of 
Europe,  and  more 
disposed  to  dictate 
to  other  nations 
than  to»her  own 
colonies. 

With  the  con- 
sideration of  one 
more  topic  the 
reader  will  be  pre- 
pared to  take  an 
appreciative  sur- 
vey of  the  present 
Great  • Britain. 

That  subject  is  the  corn  laws  and  free  trade.  Those 
statutes  for  the  regulation  of  the  grain  trade  date 
back  to  1300,  and  their  abolition  in  1846  was  the 


lations  had  been  changed  from  time  to  time,  but 
their  constant  object  had  been  to  protect  the  manu- 
facturing interest  of  the  country.  In  the  final  strug- 
gle over  the  re- 


peal, a 

lasting 

years, 

which 

Cobden 

leading 


struggle 
several 
and  in 
Richard 
took  the 
part  for 
reform,  the  prin- 
ciples of  political 
economy,  the  laws 
of  supply  and  de- 
mand, were  dis- 
cussed with  great 
fullness  and  spirit. 
Miss  Harriet  Mar- 
tineau  rendered 
.the  cause  of  free 
trade  immense 
service  by  political  tracts  and  novels  which  brought 
the  Arguments  of  the  reformers  down  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  people.  Sir  Robert  Peel,  originally 


WINDSOR  PALACE  AND  WINDSOR  CASTLE. 


7 T 


~o 


1 


p «■ 

372 


PRESENT  ENGLAND. 


a protectionist  and  a leading  statesman  during  the 
second  quarter  of  the  present  century,  came  gradu- 
ally to  adopt  the  veiws  of  Cobden,  Bright  and  Mar- 
tineau.  From  that  time  on,  the  national  sentiment, 
with  great  unanimity,  has  been  hostile  to  the  doc- 
trine of  protection,  and  at  one  time  the  indications 
were  that  the  enlightened  sentiment  of  the  civilized 
world  was  undergoing  substantially  the  same  pro- 
cess of  change  wrought  in  the  mind  of  Peel ; but 
at  the  present  time  France  and  the  United  States 


Whiggs,  or  Whigs.  The  term  Tory  is  of  Irish  ori- 
gin, and  was  first  applied  to  Catholic  outlaws  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  II.  About  the  time  that  the  roy- 
alists dubbed  their  opponents  Whigs,  the  latter  re- 
torted by  applying  to  their  adversaries  another  no 
less  opprobrious  nickname.  Gradually  each  party 
came  to  take  pride  in  its  name,  and  all  sense  of  re- 
proach was  lost  sight  of.  It  was  within  the  present 
generation,  and  in  designation  of  their  respective 
characters,  that  the  two  parties  came  to  be  known 


are  strongly  protective,  and  Germany  is  becoming 
more  and  more  so.  Even  in  England  there  are 
some  signs  of  a reaction. 

It  is  now  time  to  speak  of  the  history  of  parties 
in  England.  There  are,  and  long  have  been,  two 
great  political  organizations  in  England,  each  with 
a duly  chosen  and  recognized  leader.  The  original 
names  of  these  organizations  were  Whig  and  Tory. 
The  present  appellations  are.  Liberal  and  Conser- 
vative. Whig  is  a contraction  for  Whiggamore, 
southwestern  Scotch  for  drover.  The  term  was  in- 
troduced in  1648  to  designate  certain  Covenanters 
from  that  section  of  Scotland.  In  1679  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  Court  party  in  England  were  first  called 


as  Liberals  and  Conservatives.  The  British  Empire 
of  the  present  time, 
the  Great  Britain  of 
to-day,  has  been  un- 
der the  rule,  at  dif- 
ferent times,  of  two 
very  remarkable  po- 
litical leaders,  Wil- 
liam E.  Gladstone, 
who  still  lives  and  is 
at  this  time  Premier 
of  Great  Britain,  and 
Lord  Beaconsfield, 
lately  deceased.  The  former  is  a Liberal,  the  latter 


£) 


4 


PRESENT  ENGLAND. 


373 


was  a Conservative.  Mr.  Gladstone  is  also  known  as 
a learned  scholar,  especially  in  all  matters  relating  to 
Homer.  Beaconsfield,  long  plain  Benjamin  Disraeli, 
achieved  some  fame  as  a novelist.  Hardly,  if  any,  less 

deserving  of  mention 
is  John  Bright,  the 
great  Commoner,  too 
liberal  to  be  a leader, 
even  of  the  Liberals. 
Entering  parliament 
in  1843,  possessing 
rare  eloquence,  he 
has  always  been  the 
especial  champion 
of  free  trade,  free 
speech,  free  institu- 
(Eari  of  Beaconsfield.)  tions  and  progressive 

ideas  generally.  During  the  American  Civil  War, 
when  many  English  statesmen,  including  even  Mr. 
Gladstone,  faltered  and  wavered,  he  remained  the 
stalwart  friend  of  the  Union  cause,  rendering  the 
United  States  immense  service  by  his  eloquence. 

Insignificant  as  the  crown  is  in  England,  there  is 
one  respect  in  which  it  is  a very  important  reality. 
The  expense  of  maintaining  it  is  very  considerable. 
The  annual  revenue  of  the  royal  family  from  direct 
appropriation  and  from  estates  is  about  three  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  The  royal  palaces  are  Buckingham, 
St.  James,  Kensington,  Windsor  Castle,  Balmoral 
and  Osborne  House. 

The  parliament  consists  of  two  bodies,  the  House  of 
Lords,  or  Peers,  and  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
former,  which  is  hereditary,  so  far  as  concerns  the 
lay  membership,  consists  of  492  members,  inclusive 
of  two  archbishops  and  twenty-four  bishops  of  the 
established,  or  Episcopal,  church.  The  number  is 
subject,  however,  to  change,  as  the  creation  of  new 
lords  is  always  in  order  at  the  pleasure  of  the  sov- 
ereign, that  is  the  ministry.  The  Lord  Chancellor 
is  president  of  the  House  of  Lords.  The  House  of 
Commons  consists  of  654  members.  Of  these  48? 
are  English,  including  Welsh ; 62  Scotch,  and  105 
Irish.  A further  classification  of  the  body  is  this  : 
representatives  of  boroughs,  360  ; of  counties,  283  ; 
of  universities,  11.  In  parliamentary  elections  there 
is  a household  and  property  qualification,  but  the 
right  of  suffrage  has  been  greatly  extended,  and 
manhood  suffrage  seems  to  be  inevitable  in  the  near 
future. 


The  ministry  or  cabinet  consists,  in  its  main  offi- 
ces of  a Lord  of  the  Treasury,  who  is  prime  min- 
ister, or  real  wielder  of  the  scepter  ; Lord  High 
Chancellor ; Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer ; Secre- 
taries of  State  for  the  Home  Department,  Foreign 
Affairs,  the  Colonies,  War  and  India;  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty ; Postmaster  General,  and  Attorney 
General.  These  and  some  other  high  offices  are 
strictly  political,  changing  whenever  the  political 
complexion  of  the  House  of  Commons  changes. 
The  subordinate  executive  officers  are  exempt  from 
this  dependence  upon  the  fortunes  of  politics.  The 
Civil  Service  of  Great  Britain  is  conducted  upon 
the  plan  of  retention  during  good  behavior. 

The  term  United  Kingdom  applies  to  England, 
Scotland,  Wales  and  Ireland,  with  the  little  islands 
of  the  British  group.  The  term  British  Empire 
has  a much  wider  signification.  The  latter  includes 
all  lands  and  peoples  subject  to  the  British  crown 
and  constitution,  and  is  the  most  stupendous  empire 
the  world  ever  saw,  with  an  ever-active  power  of  ex- 
pansion and  absorption.  And  it  must  be  admitted 
that  as  a rule  the  cause  of  civilization  is  advanced 
by  the  expansion  of  British  jurisdiction. 

In  regard  to  British  colonial  possessions,  Mr.  Fred- 
erick Martin  asserts  that  they  embrace  about  one- 
seventh  of  the  land  surface  of  the  entire  globe,  and 
nearly  a fourth  of  its  population.  He  adds  that  of 
this  vast  dominion,  “three  million  square  miles  are 
in  America,  half  a million  in  Africa,  a million  in 
Asia  and  more  than  two  million  and  a half  in  Aus- 
tralia. These  colonies  are  grouped  into  forty  ad- 
ministrative divisions.”  We  add  Mr.  Martin’s  re- 
sume on  this  subject : 

“ Of  these  forty  colonies,  and  groups  of  colonies, 
four  are  in  Europe,  eleven  in  or  near  America,  ten 
in  or  near  Africa,  seven  in  Asia,  and  eight  in  Aus- 
tralasia. In  Europe  the  Possessions  are,  in  alpha- 
betical order,  first,  Cyprus ; second,  Gibraltar ; third, 
Heligoland  ; and,  fourth,  Malta.  In  America,  or  ad- 
joining the  American  continent,  the  possessions  are, 
first,  the  Bahamas,  a group  of  some  800  islands  and 
islets,  of  which  twenty  are  inhabited ; second,  the 
Bermudas,  a group  of  about  300  islands,  of  which 
fifteen  are  inhabited;  third,  the  Dominion  of  Cana- 
da, comprising  the  Provinces  of  Ontario,  Quebec, 
New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  Manitoba,  Britisli 
Columbia,  and  (since  June  26,  1873)  Prince  Ed- 
ward’s Island  ; fourth,  the  Falkland  Islands,  a group 


_ 

7T7 


PRESENT  ENGLAND. 


of  large  area,  with  very  few  inhabitants ; fifth, 
Guinea,  on  the  continent  of  South  America ; sixth, 
the  Honduras,  on  the  continent  of  Central  America; 
seventh,  Jamaica,  to  which  are  annexed,  by  an  Act 
of  Parliament,  passed  hi  1873,  the  Turks  and  Caicos 
Islands ; eighth,  the  Leeward  Islands,  comprising  the 
formerly  separate  colonies  of  Antigua,  Montserrat, 
St.  Christopher,  Nevis,  Anguilla,  the  Virgin  Islands, 
and  Dominica,  the  whole  united  under  an  Act  of 
Parliament  passed  in  1371 ; ninth,  Newfoundland, 
not  yet  included  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada ; tenth, 
the  Island  of  Trinidad  ; and  eleventh,  the  Windward 
Islands,  comprising  the  formerly  separate  colonies  of 
Barbadoes,  St.  Lucia,  St.  Vincent,  Grenada  and  To- 
bago. In  Africa,  and  nearest  to  the  African  conti- 
nent,  the  colonial  possessions  are,  first,  the  Island  of 
Ascension,  in  the  South  Atlantic  Ocean ; second,  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  including  British  Kaffraria,  and 
other  annexations  made  from  1806  to  1877;  third, 
the  Gambia  settlement,  on  the  west  coast ; fourth, 
the  vaguely  limited  Gold  Coast  territory,  enlarged  in 
1872  by  a cession  of  old  Dutch  settlements ; fifth, 
the  South  African  settlement  of  Griqualand  West, 
proclaimed  British  territory  October  27,  1871 ; sixth, 
the  Island  of  Lagos,  and  territories  on  the  mainland, 
ceded  under  treaty  of  August  6,  1 8G1 ; seventh,  the 
Island  of  Mauritius,  and  its  dependencies  in  the  In- 
dian Ocean  ; eighth,  Natal,  separated  from  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  in  1856  ; ninth,  the  Island  of  St.  Hele- 
na, in  the  South  Atlantic ; and  tenth,  the  territory 
of  Sierra  Leone,  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa.  In 


Asia,  the  colonial  possessions  are,  first,  the  town  and 
port  of  Aden,  in  Arabia,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Red 
Sea ; second,  the  Island  of  Ceylon ; third,  the  Island 
of  Hong  Kong ; fourtfi,  the  Empire  of  India ; fifth, 
the  Island  of  Labuan,  on  the  coast  of  Borneo ; sixth, 
the  Island  of  Perim,  in  the  Red  Sea ; and  seventh, 
the  Straits  Settlements,  comprising  the  Islands  of 
Singapore  and  Penang,  with  the  territory  of  Ma- 
lacca, in  the  Indian  Archipelago.  Finally,  in  Aus- 
tralasia, the  colonial  possessions  embrace,  besides 
the  Fiji  Islands  east  to  the  mainland  of  Australia, 
ceded  to  Great  Britain  in  1874,  the  seven,  at  pres- 
ent separated,  but  in  all  probability  to  be  united, 
colonies  of  New  South  Wales,  New  Zealand,  Queens- 
land, South  Australia,  Tasmania,  Victoria  and 
Western  Australia.”  It  is  with  good  reason  that 
Great  Britain  boasts  that  upon  it  the  sun  never 
sets. 

We  are  now  about  to  leave  England  and  soon  the 
British  Isles,  when,  for  a short  time,  our  course  will 
be  among  the  lands  more  remote  from  the  sun  of 
modern  civilization.  For  the  most  part,  for  several 
chapters,  we  shall  still  be  in  the  British  Empire,  or 
in  lands  virtually  controlled  by  British  men-of-war. 
On  every  continent  the  United  Kingdom  has  its 
possessions.  Those  in  Asia,  North  America,  and 
the  continental  islands  of  far  Australasia,  will  be 
separately  considered,  while  those  hi  Africa,  South 
America  and  the  West  Indies,  without  as  distinctive 
recognition,  will  yet  receive  such  attention  as  their 
importance  may  justify. 


CHAPTER  LXII. 


English  Literature  in  General — Dawn  op  Literature  in  England — Saxon  Alfred — Chau- 
cer  and  Canterbury  Tales — Spenser  and  the  Faery  Queen— Percy’s  Relics  and  Minor 
Old  English— Shakspeare— Cotemporaries  .op  Shakspeare— Bacon— Milton  and  his 
Cotemporaries — Literature  op  the  Restoration— Dryden — Locke  and  Newton— Pope 
and  Swift — Defoe,  Hume  and  Gibbon — A Literary  Group — IIymnology — Addison  and 
“The  Spectator” — Steel  and  Tristram  Shandy— Letters  op  Junius— Goldsmith,  Cowter 
and  Young — Literary  Impostors — Byron  and  his  Peers — Hood  and  Browning— Lake 
School  op  Poets — Gallery  op  the  Six  Intellectual  Titans  op  Modern  English  Let- 
ters— Charlotte  Bronte  and  Jane  Eyre — Thackeray  and  Dickens — Minor  Novelists — 
Contemporary  English  Men  op  Letters — Latest  Type  op  Literature  in  England. 


N one  sense  the  English  lit- 
erature is  not  simply  the 
literature  of  England,  but 
it  includes  all  the  literature 
of  the  English  language,  in 
whatever  land  written.  But 
the  literature  of  England 
only  will  be  considered,  re- 
serving American  literature  for  a subse- 
quent chapter.  Some  English  writers  ac- 
quired such  prominence  that  they  have 
appeared  in  previous  chapters  in  con- 
nection with  the  events  of  their  times, 
but  before  taking  leave  of  England  it 
will  be  of  interest  to  take  a comprehensive 
view  of  the  grandest  galaxy  of  authors 
the  world  has  ever  produced,  for  classic 
literature,  Greek  and  Latin  combined, 
contains  less  real  genius  and  intellectual  grandeur 
than  our  own  vernacular,  even  apart  from  this  con- 
tinent, can  boast. 

The  earliest  name  in  the  literary  record  of  En- 
gland is  Beowulf,  a long  and  utterly  stupid  epic.  It 
is  supposed  to  have  been  brought  to  the  island  by 


the  Saxons  when  in  company  with  the  Angles  and 
the  J utes,  they  first  established  themselves  in  Britain. 
The  old  Britons  had  no  literature,  at  least,  if  so  it 
perished  utterly.  The  first  indubitably  English  poet 
was  Caedmon,  who  died  in  G80.  He  left  a metrical 
paraphrase  of  parts  of  the  Bible.  His  manuscript 
was  lost,  and  not  recovered  until  1054.  It  has  no 
intrinsic  merit.  The  same  is  true  of  the  oldest  En- 
glish prose,  King  Alfred’s  translation  from  the  Latin 
of  the  Venerable  Bede’s  ecclesiastical  history.  Bede 
belonged  to  the  eighth  century  and  Alfred  to  the 
ninth.  One  line  on  the  title  page  is  suggestive  of 
the  relation  of  old  English  to  modern,  also  to  Latin, 
or  “ boclaeden.”  This  line  reads,  “Aelfred  Kyning 
waes  weallistod  thisse  bee  and  hie  of  boclaedene  on 
Englise  wende” — King  Alfred  was  the  translator 
of  this  book,  and  turned  it  from  book-language  into 
English.  Bede’s  history  of  England  was  an  impor- 
tant work  for  the  information  it  affords,  but  it  is 
hardly  a part  of  English  literature.  The  samo  is 
true  of  the  somewhat  apocryphal  biography  of  Al- 
fred by  Asser,  the  last  of  the  ante-Norman  authors. 
Asser  belonged  to  the  first  years  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury. Three  centuries  later  Layamon  produced  a 


47 


(375) 


■Vk 


A 


Q_. 


376 


LITERATURE  OF  ENGLAND. 


narrative  in  verse  of  Celtic  traditions,  called  Brut, 
and  Orm,  a series  of  dull  homilies  in  verse,  called 
Ormulum.  Some  idea  of  this  poetry  may  be  gath- 
ered from  the  complet, — 

“Tliiss  boc  is  Dammed  Orrmulum 
“ Forrthi  that  Orrm  itt  wrohhte.” 

The  first  really  meritorious  English  writer  was 

Geoffrey  Chaucer, 
born  in  1328,  died  hi 
1400.  He  is  called 
“ the  Father  of  En- 
glish Poetry.”  He 
was  more  than  that, 


for  England  can 
hardly  be  said  to 
have  had  any  litera- 
ture, prose  or  poetry, 
before  his  day,  cer- 
chaucer  tainly  nothing  of  real 

value.  His  writings  were  somewhat  voluminous,  but 
his  Canterbury  Tales  stands  incomparably  higher 
than  any  other  of  his  works.  It  derives  its  name 
from  several  pilgrims  on  their  way  to  pay  homage 
at  the  shrine  of  Thomas  a Becket,  and  who,  being 
guests  at  the  same  inn,  beguiled  the  time  by  telling 
stories.  One  verse  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  nature 
of  Chaucer’s  English  and  the  plot  of  the  Tales, 

In  Southwerk  at  the  Tabard  as  I lay, 

Redy  to  wenden  on  my  pilgrimage 
To  Canterbury  with  ful  devout  corage, 

At  night  was  come  into  that  liostelrie 
Wei  Nyne  and  twenty  in  a companye 
Of  sondry  folk,  by  aventure  yfalle 
In  felowschipe,  and  pilgryms  were  thei  alle 
That  toward  Canterbury  wolden  ryde. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  variations  from  good 
modern  English  are  mainly  in  the  matter  of  orthog- 
raphy, and  it  was  not  until  the  printing  press  was 
invented  that  uniformity  herein  began  to  prevail. 

It  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury that  the  second  truly  great  name  appeared  in 
English  literature,  Edmund  Spenser,  the  author  of 
The  Faery  Queene.  Before  his  day  Bishop  Percy  had 
collected  the  ballads  of  the  language,  and  Percy’s 
Reliques  of  Ancient  English  Poetry  is  a delightful  vol- 
ume, but  the  ballads  themselves  are  anonymous. 
Sir  Thomas  More,  a famous  jurist  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.,  wrote  an  ever-notable  description  of  an 
ideal  republic  upon  an  imaginary  island,  Utopia.  The 


work  was  composed  in  Latin.  Cotemporaneous  with 
Spenser  was  Sir  Philip  Sidney.  He  was  a writer  of 
much  elegance,  but  no  very  marked  power.  Spen- 
ser’s masterpiece  was  in  part  an  imitation  of  “ Piers 
Ploughman,”  a cotemporary  of  Chaucer  who  was 
very  highly  esteemed,  but  whose  poetry  is  more 
homiletical  than  poetical.  But  in  power  of  imagi- 
nation and  variety  of  allegorical  conception  it  is  a 
remarkable  production.  It  is  very  long  without  be- 
ing complete.  It  cannot  be  read  cursorily  with 
profit,  but  its  careful  perusal  yields  an  ample  reward. 

There  are  only  three  English  books  older  than 
Shakspeare  which  are  much  read,  even  by  the  schol- 
arly few,  Canterbury  Tales,  Percy’s  Reliques,  or  Rel- 
ics, and  The  Faery  Queene.  All  else  might  be  oblit- 
erated with  comparatively  slight  loss,  except  as  they 
may  be  useful  in  historical  research. 

It  was  on  the  26th  day  of  April,  1564,  in  the  small 
town  of  Stratford-on-Avon  that  William  Shaks- 
peare was  born,  and  his  death  occurred  on  the  23d 
day  of  the  same 
month  just  fifty-two 
years  later.  His  fam- 
ily was  humble  and 
his  education  limit- 
ed. According  to  all 
accounts  he  was  the 
most  contradictory 
character  in  all  his- 
tory, the  supreme 
enigma  of  mankind. 


SHAKSPEARE. 


At  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen he  was  married  to  Anne  Hathaway,  seven  years 
his  senior,  an  altogether  commonplace  woman.  At 
twenty-two  he  left  his  native  village  for  London.  He 
had  a keen  eye  for  business,  and  when  he  had  ac- 
quired capital  enough  to  return  to  Stratford  and  be 
one  of  the  first  men  of  the  town  he  did  so,  evincing 
utter  indifference  to  literary  fame.  At  London  he 
secured  employment  at  a theater  in  some  humble 
capacity.  As  an  actor  he  did  not  excel,  but  he  was 
a capital  manager.  Wanting  better  plays  than  he 
could  procure  in  any  other  way,  he  set  about  re-writ- 
ing and  then  writing  dramas  himself.  He  wrote  as 
the  demands  of  his  own  theater  required,  and  it  is 
said  that  he  never  revised  his  work.  If  a play  served 
the  purposes  of  his  stage,  that  was  enough.  Besides 
a largo  number  of  sonnets,  some  of  them  very  ex- 
quisite, and  several  long  but  minor  poems,  Shaks- 


3 


LITERATURE  OF  ENGLAND. 


377 


peare  produced  thirty-seven  dramas.  Ten  of  these 
plays  are  based  on  English  history  and  bear  the 
names  of  English  kings  from  King  John  to  Henry 
VIII.  In  no  play,  it  is  said,  did  the  great  dramatist 
take  the  trouble  to  invent  a plot  for  himself,  or 
scruple  to  use  old  material  if  it  suited  his  purpose ; 
but  under  the  touch  of  his  genius  the  commonplace 
was  transformed  and  transfigured.  Ilallam  wrote  of 
him : 

“ The  name  of  Shakspeare  is  the  greatest  in  our 
literature — it  is  the 
greatest  in  all  litera- 
ture. No  man  ever 
came  near  him  hi  the 
creative  powers  of  the 
mind ; no  man  ever  had 
such  strength  at  once, 
and  such  variety  of  im- 
agination. Coleridge 
has  most  felicitously  ap- 
plied to  him  a Greek 
epithet,  given  before  to 
I know  not  whom,  cer- 
tainly none  so  deserv- 
ing of  it — /J.vpt6 vovs,  the 
thousand-souled  Shaks- 
peare.” 

Harlowe,  Green  and 
Ben  Jonson,  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher,  Ford  and 
Shirley,  are  ranked  as 
Shakspearean  drama- 
tists, but  it  was  only  be- 
cause they  were  contem- 
poraries. In  point  of  merit  they  are  not  at  all 

comparable.  They 
added  somewhat  to 
the  honors  of  that 
golden  age  of  En- 
glish literature,  but 
not  much.  The  Eliz- 
abethan Age  was 
rendered  illustrious 
by  two  names, Shaks- 
peare and  Bacon, 
representatives  of 
very  different  ele- 
ments of  society  in  their  origins  and  of  widely  dif- 
ferent departments  of  thought  in  the  development 


of  their  intellectual  resources.  The  drama  was  not 
even  respectable,  and  no  doubt  Shakspeare  was 
ashamed  of  his  calling,  and  when  he  had  accumu- 
lated a competency  wished  to  ignore  and  keep  out  of 
sight  the  means  by  which  he  had  acquired  it.  Bacon, 
on  the  other  hand,  belonged  to  the  nobility,  and  as 
an  author  was  a peer  in  the  aristocracy  of  letters. 

Francis  Bacon  was  born  in  1566,  and  died  in  1626. 
His  father,  Sir  Nicholas  Bacon,  was  Lord  Keeper  of 
the  Great  Seal  of  England,  a high  position  at  court. 

The  son  chose  the  pro- 


BEN JONSON. 


fession  of  law,  and  at  an 
early  age  was  appointed 
as  the  Queen’s  Counsel 
under  Elizabeth.  When 
James  came  to  the 
throne  he  was  knight- 
ed, with  the  title  of  Bar- 
on Verulam,  and  later. 
Viscount  St.  Albans. 
In  the  line  of  his  pro- 
fession he  rose  succes- 
sively from  Queen’s 
Counsel  to  Solicitor- 
General,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral and  Lord  Chan- 
cellor. In  the  latter 
position  of  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  realm,  he 
was  accused  of  taking 
bribes  and  the  charge 
was  sustained.  He  was 
deprived  of  his  office, 
fined,  and  rendered  in- 
capable of  holding  any  office  thereafter.  His  ambi- 
tion to  shine  at  court 
and  in  the  society 
of  those  who  had 
more  money  than 
brains,  whelmed  him 
in  ruin  and  misery. 

His  last  days  were 
sad  and  desolate. 

But  however  bitter 
his  failure  from  the 
standpoint  of  per- 
sonal ambition,  his 
life  was  an  epoch  in  thought.  His  writings  are 
voluminous,  but  the  chief  book  from  his  pen  was,  or 


FRANCIS  BACON. 


01 

*71 


•Ma. 


3 


G\ 


4 


378  LITERATURE  OF  ENGLAND. 




is.  Novum  Organum,  fitly  described  by  himself  when 
lie  says,  “This  New  Instrument  is  the  science  of  a 
better  and  more  perfect  use  of  reason  in  the  investi- 
gation of  things,  and  of  the  true  aims  of  the  under- 
standing.” It  effected  a revolution  in  philosophy. 
The  Baconian  method,  as  compared  with  philosophy 
prior  to  his  day,  is  well  suggested  by  Prof.  Backus 
in  the  following  observations : “ Twenty  centuries 

had  elapsed  after  Aristotle  had  shown  his  method  of 
searching  after  truth  before  Bacon  undertook  to  in- 
troduce a new  method.  Aristotle  made  thought 
active ; Bacon  aimed  to  make  it  useful.  Aristotle 
made  logic  the  fundamental  science,  and  considered 
metaphysics  of  greater  importance  than  physics.  His 
theory,  carried  into  practice,  produced  twenty  cen- 
turies of  fruitlessness ; two  centuries  and  a half  of 
Bacon’s  theory  in  practice  have  revolutionized  the 
literary,  the  commercial,  the  political,  the  religious, 
the  scientific  world.  The  ancients  had  a philosophy 
of  words ; Bacon  called  for  a philosophy  of  works. 
His  glory  is  founded  upon  a union  of  speculative 
power  with  practical  utility,  which  were  never  so 
combined  before.  He  neglected  nothing  as  too 
small,  despised  nothing  as  too  low,  by  which  our  hap- 
piness could  be  augmented;  in  him,  above  all,  were 
combined  boldness  and  prudence,  the  intensest  en- 
thusiasm and  the  plainest  common  sense.” 

To  the  same  age  as  Bacon,  only  a little  later,  be- 
long Francis  Quarles  and  George  Herbert,  quaint 
writers  of  deeply  pietistic  poetry.  Sir  Thomas 
Browne,  who  wrote  prose,  was  really  more  poetic  than 
they,  for  his  Religio  Medici  is  one  of  the  most  faci- 
nating  of  essays,  often  vague  but  always  charming. 

The  Civil  War  and  Commonwealth  which  followed 

so  soon  after  the 
Elizabethan  age  pro- 
duced a plentiful 
crop  of  earnest  prose 
writers  who  contri- 
buted much  to  the 
formation  of  the  En- 
glish language  as  a 
suitable  vehicle  of 
grand  thoughts.  Jer- 
emy Taylor  and 
Thomas  Fuller,  the 
royalists,  Richard  Baxter  and  John  Milton,  the  non- 
conformists, discussed  the  politics  and  theology  of 
their  day  (very  nearly  the  same  in  many  respects) 


with  great  ability  and  fullness.  Milton’s  essay  on 
liberty  is  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  prose  composi- 
tion in  any  language.  But  the  literary  glory  of  that 
period  was  Milton’s  Paradise  Lost.  It  was  composed 
after  the  poet  had  become  blind.  The  two  great  epic 
poets,  Homer  and  Milton,  were  both  of  them  sightless. 
The  latter  sang  the  war  in  heaven  between  the  loyal 
forces  of  heaven  and  the  rebellious  Angels,  led  by 
Satan.  That  supposed  conflict,  together  with  the  fall 
of  man,  furnished  the  basis  of  the  great  structure. 
Wordsworth  has  happily  characterized  Milton  in 
these  lines : 

Thy  soul  was  like  a star  and  dwelt  apart; 

Thou  hadst  a voice  whose  sound  was  like  the  sea — 
Pure  as  the  naked  heavens,  majestic,  free; 

So  didst  thou  travel  on  life’s  common  way 
In  cheerful  godliness;  and  yet  thy  heart 
The  lowliest  duties  on  herself  did  lay. 

The  Restoration  under  Charles  II.  brought  to  the 
fore  a different  class  of  writers.  Samuel  Butler  was 
the  most  notable  poet  of  that  period.  His  Hudibras 
is  a brilliant  satire  upon  the  Puritans  and  Puritan- 
ism. The  wit  is  keen  and  pitiless.  To  the  same 
period,  but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  religious  and 
political  issues  of  the  day,  stands  John  Bunyan, 
whose  Pilgrim’s  Progress  is  still  widely  read  for  its 
wealth  of  allegory  and  its  depth  of  piety.  He  was 
a martyr  to  his  religion,  and  while  languishing  in  jail 
composed  the  work  which  has  made  him  immortal. 
A strolling  tinker  by  trade,  some  think  him  a gipsy 
by  descent.  Another  noted  writer  of  this  period  was 
Izaak  Walton.  His  Complete  Angler  is  refreshingly 
free  from  theology,  politics  and  ethics.  It  is  simply 
what  it  professes  to  be,  a treatise  upon  fishing,  but  so 
capitally  done  that  whether  one  be  interested  in  jiis- 
catorial  sport  or  not,  one  can  not  fail  to  be  delighted. 

After  Milton  the  next  really  great  name  in  English 
verse  was  John  Dryden,  born  in  1631,  died  in  1700. 
In  character  he  was  a time-server,  a puritan  under 
Cromwell,  a papist  under  Janies  II.  He  was  the 
latter’s  poet  laureate.  His  writings  were  voluminous. 
He  was  the  first  real  critic  in  English  literature. 
His  influence  was  very  great,  and  upon  the  whole  very 
good.  He  lives  in  the  literary  records  of  his  country 
more  for  his  usefulness  in  forming  the  literary 
style  of  the  language  than  for  the  intrinsic  merits  of 
his  writings. 

The  next  great  name  in  English  literature  was  the 
philosopher,  John  Locke,  a cotemporary  of  Dryden. 


JOHN  MILTON, 


0 

) 


k 

I. 


LITERATURE  OF  ENGLAND.  379 


His  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding  is  justly 
ranked,  as  second  only  to  Bacon’s  Novum  Organum. 
In  the  metaphysical  world  his  work  is,  as  Hallam 
expresses  it,  “ the  first  real  chart  of  the  coasts, 
wherein  some  may  be  laid  down  incorrectly,  but  the 
general  relations  of  all  are  perceived.”  Locke  was 
born  1632  and  died  in  1704.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  was 
bom  in  1642  and  died  in  1727.  The  latter  effected 
a revolution  in  natural  science  equal  to  that  of  Bacon 
in  philosophy.  His  Philosophies  Naturalis  Principia 
Mathematica,  may  be  set  down  as  the  corner-stone  of 
modern  science.  The  work  of  Roger  Bacon  had  been 
forgotten,  and  had  to  he  done  over  again,  with  read- 
justment to  the  times,  and  that  not  by  an  imitator, 
but  by  an  original  genius,  and  Sir  Isaac  met  the  re- 
quirement. 

I11  poetry  the  eighteenth  century  opened  with  Alex- 
ander Pope.  His  easy  flowing  rhymes  and  sharp 
wit  have  been  greatly  admired.  In  his  day  he  was 
thought  to  be  a prodigy,  but  he  lacks  staying  qualities 
as  a poet.  He  is  not  much  read  at  the  present  day, 
except  by  those  who  do  so  from  a certain  sense  of 
duty.  His  translations  of  Homer  have  been  eclipsed. 
His  friend,  Jonathan  Swift,  was  something  of  a poet? 
but  whether  he  wrote  in  verse  or  prose,  he  was  a ter- 
rible satirist,  the  fiercest  that  ever  held  a pen.  His 
Voyages  of  Gulliver  is  the  greatest  of  his  works.  lie 
produced  a great  many  pamphlets  on  current  topics. 
His  style  was  intensely  Saxon ; his  life  detestable 
and  miserable. 

The  first  great  English  novelist  was  Daniel  Defoe, 
born  in  1661,  died  1731.  His  Robinson  Crusoe  is  still 
read  with  undiminished  interest  by  each  new  genera- 
tion, and  seems  to  bear  a charmed  life.  Ilis  imag- 
inary history  of  the  Great  Plague  in  London  is  a 
strangely  realistic  and  fascinating  narrative.  Field- 
ing and  Smollet  who  followed  him  may  have  sur- 
passed him  in  genius  for  invention,  but  they  soiled 
their  pages  with  impurities  which  put  the  novel  un- 
der the  ban  until  redeemed  by  the  unsullied  pen  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott.  But  prior  to  Scott  came  another 
Scotchman,  David  Hume,  of  great  power.  He  was 
a master  of  philosophical  reasoning  and  historical 
narration.  Ilis  Moral  and  Philosophised  Essays  and 
his  History  of  England  are  the  two  pillars  of  his  fame. 
Edward  Gibbon,  who  was  born  in  1737  and  died  in 
1794,  was  the  second  great  historian  of  English  lit- 


work  almost  from  the  first,  and  time  does  not  dim 
the  luster  of  his  great  name. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  flour- 
ished a group  of  ethical,  political,  theological,  crit- 
ical and  poetical  writers  who,  without  reaching  the 
high  plane  of  really  first-class  merit,  deserve  honor- 
able mention.  These  were  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  the 
lexicographer ; Edmund  Burke,  the  political  orator 
and  essayist ; Adam  Smith,  the  father  of  the  science 
of  Political  Economy.  Smith’s  most  important  work 
was  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and  Causes  of  the  Wealth 
of  Nations.  Bishop  Butler  and  William  Paley  wrote 
in  defense  of  revealed  religion  against  the  attacks 
of  the  skeptics  treatises  which  are  still  used  as  text 
books  in  our  schools,  and  arsenals  from  which  are 
drawn  weapons  used  in  fighting  for  orthodoxy. 

The  eighteenth  century  was  rich  in  sacred  poetry 
and  didactic  prose.  The  hymns  in  use  in  the  church 
were  largely  composed  in  that  century.  Isaac  Watts 
belonged  to  the  first  part  of  it.  Montgomery  says 
of  Dr.  Watts,  “He  was  almost  the  inventor  of  hymns 
in  the  English  language.”  The  intense  realization 
of  religious  truth  which  marked  that  period  deeply 
colored  its  literature.  It  was  the  fashion  to  assume 
piety,  in  verse  especially,  and  cater  to  the  tastes  of 
the  pious,  as  in  the  case  of  Watts’  contemporary, 
Dr.  Young,  who  though  a frivolous  man  of  the 
world  was  the  author  of  the  lugubrious  but  once 
very  popular  Night  Thoughts. 

Joseph  Addison,  the  accomplished  essayist,  was 
born  in  1672  and  died  in  1719.  lie  was  a very  pop- 
ular poet  in  his  day,  but  his  poetry  soon  dropped  out 
of  sight.  His  real  claim  to  honorable  mention  rests 
upon  his  contributions  to  and  establishment  of  the 
Spectator,  the  Tatter  and  the  Guardian , especially  the 
former.  Those  publications  were  forerunners  of  the 
more  modern  newspaper.  They  did  not  give  much 
news,  but  they  discussed  questions  of  current  inter- 
est much  in  the  method  of  the  present  editorial  of 
the  hotter  sort.  Those  essays  have  been  read  and 
studied  as  models  of  good,  unimpassioned  and  pro- 
saic prose  ever  since  their  publication.  Addison’s 
friend,  Richard  Steele,  was  a co-laborer  with  him  in 
these  enterprises.  Many  of  the  papers  were  contrib- 
uted by  others,  Swift  and  Berkley  among  the  num- 
ber, for  to  this  period  belonged  the  famous  divine  and 
philosojdiei  who  called  out  Byron’s  brilliant  sally: 


erature,  as  Hume  was  the  first.  Ilis  Decline  and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  accepted  as  a standard 


“ If  Bishop  Berkley  says  there  is  no  matter, 
It  is  no  matter  what  he  says.’’ 


FT 


3So 


LITERATURE  OF  ENGLAND. 


A little  later  came  Laurence  Sterne.  He  was  of 
Irish  descent,  born  in  1713,  died  in  1768.  His  Tris- 
tram Shandy,  published  in  1761,  was  the  best  novel 
ever  written  in  English  until  tlie  days  of  Sir  W alter 
Scott.  His  Sentimental  Journey  was  designed  as  a 
supplement  to  the  great  novel,  but  it  was  not  by 
any  means  its  equal  in  merit. 

In  1769,  and  from  that  on  until  1772,  with  occa- 
sional interruptions,  appeared  in  the  Public  Adver- 
tiser, a London  journal,  a series  of  letters  on  polities 
signed  “ Junius.”  They  produced  an  immense  sen- 
sation. It  was  never  known  who  wrote  them.  Vast 
research  and  elaborate  arguments  have  been  ex- 
pended on  their  probable  authorship,  but  to  little 
purpose.  Sir  Philip  Francis  is  generally  thought  to 
have  the  best  claim  to  the  honor,  but  the  mystery 
is  really  insoluble.  Those  letters  were  tremen- 
dously influential.  To  this  day  they  are  unrivaled 
for  power  of  invective  and  incisive  criticism. 

Oliver  Goldsmith  was  a very  remarkable  charac- 
ter. Like  Thomas 
Gray,  who  wrote  the 
elegy  which  has  im- 
mortalized his  name, 
he  wrote  a little 
good  poetry,  “The 
Deserted  Village” 
being  the  best ; but 
his  best  production 
was  that  charming 
romance,  7 he  Vicar 
of  Wakefield.  It  is  a 
most  delightful  picture  of  a country  parson  and  his 
family  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The  popular 
comedy,  She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  was  also  from  his 
pen.  William'  Cowper  was  a profoundly  religious 
poet  of  that  period.  The  intensity  of  his  belief 
nearly  unsettled  his  reason  and  brought  upon  him  a 
melancholy  akin  to  mania.  But  his  muse  was  capa- 
ble of  sublime  flights,  and  once,  in  John  Gilpin, 
struck  a humorous  vein. 

The  latter  part  of  this  century  was  notable  for 
literary  imposition.  The  most  successful  was  that 
of  James  Macpherson,  author  of  Ossian.  That 
elaborate  poem  has  very  great  merit,  and  is  held  in 
high  repute,  being  still  much  read.  It  purports  to 
have  been  the  work  of  an  Irish  bard  of  the  far- 
away days  of  Celtic  tradition.  Macpherson  strenu- 
ously insisted  that  he  merely  translated  an  epic 


k- 


which  was  composed  originally  in  the  Gaelic  or 
Eise  dialect.  Thomas  Chatterton,  the  poor  boy- 
poet  who  starved  to  death  in  a London  garret  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  was  strangely  infatuated  with  the 
mania  for  imposture.  He  wrote  some  very  delight- 
ful verses  at  the  age  of  eleven,  and  might  have  de- 
veloped into  something  grand  had  he  not  fallen  a 
victim  to  the  passion  for  literary  deception. 

Robert  Burns  and  Sir  Walter  Scott  were  the 
crowning  glory  of  English  literature  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  but  they  belong  to  Scotland  rather 
than  England,  as  Thomas  Moore  does  to  Ireland. 

The  most  famous  name  in  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century  was  Lord  Byron,  born 
in  1788.  He  was  only  thirty-six  years  of  age  at 


left  behind  him 
much  of  which 


LOKD  BYRON. 


the  time  of  his  death,  but  he 
a large  body  of  poetry,  very 
bids  fair  to  be  incorporated  into  the  immor- 
tal part  of  English 
literature.  Like  his 
friend  Shelley,  the 
author  of  Queen  Mab 
and  other  deep- 
ly emotional  and 
somewhat  fantastic 
poems,  he  was  mor- 
bid in  the  extreme. 

His  C'hilde  Harold, 

Manfred  and,  Don 
Juan,  and  hi  fact, 
nearly  every  thing  he  wrote,  fairly  teem  with  emotion. 
John  Keats,  author  of  Endymion,  who  died  of  a 
broken  heart,  the  victim  of,  cruel  criticism,  belonged 
to  the  same  class,  in  both  time  and  type  of  genius. 
There  was  a circle  of  poets  of  sentiment  in  which 
Byron,  Shelley  and  Keats  were  foremost,  but  which 
was  enlarged  by  the  presence  of  Leigh  Hunt  and 
Walter  Savage  Landor.  They  did  much  to  infuse 
into  modern  thought  Greek  ideas  of  culture.  They 
drew  attention  from  religious  subjects  to  the  higher 
ranges  of  mundane  thought  and  activity. 

Thomas  Hood,  born  in  1799,  died  1845.  belonged 
to  no  set.  His  genius  was  strictly  individual.  His 
Bridge  of  Sighs  and  Song  of  the  Shirt  are  most  ex- 
quisitely pathetic.  But  he  excelled  in  wit.  His 
humor  is  of  the  very  highest  order.  Mrs.  Browning, 
the  most  wonderful  woman  in  the  whole  list  of 
poets,  was  born  in  1809  and  lived  until  1861.  Her 
Aurora  Leigh  is  a masterpiece,  and  many  of  her 


LITERATURE  OF  ENGLAND. 


minor  poems  are  marvels  of  beauty  and  power. 

Her  husband,  Robert 
Browning,  still  lives, 
and  is  a poet  of  high 
rank,  but  curiously 
obscure  in  his  ex- 
pressions. 

During  the  pres- 
ent century  England 
has  had  three  poets 
laureate,  or  poets 
of  the  court,  namely, 
Alfred  tennyson.  Robert  Southey,  Wil- 

liam Wordsworth  and  Alfred  Tennyson.  The  lat- 
ter has  held  the  position  thirty-two  years.  Southey 
held  it  thirty  years,  namely,  from  1813  to  1843. 
He  was  a prolific  writer  and  his  poetry  has  good 
points,  but  it  is  weak  and  thin.  At  the  present 
time  it  is  seldom  read.  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge 

formed,  with  Southey, 
what  is  known  as  the 
Lake  School.  They 
were  free  from  indeli- 
cacies, and  did  much 
to  cultivate  a whole- 
some taste  and  a kind- 
ly appreciation  of  the 
poetic  in  little  every- 
day things.  Coleridge 
occasionally  struck  out 
thackkrat.  into  the  marvelous.  His 

Ancient  Mariner  and  Christabel  are  inexplicable. 

Charlotte  Bronte,  the  invalid  daughter  of  a coun- 
try clergyman,  produced  in  1847  a story  which 
created  a profound  sensation,  Jane  Eyre.  She  was 
then  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  She  lived  eight  years 

longer  and  wrote  two 
other  good  novels, 
Shirley  and  Villette  j 
but  upon  the  first 
rests  her  claim  to  a 
niche  in  the  temple 
of  immortal  fame. 
Thackeray,  who  was 
born  in  1811  and 
survived  until  18G3, 
shares  with  Charles 
cuarles  dickens.  Dickens,  who  was 

born  a year  later  and  survived  his  great  peer  seven 


years,  the  honor  of  being  the  greatest  of  novelists. 
Those  two  names 
tower  above  all  oth- 
ers. The  former  set 
forth  English  high 
life ; the  latter  En- 
glish low  life.  Such, 
in  a general  way,  is 
the  difference  be- 
tween them . N o one 
before  or  since  has 
reached  the  altitude 
of  their  creative  fac-  george  et.iot. 

ulties.  Hot  far  from  them,  however,  stands 
“George  Eliot,”  a woman  of  most  marvelous  powers 
as  a novelist  and  very  considerable  ability  as  a poet. 
Charles  Reed,  Wilkie 
Collins,  Anthony 
Trollope, Bulwer  and 
Disraeli  are  to  be 
ranked  among  the 
better  of  our  second- 
class  English  novel- 
ists of  this  century. 

There  are  many 
writers  of  note  who 
have  made  valuable 
contributions  to  En- 
glish literature  dur- 
ing the  present  per-  john  stuart  mill. 

iod.  Thomas  Carlyle,  the  fierce  hater  of  shams 
and  democracy,  John  Stuart  Mill,  the  great  apostle 
of  Agnosticism,  or  positivism,  Herbert  Spencer, 
the  }diilosopher  of 
science,  and  Tyn- 
dall, Darwin  and 
Huxley,  the  disci- 
ples of  pure  science, 
are  only  a few'  of 
the  great  contem- 
porary names  of 
English  men  of 
letters.  Macaulay 
belonged  to  the 
middle  period  of 
this  century.  The 
literature  of  En- 
gland, once  a mere  CHARLE9  R'  DARWIN‘ 

rivulet  has. now  widened  out  into  a vast  gulf. 


► 


c>rV 


CHAPTER  LXIII 


Scotia  and  Nova  Scotia — The  Picts — Indirect  Connection  of  the  Earey  Scotch  and  the 
Anglo-Saxons — Conversion  of  Scotland— Fergus  the  Scotch-Irishman— Edwin  and  Edin- 
burgh—St.  Columba  and  the  Scotch  Name— Scottish  Blood — Constantine  II.  and  Sub- 
ordination to  England— Duncan  and  Macbeth— James  I.— Progress  and  Feudalism — 
Robert  Bruce  and  Independence — Robert  the  Steward  and  the  House  of  Stuart— 
David  II. — James  I. — James  Y.— Henry  VIII.  of  England  and  the  Scotch  Crown— Mary 
i^ueen  of  Scots — James  VI.  of  Scotland,  James  I.  of  England — A National  Paradox — 
John  Knox— Union  of  the  United  Kingdom  Completed— Some  Scotch  Characteristics — 
Scotch  Literature — Burns,  Scott,  and  Carlyle. 


^-2—-  <a»  . 

0 the  ancients.  Great  Brit- 
ain, by  whatever  name 
called,  was  one  country. 
The  name  Scotland  was 
not  used  to  designate  the 
northern  portion  of  the  isl- 
and until  about  a thou- 
sand years  ago.  The  Latin 
term  Scotia  applied  originally  to 
Ireland,  and  at  one  time  was  not 
distinguishable  from  Hibernia. 
Indeed,  Scotland  was  known  as 
Nova  Scotia  originally.  Caledonia 
was  another  primitive  title  for  that 
part  of  the  island.  Like  Wales, 
Scotland  gradually  acquired  dis- 
tinctiveness  as  the  old  Britons 
& or  Picts  retreated  from  their 

conquerors,  Romans,  Saxons,  Angles,  Jutes,  Danes 
and  Normans.  The  Picts  preferred  independence 
in  the  back  country  to  dependence  in  the  native 
portion  of  their  island.  The  Romans  never  at- 
tempted to  push  beyond  the  frith  of  Fay,  and  the 
wall  they  built  between  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde 
finally  served  as  a dividing  line  between  the  primi- 


tive  Scotch  and  the  English.  When  the  Romans 
withdrew  from  Britain,  the  Scotch,  or  Picts,  thougth 
it  was  no  robbery  for  them  to  reoccupy  their  former 
lands,  and  so  strong  were  they  that  the  Romanized 
Britons  felt  compelled  to  seek  succor  from  abroad, 
and  called  to  their  aid,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  chap- 
ter on  “ Old  England,”  the  Anglo-Saxons.  Never 
was  an  invasion  fraught  with  more  importance,  and 
the  Scotch  might  justly  claim  that  there  would  never 
have  been  any  English  people,  properly  speaking, 
had  it  not  been  for  their  predatory  ancestors  in  the 
last  years  of  the  fifth  century  and  the  first  of  the 
sixth. 

The  introduction  of  Christianity  into  Scotland  is 
placed  by  some  as  early  as  446.  But  when  the 
more  civilized  Celts  of  Ireland,  who  had  previously 
been  converted  to  Christianity,  crossed  over  to  Scot- 
land in  503,  and  under  the  lead  of  Fergus  estab- 
lished a kingdom  on  the  western  coast,  the  country 
was  for  the  most  part  given  up  to  rude  paganism. 
The  records  of  that  period  are  exceedingly  vague 
and  unsatisfactory,  but  Fergus  must  have  been  a 
brave  and  wise  ruler,  for  his  little  kingdom  was  per- 
manently established,  and  finally  developed  into  the 
chief  state  or  tribe  of  the  country. 


(382) 


SCOTLAND  AND  THE  SCOTCH. 


383 


Half  a century  before  Fergus,  the  Highland  chief 
Edwin  had  founded  Edinburgh,  and  in  836  a de- 
scendant of  Fergus,  Kenneth,  became  King  of  the 
Lowlands,  transferring  his  capital  from  Celtic  Tor- 
tevoil  to  Stratheme,  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
Piets. 

Between  Edwin  and  Fergus  appears  no  name  of 
note,  and  between  Fergus  and  Kenneth  only  one, 


fact  that  a few  emigrants  should  have  thus  taken 
from  the  mother  country  its  very  name.  It  is  as  if 
the  term  New  England  had  gradually  changed  to 
England,  and  by  some  inexplicable  jugglery  old 
England  itself  had  been  compelled  to  adopt  a new 
name.  It  may  be  set  down  as  a remarkable  instance 
of  “unconscious  robbery.” 

The  Scotch  have  other  blood  in  their  veins  besides 


VIEW  OF  EDINBURGH— Edinburgh  Castle  in  the  Distance. 


7T 


St.  Columba,  the  Irish  saint  who  spent  his  life  in 
evangelizing  the  Piets.  From  563  to  597  he  labored 
untiringly  and  with  great  success.  The  adoption 
by  the  primitive  races  of  the  religion  brought  over 
by  the  Celts  did  much  to  bring  about  the  complete 
coalition  of  the  two  races,  and  to  give  the  ascend- 
ancy to  the  invaders.  It  may  be  observed  that  the 
Celts  of  Ireland  long  protested  against  the  applica- 
tion of  the  term  Scotch  to  the  combined  people,  in- 
sisting that  they  alone  were  Scotch.  It  is  a curious 


the  two  strains  mentioned.  From  the  Danes  and 
other  Scandinavians  they  received  large  accretions, 
also  from  the  Saxons  and  the  Normans  of  England. 
The  Teutonic  clement  is  not  predominant,  but  it  is 
very  considerable.  No  people  of  Europe  have  such 
varietv  of  ancestry  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  Lowlands 
of  Scotland.  The  Highlanders  are  descended  almost 
wholly  from  the  original  or  prehistoric  inhabitants 
of  the  island. 

The  next  royal  name  of  note  after  Kenneth  was 


48 


4^ 


384 


SCOTLAND  AND  THE  SCOTCH. 


Constantine  II.,  great  grandson  of  the  former.  His 
reign  extended  from  900  to  943.  He  acknowledged 
subordination  to  the  English  crown  as  the  price 
of  assistance  in  the  interminable  wars  of  the 
period,  but  only  to  retract  his  fealty  when  the  im- 
mediate cause  of  it  was  removed,  and  then  a conflict 
with  England  resulted.  Constantine  laid  down  his 
crown  voluntarily,  repaired  to  a monastery  to  pre- 
pare for  death,  leaving  the  throne  to  a near  kin, 
Malcolm  I. 

The  grandson  and  successor  of  Malcolm  was  the 
King  Duncan  of  the  play  of  Macbeth.  The  mon- 
arch of  the  latter  name  was  not  the  false  friend 
Shakspeare  represents,  nor  was  the  real  Lady  Mac- 
beth the  monster  of  the  stage.  The  historical  ac- 
count differs  widely  from  the  histrionic  representa- 
tion. Her  brother,  the  lawful  heir  to  the  throne, 
had  been  cruelly  put  to  death  to  make  room  for 
Duncan  the  Usurper.  A battle  was  fought  in  1040 
between  the  two  factions,  terminating  in  the  defeat 
and  death  of  Duncan.  History  says  of  Macbeth, 
“ He  governed  Scotland  with  a firm  hand  and  great 
wisdom,  and  his  reign  was  a period  of  great  national 
prosperity.”  He  and  his  queen  were  liberal  friends 
of  the  poor.  In  1057  he  shared  the  fate  of  Duncan, 
the  son  of  the  latter  coming  to  the  throne.  About 
this  time  William  the  Conqueror  subjugated  En- 
gland and  placed  Scotland  under  vassalage. 

The  next  noteworthy  name  in  the  royal  annals  of 
Scotland  was  David,  who  flourished  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  twelfth  century.  Under  him  Scotland 
made  much  progress  in  civilization. 

The  wars  of  Wallace  and  Bruce  for  Scottish  inde- 
pendence form  a part  of  English  history,  and  were 
recorded  in  a previous  chapter.  That  struggle  cost 
the  country  a vast  amount  of  blood,  but  from  a na- 
tional point  of  view  it  was  a good  investment,  for  it 
so  far  broke  down  the  barriers  of  clan  that  Scotland 
became  in  reality  one  country.  The  treaty  which 
terminated  that  long  war  dates  from  1328.  Thir- 
teen years  later  the  parliament  of  Scotland  admitted 
the  commercial  towns  to  representation.  From 
that  time  to  the  consummation  of  the  union  with 
England,  nearly  four  centuries,  the  “the  third  es- 
tate ” was  a great  power  in  Scotland. 

The  death  of  Robert  Bruce  brought  to  the  throne 
his  son,  David  II.,  then  only  eight  years  of  age. 
War  soon  broke  out  afresh  between  England  and 
Scotland.  In  the  battle  of  Neville’s  Cross,  fought 


in  1346,  David  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner . 
Ilis  final  ransom  cost  100,000  marks.  Otherwise 
his  reign  was  uneventful.  It  extended  to  13  70.  At 
his  death,  there  being  no  son  to  take  the  crown,  it 
passed  to  his  sister’s  son,  Robert  the  Steward,  who 
took  the  scepter  as  Robert  II.  With  him  began  the 
dynasty  of  the  Stuarts  which  became  best  known  in 
connection  with  England. 

The  first  Stuart  to  distinguish  himself  was  James 
I.,  who  reigned  from  1424  to  1436.  He  was  abreast 
of  his  age  at  its  best,  and  did  much  to  systematize  the 
government  and  advance  the  interests  of  the  people. 
He  was  a poet  of  some  merit.  A few  fugitive  pro- 
ductions attributed  to  him  still  exist  to  attest  his 
talent.  Under  him  the  baronial  power  was  at  its 


height. 


Douglas  was  the  leader  of  the  defiant  feudal 


lords.  James  II.  succeeded  in  breaking  the  power 
of  the  chiefs.  The  genius  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  has 
clothed  with  perpetual  radiance  the  struggle  of 
that  period.  From  the  standjioint  of  history,  di- 
vested of  the  glamour  of  romance,  the  Scottish  an- 
nals of  those  times  are  simply  the  record  of  inter- 
minable civil  and  border  warfare.  Generally  the 
English  crown  claimed  and  received  some  slight 
recognition  of  sovereignty  beyond  the  Tweed,  but 
otherwise  the  Highlands  and  the  Lowlands  were  alike 
free  from  foreign  domination. 

Scotland  should  hold  the  memory  of  James  I.  in 
profound  respect  and  lively  gratitude.  He  was  as- 
sassinated by  a base  conspiracy  and  a brilliant  reign 
closed  in  darkness.  It  was  a great  calamity  to  the 
nation.  Political  assassinations  generally  are. 

A long  series  of  civil  wars,  a chronic  state  of  an- 
archy almost,  followed.  The  chiefs  of  clans  would 
brook  no  authority.  Feudalism  had  nowhere  a firmer 
hold  than  in  Scotland,  and  the  nobility  lived  for  the 
most  part  in  hostile  isolation. 

It  was  not  until  the  reign  of  James  V.,  a contem- 
porary of  Henry  VII.  of  England,  that  really  ami- 
cable relations  between  the  crown  and  the  nobles  were 
established,  and  that  by  affability  rather  than  force. 
About  the  court  of  James  the  Fifth  at  Edinburgh 
gathered  luxury,  and  the  chieftains  found  it  more 
agreeable  to  bask  in  the  courtly  sunshine  than  share 
the  vicissitudes  of  war,  as  depicted  in  the  Scottish 
lays.  Many  of  them  plunged  wildly  into  dissipa- 
tion, but  even  their  vices  were  public  benefactions, 
for  while  they  revelled  the  common  people  were  left 
to  the  pursuit  of  the  paths  of  peace,  and  Scotland, 


o_ 


-*Q- 


SCOTLAND  AND  THE  SCOTCH. 


385 


e) 


hitherto  frenzied  with  contention,  enjoyed  content- 
ment. Fisheries  were  encouraged,  a navy  built,  and 
commerce  sprang  up.  The  king  married  Margaret, 
daughter  of  the  Tudor  Henry  VII.,  and  thus  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  of 
the  island. 

All  went  smoothly  until  after  the  accession  of 
HenryVIII.  to  the  English 
crown.  That  king  hated 
Scotland,  or  rather  covet- 
ed the  sovereignty  of  Scot- 
land. In  an  evil  hour 
James  was  provoked  into 
war  with  his  more  power- 
ful neighbor.  The  result 
was  disastrous.  The  Scotch 
navy  was  destroyed  and  the 
army  signally  defeated  at 
Flodden  Heights,  Sep- 
tember 9,  1513.  The 
slaughter  was  terrible  and 
the  overthrow  complete. 

The  great  king  himself  was 
among  the  slain,  leaving 
an  infant  to  inherit  the 
throne,  James  V. 

The  queen  mother, 

Margaret,  was  made  re- 
gent. The  old  feud  be- 
tween the  crown  and  the 
nobility  soon  broke  out 
with  renewed  virulence, 
secretly  aggravated  and 
intensified  by  Henry,  who 
was  as  bad  a brother  as 
husband.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  Margaret  was 
as  unfaithful  to  her  marital  vows  as  her  brother,  and 
her  personal  vices,  and  the  crimes  to  which  they  led, 
served  to  keep  the  country  in  a state  of  misery.  But 
all  that  was  no  excuse  for  her  brother  Henry. 

At  last  the  child  became  a man  and  was  allowed 
as  early  as  seventeen  years  of  age  to  be  his  own  master. 

We  now  return  to  James  V.  He  was  a ruler  of 
great  ability,  lie  strove  assiduously  to  free  his  coun- 
try from  foreign  dictation.  It  had  become  little 
better  than  a shuttlecock  for  French  and  English 
battledore.  James  succeeded  in  commanding  the 
resjxict  of  his  royal  peers  and  gaining  for  Scotland 


an  honorable  rank  among  nations,  and  all  this  while 
yet  a youth.  He  could  have  married  Henry’s 
daughter,  Mary,  or  another  Mary,  the  Spanish  Prin- 
cess of  Portugal  (Spain  and  Portugal  then  being 
one),  but  he  preferred  an  alliance  with  the  daughter 
of  the  king  of  France.  The  fruit  of  that  marriage 
was  the  beautiful  and  unhappy  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 

whose  melancholy  career 
forms  a part  of  the  history 
of  England,  and  was  nar- 
rated under  the  Tudors. 
Her  son,  James  VI.  of 
Scotland,  was  James  of 
England,  the  first  British 
sovereign  of  the  house  of 
Stuarts.  In  him  was  se- 
cured the  “ married  calm” 
of  a perpetual  union  be- 
tween England  and  Scot- 
land, no  longer  two  na- 
tions, but  two  made  one, 
England  being  the  one. 

It  is  hardly  too  much  to 
say,  paradoxical  as  it  may 
sound,  that  when  Scotland 
ceased  to  exist  its  existence 
began.  So  long  as  it  was 
a kingdom,  with  its  inter- 
minable feudatory  and 
border  warfare,  it  was  little 
better  than  a heroic  bar- 
barian. But  when  those 
civil  wars  were  over  the 
energies  of  the  people  took 
a direction  which  reflected 


the  highest  honor  up- 
on the  nation,  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  splen- 
did achievements. 

The  first  pre-emi- 
nence of  Scotland 
was  in  the  line  of 
church  reform.  With 
Henry  VIII.  and  his 

motive  the  Scotch  had  mahy,  <;ueen  or  scots. 

no  sympathy,  but  with  the  reformation  as  pushed  by 
Luther,  and  above  all  by  Calvin,  it  had  the  deepest 


SCOTLAND  AND  THE  SCOTCH. 


-tu 


sympathy.  Among  those  who  sat  at  the  feet  of 
John  Calvin  and  imbibed  his  austere  theology  and 
republican  polity  in  matters  ecclesiastic,  was  John 
Knox.  He  returned  from  Geneva  to  Edinburgh  to  be 
the  great  defender  of  Protestantism,  the  bold  assail- 
ant of  the  Romish  church  with  which  Mary  the  queen 
was  in  close  affiliation.  Out  of  the  movement  in 
which  he  was  the  acknowledged  leader  grew  not  only 
the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  but  Presbyterianism  in  Amer- 
ica, with  its  many  branches  and  mighty  member- 
ship. Wherever  a Presbyterian  bell  calls  to  prayer 
or  spire  points  to  heaven  there  unconscious  homage 
is  paid  to  the  religious  genius  of  Scotland.  Perse- 
cution could  not  stay  the  progress  of  Presbyterian- 
ism, and  the  nation  soon  became  substantially  united 
in  the  rejection  of  all  intervention  from  Rome.  The 
Confession  of  Faith  was  adopted  by  the  Scotch  Par- 
liament in  1560,  and  to-day  Scotland  stands  in  the- 
ology substantially  on  that  creed,  except  that  a 
somewhat  liberalizing  tendency  is  manifest.  Scot- 
land is  the  most  evangelically  orthodox  land  on  the 
globe,  and  of  all  Christian  people  the  least  given  to 
heresy.  They  are  especially  distinguished  for  the 
strict  observance  of  Sunday  as  a day  of  rest. 

The  crowns  of  Scotland  and  England  were  united 
forever  in  the  year  1603.  Separate  parliaments 
were  maintained  for  a century.  The  union,  the 
complete  consolidation  of  the  countries,  dates  from 
1707.  At  that  time  the  population  was  1,050,000. 
It  is  now  about  three  times  that  amount.  The  great 
vice  of  the  people  is  drunkenness.  The  ratio  of 
illegitimacy  is  also  exceptionally  large.  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century  vagabondage  was  something  appall- 
ing, “ tramps  ” being  the  curse  of  the  country ; but 
with  good  laws  came  industry  and  thrift.  At  home 
and  abroad,  especially  abroad,  the  Scotch  have 
shown  remarkable  ability  in  the  prudent  manage- 
ment of  great  business  enterprises. 

It  only  remains  to  speak  of  the  literature  of  the 
Scotch  people,  which,  as  already  observed,  is  a part  of 
English  literature. 

The  supreme  name  in  Scottish  literature  is  Robert 
Burns,  whose  works  have  well  been  called  “ The 
Songs  of  the  People.”  He  touched  and  won  the 
heart  as  no  other  singer  ever  did.  For  the  most 
part,  he  followed  the  Gaelicized  English  of  the  com- 
mon people  in  his  own  country.  His  genius  lifted  a 
form  of  speech  from  the  level  of  provincialism  to 
the  lofty  eminence  of  a classic.  Personally  the  vic- 


tim of  misfortune,  his  life  darkened  by  poverty  and 
misery,  he  is  now  in  the  enjoyment  of  a most  envia- 
ble posthumous  fame.  Burns  was  born  in  1759  and 
survived  until  1796. 

His  life  was  unspeak- 
ably sad.  The  son 
of  a humble  peasant 
of  Ayrshire,  his  early 
advantages  were  ex- 
ceedingly meager. 

Through  life  he  had 
a hard  struggle  with 
poverty.  He  died 
with  the  shadow  of 

the  jail  for  debtors  ROBERT  BURNS. 

on  his  heart.  His  somewhat  voluminous  correspon- 
dence shows  him  to  have  been  a master  of  exquisite 
prose.  It  has  been  said  that  Shakspeare  gave  us  the 
Bible  of  secular  literature  and  Burns  its  hymn-book. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  is  the 
second  great  name  in  Scot- 
tish literature.  Burns  em- 
ployed the  provincialisms 
of  his  country  in  his  songs, 
while  Scott  wrote  the  pure 
English,  but  in  both  his 
poetry  and  his  novels  he 
showed  himself  to  be  a 
loyal  Scotchman.  He  was 
born  in  1771  and  died  in  sib  Walter  scott. 

1832.  He  was  educated  at  Edinburgh  university. 
He  was  raised  to  the  peerage  in  1820  in  recognition 
of  his  literary  services.  In  the  domain  of  the  his- 
torical novel  he  has  never  been  equaled. 

Scotland  can  boast 
great  eminence  in  met- 
aphysics. The  phi- 
losophers Hume,  Reid 
and  Hamilton  were 
Scotchmen.  But  the 
greatest  of  Scotland’s 
sons,  after  Burns  and 
Scott,  was  Thomas 
Carlyle,  critic  and  his- 
torian. In  him  are  seen 
the  strength  and  acute-  thomas  carlyle. 

ness  which  characterize  the  nation.  He  was  born  in 
1795  and  died  in  1880.  He  spent  many  years  in  Lon- 
don, but  never  ceased  to  be  a thorough  Scotchman. 


( 5" 


HERE  is  no  more  fertile 
land  beneath  the  sun  than 
Ireland,  known  to  the  Ro- 
mans as  Hibernia,  to  the 
Celts  as  Erin,  or  Scotia.  Its 
area  is  only  31,874  square 


miles, or, 
i n c 1 u d- 
ing  the 
nearly 
two  hun- 
dred less- 
er isles 
belong- 
ing to  it, 

32,531. 

The  Irish  Sea  separates 
it  from  England,  with 
St.  George’s  channel  be- 
tween it  and  Scotland. 

The  soil  is  too  moist,  the 
rainfall  too  abundant  for 
grain  raising  to  the  best  advantage.  The  bogs  of 
the  low  lands  are  a prominent  feature  of  the  island, 
but  grass  grows  luxuriantly,  and  the  yield  of  pota- 


toes is  enormous.  The  only  danger  in  the  case  of  the 
latter  is  that  the  wet  soil  will  breed  decay,  or  the  seeds 
of  it,  before  the  crop  can  be  secured.  Flax  is  a prod- 
uct for  which  the  country  is  well  adapted.  These 
three,  grass,  potatoes  and  flax,  have  been  peculiarly 
significant  in  making  Irish  history,  as  will  appear 

presently 

Irish  history  can  hard- 
ly be  said  to  extend  far- 
ther back  than  the  fifth 
century  when  Christian- 
ity was  introduced.  Be- 
fore that  time  the  barbar- 
ic tribes  of  the  island  were 
almost  unknown,  or  if 
known,  little  regarded. 
The  conversion  of  the 
island  was  undertaken  by 
St.  Patrick,  who  is  its 
patron  saint.  lie  was  a 
Frenchman  according  to 
some,  a Scotchman  ac- 
cording to  others.  Taken 
captive  in  war,  he  was 
sold  into  Ireland  where  ho  remained  six  years.  Dur- 
ing that  time  lie  seems  to  have  conceived  a strong 
interest  in  the  people,  for  some  twenty  years  after 


ST.  PATRICK  IN  IRELAND. 


IRELAND  AND  THE  IRISH. 


(387) 


CHAPTER  LXI V . 


Situation,  Area,  Roads  and  Products  of  Ireland — St.  Patrick— Language  and  Literature 
— Counties  and  Provinces — Irish  Linen — English  Rule  in  Ireland— The  Battle  of  the 
Boyne — Daniel  O’Connel  and  Parnell— Revolution  and  Reform— Emigration  from  Ire- 
land and  Immigration  to  America — Irish  Land  Law — Irish  Cities— Education  in  Ire- 
land— Emmet  and  “The  United  Irishmen ’’—Fenian  Brotherhood — The  Land  League 
and  the  English  Constitution. 


,4* 


388 


IRELAND  AND  THE  IRISH. 


leaving  there  he  returned  as  a missionary  of  the 
cross,  spending  over  thirty  years  in  his  holy  work. 
Dates  are  obscure,  but  all  this  was  certainly  in  the 
fifth  century,  probably  hi  the  early  part  of  it.  His 
death  is  fixed  for  March  17th,  with  wide  variations 
in  the  year,  and  that  day  is  observed  by  the  Irish 
people  as  sacred  to  his  memory.  Confused  as  is  the 
biography  of  this  man,  there  are  extaut  two  undoubt- 
edly genuine  productions  of  his  pen,  the  chief  being 
his  “ Confession,”  wherein  lie  affords  an  interesting 
view  of  his  theological  opinions.  Curiously,  none  of 
the  dogmas  peculiar  to  Romanism,  as  compared  with 
Protestantism,  find  a place  in  St.  Patrick’s  Confes- 
sion. An  absurd  tradition  at- 
tributes to  his  miraculous  pow- 
er the  banishment  from  the  isl- 
and of  toads  and  snakes.  What- 
ever else  he  did  or  failed  to  do, 
he  surely  succeeded  most  re- 
markably in  his  mission  as  a 
Christian  propagandist. 

The  original  language  of  Ire- 
land was  Gaelic,  now  spoken, 
with  some  variations,  in  the 
Hebrides  and  Highlands  of 
Scotland,  in  the  Isle  of  Man, 
and  in  some  sections  of  Ireland. 

There  are  about  100,000  of  the 
people  who  speak  nothing  else, 
and  many  more  who  speak  both 
it  and  English.  There  is  a small 
body  of  literature  in  this  language,  but  it  is  devoid 
of  much  merit.  The  Irishmen  who  have  excelled  as 
authors  have  used  the  English  language.  Thomas 
Moore  and  the  historian  Lecky  may  be  mentioned 
as  Irishmen  who  have  enriched  literature. 

The  island  is  divided  into  thirty-two  counties  and 
the  four  provinces  of  Leinster,  Munster,  Connaught 
and  Ulster.  The  latter  is  in  the  north  and  largely 
settled  by  Protestants,  many  of  them  of  Scotch 
descent.  The  relations  of  landlord  and  tenant  are 
regulated  in  that  province  by  just  customs  having 
the  force  of  law. 

There  is  no  mining  of  any  consequence  in  Ireland, 
and  very  little  manufacturing.  Belfast  spins  a great 
deal  of  flax  and  makes  large  quantities  of  linen,  but 
that  once-flourishing  industry  was  crushed  to  death 
in  other  parts  of  Ireland  by  the  British  government 
in  the  interest  of  Protestant  manufacturers.  At  one 


THE  TOWER.  DUBLIN  CASTLE 


time  southern  Ireland  displayed  remarkable  aptitude 
for  this  branch  of  skilled  labor,  and  if  events  had 
been  allowed  to  take  their  normal  course,  Irish  lin- 
en would  have  made  that  island  rich  and  contented. 
The  policy  of  the  British  government  was  protective 
to  one  section  and  prohibitory  to  another.  Once 
England  imported  its  linen  from  that  part  of 
the  island.  Heavy  export  duties  ruined  the  busi- 
ness where  the  people  were  Catholics,  while  Prot- 
estant Belfast  was  exempt  from  this  restriction. 
This  unjust  discrimination  extended  from  1699  to 
1828,  when  its  object  had  been  completely  effected. 
Irish  linen  thus  affords  a striking  instance  of  both 

sectional  and  sectarian  iniquity. 

From  the  eighth  to  the  elev- 
enth century  was  the  period  of 
Ireland’s  greatest  comparative 
civilization.  During  that  pe- 
riod it  was  more  advanced  in 
learning  and  culture  than  En- 
gland, and  certainly  not  inferior 
to  any  part  of  the  continent  ex- 
cept Moorish  Spain.  Colleges 
flourished  and  the  arts  were 
carried  to  a high  degree  of  per- 
fection. In  education  and  re- 
ligion it  was  independent,  pro- 
gressive and  potential.  The 
church  of  Rome  became  jealous 
of  the  Irish  church  and  insti- 
gated Henry  II.  of  England  to 
make  a war  of  subjugation  upon  the  smaller  but  more 
advanced  island.  The  Irish  were  not  united  under  a 
strong  central  government.  On  the  contrary,  they 
were  divided  into  petty  kingdoms  having  no  secure 
bond  of  union.  This  fact  facilitated  conquest.  Hen- 
ry made  his  raids  in  1172.  From  that  time  to  the 
present  England  has  claimed  Irish  allegiance. 
Sometimes  the  yoke  would  be  thrown  off  briefly,  but 
only  to  be  made  all  the  more  galling.  The  most 
memorable  struggle  between  oppressor  and  oppressed 
was  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  fought  July  1,  1690. 
The  Catholics  of  Ireland  had  espoused  the  cause  of 
James  II.  after  his  expulsion  and  the  coronation  of 
William  and  Mary,  and  that  battle  was  the  result. 
The  anniversary  of  the  victory  achieved  by  the  Or- 
angemen on  that  occasion  is  still  observed  in  some 
sections  as  a day  of  rejoicing  and  occasion  of  secta- 
rian riot.  Numerous  have  been  the  attempts  of  the 


^>IV 


Ji 


k- 


IRELAND  AND  THE  IRISH. 


389 


Irish,  even  in  later  times,  to  achieve  independence, 
the  abortive  Fenian  uprising  being  the  last  armed 
rebellion  against  British  authority.  The  more  im- 
portant details 
and  general 
facts  in  this  re- 
gard have  been 
given  in  pre- 
vious chapters. 

The  greatest 
of  Irish  pa- 
triots was  Dan- 
iel O’Connell. 

He  was  a phe- 
nomenal ora- 
tor, the  su- 
preme agita- 
tor. “No  revo- 
lution is  worth 
one  drop  of 
blood  ” was  his 
motto.  Con- 
vinced of  the 
futility  of  arm- 
ed resistance, 

lie  sought  to  secure  by  parliamentary  process  the 
mitigation  of  Irish  grievances.  His  efforts  were  not 
without  much  success.  Many  infamous  laws  were 
repealed  in 
consequence 
of  his  agita- 
tion. The 
latest  and 
most  for- 
midable re- 
bellion oc- 
curred in 
1798,  and 
raged  for 
two  years. 

When  sup- 
pressed the 
Irish  Par- 
liament at 

Dublin  was  abolished,  and  now  Ireland  is  represented 
in  the  British  Parliament. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  population  of  Ire- 
land is  Catholic ; but  until  1809  the  Episcopal 
church  was  the  state  church.  In  that  year,  after  a 


CUSTOM  HOUSE,  DUBLIN. 


BANK  OF  IRELAND  AND  TRINITY  COLLEGE. 


long  contest  in  parliament,  it  was  disestablished  and 
disendowed,  and  the  endowment,  except  as  used  for 
annuities,  was  dedicated  to  educational  and  other 
secular  pur- 
poses. 

That  reform 
was  not  satis- 
factory, how- 
ever, whereup- 
on a powerful 
movement  was 
i naugurated 
for  securing  re- 
form in  the  ten- 
ure of  land  and 
the  relations  of 
landlord  and 
tenant.  The 
leader  in  this 
movement  is 
Mr.  Parnell,  a 
large  land  own- 
er and  Protest- 
ant who  has 
shown  himself 
to  be  a great  organizer,  parliamentarian  and  de- 
bater. Reform  within  the  constitution  is  his  aim 
and  scope.  The  present  ministry  and  parliament 

have  been 
almost  ab- 
sorbingly, 
occu  pi  ed 
with  this 
subject,  and 
the  reform- 
ershave  rea- 
son to  take 
heart,  there 
being  some 
chance  that 
the  Irish 
may  yet  be 
placed  on 
a political 

and  industrial  equality  with  the  English  and  Scotch, 
although  much  remains  to  be  done. 

The  statistics  of  Irish  population  are  very  remark- 
able. In  1750  the  population  was  a trifle  over  2,000- 
000,  and  in  sixty  years  it  lacked  only  a trifle  of  three 


"71 


— & 


IL 


390 


IRELAND  AND  THE  IRISH. 


times  that  number ; by  1841  it  was  over  8,000,000, 
Before  another  census,  came  the  terrible  famine, 
when  thousands  died  of  starvation,  and  vastly  more 
sought  relief  in  emigration  to  this  country,  some  to 
England.  It  is  estimated  that  over  2,000,000  came 
to  America  between  the  years  1851  and  1873,  and 
that  there  are  more  Irish,  including  their  children, 
in  the  United  States  than  in  Ireland.  There  are 
certainly  more  in  New  York  City  than  in  Dublin. 
The  English  and  the  landlords  do  not  regret  this 
loss  of  population,  for  they  prefer  cattle  and  sheep 


that  reasonable  men  among  them  expected,  or  even 
demanded,  down  to  the  year  before  its  passage.  It 
secures  to  all  tenants  throughout  the  sister  island  the 
right  of  free  sale  for  which  Ulster  was  wont  to  be 
envied.  It  gives  them  the  privilege  of  getting  the 
‘fair  rent’  of  their  holdings  fixed  by  the  court,  and 
of  obtainhig  what  is  in  fact  a statutory,  or  lease  for 
fifteen  years,  renewable  at  the  end  of  the  term.  It 
extends  the  authority  of  the  tribunal  created  to  ad- 
minister the  new  law  over  contracts  of  the  most  sol- 
emn and  stringent  character,  so  that  leaseholders 


Q) 

TT 


to  men  and  women ; butter  and  beef,  wool  and  mut- 
ton, to  potatoes.  In  this  country  the  industrious 
citizen,  irrespective  of  nationality,  is  a public  bene- 
factor, whatever  his  employment.  That  the  Irish 
immigrant  is  welcome  here  and  the  Irish  emigrant 
bidden  godspeed  there,  is  a difference  largely  due 
to  different  economical  conditions  and  circumstances 
of  nature. 

The  London  Times  thus  briefly  sums  up  the  Irish 
land  bill,  which  became  a law  in  August,  1881,  after 
one  of  the  most  memorable  of  parliamentary  strug- 
gles, extending  over  seven  months: 

“ It  gives  the  tenant  farmers  all,  and  more  than  all 


may  not  be  excluded  from  the  benefits  of  the  bill. 

It  greatly  enlarges  the  opportunities  for  the  creation 
of  peasant  proprietory  with  the  aid  of  public  funds.” 

The  chief  cities  of  Ireland  are  Dublin,  Belfast, 
Cork,  Limerick,  Londonderry  and  Queenstown.  The 
river  Liffey,  flowing  through  Dublin,  divides  it  into 
two  nearly  equal  parts.  The  population  is  about 
250,000.  The  former  capitol  of  Ireland,  situated 
there,  is  now  used  as  a bank  building.  Belfast,  100 
miles  north  of  Dublin,  is  the  chief  city  of  the  Prot- 
estant portion  of  the  island.  It  has  nearly  200,000 
inhabitants,  very  few  of  them  being  Romanists.  ^ 
Linen  manufactories  were  established  there  as  early 


SACKYILLE  STREET,  DUBLIN 


iJ 


IRELAND  AND  THE  IRISH. 


393 


as  1637.  It  is  still  the  center  of  Irish  textual 
manufactures.  Cork  is  almost  wholly  Catholic,  and. 
its  manufactures  are  glass  and  other  minor  staples. 
It  is  situated  136  miles  southwest  of  Dublin  and  has 
an  excellent  harbor.  Limerick  has  the  honor  of  be- 
ing the  last  place  to  surrender  to  William  III.,  in 
1691,  on  which  occasion  it  secured  important  con- 
cessions for  the  Catholics  within  its  limits.  It  is  the 
chief  city  of  Munster.  Londonderry,  like  Belfast,  is 
in  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  an  important  center  of 
Protestant  influence.  It  was  once  a fortified  town. 
Very  many  of  the  people  are  of  Scotch  descent. 

Trinity  College,  Dublin,  is  the  principal  university 
of  Ireland.  It  was  founded  in  1320,  but  it  fel-l  into 
decay,  until  revived  by  Queen  Elizabeth  in  1593. 
Her  successor,  James  I.,  granted  it  representation  in 
parliament,  and  munificent  endowments.  It  is  a 
very  rich  institution  and  its  rank  is  with  the  best 
universities  of  Europe.  Among  its  graduates  are 
numbered  Swift,  Goldsmith,  Burke,  Berkeley  and 
Sheridan.  Queen’s  colleges,Cork, Galway  and  Belfast, 
are  somewhat  important  centers  of  liberal  and  pro- 
fessional education ; but  not  as  well  known  as  May- 
nooth  College.  The  latter  is  designed  for  the  educa- 
tion of  priests.  It  has  provision  for  about  five  hun- 
dred students.  It  was  founded  in  1795.  It  has  a state 
endowment  and  is  the  only  state  endowment  of  any 
kind  in  Ireland  for  the  benefit  of  Roman  Catholics. 

In  Irish  affection  no  name  has  a more  tender 
place  than  Robert  Emmet,  born  in  1780.  He  was 
a leader  of  the  United  Irishmen,  a great  organiza- 
tion, having  for  its  object  the  liberation  of  their  na- 
tive country  from  British  rule.  In  1803  he  and  his 
associates  were  engaged  in  an  uprising  which  was 


premature,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  Young  Emmet 
was  arrested,  tried,  convicted  and  executed.  His 
speech  in  his  own  defense  on  the  trial  is  a very  re- 
markable piece  of  eloquence.  His  sad  fate  inspired 
the  muse  of  Thomas  Moore,  whose  “ Irish  melodies” 
give  voice  to  Irish  patriotism. 

The  latest  formidable  and  avowed  organization  in 
favor  of  Irish  nationality  is,  or  was  (for  the  society 
seems  to  be  a thing  of  the  past),  the  Fenian  Broth- 
erhood. In  medieval  and  legendary  Ireland  there  was 
a tribe  by  the  name  of  Finns  or  Finians.  The  mod- 
ern society  of  the  name  was  started  in  1859,  in  both 
America  and  Great  Britain.  It  held  a “ Congress” 
at  Chicago  in  1863.  That  first  gathering  attracted 
much  attention.  Another,  held  at  Cincinnati  two 
years  later,  was  more  important.  It  represented  a 
constituency  of  80,000,  and  seriously  threatened 
trouble.  The  next  year  two  military  companies  of 
Fenians  crossed  from  the  United  States  to  Canada, 
to  strike  at  England  through  the  New  Dominion, 
The  raid  was  abortive  and  inglorious.  Several  Fe- 
nian riots  occurred  in  Great  Britain  during  1867,  but 
they  accomplished  nothing  directly,  but  indirectly 
they  wrought  a great  work  for  Ireland,  impress- 
ing upon  parliament  the  necessity  of  Irish  reform. 
In  that  point  of  view  the  Fenian  Brotherhood  de- 
serves much  credit. 

The  Land  League  is  a radically  different  organi- 
zation. It  aims  at  British  reforms  within  the  limi- 
tations of  the  British  constitution,  rather  than  the 
dissolution  of  the  union.  It  has  secured  very  much 
through  the  land  Dill  and  the  readjustment  of  rents 
thereunder,  and  it  is  still  a tremendous  power  in  Ire- 
land and  the  British  parliament. 


"• ®rv 


CHAPTER  LX  V. 


Extent  of  Canada — Census  Returns  of  1881— English  Discovery  of  Canada— French  Set- 
tlement of  Canada — Acadia  and  the  Acadians — Old  France  in  “New  France’’ — Cham- 
plain and  his  Policy — British  Policy  in  Canada— The  Perpetuation  of  National  Types 
and  Old  World  Prejudices — The  Canadian  Indians — Manitoba — Hudson  Bay  and  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company — Political  System  of  Canada — Virtual  Independence — Reciproc- 
ity—The  Cities  of  Canada — Education — Railroads — Labrador  and  the  Esquimaux. 


NTIL  the  year  1877  the 
term  Canada  applied  sim- 
ply to  a tract  of  country 
some  1,400  miles  long  and 
from  200  to  400  miles  wide, 
just  north  of  the  United 
States,  divided  into  Upper 
and  Lower  Canada,  and 
forming  the  better,  but  by  no  means  the 
larger,  part  of  British  America,  and  now 
known  as  the  provinces  of  Ontario  and 
Quebec.  But  the  term  now  has  a much 
wider  import.  What  were  so  long  the 
distinct  provinces  of  the  Atlantic  coast. 
Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  Prince 
Edward’s  Island  and  Newfoundland, 
are  now  included,  also  British  Colum- 
bia, Manitoba,  Labrador,  the  Hudson  Bay  region,  in 
fine,  “ the  whole  boundless  continent  ” north  of  the 
United  States,  except  Alaska,  reaching  to  the  North 
Pole  and  from  ocean  to  ocean,  formerly  known  as 
British  America.  The  complete  consolidation  of 
the  Dominion  was  not  effected  until  1872,  Prince 
Edward’s  Island  being  the  last  province  to  join  the 
confederation.  The  total  area  of  the  Dominion  is 
about  3,500,000  square  miles. 


The  Canadian  census  of  1881  may  be  summed  up 
in  its  more  important  features  thus:  680,498  are  the 
figures  for  the  total  increase  during  the  last  decade 
immediately  preceding  the  enumeration,  and  the  to- 
tal population  is  now  4,350,533.  The  inhabitants  of 
Ontario  now  number  1,913,460 ; of  Quebec,  1,358,- 
469 ; of  Nova  Scotia,  440,585 ; of  New  Brunswick, 
321,129.  The  population  of  Prince  Edward’s  Isl- 
and is  107,781,  and  of  Manitoba  49,509.  British 
Columbia  and  the  territories  are  estimated  at  160,- 
000.  As  compared  with  the  census  of  1871  Ontario 
shows  the  largest  increase,  the  percentage  being 
18.05.  Quebec,  14.02,  Nova  Scotia,  13.61,  New  Bruns- 
wick, 12.44  and  Prince  Edward’s  Island,  14.63. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1497  that  John  Cabot,  a 
foreign  merchant  of  Bristol,  England,  set  sail  with 
a fleet  of  five  vessels  on  a voyage  of  discovery  in  the 
new  world.  Henry  VII.  commissioned  him.  His 
son,  Sebastian  Cabot,  commanded  one  of  the  vessels. 
They  reached  the  Newfoundland  coast  in  June, 
and  were  the  first  Englishmen  to  behold  America. 
They  returned  to  England  almost  immediately.  No 
settlement  was  effected.  Two  years  later  the  younger 
Cabot  conducted  a second  expedition  across  the 
Atlantic,  but  this  time  came  to  anchor  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  instead  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 


(394) 


THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA 


395 


The  Cabots  accomplished  nothing,  beyond  the  dis- 
semination of  New- World  knowledge. 

The  first  practical  discovery  of  Canada  occurred 
in  1534.  Jac- 
ques Cartier,  a 
French  navi- 
gator, reached 
the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Law- 
rence, and  as- 
cended that 
lordly  river  as 
far  as  the  site 
of  Montreal.  It 
was  two  years 
before  Cartier 
returned  to 
France.  Prior 
to  that  time  the 
New  Found- 
land  fisheries 
had  tempted 
the  French, 

English,  Spanish  and  Portuguese  across  the  Atlantic, 
but  Cartier  was  the  first  permanent  settler.  He 
brought  to  these  shores  a very  considerable  colony 
from  the  west  of 
France,  men  in 
whose  veins  there 
coursed  the  blood 
of  the  old  Norman 
rovers  and  robbers. 

A little  prior  to 
Cartier’s  explora- 
tions a French  fleet 
had  sailed  along 
the  American  con- 
tinent from  Florida 
to  Canada, dubbing 
it  “ New  France,” 
but  doing  nothing 
to  really  justify  the 
appellation.  The 
first  F rench  settlers 
had  for  their  main 
object  trade  in  furs 
and  fish.  Gradually  they  formed  permanent  settle- 
ments, near  the  coast  and  along  the  St.  Lawrence. 

One  of  the  primitive  settlements  of  “ New  France" 


was  Acadia,  or  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and 
a part  of  Maine.  The  first  Acadian  settlement  was 
in  1604.  Its  close  proximity  to  the  fishery  banks 

rendered  it 
especially  im- 
portant. In 
1713  France 
ceded  Acadia 
to  England. 
The  people 
resolutely  re- 
fused to  take 
the  oath  of  al- 
legiance to  the 
English  crown. 
There  were 
eighteen  thou- 
sand of  them, 
and  the  ruth- 
less hand  of 
British  power 
removed  them, 
in  many  cases 
separating  families.  The  melancholy  fate  of  the 
Acadians  furnished  and  suggested  Longfellow’s 
great  and  substantially  historical  popm  of  “ Evan- 
geline.” 

The  F rench  of 
Canada  belong  to 
the  old  regime,  the 
France  which  pre- 
ceded the  Revolu- 
tion. They  are  and 
always  have  been 
singularly  out  of 
all  sympathy  with 
their  fatherland  of 
the  last  century, 
and  pride  them- 
selves upon  their 
conservatis  m . 
They  are  profound- 
ly religious  and  as 
orthodox  as  a col- 
lege of  cardinals. 
They  have  no  share 
in  the  work  wrought  for  the  French  people  by  Did- 
erot and  Voltaire,  Rousseau  and  Dan  ton,  the  Cyclo- 
pedia and  the  sans  calotte.  They  have  remained 


■Vfc- 


396 


THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA. 


as  nearly  stationary  as  possible,  and  show  no  signs 
of  uneasiness  in  a sitting  posture.  As  contradic- 
tory as  it  may  sound,  it  is  none  the  less  true,  that 
old  France  is  to  be  found  only  in  “New  France,” 
among  a people  who  left  their  ancestral  homes  be- 
fore the  Renaissance. 

Second  to  Cartier  was  Champlain,  in  whose 
honor  Lake  Champlain  was  named.  He  came  to 
this  country  in  1603.  His  aim  was  more  to  found 
a state  than  to  establish  a trading-post.  In  1608  he 
laid  the  foundations  of  Quebec.  The  policy  of 
Champlain  was  to  found  an  empire  by  converting, 
civilizing  and  subduing  the  Indians,  rather  than  by 
building  up  a purely  French  colony.  The  colo- 
nists were  to  be  lay  missionaries,  instrumental  in 
elevating  the  aborigines  of  the  New  World,  much 
as  the  barbarians  of  Northern  Europe  had  been 
transformed  by  intercourse  with  civilized  peoples. 
But  he  did  not  know  the  unchangeable  savagery  of 
the  Indian.  Many  were  Christianized,  and  for  the 
most  part  friendly  relations  have  always  been  main- 
tained between  the  races ; but  the  distinctive  idea  of 
Samuel  Champlain,  as  of  John  Eliot,  proved  a flat 
failure. 

From  the  days  of  Champlain  dates  the  real  pros- 
perity of  Canada.  The  white  population  increased 
with  considerable  rapidity.  By  the  year  1759,  when 
the  whole  country  passed  into  English  control  and 
the  French  flag  was  furled,  the  French  population 
numbered  about  65,000  souls.  There  has  been  no 
increase  since  by  immigration,  and  a great  many  of 
the  French  Canadians  have  emigrated  and  are  emi- 
grating to  the  United  States,  the  “States,”  as  they 
call  it. 

The  sad  fate  of  Acadia  was  not  shared  by  the 
Canadians  of  half  a century  later.  On  the  contrary, 
the  French  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  in  good 
faith  and  the  English  adopted  a very  conciliatory 
policy.  They  respected  the  rights  and  indulged  the 
preferences  of  the  conquered  people  to  an  unprece- 
dented degree.  They  were  allowed  to  retain  their 
peculiarities  of  language,  religion,  and  to  a large 
extent,  laws.  To  this  day  Canada  is  governed  upon 
a dual  plan  which  fosters  the  maintenance  of  the 
French  population  as  a distinct  part  of  the  people. 
The  present  French  population  of  Canada  is  some- 
thing over  one  million,  and  the  toleration  of  the 
British  crown,  together  with  the  radical  changes  in 
France,  have  developed  in  those  people  a loyalty 


to  the  imperial  government  second  only  to  that  of 
the  Russian  peasantry. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  present  population  of 
Canada  is  divided  between  the  French,  Irish,  Scotch 
and  English,  with  a few  Germans  in  the  larger 
towns.  Along  the  United  States  border  are  scat- 
tered some  descendants  of  the  Tories  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  different 
elements  of  the  population,  whatever  their  nation- 
ality, maintain  their  national  peculiarities  more  te- 
naciously there  than  anywhere  else.  For  example, 
the  Battle  of  the  Boyne  is  fought  over  with  disrep- 
utable frequency  between  the  Catholic  Irish  and 
the  Orangemen  upon  Canadian  soil.  Nor  is  it  an 
uncommon  thing  to  find  settlements  of  Scotch  High- 
landers where  Gaelic  only  is  spoken  and  the  English 
language  is  an  unknown  tongue. 

There  are  about  100,000  Indians  in  Canada,  not 
including  the  Esquimaux  of  the  far  north.  Many 
of  these  aborigines  are  on  reservations,  and  all  of 
them  are  peaceable.  No  complaints  of  Indian  wars 
and  “rings”  are  made.  The  larger  part  of  these 
savages  are  to  be  found  in  British  Columbia  and  the 
far  north,  where  there  is  ample  game.  Those  upon 
reservations  are  making  some  progress  in  the  arts 
of  civilization. 

The  older  part  of  Canada  is  adapted  to  and  de- 
voted to  miscellaneous  farming,  but  Manitoba,  the 
Red  River  region  of  the  north  and  center,  is  pecul- 
iarly suited  to  wheat  growing.  It  resembles  Min- 
nesota which  it  joins.  That  far-reaching  tract  of 
country  in  the  very  heart  of  the  continent,  under 
proper  cultivation  and  with  transportation  facilities, 
might  furnish  bread  to  the  whole  world,  if  necessary. 
The  great  difficulty  of  course  is  transportation.  A 
railroad  across  the  continent  on  Canadian  soil  has 
been  projected,  and  strong  hopes  of  its  construction 
are  entertained.  A railroad  to  Hudson’s  Bay  has 
been  contemplated — one  could  hardly  say  projected. 
The  province  of  Manitoba  was  purchased  by  Thomas 
Douglas,  Earl  of  Selkirk,  from  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  in  1810.  The  “Red  River  Settlement,” 
or  Pembina,  was  effected  under  his  lordship’s  auspi- 
ces, a colony  of  Highlanders  establishing  themselves 
there.  It  was  not  at  all  flourishing.  At  last  the 
Northern  Pacific  railroad  came  near  enough  to  fur- 
nish an  outlet  for  the  wheat  crop  and  an  era  of  some 
prosperity  was  inaugurated. 

Hudson’s  Bay  has  been  well  described  as  “ a great 


c 


Of 

~7\ 


THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA. 


397 


landlocked  sea.”  It  is  800  miles  in  length  from 
north  to  south  and  600  miles  in  width,  covering 
an  area  of  300,000  square  miles.  Hudson’s  Strait 
is  its  outlet  to  the  Atlantic.  It  is  icebound  in  win- 
ter and  rendered  somewhat  dangerous  by  floating 
ice  in  summer.  The  idea  of  reaching  the  seaboard 
from  Manitoba  by  that  route  is  wholly  chimerical. 
The  Hudson’s  Bay  Company  was  the  last  of  the 
great  British  commercial  monopolies.  It  was  char- 
tered in  1670  by  Charles  II.,  and  it  did  not  surrender 
its  powers  and  rights  to  the  crown  until  quite  re- 
cently. The  act  of  parliament  authorizing  the  sur- 
render and  providing  therefor,  was  passed  in  1868. 
The  transfer 


pardoning  power,  and  that  is  about  all.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  the  position  is  filled  by  the  Marquis  of 
Lome,  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Argvle  and  son-in- 
law  of  Queen  Victoria.  He  is  a worthy  gentleman 
and  gives  satisfaction,  although,  perhaps,  not  quite 
as  popular  as  his  immediate  predecessor,  Lord  Duf- 
ferin.  The  constitution  of  the  dominion,  adopted 
in  1867,  defines  the  relative  functions  of  the  general 
and  the  local  governments.  The  former  has  juris- 
diction of  criminal  law,  including  the  penitentiaries ; 
bankruptcy  proceedings ; marriage  and  divorce ; 
naturalization  of  aliens ; Indians  and  their  reserva- 
tions, and,  in  fine,  all  matters  not  expressly  assigned 

to  the  pro- 


was perfect- 
ed in  1870, 
just  two  cen- 
turies after 
its  corporate 
creation.  It 
traded  main- 
ly in  furs. 

Gradually  it 
spread  its 
area  of  traf- 
fic and  estab- 
lished tra- 
ding-p os  t s 
from  ocean 
to  ocean.  Its 
profits  were 
enormous. 

So  too  were 
its  benefits  to 

the  world,  for  it  set  in  operation  a stupendous 
mechanism  by  which  the  savages  of  the  northern 
portionof  North  America  were  induced  to  harvestthe 
fur  crop  of  that  part  of  the  continent  for  the  com- 
fort and  health  of  the  civilized  world. 

The  political  system  of  Canada  is  somewhat  com- 
plicated. The  fetters  of  colonial  dependence  are 
simply  bracelets,  worn  for  ornament.  The  home  gov- 
ernment appoints  a governor-general  whose  princi- 
pal duties  consist  in  the  maintenance  of  a miniature 
court  at  the  capital,  Ottawa,  for  the  diversion  of  the 
good  people  thereabouts.  The  actual  authority  of 
government  is  divided  between  the  Dominion  parlia- 
ment and  the  parliaments  of  the  provinces.  That  im- 
posing figurehead,  the  Governor-General,  has  the 


PARLIAMENT  HOUSE,  OTTAWA. 


vincial  legis- 
latures, re- 
versing, on 
this  latter 
point,  the 
policy  of  the 
constitution 
of  the  Uni- 
ted States. 
Pro  vincial 
legislatures 
are  restrict- 
ed to  strictly 
local  mat- 
ters. The 
judges  in 
Canada  hold 
office  during 
good  behav- 
ior, and  the 

courts  consist  of  the  local  tribunals  and  a Su- 
preme Court  and  Court  of  Exchequer  at  Ottawa. 

There  is  no  longer  any  considerable  desire  on  the 
part  of  Canada  to  be  free  from  England,  nor  yet  to 
be  annexed  to  the  United  States.  The  present  sys- 
tem of  government  seems  to  meet  the  popular  views 
admirably.  The  existence  of  vexatious  tariff  re- 
strictions upon  commerce  across  the  border  is  a mu- 
tual source  of  regret,  but  so  long  as  the  interest  of 
this  republic  requires  protective  or  revenue  duties, 
these  restrictions  would  appear  to  be  inevitable.  At 
least  there  is  no  indication  that  a reciprocity  treaty 
will  be  entered  upon  between  the  United  States  and 
Canada. 

Quebec  is  a quaint  old  town  with  walls  and  battle- 


SFv" 


THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA. 


ments,  and  streets  which  are  mere  lanes  and  alleys. 
Few  cities  of  Enropeare  as  suggestive  of  the  medieval 
age  as  Quebec. 

Montreal  is  a 
thrifty  port,  ad- 
mirably situated 
at  the  conflu- 
ence of  the  river 
and  gulf  of  St. 

Lawrence.  It  is 
the  natural  head 
of  that  chain  of 
lake  navigation 
which  extends 
from  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Su- 
perior and  links 
together  Du- 
luth,Milwaukee? 

Chicago,  De- 
troit, Cleveland, 

Toledo,  Buffalo, 

Oswego,  Ogdens- 
burg  and  Mon- 
treal. It  was  for- 
merly the  capi- 
tal of  Canada. 

A formidable  riot  dispersed  parliament  in  1849  and 
burnt  down  the  capitol.  It  was  not  rebuilt.  The 
capital  was 
removed  to 
Toronto 
during  the 
next  two 
years,  and 
then  to  Que- 
bec for  four 
years.  To- 
ronto is  on 
the  shore  of 
Lake  Onta- 
rio and  is  the 
prov  incial 
capital  of 
the  province 
of  Toronto. 

WhenU  pper 

or  Western  Canada  was  distinct  from  Lower  or 
Eastern  Canada,  Toronto  was  the  capital.  It  has 


QUEBEC 


UNIVERSITY  OP  TORONTO. 


many  fine  buildings,  the  most  notable  being  the 
University  of  Toronto.  It  ivas  in  1857  that  the  seat 

of  government 
was  removed  to 
the  interior  town 
of  Ottawa, which 
has  remained 
the  capital  ever 
since.  St.  John’s 
in  New  Bruns- 
wick and  St. 
John’s  hi  New- 
foundland are 
both  very  con- 
siderable ports. 
So  is  Halifax, 
Nova  Scotia. 
Hamilton  and 
London  are 
flourishing 
towns  hi  On- 
tario. 

In  the  matter 
of  education  a 
public  school 
system  prevails 
wherever  the 
population  is  dense  enough  to  admit  of  it,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Province  of  Quebec.  The  French 

Canadians 
are  not  to  be 
lured  to  de- 
struction by 
sp  e lling- 
books.  The 
priests  hold 
firmly  to  the 
children, and 
carefully 
train  them 
up  in  ignor- 
ance and  the 
Catechism. 

Speaking 
of  the  rail- 
roads of  the 
country, 

Frederick  Martin  says,  “ The  Dominion  of  Canada 
had  a network  of  railways  of  a total  length  of  5,574 


6" 


THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA. 


399 


4 


miles  at  the  end  of  June,  1878.  There  were  at  the 
same  period  lines  of  a total  length  of  1,996  miles  in 
course  of  construction,  and  3,000  miles  more  had 
been  surveyed,  and  concessions  granted  by  the  gov- 
ernment. Partly  included  hi  the  latter  class  is  a 
railway  crossing  the  whole  of  the  dominion,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  to  the  construction  of 
which  the  British  government  contributes  a grant, 


applies  to  an  area  of  about  500,000  square  miles 
north  of  Hudson  Bay,  the  home  of  the  Esquimaux. 
This  branch  of  the  family  of  American  aborigines, 
found  at  the  extreme  north  on  both  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Pacific  coast,  are  thought  to  be  the  connect- 
ing link  between  the  Indian  and  the  Mongolians 
mentioned  in  a succeeding  chapter  on  the  Chinese 
Empire.  They  are  short,  thick,  muscular  and  stupid, 


in  the  form  of  a guaranteed  loan  of  82,500,000.” 
Since  the  term  Canada,  in  its  fullest  sense,  extends 
to  the  North  Pole,  this  chapter  may  close  with  some 
account  of  Labrador  and  the  Esquimaux. 

Labrador  means  “arable  land.”  It  is  as  great  a 
misnomer  as  the  name  Greenland.  A distinct  coun- 
ty by  that  name  in  the  valley  of  the  Sagueney,  and 
province  of  Quebec,  is  inhabited  by  a few  French 
Canadians  who  thrive  by  fishing.  Labrador  proper 


expert  only  in  fishing  or  hunting.  They  arc  sup- 
posed to  number  about  50,000,  including  those  found 
in  Greenland  and  Alaska.  Their  domestic  animal 
is  the  dog,  and  their  principal  food  is  the  blubber  of 
the  whale,  walrus  or  seal.  Their  color  is  a light 
brown.  Originally  they  were  almost  wholly  destitute 
of  religious  sensibilities.  Christian  missionaries,  Mo- 
ravian and  Danish  Lutheran,  have  done  something 
in  the  line  of  their  conversion  to  Christianity. 


CHAPTER  LX  VI. 


Imperial  India — The  Birth-place  of  the  Aryan  Race — Ancient  Ruins— Alexander  in  India — 
Portuguese  and  Dutch  India — British  Expulsion  of  the  Xetherlanders— The  French 
in  India— Lord  Clive  and  Surajaii  Dowlah— Warren  Hastings— Lord  Cornwallis— Se- 


pfwj 

t 

poy  Mutiny  and  its  Results — Viceroys  of  the  Crown — “Owen  Meredith”  and  Lord 

( 

>s! 

\KPi 

Ripon — The  Mogul  Empire — Benares  the  Holy  Citt — Sanskrit  and  the  Possibilities 

IET3 

| IS,- 

of  the  Future. 

11— — 

-y 

JURING  the  premiership 
of  the  late  Lord  Beacons- 
%¥*field  the  Queen  of  En- 
gland added  to  her  titles 
that  of  Empress  of  India. 
That  country,  sometimes 
called  Hindustan,  is  in- 
deed an  empire,  containing  as  it  does  no 


less  than  250,000,- 
000  people,  not 
savages  either, 
but  the  inheritors 
of  a splendid  civ- 
ilization, effete,  it 
is  true,  but  not 
wholly  lost  and 
wasted.  In  pop- 
ulation this-  im- 
perial possession  is  double  that  of  the  Roman  em-  ; Englishman,  the  German,  the  Yankee,  all  belong 


"Tl 


pire  at  its  best.  With  the  Himalaya  mountains  on 
the  north,  and  the  Indian  Ocean  on  the  south,  it  is 
a land  by  itself,  rich  in  resources  and  under  a high 
state  of  cultivation  in  many  parts.  Such  a country 
contributes  greatly  to  the  wealth  of  England,  both 
by  its  imports  and  its  exports,  furnishing  the  raw 
material  and  consuming  the  manufactured  article, 
all  to  an  extent  which  may  fairly  entitle  India  to  the 

designation  of  the 
backbone  of  Brit- 
ish prosperity. 

By  a careful 
comparative 
study  of  lan- 
guages it  has  been 
ascertained  that 
the  present  great 
nations  of  the 
world  came,  for 
the  most  part, 
from  the  Aryan 
race,  which  can 
be  traced  to  In- 
dia. The  Brah- 
min, the  Greek, 
the  Roman,  the 


Tv 


"71 


(400) 


BRITISH  INDIA 


401 


-®L 


CO U UT  HOUSE  STKEET,  OALUOUSLE  SQUAIiE,  CALCUTTA. 


BRITISH  INDIA. 


4°3 


to  the  same  stock.  But  the  connection  is  too  re- 
mote and  obscure  to  be  traced  in  this  volume.  It  is 
enough  for  our  purpose  to  follow  the  footprints  of 
historical  devel- 
opment. 

India  is  splen- 
did, yet  mournful 
in  rums.  Fallen 
temples  and  de- 
caying pagodas 
attest  a past  which 
is  sealed  from  the 
vision  of  history. 

Eventually  their 
mysteries  may  be 
explored  and  the 
gold  of  facts  sep- 
arated from  the 
dross  of  fiction. 

Now  those  mon- 
umental ruins  are 
surrounded  by  the 
wall  of  mystery. 

The  first  ap- 
pearance of  India 
in  history  dates 
from  B.  C.  327, 
when  Alexander 
the  Great  attemp- 
ted its  conquest. 

His  intrepid  army 
was  flushed  with 
victory  over  the 
Persians,  and  eag- 
er for  “ more 
worlds  to  con- 
quer.” India  was 
little  more  to  the 
Greeks  than  a 
vague  rumor,  a 
fabulous  land  of 
wealth  and  lux- 
ury, a veritable 
Eldorado.  But 
the  march  itself 

was  exhaustive.  The  Ganges  was  his  goal,  and  no 
serious'  human  obstacle  impeded  his  course ; but 
the  heat  of  the  country  melted  the  heroism  of  the 
brave  Greeks,  and  the  sand  choked  their  enterprise. 


The  intrepid  and  dauntless  Alexander  spent  two 
years  in  the  country  including  the  time  spent  in  the 
march  thither  and  back,  returning  without  a per- 
manent foothold. 
The  invasion  was 
not  wholly  fruit- 
less, however. 
Greek  culture  ac- 
quired some  ad- 
vantage from  con- 
tact with  what 
may  probably  be 
set  down  as  the 
oldest  of  all  ex- 
tant or  known 
civilizations.  But 
no  vital  connec- 
tion was  formed 
between  the  two, 
and  India  soon 
dropped  out  of 
the  great  world 
with  which  an- 
cient history  has 
to  do,  leaving  be- 
hind hardly  a 
single  landmark 
or  trace  of  any 
kind. 

The  first  Euro- 
pean, after  Alex- 
ander, to  pene- 
trate to  India  and 
establish  relations 
with  it  was  the  en- 
terprising Vasco 
da  Gama,  whose 
ex]>loits  were  told 
in  connection  with 
Portugal.  Fora 
century  the  Por- 
tuguese enjoyed  a 
monopoly  of  ori- 
ental commerce, 
and  then  came  the 
Dutch  to  wrest  it  from  them  in  great  measure. 
During  the  seventceth  century  Antwerp,  Amster- 
dam and  other  commercial  cities  grew  rich  in  the 
Indian  traffic.  The  Dutch  East  India  Company 


ENGLISH  LIFE  IN  INDIA. 


BRITISH  INDIA. 


4°4 


was  formed  in  1602.  The  English  were  not  slow  in 
trying  to  gain  a footing,  and  the  Dutch,  who  had 
succeeded  in  eclipsing  the  Portuguese,  found  a for- 
midable rival  in  the  British.  That  rivalry  was  sharp 
and  bloody  until  1689,  when' the  accession  of  Wil- 
liam of  Orange  to  the  English  throne  brought  com- 
parative peace. 

Before  that  time  the  union  jack  of  England  had 
successfully  defied  the  Dutch  broom  in  Indian  waters, 
and  Lord  Clive  had  laid  firmly  and  broadly  the  foun- 
dations of  British  India.  The  decisive  blow  was 
struck  in  1758.  But  it  was  during  the  period  when 
Europe  was  the  theater  of  almost  constant  warfare, 
from  1781  to  1811,  that  England  succeededin  expell- 
ing the  Dutch  from  India.  Even  Java,  afterwards 
restored,  was  wrested  from  the  Hollanders.  By 
the  last  census  returns  the  Dutch  population  in  In- 
dia proper  had  dwindled  to  seventy-two.  Many 
houses  and  some  canals  remain  to  testify  that  the 
Nether  landers  once  possessed  the  land,  or  the  sea 
rather,  but  they  themselves  have  gone.  When  Ad- 
miral Duncan,  of  the  British  navy,  almost  annihi- 
lated the  Dutch  fleet  off  Camperdown,  on  the 
eleventh  of  October,  1797,  that  was  the  virtual  end 
of  Dutch  East  India. 

The  East  India  Company,  chartered  by  the  En- 
glish parliament  in  1600,  may  be  said  to  have  be- 
gun England’s  connection  with  Indian  affairs.  It 
took  about  a century  to  dispossess  the  national  rivals 
already  mentioned.  A third  rival  was  France.  To 
the  French  belongs  the  dubious  honor  of  origina- 
ting the  policy  of  employing  native  soldiers  under 
foreign  officers,  to  conquer  the  country.  They  were 
called  Sepalis,  or  Sepoys.  England  soon  adopted 
the  same  policy.  About  the  middle  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  the  Indian  rivalry  of  the  two  nations 
was  very  sharp.  For  a time  it  seemed  that  the  En- 
glish were  to  have  meted  out  to  them  the  same 
judgment' that  had  been  awarded  to  the  Portuguese 
and  Dutch.  The  honor  of  arresting  the  progress  of 
the  French  and  finally  insuring  British  supremacy, 
belongs  to  Robert  Clive,  afterwards  Lord  Clive.  He 
entered  the  service  of  the  Company  as  a clerk.  He 
never  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a military  or  lib- 
eral education.  His  first  exploit  was  the  recapture 
from  the  French  of  the  city  of  Arcot,  having  at 
command  only  500  men.  He  held  the  city  against 
a besieging  army  of  10,000  natives.  Dupleix,  the 
French  governor,  was  held  in  check  and  defeated  in 


several  engagements.  A decisive  battle  was  fought 
June  23,  1757,  on  the  field  of  Plassey.  Clive  had 
1,000  English  and  2,000  Sepoy  troops,  and  with  that 
handful  he  defeated  the  native  Viceroy  of  Bengal, 
who  was  the  ally  of  the  French,  Surajah  Dowlali,  at 
the  head  of  65,000 
men.  That  great 
victory  shattered 
the  French  rule 
and  broke  the  pow- 
er of  the  Viceroy. 

The  French  rapid- 
ly dwindled  away, 
but  did  not  aban- 
don all  hope  of  re- 
gaining lost  ground 
until  in  1801  their 
expulsion  was  com- 
pleted. The  final 
outcome^  of  the  Na- 
poleonic campaign  surajah  dowlah. 

made  assurance  doubly  sure.  In  the  battle  of  Wa- 
terloo the  last  remnant  of  Indian  hope  for  France 
disappeared  forever. 

Lord  Clive  was  something  more  than  a brave  sol- 
dier. He  was  the  first  Governor-General  of  the 
country.  His  administration  of  affairs  was  only  for 
the  period  of  two  years,  but  during  that  time  he 
succeeded  in  crushing  out  all  European  rivalry  and 
in  making  highly  important  inroads  upon  native 
rule.  The  Viceroy  Surajah  Dowlah  was  a powerful 
prince,  but  he  was  destroyed.  He  it  was  who  in 
1757  took  Calcutta  from  the  English  and  crowded 
150  of  the  prisoners  taken  into  the  dungeon  rendered 
famous  as  the  “ Black  Hole  of  Calcutta.”  All  ex- 
cept twenty  of  the  number  died  the  first  night  of 
suffocation.  But  his  cruelty  was  trivial  and  mild 
as  compared  to  the  relentless  despotism  of  Clive, 
whose  policy  was  to  terrorize  the  Hindoos  into  sub- 
jection. 

In  1773  the  British  East  India  Company  under- 
went some  changes,  and  the  notorious  Warren  Hast- 
ings was  appointed  Governor-General.  He  pursued 
the  policy  of  Lord  Clive.  To  cruelty  was  added 
rapacity  of  the  most  ravenous  sort.  The  corpora- 
tion which  they  served  was  a commercial  organiza- 
tion and  judged  everything  from  the  standpoint  of 
revenue  only.  Vast  fortunes  were  accumulated  by 
private  individuals  in  their  employ,  and  expenditures 


Tv 


ffl 


< 


BRITISH  INDIA. 


- £- 

~~  0 


for  pensions,  bribes  and  subsidies  were  immense ; 
but  so  long  as  the  Company  received  the  lion’s  share 
in  net  profits  abuses  were  unchecked.  But  public 
sentiment  was  at  last  aroused.  Warren  Hastings 
was  impeached  by  parliament.  His  trial  was  one  of 
the  most  memorable  in  all  history.  It  called  out 
the  eloquence  of  Burke  and  others.  Hastings  was 
acquitted  by  the  peers  before  whom  he  was  tried,  but 
convicted  by  the  court  of  public  opinion,  which  also 
sat  in  judgment  upon  his  case.  The  result  was  a ref- 
ormation in  Indian  affairs.  Under  the  lead  of  Wil- 
liam Pitt,  parliament  in  1784  made  a radical  change 
in  the  political  system  of  India.  Hitherto  the  Com- 
pany had  been  absolute  and  despotic,  but  henceforth 
a board  of  control  was  to  have  supervisory  power. 
It  was  not  un- 
til 1858  that 
the  govern- 
ment took  up- 
on itself  large- 
ly the  manage- 
ment of  the 
country,  doing 
away  with  the 
Govern  or  s- 
General  be- 
holden to  a cor- 
poration, and 
substituting 
for  them 
Viceroys  of  the  crown.  There  were  twenty  Gover- 
nors-General  during  the  ninety-three  years  of  Com- 
pany rule,  Earl  Camiing  being  the  last.  Among 
these  was  Lord  Cornwallis.  After  his  inglorious 
career  in  America,  upon  Indian  soil  he  achieved  sub- 
stantial victories  which  showed  that  his  surrender  at 
Yorktown  was  not  the  cowardice  of  a poltroon,  but 
the  wisdom  of  one  who  bowed  to  the  inevitable.  The 
Marquis  of  Wellesley,  or  Duke  of  Wellington,  was 
another  of  the  governors  and  soldiers  who  preserved 
and  extended  British  rule  in  India. 

The  East  India  Company,  which  ranks  as  the 
most  gigantic  monopoly  of  all  history,  received  its 
death-blow  from  the  Sepoy  Mutiny.  The  first  out- 
break occurred  May  10,  1857.  It  spread  like  wild- 
fire over  the  country,  the  central  points  being  Cawn- 
pore,  Lucknow  and  Delhi.  The  Europeans  in  the 
former  were  slaughtered,  men,  women  and  children  ; 
in  the  latter  they  held  out  until  relief  came.  Delhi 


was  in  the  hands  of  the  Sepoys  from  the  first,  and 
the  fall  of  that  city  was  fatal  to  the  mutiny.  Strong 
was  the  provocation  of  the  mutineers,  and  not  in 
vain  was  the  blood  shed  in  the  struggle.  From  sub- 
jection to  a soulless  corporation  to  the  rule  of  an 
empire  which  is  based  largely  upon  regard  for  the 
welfare  of  the  people  was  a most  beneficent  revolu- 
tion. During  that  war  General  Havelock  became 
famous  as  the  ideal  Christian  soldier.  The  utter 
inability  of  the  natives  to  cope  with  the  English  was 
so  fully  shown,  and  the  British  policy  so  far  reform- 
ed, that  since  the  fall  of  Delhi  there  has  been  no  in- 
surrection, nor  any  serious  manifestations  of  disaf- 
fection. 

Under  Beaconsfield  the  vicerovship  was  held  by 

Lord  Lytton, 
son  of  Bulwer 
E.  Lytton,  the 
novelist.  His 
rulewas  devoid 
of  special  in- 
terest. It  must 
be  admitted 
that  as  “Owen 
Meredith,” 
author  of  Lu- 
cille, he  won 
far  more  hon- 
or than  he  did 
or  could  as 
Viceroy.  Mr.  Gladstone  appointed  as  his  successor 
Lord  Ripon,  one  of  the  framers  of  the  Treaty  of 
Washington,  which  settled  the  “Alabama  claims.” 

Without  going  into  wearisome  details,  it  may  be 
added  that  the  present  Britisli  policy  is  to  allow  the 
native  population  to  be  governed  in  accordance  with 
their  own  system  of  laws  and  methods  of  justice,  so 
far  as  such  liberty  may  be  indulged  without  endan- 
gering English  supremacy.  In  that  way  can  the 
interests  of  the  British  public  be  best  conserved  and 
promoted. 

Having  traced  the  course  of  events  in  India  from 
the  standpoint  of  foreign  intervention,  showing  the 
relations  of  that  country  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  it 
will  be  of  interest  to  ascertain  its  history  from  an 
independent  standpoint. 

The  great  Hindoo  epic,  Ramayam,  not  inaptly 
called  “ The  Iliad  of  the  East,”  is  supposed  to  be  at 
least  three  thousand  years  old  ; but  its  statements 


T 


Cl  rv 

" 


51 


•V 


408 


BRITISH  INDIA. 


are  self-evident  fiction,  for  the  most  part.  The  first 
kingdom  of  India  within  the  range  of  authentic  his- 
tory was  the  Mogul  Empire.  Mogul  is  a corruption 
or  abbreviation  of  Mongol.  The  dynasty  was  founded 
by  Baberin  1556,  a descendant  on  his  mother’s  side  of 
that  great  Tartar,  Tamerlane.  These  Mogul  emper- 
ors, fifteen  in  number,  were  all  Mohammedans. 
They  were  fierce  warriors  and  terrible  bigots.  Their 
zeal  for  Islam  was  only  equaled  by  their  slakeless 
thirst  for  plunder.  They  ravaged  India  and  gathered 
the  rich  spoils  of  the  more  civilized  but  less  warlike 
“heathen  round  about.”  The  empire  was  at  its 
height  in  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Delhi  was  the 
capital.  The 
Europe  ans, 
whether  Portu- 
guese, Dutch, 

French  or  En- 
glish, avoided 
conflict  with 
the  great  Mo- 
gul. The  great 


Sepoy  rebellion 
was  abetted  by 
Bahadur,  the 
emperor  at 
Delhi.  The 

empire  had  al- 
ready been 

greatly  weak- 
ened by  schism 
and  dissen- 
tions,  and  that  Sepoy  alliance  was  fatal.  The 
English  shot  his  sons  and  grandson,  and  trans- 
ported the  emperor  himself  to  Burmah  where  he 
died.  Thus  with  the  close  of  the  Sepoy  rebellion 
the  Mogul  Empire  disappeared,  and  has  since  shown 
no  symptoms  of  life. 

In  1878  the  total  railway  mileage  in  India  was 
8,215.  There  had  been  expended  in  the  construc- 
tion and  equipment  of  these  railroads  over  8500,000,- 
000.  The  population  of  British  India,  classified 
according  to  religion,  is  Brahmans,  140,000,000 ; 
Mohammedans,  40,000,000 ; Buddhists,  .3,000,000 ; 
Christians,  900,000 ; various  forms  of  aboriginal  be- 
lief, 6,000,000.  In  Southern  India  the  missionaries 
have  met  with  some  success.  Buddhism  is  a reformed 


BUDDHA. 


or  later  Brahminism,  Buddha  sustaining  much  the 
same  relation  to  Brahma  as  Jesus  Christ  does  to 
Jehovah  in  our  religion.  The  total  following  of 
Buddha  at  the  present  day  in  British  India  is  con- 
fined to  the  Burmese  possessions. 

India  has  several  splendid  cities,  centers  of  trade 
and  wealth, the  most  notable  of  these  being  the  seldom 
visited,  because  far  inland,  Benares.  It  is  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges.  The  Brahmans  regard  it  with 
sacred  veneration.  It  is  the  chief  seat  of  Indian 
education.  It  contains  some  splendid  mosques  and 
temples.  It  has  a population  of  about  250,000. 

A glance  at  the  Sanskrit  language  and  literature, 

and  we  take 
leave  of  India. 
In  the  study 
of  languages 
as  a science, 
the  Sanskrit  is 
the  most  help- 
ful. It  ceased 
to  be  spoken 
so  many  cen- 
turies ago  that 
its  death  is 
shrouded  in 
impenetrable 
mystery.  The 
sacred  books 
of  the  Brah- 
mins are  pre- 
served from 
vulgar  knowl- 
edge by  being  entombed  in  a dead  tongue.  This 
religious  literature  is  enormous  in  volume,  and 
contains  some  remarkably  fine  productions.  Max 
Muller  has  placed  a very  considerable  knowledge 
of  this  literature  within  the  reach  of  English  read- 
ers, and  made  the  terms  Vedas  and  Puranas  some- 
what familiar.  Religion  and  philosophy  not  only, 
but  the  sciences,  are  discussed  at  great  length  in  these 
ancient  tomes.  Evidently,  the  Hindus  in  their  best 
estate  were  a highly  intellectual  people,  and  it  is  not 
at  all  improbable  that  with  the-  aid  of  this  Sanskrit 
literature  the  scholarship  of  the  future  will  be  able  to 
trace  the  stream  of  civilization,  by  a broad  and  un- 
mistakable channel,  and  not  by  mere  conjecture,  to 
its  very  fountain-head. 


FT 


<r 


UUVUi-N'OU  (iJiNiilUL’S  TALACE,  CALCUTTA, 


k 


CHAPTER  LXVII. 


General  Outlook — Each  Colony  Separately  Considered— New  South  Wales — Van  Dieman’s 
Land,  or  Tasmania— South  Australia — Victoria — New  Zealand — Queensland — Western 
Australia — Australasian  Independence. 


conception  of  the  discovery  than  that  it  might  serve 
as  a depot,  whereon  the  mother  country  could  dis- 
charge the  criminality  that  she  was  slowly  ascer- 
taining could  not  all  be  jiut  to  death.  There  was 
no  realization  that  a country  so  desirable  deserved 
a worthier  population,  or  that  a section  of  the  people 
at  home  that  trembled  on  the  verge  of  pauperism, 
but  had  not  been  tainted  by  crime,  had  rights  to  an 
asylum  in  the  new  paradise.  The  urgent  need  was 
a corral  for  prisoners,  and  Botany  Bay  would  serve. 

The  first  shipment  consisted  of  565  male  prisoners 
and  192  females,  condemned  to  banishment  for  life. 
They  were  accompanied  by  sufficient  military  to 
guard  against  an  otherwise  possible  outbreak,  and 
the  civil  staff  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  settle- 
ment. Free  settlers  were  not  encouraged.  Their 
presence  might  have  interfered  with  discipline. 
There  were  free  colonists,  but  they  were  people  that 
could  be  relied  on  as  aids  in  any  emeute;  and  they 
were  favored  with  convict  labor  to  any  extent  de- 
sired in  prosecuting  their  personal  enterprises. 

The  area  given  up  to  the  criminal  classes  and  their 
custodians  was  ample,  including  all  that  is  now 
South  Australia,  Victoria  and  Queensland,  as  well 
as  the  colony  of  new  South  Wales;  and  yet  within 
fifteen  years  another  convict  settlement  was  estab- 
lished in  Van  Diemen’s  Land.  The  country  was  not 
overstocked,  but  the  island  presented  advantages, 


is  called  the  new 
world,  and  Australasia 
might  well  be  called  the 
newest  world,  and  positively 
the  last.  This  globe  has 
been  thoroughly  explored, 
and  no  continent  or  conti- 
nental island  remains  to  be 
discovered.  The  surface  of  the  whole 
earth  is  now  within  the  compass  of  hu- 
man knowledge.  Between  the  southeast- 
ern shore  of  Asia  and  the  western  coast 
of  America  stretch  many  small  islands 
and  some  large  ones,  the  more  im- 
portant of  these  being  the  group  called 
Australasia,  with  an  area  of  3,425,000 
square  miles  and  a population  of  about  5,000,000- 
This  portion  of  the  British  Empire  (for  such  it  is) 
has  seven  natural  and  political  divisions.  It  is  pro- 
posed in  this  exceptionally  long  chapter  to  present 
the  more  interesting  facts  in  regard  to  each  colony 
in  their  proper  order. 

New  South  Wales,  as  it  is  now  called,  was  discov- 
ered by  Captain  Cook,  in  1770,  and  eighteen  years 
later,  a convict  colony  was  established  at  Botany  Bay. 
The  country  was  so  beautiful,  that  Cook  suggested  a 
name  reminding  the  reader  of  a choice  garden,  or  site 
for  villas  ; and  the  British  government  had  no  higher 


AUSTRALASIA. 


412 


which  could  not  be  so  easily  secured  on  the  main- 
land. The  latter  settlement  was  a dependency  of 
the  former,  prisoners  being  transferred  from  one 
colony  to  the  other,  as  well  as  shipped  direct  to  V an 
Diemen’s  Land  from  Great  Britain.  For  ten  years 
from  1803,  no  free  colonists  were  permitted  in  the 
new  settlement.  The  island  was  a prison  and  noth- 
ing more.  But  in  1813  the  desirability  of  free  set- 
tlers, as  part  of  a reformatory  system,  led  to  the 
home  government  offering  grants  of  land  to  fami- 
lies possessing  capital,  and  prison  labor  without 
charge,  as  inducements  to  take  up  their  abode  in  the 
colonies.  There  was  little  difficulty  in  procuring 
limited  emigration,  as  the  climate  in  each  case  was 
good,  in  the  case  of  Van  Diemen’s  Land  especially, 
and  the  soil  could  hardly  be  too  highly  praised.  It 
was  not  until  men  arrived  in  the  colonies  that  the 
heinousness  of  the  system  became  apparent.  It  was 
hardly  possible  for  imagination  to  present  a pic- 
ture of  such  conditions  of  life  as  were  realized  by 
the  colonists  after  their  acclimation. 

Prisoners  on  their  arrival  in  the  colony,  after  the 
system  was  in  full  bloom,  were  housed  in  depots, 
waiting  to  be  selected  by  free  settlers.  Sometimes 
the  relatives  of  a criminal  reached  the  colony  before 
him,  selected  land,  and  were  ready  to  take  him  as 
their  assigned  servant,  so  that  in  his  case  transpor- 
tation was  no  punishment ; but  in  the  majority  of 
instances  prisoners,  men  or  women,  taken  as  assigned 
servants,  were  treated  worse  than  slaves,  as  the  mas- 
ter generally  spoken  of  as  the  “cove”  had  no  inter- 
est in  preserving  the  servant  as  a piece  of  property. 
If  twenty  were  worn  out,  other  twenty  could  be  pro- 
cured to  take  their  places,  with  no  more  trouble 
than  sending  an  application,  or  calling  to  select  from 
the  next  shipment.  Usually  the  convicts  were  of 
the  worst  type,  short  of  meriting  capital  punish- 
ment ; and  if  there  were  any  redeeming  features  in 
men  or  women,  when  first  placed  on  the  vessel  for 
transportation,  four  to  six  months’  life  011  shipboard, 
exposed  to  the  contaminating  influence  of  convict 
opinion,  seldom  failed  to  produce  an  inverted 
scheme  of  life  before  the  end  of  the  voyage.  Some 
on  each  ship  were  as  nearly  demons  as  could  be 
found  on  earth,  and  they  were  idolized. 

The  assigned  servant  was  usually  at  the  mercy  of 
men  very  little  superior  in  education  or  morals,  as 
the  better  classes  in  Great  Britain  shunned  the  con- 
vict colonies,  and  if  they  must  needs  emigrate,  found 


& 

TT 


homes  in  Canada  or  in  the  United  States,  rather 
than  expose  their  families  to  the  degrading  associa- 
tions of  penal  settlements. 

Servants  who  had  offended  their  masters  were 
sent  to  the  stipendiary  magistrate  with  a sealed  let- 
ter, specifying  the  number  of  stripes  they  were  to 
receive,  and  on  that  warranty  without  inquiry  the 
prisoner  was  handed  to  the  flagellator  to  be  flogged 
as  per  mandate.  After  the  punishment  they  were 
sent  back  to  the  employer  knowing  insubordination 
would  be  still  more  severely  castigated.  Wrongs  of 
that  class  rankling  in  natures  naturally  brutal,  re- 
sulted in  conspiracies  and  murder,  and  then  the 
fiends,  goaded  to  desperation,  betook  themselves  to 
the  unsettled  country,  called  “ the  bush,”  to  subsist 
as  bushrangers  by  spoliation  until  they  were  hunted 
down  like  wild  beasts  with  the  aid  of  native  track- 
ers and  bloodhounds  to  lead  the  military  and  po- 
lice to  their  lairs.  Prisoners  brought  in  after  bush- 
ranging  were  hanged  or  sent  to  Norfolk  Island,  or 
attached  to  chain-gangs,  compelled  to  work  on  the 
roads  or  public  works,  having  manacles  to  drag  that 
rendered  their  escape  impossible. 

Norfolk  Island  was  a deeper  pandemonium  at- 
tached to  Van  Diemen’s  Land  from  1825  to  1855, 
to  which  the  worst  criminals  were  sent  as  the  last 
resort  this  side  the  gallows.  The  island  is  on  the 
Pacific,  about  five  miles  long,  by  little  more  than 
two  miles  broad ; and  in  that  limited  area,  Dante 
might  have  gathered  many  unimagined  tortures  for 
the  completion  of  the  agonies  of  the  damned. 

This  abhorrent  system  continued  in  New  South 
Wales  until  1840,  and  in  Van  Diemen’s  Land  until 
1853,  after  which  no  new  shipments  were  sent 
from  Great  Britain  to  the  colonies  named.  Queens- 
land was  also  first  settled  by  convicts  in  1825, 
the  country  being  then  known  as  Moreton  Bay ; but 
that  region  was  thrown  open  to  free  settlement  in 
1842,  and  in  1846  there  were  only  2,257  inhabitants 
in  the  settlement,  including  free  and  felon.  West- 
ern Australia  is  the  only  settlement  in  Australasia, 
that  is  still  cursed  with  the  convict  system,  and  its 
continuance  there  is  due  to  the  petitions  of  the  in- 
habitants, addressed  to  the  mother  country,  setting 
forth  that  the  free  settlers  are  precluded  by  the  re- 
pute of  the  colony  from  obtaining  free  labor,  and 
must  be  ruined  if  denied  the  aid  of  prisoners  in  the 
prosecution  of  their  enterprises.  U nder  such  repre- 
sentations the  colony  is  allowed  200  prisoners  per 


£ 


Q 


AUSTRALASIA.  413 


year,  under  protest  from  the  other  colonies,  and  the 
total  population  is  only  26,166,  including  1,790  pris- 
oners. Western  Australia  was  first  settled  in  1829, 
and  developed  slowly. 

The  total  population  of  Botany  Bay  in  1788  was 
1,030,  of  which  number  757  were  life  prisoners,  the 
remainder  being  guards,  military  government  offi- 
cials, and  the  multitudious  hangers-on  that  always 
surround  the  fleshpots  in  Egypt,  or  elsewhere.  The 
free  population  increased  to  20,029  in  forty  years, 
and  the  convicts  then  numbered  15,669,  of  which 
total  1,513  were  females.  The  growth  of  New  South 
Wales  was  slow  until  the  incubus  of  transportation 
was  removed  in  1840,  and  in  the  year  following  that 
event,  there  was  an  addition  of  20,206  to  the  popu- 
lation. The  decade  following  the  discontinuance 
saw  an  advance  to  265,503 ; but  at  that  time  the 
district  of  Port  Philip  was  agitating  for  separation, 
and  in  the  following  year  its  desire  was  granted  by 
its  erection  into  the  colony  of  Victoria. 

Gold  was  discovered  on  several  occasions  in  New 
South  Wales  before  its  discovery  in  California,  but 
the  free  settlers  were  of  the  opinion  that  its  exploi- 
tation would  unsettle  labor,  and  for  that  reason  the 
auriferous  wealth  of  the  country  was  belittled,  so 
that  hardly  any  person  understood  the  significance 
of  “ the  find.”  The  great  geologist,  Sir  Frederick 
Murchison,  addressing  the  Geographical  Society  of 
London  in  1845,  announced  the  probability  of  ex- 
tensive gold-fields  being  opened  in  Australia ; but  it 
is  only  fair  to  mention  that  the  precious  metal  had 
been  then  recently  found  near  the  Macquarie  river, 
following  up  in  a desultory  way  previous  “finds”  in 
1829.  The  colony  of  New  South  Wales  appointed  a 
geologist  in  1850,  and  about  the  same  time  a work- 
ing miner  in  California,  impressed  with  the  similarity 
of  the  two  countries,  determined  to  return  to  the  col- 
ony to  search  for  a payable  gold-field.  Mr.  Hargraves 
was  fortunate  in  his  investigations,  as  we  find  him  in 
May,  1851,  established  at  Opliir,  near  Bathurst,  New 
South  Wales,  leading  a party  of  miners  whose  oper- 
ations speedily  made  that  country  the  cynosure  of 
all  eyes.  The  surrounding  colonies  were  largely  de- 
pleted of  their  young  and  vigorous  men  by  the  rush 
toward  Bathurst.  Every  vessel  that  put  into  an 
Australian  port  was  immediately  deserted,  unless 
the  commander  had  the  wisdom  to  announce  the 
ship  to  sail  for  Sydney  ; in  that  event  he  could  man 
and  load  in  a few  days  and  procure  any  rates  he 


thought  fit  to  ask  for  freight.  Port  Jackson,  the 
port  of  Sydney,  was  the  busiest  spot  in  Austra- 
lasia as  long  as  the  colony  enjoyed  the  monopoly 
of  gold  discoveries ; but  the  other  members  of  the 
group  had  long  been  playing  at  hide-and-seek  with 
treasure,  and  Victoria  offered  a reward  to  any  per- 
son who  might  open  a payable  gold-field  in  its  terri- 
tory. Later  in  1851,  discoveries  in  Buninyong  at- 
tracted attention  to  Victoria,  and  since  that  date  it 
has  become  well  understood  that  the  whole  of  the 
continent  is  auriferous.  The  colony  of  New  South 
Wales  in  its  first  year  of  gold  production  raised 
$2,341,680  worth,  and  in  the  following  year  over 
$13,500,000.  Subsequently  the  returns  were  larger, 
although  never  to  exceed  $15,000,000,  and  that 
amount  included  gold  received  at  the  mint  from 
other  colonies  for  conversion  into  coin  and  bars- 

In  four  years  from  the  establishment  of  Victoria 
as  a separate  colony,  New  South  Wales  had  passed 
the  highest  point  previously  reached  in  population, 
continuing  to  grow  rapidly  until  the  year  1859,  when 
the  constitution  of  Queensland,  as  a separate  govern- 
ment, reduced  the  aggregate  from  342,000  to  336,- 
000  in  round  numbers.  The  areas  nominally  gov- 
erned, in  the  colony,  as  originally  defined,  were  “all 
territory  from  Cape  York  in  the  parallel  of  10°  37' 
south  latitude,  to  South  Cape  in  latitude  43°  29' 
south,  including  the  islands  in  the  Pacific  within 
this  latitude,  and  inland  to  the  westward  as  far  as 
the  135th  meridian  of  east  longitude,”  could  not  be 
even  approximately  administered  by  the  official 
staff  available,  and,  in  fact,  the  elder  colony  did  not 
attempt  any  such  feat  of  statecraft.  The  process 
consisted  mainly  in  drawing  from  the  outlying  por- 
tions the  means  to  pay  for  the  physical  improvement 
of  the  governing  center. 

South  Australia  was  cut  off  from  the  first  colony 
in  1836,  in  the  days  of  penal  settlements,  hut  that 
segregation  did  not  seriously  affect  the  total  of  pop- 
ulation. The  area  of  New  South  Wales  at  present 
is  310,938  square  miles.  Its  greatest  length  being 
900  miles,  with  an  average  breadth  of  about  500. 
On  the  north  is  the  colony  of  Queensland  ; on  the 
south  Victoria ; on  the  west  South  Australia,  and 
on  the  east  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  population  of 
the  country,  according  to  the  latest  returns,  pub- 
lished in  1880  by  the  authorities  in  Sydney,  gave  an 
aggregate  of  734,282  persons ; the  increase  of  the 
last  year  having  been  about  40,000. 


A 


XL 


4M 


AUSTRALASIA. 


Until  1S55  government  was  by  means  of  a nomi- 
nee council,  or  legislature,  to  which  the  members  of 
the  administration  were  admitted,  ex  officio;  after 
that  time,  responsible  government  was  inaugurated. 
The  parliament  of  two  houses  imitates  Lords  and 
Commons,  and  the  governor  represents  the  first  es- 
tate. All  money  bills  must  be  initiated  in  the  low- 
er house,  on  a message  from  the  viceroy,  and  such 
legislation  may  be  rejected  in  toto,  but  cannot  be 
amended  by  the  upper  house.  The  British  theory 
of  rule  by  three  estates  is  in  fact  carried  out  in  the 
practice  of  the  whole  group  of  Australian  colonies, 
except  the  colony  of  Western  Australia,  and  the  in- 
formation now  given  will  serve  in  all  the  cases  indi- 
cated, the  differences  being  trivial. 

The  council  consists  of  twenty-one  or  more  nomi- 
nees appointed  by  the  crown,  as  advised  by  minis- 
ters ; there  were  thirty -nine  members  in  1878 ; and 
the  assembly  is  an  elective  body  of  102  members, 
chosen  by  universal  male  suffrage.  The  governor 
is  the  executive,  but  he  is  advised,  and  in  most  mat- 
ters controlled,  by  a responsible  ministry,  raised  to 
office  on  the  votes  of  the  lower  house,  and  answera- 
ble to  that  body  for  every  official  act.  The  ap- 
pointment of  the  governor  rests  with  the  home 
authorities,  but  the  salary  to  be  paid  depends  on  the 
colonial  assembly,  with  the  proviso  that  no  change 
can  be  made  during  a term  of  office  to  affect  the 
salary  and  allowances  of  the  then  incumbent.  The 
present  governor  receives  $35,000  per  year  and 
a residence ; and  the  ministry,  eight  in  number, 
are  paid,  the  colonial  secretary  $10,000,  and  the 
other  ministers  $7,500  per  year.  The  governor  is 
commander-in-chief  of  all  the  forces  of  the  colony. 

The  public  lands  of  the  colony  are  made  over  to 
the  people  to  be  administered  by  their  representa- 
tives, and  the  sale  and  rent  of  lands  constitutes  a 
large  item  in  the  revenues  of  the  colony,  amounting 
to  more  than  half  the  receipts  from  all  sources. 
There  is  no  direct  taxation ; the  second  largest  item 
of  income  being  from  customs  duties.  The  annual 
outlay  ranges  from  about  $10,000,000  in  1870  to 
$27,500,000  in  1880,  including  $2,000,000  for  new 
public  works.  The  public  debt  of  the  colony 
amounted  at  the  close  of  1879  to  $78,949,550.  main- 
ly incurred  for  railroads,  telegraph  lines  and  other 
public  works,  the  property  of  the  state.  There  were 
at  the  time  named  600  miles  of  railroad  open  for 
use,  and  in  the  succeeding  year  223  miles  were  add- 


ed to  the  network.  The  telegraph  lines  at  that 
date  aggregated  8,472  miles. 

From  1850,  the  year  preceding  the  opening  of  the 
gold-fields,  to  1864,  trade  more  than  quadrupled ; 
but  from  that  time  there  was  a steady  falling  off  for 
about  six  years,  followed  by  a gradual  increase  until 
1878.  The  chief  exports  are  wool,  tin,  copper,  tal- 
low and  preserved  meat.  The  country  is  richer  in 
coal  than  any  other  part  of  Australasia,  and  its  gold- 
fields cover  a vast  area  known  as  the  Western, 
Northern  and  Southern  fields;  but  the  produce  has 
not  kept  up  to  the  figures  that  at  one  time  prom- 
ised to  rank  New  South  Wales  among  the  great  gold- 
producing  countries  of  the  world.  The  fiscal  policy 
of  the  colony  is  a near  approximation  to  free  trade, 
and  the  crown  lands  are  in  part  devoted  to  squat- 
ting, or  what  is  known  among  us  as  ranche-keeping, 
and  ordinary  farming,  the  principal  crops  being 
wheat  and  maize.  Cattle  and  sheep  abound,  and 
pigs  and  horses  present  large  and  profitable  aggre- 
gates. 

The  colony  now  known  as  Tasmania,  in  honor  of 
the  Dutch  navigator,  Tasman,  by  whom  the  island 
was  first  discovered,  was  in  the  beginning  named 
for  a governor  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies.  Cook 
partly  explored  the  country,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  it 
was  for  many  years  a penal  settlement.  That  un- 
fortunate commencement  has  detracted  greatly  from 
the  success  that  must  otherwise  have  attended  on 
colonization  in  the  midst  of  so  many  natural  advan- 
tages. The  area  is  estimated  at  26,215  square  miles, 
including  a number  of  small  islands  in  two  groups, 
northeast  and  northwest.  The  country  and  climate 
invite  settlement,  and  when  the  initial  mischance 
has  been  lived  down,  its  numerous  advantages  will 
make  Tasmania  the  abode  of  the  wealthiest  families 
in  Australasia.  At  the  present  time  the  outlook  for 
the  colony  is  not  cheering.  In  1853,  2,314,414  acres 
of  land  had  been  leased  from  the  crown,  yielding  a 
rental  of  $147,845  ; but  in  1877  the  quantity  leased 
had  fallen  to  little  more  than  one  million,  and  the 
rental  was  only  $31,960.  Of  more  than  four  million 
acres  of  land  sold  at  that  date,  less  than  one  mil- 
lion was  under  cultivation.  The  Country  had  fallen 
into  bad  repute,  and  something  more  than  a mere 
change  of  name  is  requisite  to  give  the  infant  state 
a new  start  in  life. 

The  first  years  of  the  colony  have  been  glanced 
at  under  the  head  of  penal  settlements,  and  need 


V 


ADELAIDE. 


3 


AUSTRALASIA. 


4X7 


not  be  referred  to  in  detail ; but  a new  regime  was 
inaugurated  after  the  system  of  transportation  came 
to  an  end.  A constitution  was  granted  to  the  col- 
ony, permitting  all  persons  who  possessed  property 
to  the  extent  of  $1,000  in  leasehold,  or  $150  freehold, 
to  vote  for  members  of  the  Upper  House,  and  all 
persons  occupying  or  owning  houses,  of  the  value  of 
$35  per  annum,  or  freehold  property  worth  $250,  to 
vote  for  members  of  the  Commons.  A commission 
in  the  army  or  navy,  or  holding  a degree,  or  being 
in  holy  orders,  entitled  the  person  so  distinguished 
to  exercise  the  franchise  for  both  houses  ; the  actual 
fact  being  that  education  and  respectability  were 
the  desiderata  at  which  the  constitution  aimed^ 
through  provisos  as  to  freehold  and  leasehold  prop- 
erty. The  substratum  of  society  could  not  be  en- 
tirely excluded  from  a voice  in  the  administration 
of  affairs ; but  checks  were  demanded. 

The  system  of  government  described  as  operating 
in  the  other  colonies  obtains  also  in  Tasmania 
without  material  change.  The  governor,  appointed 
by  Great  Britain,  is  allowed  $17,500  ; and  he  is  ad- 
vised by  five  responsible  ministers,  each  of  whom  re- 
ceives $3,500  per  year.  As  in  all  the  other  colonies, 
the  ministers  must  hold  a seat  in  the  Upper  or 
Lower  House. 

The  revenue  of  the  government  is  derived  mainly 
from  customs,  excise,  and  bonding  duties ; the  terri- 
torial revenues  are  small,  and  manufactures  are 
inconsiderable.  The  public  debt  in  1880  was  $8,934,- 
000,  resulting  from  loans  incurred  to  prosecute 
public  works ; the  debentures  redeemable  before 
1902.  Population  does  not  increase  rapidly,  but 
there  is  an  increase  of  about  ten  per  cent.  The  pro- 
portion of  uneducated  persons  is  large,  but  decreas- 
ing. Immigration  is  very  slightly  in  excess  of 
emigration,  the  movement  being  almost  entirely 
between  the  colonies,  as  Tasmania  has  no  attractions 
for  Europeans  looking  to  Australia.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  commerce  of  Tasmania  ; it  is  purely 
local.  Wool  is  the  staple,  but  the  island  will  repay 
expenditure  of  capital.  Horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and 
swine  thrive  ; the  soil  is  fertile ; roads  are  excellent ; 
there  are  large  beds  of  coal ; iron  ore  and  tin 
abound,  and  gold-fields  have  been  worked,  which  in 
1879  gave  returns  to  the  value  of  about  $729,000  ; 
exports  of  tin  in  the  same  time  exceeding  $1,500,000. 
Railroads  were  opened  for  traffic  in  1871,  and  ex- 
tensions have  been  made  that  aggregated  179  miles 


at  the  beginning  of  1880.  The  telegraph  system  is 
also  state  property,  and  at  the  commencement  of 
1880,  781  miles  of  line  were  being  worked.  The 
department  does  not  yet  pay  expenses,  but  viewed  as 
part  of  a system  of  police,  it  is  indispensable. 

The  colony  called  South  Australia  occupies  the 
central  portion  of  the  Australian  continent,  between 
12°  and  38°  south  latitude,  and  129°  and  141°  east 
longitude,  stretching  from  the  Indian  to  the  South- 
ern Ocean ; a territory  about  2,000  miles  long  by  500 
miles  wide ; an  area  of  903,000  square  miles,  bound- 
ed on  the  east  by  Victoria,  New  South  Wales,  and 
Queensland ; and  on  the  West  by  'Western  Australia. 
The  country  is  just  ten  times  the  size  of  Great 
Britain.  Colonization  has  been  confined  almost 
entirely  to  a small  section  in  the  south  of  the 
greater  area,  and  much  of  South  Australia  is  yet 
unexplored. 

The  prevalent  characteristics  of  one  colony  are 
so  nearly  like  the  features  of  each  other,  that  a brief 
description  of  South  Australia  may  serve  to  deline- 
ate in  a sketchy  manner  the  whole  of  the  continent. 
Particular  and  detailed  pictures  of  the  territory 
would  demand  pen  photographs,  inconsistent  with 
the  design  of  this  work,  so  we  content  ourselves 
with  a few  general  observations. 

There  are  parts  of  the  Pacific  slope  on  this  con- 
tinent that  so  closely  resemble  Australian  contours, 
that  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  the  two  countries  were 
at  one  time  a continuous  territory,  subject  to  like 
influences  for  a geologic  era;  but  there  are  no 
Andes  nor  great  mountain  ranges  to  give  grandeur 
to  the  scene.  Mountains,  as  they  are  called,  in 
that  country,  might  be  described  as  mere  foot-hills. 
The  principal  range  in  South  Australia,  known  as 
the  Flinders,  rises  north  of  the  head  of  St.  Vincent’s 
Gulf,  and  runs  several  hundred  miles  north  to  Lake 
Blanche  ; continuing,  after  a break  by  the  hills  called 
the  Hummocks,  to  Port  Wakefield,  due  south  and 
southeast,  by  ranges  to  Gape  Jervis.  At  intervals. 
Flinders  Range  is  followed  by  similar  elevations,  the 
highest  points  on  Musgrave  and  Macdonnell  being 
about  4,000  feet  above  the  sea.  Mount  Lofty,  the 
background  of  Adelaide,  capital  of  the  colony,  is 
2,334  feet  high  ; and  mounts  Remarkable  and  Brown 
reach  3,200  feet.  A succession  of  hills  is  all  that 
can  be  said  for  them,  by  men  who  have  seen  the 
Cordilleras  or  the  Altitudes  in  Colorado.  The  slopes 
and  valleys  are  often  of  great  beauty,  and  dotted 


cflV 


■Me. 


k. 


418 


AUSTRALASIA. 


with  homesteads,  have  a peaceful  charm ; but  in 
Hi  any  districts  the  soil  is  light,  covered  with  scrub 
and  brushwood.  Considerable  areas  near  the  hills 
tell  of  the  drenching  rains  that  at  times  wash  the 
vegetal  matter  and  fertilizing  salts  from  the  ranges, 
and  have  made  tracts  of  superb  farm  land  not 
surpassed  in  the  world. 

Where  the  Mallee  scrub  once  flourished,  there  are 
good  pasture  lands,  not  the  most  fertile,  but  ex- 
cellent third-rate  territory,  on  which  squatters  make 
fortunes,  and  over  parts  of  which  farmers  combine 
grazing  with  agriculture.  Saltbush  and  Myall 
Country,  in  the  far  North,  remind  the  traveler  of 
the  saltbush  plains,  that  used  to  torture  pilgrims 
to  Utah,  in  the  days  of  Brigham’s  “ Hand-Cart  Brig- 
ades ” ; and  on  which  so  many  hundred  gallant  fel- 
lows laid  down  their  lives,  during  the  early  exodus 
to  the  Californian  gold-fields.  There  are  no  great 
lakes.  Where  such  desirable  features  are  promised, 
the  depth  is  inconsiderable,  and  the  heat  of  summer 
leaves  little  more  than  a swamp.  The  country 
wants  only  extensive  irrigation,  to  make  a paradise 
for  farmers  and  raisers  of  cattle.  India  already 
looks  to  Australasia  for  supplies  of  horses,  and  the 
wool  of  the  continent  is  never  surpassed.  Wheat  of 
the  finest  grade  is  produced  in  Australia,  and  it 
would  be  difficult  to  name  a fruit  that  will  not 
flourish. 

The  Murray  is  the  only  river  of  any  volume  in 
South  Australia,  and  that  is  common  to  the  three 
great  colonies.  It  runs  into  the  Southern  Ocean, 
within  the  territory  we  are  describing,  rising  near 
mount  Kosciusko,  New  South  Wales,  and  forming 
the  boundary  between  that  colony,  Victoria,  and 
South  Australia ; running  about  2,400  miles,  of 
which  extent  nearly  2,000  miles  is  navigable.  The 
mouth  is  impeded  by  a shifting  sand-bar,  but  that  is 
no  great  difficulty.  The  rivers  generally  diminish 
from  fair  streams  to  creeks  in  summer,  often 
becoming  a mere  succession  of  water-holes.  There 
are  lakes  in  the  colony,  the  principal  being  Alex- 
andrina  and  Albert  — almost  the  only  fresh-water 
lakes,  the  great  majority  being  small  and  brackish. 

The  flora  of  the  Australian  continent  is  decidedly 
limited ; set  down  a traveler  in  any  part  of  the 
country,  and  it  would  be  hardly  possible  for  him  to 
determine  from  the  vegetation  around  him  which  of 
the  colonies  he  inhabited,  except  that  he  could  pro- 
nounce between  the  extremes  of  north  and  south. 


Forest  lands  are  mostly  in  the  mountainous  districts. 
The  deep  gullies  are  covered  thickly  with  shrubs  and 
ferns,  and  the  table  lands  are  well  grassed.  Vege- 
tables or  European  fruits  grow  abundantly  in  the 
gullies,  and  on  the  grass  lands  wheat  comes  to  per- 
fection. The  scrub  lands  fail  more  on  account  of 
surface  water  than  from  any  want  in  the  compo- 
nents of  the  soil.  The  saltbush  is  excellent  feed  for 
sheep  and  cattle,  and  the  country  can  sustain  almost 
unlimited  stock.  Artificial  grasses  thrive,  and  most 
squatters  have  some  portion  of  their  lands  improved 
by  their  introduction  for  fattening  their  cattle  and 
sheep. 

The  climate  of  the  peopled  portions  of  South  Aus- 
tralia resembles  that  of  Southern  Europe  ; parts  of 
Spain  and  Italy  seem  to  be  reproduced  on  the  new 
continent,  but  the  Alps  and  Pyrenees  are  wanting,  and 
the  idleness  of  both  countries  may  also  besought  in 
vain.  The  heat  of  the  country  does  not  oppress  as 
much  as  lower  temperatures  on  this  continent,  the 
atmosphere  being  less  humid.  There  are  but  few 
days  in  the  year  in  which  the  colonist  desists  from 
out-door  labor  on  account  of  the  sun,  or  of  the  hot 
winds — a kind  of  sirocco — that  blow  across  the  con- 
tinent and  strike  all  animal  and  vegetable  life  with 
desiccating  dryness.  March,  April  and  May  are  pleas- 
ant months,  and  September,  October  and  November. 
The  spring  and  early  summer  could  hardly  be  desired 
more  beautiful. 

Aborigines  are  seldom  lovely,  and  still  less  fre- 
quently lovable ; the  Australian  is  no  exception. 
They  were  never  powerful  in  numbers  or  physique 
except  in  some  few  regions,  and  they  are  dying  off, 
having  no  desire  to  learn  the  arts  of  civilization- 
Schools  established  for  their  benefit  do  not  win  their 
regard,  and  although  they  profess  any  creed  in  re- 
turn for  gifts  of  tobacco,  their  acquirements  always 
end  in  smoke.  It  is  supposed  that  they  are  allied 
to  the  Papuans,  as  although  black,  they  are  not  of 
the  Negro  type.  Their  hair  curls,  but  is  not  woolly. 
The  men  are  not  muscular,  but  they  are  tolerably 
well  formed,  built  of  bone  and  sinew.  The  women, 
worn  out  by  incessant  drudgery  in  the  service  of 
their  thankless  masters,  are  perhaps  the  least  prepos- 
sessing human  beings  to  be  found  on  this  footstool. 
1 hey  have  few  accomplishments  and  no  ambition  to 
rise  above  the  status  in  which  nature  and  accident 
have  placed  them.  The  weapons  of  the  men  are 
spears,  throwing-sticks,  waddies  and  boomerangs,  and 


a N 


s> 


AUSTRALASIA.  419 


they  make  shields  of  bark  with  which  they  will 
defend  themselves  from  the  assaults  of  numerous 
enemies  as  long  as  the  assailants  are  not  at  close 
quarters. 

The  first  year  of  this  century  was  signalized  from 
an  Australian  standpoint  by  the  discovery  of  por- 
tions of  South  Australia  by  Lieutenant  Grant  of  H. 
M.  S.  Lady  Nelson,  but  it  was  not  until  1802  that 
the  country  was  surveyed  by  Captain  Flinders.  That 
gentleman  was  not  very  favorably  impressed,  or  he 
failed  to  convey  his  impressions  to  others,  as  the 
country  was  left  severely  alone  for  almost  an  aver- 
age lifetime  after  the  visit  of  the  investigator.  A 
wiser  and  more  daring  explorer,  Captain  Sturt,  in 
1830,  found  his  way  from  the  Murrumbidgee  to  the 
Murray,  and  followed  that  river  to  its  mouth  in  En- 
counter Bay,  traversing  the  territory  from  New 
South  Wales.  The  result  of  that  journey,  and  the 
report  of  the  captain  was  an  application  of  gentle- 
men in  London  to  the  home  government.  An  un- 
favorable reply,  from  the  powers  that  were,  deferred 
action  for  three  years,  but  in  1834  the  colony  was 
founded  on  condition  that  no  convicts  should  be 
sent  there. 

The  first  governor  landed  in  Holdfast  Bay  in 
1836,  but  prior  to  Captain  Hindmarsh’s  arrival,  the 
colony  had  been  governed  by  commissioners.  Nomi- 
nee government  continued  until  1851,  when  a con- 
stitution granted  partial  election  of  the  legislature. 
In  1856  responsible  administration  became  the  law 
under  the  system  already  described.  Six  ministers 
advise  the  crown,  and  are  answerable  to  parlia- 
ment for  the  management  of  affairs.  The  governor, 
who  is  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces,  receives 
825?000,  and  ministers  are  paid  85,000  per  year  each. 
Public  works  of  various  kinds  have  been  undertaken, 
including  railroads,  and  that  has  resulted  in  a debt 
of  833,110,000.  There  were  in  1879,  533  miles  of 
railroad  in  use,  and  405  miles  in  construction,  be- 
sides 5,686  of  telegraph  line,  inclusive  of  a line 
across  the  continent  of  2,000  miles.  The  population 
of  the  colony  exceeds  250,000  persons. 

Wool,  wheat  and  flour,  and  copper  ore  are  the  sta- 
ples, and  mining  operations  are  extensively  carried 
on,  but  nothing  has  yet  been  done  in  the  way  of  ex- 
ploiting the  iron  ore  of  the  country.  Great  enterprise 
has  been  displayed  by  the  colony  in  exploring  the  in- 
terior of  the  continent.  About  250,000  square  miles 
of  territory  are  put  to  profitable  use.  Farmers  are 


permitted  to  take  up  lands  after  survey  with  the  ad- 
vantage of  credit  to  the  extent  of  1,000  acres  of 
ordinary  lands,  or  of  640  acres  of  lands  reclaimed  by 
drainage.  Lands  bought  and  sold  in  the  colony 
pass  by  registration  under  the  Torrens  Act,  and  the 
saving  in  expense  is  great.  The  tariff  of  the  colony 
imposes  the  highest  duties  on  articles  that  can  be 
manufactured  in  the  country,  but  the  people  that 
administer  the  law  call  it  incidental  protection. 
There  is  only  one  colony  that  directly  advocates  and 
insists  on  protectionist  legislation  in  the  Australian 
group,  and  that  is  Victoria. 

The  northern  territory  annexed  to  this  colony  has 
one  prosperous  settlement  at  Port  Darwin.  The 
climate  is  tropical,  the  rainy  season  commencing  in 
Octobor  and  continuing  five  months ; the  greatest 
heat  and  rain  coming  together.  Fever  and  ague  is 
the  great  trial  to  which  settlers  are  liable.  The  soil 
is  fertile,  and  all  tropical  fruits  flourish.  Alluvial 
mines  have  been  opened  in  many  localities  and  are 
paying ; but  the  population  shows  2,070  Chinese  and 
Malays  to  only  400  Europeans. 

Victoria,  once  the  Port  Philip  District  of  New 
South  Wales,  and  at  one  time  called  Australia  Felix, 
was  first  settled  in  1835.  The  area  of  the  country 
is  not  extensive,  but  the  enterprise  of  the  popula- 
tion and  other  advantages  have  given  the  commun- 
ity a lead  in  the  affairs  of  the  group,  that  is  not 
likely  to  be  soon  lost. 

Victoria  is  the  southernmost  colony  on  the  conti- 
nent, between  the  34th  and  39th  parallels  of  south 
latitude,  and  between  the  141st  and  150th  meridi- 
ans of  east  longitude.  Its  coast  line  is  about  600 
geographical  miles,  extreme  length  from  east  to.west 
about  420,  and  its  greatest  breadth  about  250  miles. 
The  colony  embraces  one  thirty-fourth  of  the  con- 
tinent, being  88,198  square  miles,  a little  less  than 
the  area  of  the  main  island  of  Great  Britain.  Blun- 
ders in  defining  the  territorial  lines  between  the  col- 
onies have  given  to  Victoria  a considerable  strip  of 
country,  that  properly  belongs  to  South  Australia. 
The  bounds  of  Victoria,  landwards,  have  already 
been  given.  She  is  shut  in  by  the  two  sister  colonies 
and  the  Murray.  The  southern  boundary  is  the 
southern  ocean,  Bass’s  Straits  and  the  Pacific.  Cap- 
tain Cook,  in  1770,  sighted  Point  Hicks,  in  what  is 
now  Victoria,  the  country  probably  having  been  vis- 
ited by  navigators  more  than  a century  earlier. 
Western  Port  was  discovered  in  1798,  and  the  strait 


420  AUSTRALASIA. 


that  divides  the  continent  from  the  Van  Diemen’s 
Land  was  sailed  through  and  named  for  Bass  in  the 
same  year.  Port  Philip  Bay,  the  harbor  of  Mel- 
bourne, was  discovered  in  1802,  and  after  that  time 
the  country  became  well  known  to  the  leading  men 
of  New  South  Wales;  but  its  value  as  a pastoral 
region  was  not  understood  for  one-third  of  a cen- 
tury. Colonel  Collins,  in  charge  of  convicts,  at- 
tempted to  settle  the  territory  in  1803,  but  happily 
he  abandoned  the  enterprise  in  1804,  declaring  the 
land  unfit  for  habitation.  Twenty  years  later  the 
country  was  traversed  by  colonists  from  New  South 
Wales,  but  settlement  did  not  follow  for  ten  years. 
In  November,  1834,  the  Brothers  Henty,  interested 
in  whaling,  established  their  home  at  Portland,  and 
remained  in  that  section,  although  their  occupations 
changed  to  squatting  soon  afterwards.  The  first 
settlement  in  Melbourne  was  made  in  May  following 
by  Batman,  who  bought  of  the  natives  000,000  acres 
of  land.  Fawkner,  who  always  asserted  that  he  was 
the  founder  of  the  city,  sent  a party  in  August, 
and  himself  entered  the  settlement  in  October.  The 
name  Australia  Felix  was  bestowed  on  the  western 
portion  of  the  country  in  1836,  by  the  explorer, 
Major  Mitchell,  since  knighted.  The  administration 
of  law  in  the  settlement  was  inaugurated  in  the 
same  year  by  Captain  Lonsdale,  resident  magistrate, 
and  from  that  date  regular  government  was  the  rule. 
The  governor  of  New  South  Wales  visited  and 
named  Melbourne  in  1837,  and  half  acres  of  land 
were  sold  in  the  village  for  $175.  In  1851  Victoria 
was  allowed  to  assume  control  of  its  own  affairs. 

Gold  had  been  discovered  in  several  places,  by 
squatters,  but  the  significance  of  the  “find”  was  not 
comprehended ; it  was  only  feared  that  publicity 
given  to  the  auriferous  condition  of  the  soil  would 
raise  the  wages  of  labor,  and  disincline  the  working 
class  to  serve  as  shepherds.  The  establishment  of 
self  government  was  immediately  followed  by  more 
vigorous  action.  Active  search  for  payable  fields  com- 
menced, and  finds  were  reported,  in  July  and  Aug- 
ust. In  September  of  that  year  all  Melbourne  was  on 
the  march  toward  Buninyong,  where  a good  lead 
had  been  found. 

The  government  imposed  an  extraordinary  license 
fee  on  gold  miners ; a tax  so  great  that  only  a few  of 
the  diggers  could  pay  the  imposition  in  advance. 
Gold-field  commissioners  and  mounted  police  were 
sent  to  the  gold  regions,  to  arrest  men  found  mining 


without  a permit.  Thousands  of  men  on  the  gold- 
fields in  the  most  prosperous  times  did  not  realize  as 
much  money  from  their  operations  as  would  have 
enabled  them  to  pay  the  demands  of  the  govern- 
ment and  buy  food. 

Sir  Charles  Ilotham  was  sent  out  as  governor  by 
the  mother  country,  and  he  brought  with  him  the 
manners  of  a man-of-war  captain,  impressed  with 
the  necessity  for  rigorous  proceedings  against  the 
diggers.  His  line  of  policy  was  to  worry  the  miners 
into  rebellion  by  incessant  hunting  for  licenses,  and 
then  crush  them  into  submission  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing display  of  military  force.  He  was  successful. 
The  miners  of  Ballarat  built  a stockade  at  Eureka, 
and  presented  front  against  the  injustice  with  which 
they  were  treated ; but  they  were  not  able  to  with- 
stand the  force  of  soldiery  and  police  sent  against 
them.  The  rebellion  was  suppressed,  as  were  other 
erneutes  on  other  gold-fields,  and  many  prisoners 
were  taken. 

There  was  an  attempt  to  rally  the  people  gener- 
ally in  Melbourne,  in  support  of  the  governor,  but 
the  demonstration  was  a failure,  resulting  only  in 
calling  out  the  mass  of  the  population  to  denounce 
his  high-handed  proceedings.  The  martinet  discov- 
ered that  his  work  was  only  commenced,  and  he 
induced  his  secretary,  Mr.  Foster,  to  resign  his  office, 
assuming  the  blame  that  properly  belonged  to  his 
superior.  That  was  the  end  of  absolutism  in 
Victoria. 

The  new  constitution  was  proclaimed  in  1855,  and 
after  that  the  ballot  Was  introduced,  followed  by  an 
abolition  of  property  qualification  for  members  of 
the  Assembly,  and  after  a little  while  by  universal 
male  suffrage  for  voters  for  that  house.  Property 
qualification  for  voters  and  members  of  the  council 
continues  to  be  the  law,  but  in  each  case  the  require- 
ment has  been  reduced.  Non-payment  of  members 
was  found  practically  a disqualification  of  the  lion- 
propertied  classes,  and  in  consequence  the  people 
commenced  agitating  for  that  concession  to  justice. 
They  were  met  on  the  threshold  by  the  refusal  of 
the  upper  house,  representing  property,  to  concur  in 
any  such  measure.  To  allow  payment  of  members 
was  to  diminish  the  power  of  the  wealthier  classes, 
and  the  fight  was  continued  for  years ; but  in  the 
end  the  popular  party,  carrying  the  war  into  Africa, 
won  the  battle,  and  now  there  cannot  be  found  on 
this  footstool  a more  complete  presentation  of 


MELBOURNE. 


AUSTRALASIA. 


423 


r 


democratic  government  than  is  offered  by  the  colony 
of  Victoria. 

Gold  was  raised  in  Victoria  in  the  first  year  of  the 
gold-fields  to  the  value  of  $2,902,940,  the  mines  not 
being  opened,  in  reality,  until  September.  In  the 
next  year  the  total  exceeded  $55,000,000,  and  in  the 
following  year,  $63,000,000.  It  is  useless  to  repro- 
duce the  figures  for  each  year  from  that  date  to  the 
present  time  ; the  vast  population,  that  was  almost 
exclusively  employed  on  the  gold-fields,  has  been 
largely  called  off  to  more  satisfactory  pursuits,  and 
as  a consequence  the  totals  have  dwindled  under 
that  head  to  an  aggregate  of  about  $15,000,000  in 
1879,  the  total  to  that  date  being  about  $976,346,- 
920.  The  calculation  presented  is  based  on  an  aver- 
age of  $20  per  ounce  for  gold,  and  economists  are 
well  content  to  see  the  totals  diminish,  seeing  that 
gold  has  never  been  raised  to  the  price  for  which  it 
sells. 

Victoria  commenced  its  public  debt  in  1855  with 
a trifling  loan  of  about  $2,400,000.  Its  total  in  1879 
exceeded  $100,250,000,  all  incurred  for  public  works, 
on  which  sum  the  interest  has  never  been  behind  by 
one  day.  There  are  1,125  miles  of  railroads  in 
operation,  as  shown  by  the  returns  in  1879,  and  at 
that  time  165  miles  in  addition  had  been  authorized 
by  parliament.  There  were  in  use  at  the  same  date, 
5,736  miles  of  wire  in  telegraphic  work,  and  the 
number  of  messages  exceeded  1,000,000  annually, 
the  rates  having  been  reduced,  to  bring  the  service 
within  the  reacli  of  the  poorer  classes.  All  these 
works  are  the  property  of  the  state,  and  many  others, 
including  docks  and  the  Yan  Yean  water  works,  are 
valuable  assets.  The  gold-fields  are  being  supplied 
with  expensive  reservoirs,  some  assisted  by  the  gov- 
ernment, and  others  entirely  at  the  cost  of  the  state, 
rates  being  charged  for  water  supply. 

The  governor  is  allowed  $50,000  per  year,  besides 
$10,000  for  rent  of  the  residence  at  Tooruk ; and 
the  ministers  are  paid : $10,000  to  the  premier,  $8,000, 
to  the  attorney-general,  and  $7,500  to  the  other  seven. 
The  leader  of  the  miners  in  the  rebellion  at  Ballarat, 
Mr.  Lalor,  is  now  shaker  of  the  assembly,  with  a 
salary  of  $7,500  per  year.  Members  of  the  lower 
house  are  paid  : $1,500  per  year.  Members  are  elected 
to  the  assembly  for  three  years,  subject  to  dissolution, 
and  to  the  council  for  ten  years,  a fifth  of  the  body 
retiring  every  two  years.  The  population  of  \ ictoria 
to  the  present  time,  is  about  900,000.  Gold,  wool, 


tallow,  and  preserved  meats  are  staple  imports ; 
wheat  is  also  exported,  but  not  in  such  quantities  as 
to  challenge  a place  in  the  record.  The  country  is 
by  far  the  most  densely  populated  of  the  Australian 
colonies,  with  the  most  complete  educational  system, 
although  it  has  not  yet  arrived  at  the  eminence  of 
being  compulsory.  The  colony  has  an  armed  force 
and  a navy  for  defense. 

New  Zealand  is  known  to  have  been  visited  by 
Tasman  in  1642,  and  again  by  Cook  in  1769,  but 
was  not  colonized  until  long  after.  It  consists  of 
two  groups,  the  north  and  middle  islands ; but  there 
are  also  several  outlying  islands,  including  South,  or 
Stewart  Island  and  Chatham  Island.  The  coast  line 
is  about  3,000  miles,  the  group  aggregating  1,000 
miles  in  length  by  about  200  miles  across.  Its  area 
approximates  to  105,342  square  miles,  about  two- 
thirds  being  fit  for  pastoral  purposes  and  agriculture. 
The  population  in  1854  was  32,554,  exclusive  of 
maories,  and  the  number  in  1879  was  reported  463,- 
729,  of  which  total  about  300,000  were  able  to  read 
and  write.  Gold-fields  were  first  opened  in  1857,  in 
which  year  over  $200,000  value  was  raised.  In  the 
following  year  there  was  a slight  increase,  followed 
by  decreasing  yields  for  two  years,  after  which  better 
“ finds  ” were  struck,  showing  in  1861  nearly  $4,000,- 
000,  the  next  nearly  $8,000,000,  and  subsequent 
yields  that  approximated  to  $14,000,000.  The  total 
yield,  to  the  end  of  1879,  being  $180,635,410.  The 
maori,  or  native  population, in  1878, according  tore- 
turns  then  obtained,  aggregated  43,595.  They  are 
very  intelligent  aborigines,  capable  of  receiving  civil- 
ization, and  as  farmers,  are  persevering  and  success- 
ful. In  war  a large  amount  of  courage  and  skill 
has  been  displayed  by  them,  taxing  the  powers  of  the 
colonists,  and  British  military  forces.  The  maories 
are  now  peacefully  disposed. 

The  present  government  was  established  by  stat- 
ute in  1852,  dividing  the  colony  into  six  provinces, 
which  were  afterwards  increased  to  nine.  The  suf- 
frage is  practically  household,  giving  a vote  to  every 
person  that  is  beneficially  interested  in  the  country. 
The  system  of  government  by  provinces  was  super- 
seded in  1875,  when  superintendents  and  provincial 
officers  gave  place  to  local  boards  and  the  governor. 
Legislation  is  vested  in  a parliament  of  two  cham- 
bers, each  member  of  either  house  being  paid  $1,050 
per  session.  Four  aborigines  are  elected  to  the  lower 
house  by  the  maories.  The  governor  is  the  execu- 


AUSTRALASIA. 


424 


tive,  having  in  consideration  of  his  duties  as  gover- 
nor and  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces,  $37,500 
per  year  as  salary  and  allowance.  He  is  advised  by 
nine  ministers,  who  are  responsible  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  their  departments,  and  for  the  general 
management  of  affairs.  Two  maories  are  always 
included  in  the  cabinet,  but  they  are  not  in  charge 
of  any  branch  of  the  government.  The  home  gov- 
ernment used  to  control  native  affairs  until  1803, 
but  since  that  date  the  colonists  have  been  in  the 
enjoyment  of  full  responsibility.  The  seat  of  the 
general  government  is  at  Wellington  since  1864;  up 
to  that  date 
the  capital  was 
Auckland. 

Public  works 
have  been  very 
expensive  in 
New  Zealand, 
and  their  prose- 
cution has  in- 
volved the  col- 
ony in  a consid- 
erable debt,  part 
of  which  is  guar- 
anteed by  the 
Imperial  gov- 
ernment. The 
total  to  1879 
was  $119,791,- 
550.The  Chinese 
in  New  Zealand 
numbered  4,382 
in  1878,  and  of  that  number  only  eight  were 
females.  The  natives  of  the  Flowery  Land  have 
the  same  peculiarity  in  all  their  travels;  they 
leave  their  better-halves  under  the  shelter  of  “ the 
Brother  of  the  Sun  and  the  Moon.”  They  are  not 
valued  as  colonists,  partly  on  that  account,  but  they 
are  industrious  and  frugal,  and  grow  rich  on  land  that 
would  hardly  give  bread  to  Europeans,  either  as  gar- 
deners or  as  miners.  In  some  of  the  Australian  col- 
onies Chinese  are  subject  to  special  taxation,  to  ex- 
clude them. 

Population  in  New  Zealand  increases  more  rapidly 
by  excess  of  births  over  deaths,  and  by  immigration, 
than  in  any  other  colony  in  the  group,  and  exports 
are  increasing.  Commerce  in  twenty  years  to  1878 
has  grown  more  than  twenty-fold.  The  staple  ex- 


ports are  wool,  corn,  flour,  kaurie-gum  and  pre- 
served meat.  Gold  was  exported  in  1875  to  the 
amount  of  318,367  ounces ; in  1876  to  the  extent  of 
371,865  ounces,  and  in  1877,  310,486  ounces.  Rail- 
roads were  commenced  in  1872,  at  the  cost  of  the 
state  by  loans,  and  at  the  end  of  1879  there  were 
1,171  miles  open  for  traffic,  besides  284  miles  in 
course  of  construction.  At  the  same  date  the  length 
of  electric  telegraph  in  use  aggregated  3,512  miles, 
which  had  sent  during  the  preceding  year  1,448,943 
messages.  The  General  Assembly  in  1879  sanctioned 
further  constructions  to  the  extent  of  938  miles  ex- 
tra broad,  to  be 
completed  with- 
in the  five  years 
then  ensuing. 
The  completed 
lines,  when  pre- 
pared for  ser- 
vice, are  to  cost 
$80,000,000. 

The  system  of 
government  in 
this  colony  is  in 
the  main  similar 
to  that  describ- 
ed in  connec- 
tion with  other 
colonies.  Each 
colony  is  per- 
mitted to  draft 
its  own  consti- 
tution, provided 
that  it  embodies  the  principle  of  responsible  admin- 
istration ; but  when  the  form  has  been  adopted,  as 
for  instance  in  the  case  of  Victoria,  an  appeal  for 
change,  beyond  what  is  contemplated  in  the  original 
instrument,  is  received  by  the  imperial  government, 
with  a tone  and  demeanor  that  seems  to  say,  “You 
have  made  your  choice  and  must  content  yourselves 
to  work  out  your  own  salvation.”  The  bicameral 
system  is  by  all  the  colonies  treated  as  indispensable ; 
but  in  course  of  time,  in  many  of  the  states  single 
chambers  must  be  resorted  to,  because  of  the  unac- 
commodating spirit  that  is  manifested.  The  re- 
sponsibility of  rule  can  be  borne  by  one  chamber  as 
well  as  by  two  or  more. 

“We  have  already  glanced  at  Queensland  under  the 
name  of  Moreton  Bay,  forming  part  of  the  penal 


•y  <2. 

6 - 


< 


AUSTRALASIA. 


425 


colony  of  New  South  Wales.  That  name  ended 
when  the  settlement  was  cut  adrift  from  its  old  asso- 
ciations, and  the  better  title,  Queensland,  was  be- 
stowed with  the  constitution  and  powers  of  respon- 
sible government.  Earliest  colonization  dates  from 
the  year  1825,  when  the  first  shipment  of  “govern- 
ment men  ” arrived.  That  was  the  euphonious 
method  by  which  convicts  were  indicated ; they  were 
“ government  men.”  Seventeen  years  elapsed  from 
that  arrival,  and  in  1842  the  country  was  thrown 
open  to  free  settlers.  An  enumeration  four  years 
later  showed  a population  of  2,257,  including  free 
and  felon,  and  the  transportation  system  at  an  end. 
The  virus  had  not  gone  far  enough  to  establish 
acute  pycemia,  as  in  Tasmania.  Change  of  name 
and  improved  habits  have  placed  the  country  among 
the  best  conditioned  communities. 

The  boundaries  of  Queensland  are  on  the  north, 
the  gulf  of  Carpentaria  on  the  east,  the  Pacific 
Ocean  on  the  south,  the  colony  of  New  South  Wales 
on  the  west ; the  141st  meridian  of  longitude  from 
the  29tli  to  the  26th  parallel  and  thence  to  the  138th 
meridian,  north,  to  the  gulf  first  named,  “ including 
all  and  every  the  adjacent  islands,  their  members 
and  appurtenances,  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  in  the 
Gulf  of  Carpentaria.”  The  dimensions  were  estab- 
lished by  Her  Majesty’s  order  in  council,  when  the 
first  governor  arrived,  in  December,  1859,  and  inau- 
gurated responsible  administration.  Parliament 
consists,  as  in  Great  Britain,  of  two  houses : the 
council  of  thirty  members,  nominated  for  life  by  the 
crown  ; the  commons,  or  assembly  of  55  members, 
chosen  by  ballot  from  as  many  electorates ; voting 
among  males  being  as  wide  as  taxation.  Holders  of 
property,  either  leasehold  or  freehold,  are  in  addition 
permitted  to  cast  a ballot  for  each  property,  as  well 
as  for  their  residence.  Considering  the  origin  of 
the  community,  it  is  perhaps  but  natural  that  prop- 
erty should  have  been  fenced  about  with  safeguards. 

The  governor  of  Queensland,  commander-in-chief 
and  vice-admiral,  as  his  commission  runs,  is  allowed 
a salary  from  the  imperial  authorities,  like  all  other 
such  officials,  merely  to  define  his  character  as  a 
civil  servant,  somewhere  about  $5,000  per  annum  ; 
his  allowance  from  the  colony  being  $25,000  per 
annum.  Responsible  ministers,  to  the  number  of 
six,  are  paid  $5,000  per  year  each,  and  are  answer- 
able to  parliament  for  every  act  of  the  administra- 
tion, as  well  as  for  their  personal  deeds.  The  rev- 


1 


enues  of  the  colony  are  derived  mainly  from  sales 
and  rents  of  public  lands,  customs  duties,  and  ex- 
cise. Public  works  and  aid  to  immigration  have 
compelled  the  country  to  incur  a public  debt.  In 
1879  the  total  liability  of  the  colony  was  $50,960,- 
430,  but  in  the  year  last  passed  the  parliament 
authorized  the  administration  to  raise  a new  loan  of 
$15,000,000.  Considering  the  vast  area  of  the 
country,  669,520  square  miles  with  a seaboard  of 
2,250  miles,  and  that  the  debt  is  a first  charge  on 
all  lands  and  revenues,  the  public  creditor  is  of 
course  perfectly  safe,  and  would  be  though  the 
liability  were  largely  increased.  The  population 
of  the  colony  does  not  increase  rapidly.  It  is  depend- 
ent on  Chinese  and  South  Sea  Islanders  for  a large 
part  of  all  recent  arrivals,  and  even  with  such  ques- 
tionable aids,  the  immigration  of  1879  only  aggre- 
gated 6,896,  while  the  emigration  for  the  same  term 
amounted  to  8,134.  Similar  results  were  chronicled  1 
in  the  preceding  year,  although  the  figures  were  not 
quite  so  unfavorable.  The  climate  is  semi-tropical, 
and  Europeans  suffer  so  severely  from  exposure  to 
the  heat,  that  none  remain  in  the  country  longer 
than  is  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  their  inter- 
ests. The  population  in  1879  amounted  to  217,851, 
including  13,269  Chinese  at  work  on  the  gold-fields. 

The  number  of  Aborigines  in  the  territory  appears 
to  be  undetermined. 

Wool  is  the  staple  export,  the  other  items  being  of 
small  amount,  including  preserved  meat,  copper, 
and  gold.  Cotton  and  sugar-cane  are  said  to  flour- 
ish in  Queensland  ; they  have  certainly  been  accli- 
mated successfully,  but  the  supply  of  suitable  labor 
is  so  limited,  that  some  time  must  elapse  before  the 
returns  upon  the  outlay  will  sensibly  affect  the  ex- 
ports of  the  colony.  There  are  probably  about 
25,000  acres  under  sugar-cane  at  the  present  time. 
Livestock  does  not  flourish  quite  so  well  as  in  Vic- 
toria, but  the  figures  under  that  head  are  satisfac- 
tory. Coal-mines  have  been  opened  and  promise 
continuous  yields ; gold-mines,  which  were  entered 
on  in  1867,  gave  $6,532,155  value  in  precious  metal 
in  1877.  Railroads  in  operation  in  1878  amounted 
to  298  miles,  and  at  that  time  113  miles  in  addition 
were  in  course  of  construction.  At  the  end  of  1877 
the  telegraph  service  of  the  colony  employed  5,229 
miles  of  wire  with  112  stations.  Like  all  the  other 
colonies  having  responsible  government  in  the  ^ 
Australian  group,  Queensland  has  an  agent  general 


G\ 


1 


Q) 


426 


AUSTRALASIA. 


in  London,  whose  duties  are  mainly  to  keep  the 
friends  of  the  colony  in  parliament  advised  as  to 
its  interests,  which,  added  to  the  dignity  of  having 
such  an  officer,  is  perhaps  a justification  for  the 
outlay  involved. 

The  exceptional  conditions  of  Western  Australia, 
the  only  penal  settlement  now  retained  by  Great 
Britain,  and  retained  as  such  at  its  own  solicitation, 
removes  that  colony  from  the  category  in  which 
the  other  colonies  of  the  group  appear.  It  is  the 
Ishmael  of  settlements,  and  if  the  hand  of  every 
other  colony  is  not  against  it,  the  reason  must  be 
sought  in  the  fact  that  its  conditions  are  too  feeble 
to  demand  much  energy  in  dealing  with  all  the  mis- 
chief that  it  is  capable  of  accomplishing.  It  is  also 
supposed  in  its  defense  that  “its  poverty  and  not  its 
will  consents”  to  receive  such  poor  yokefellows  in 
the  difficult  task  of  building  up  a colony  in  Western 
Australia.  The  area  of  the  territory  is  great,  esti- 
mated at  1,000,000  square  miles,  its  greatest  length 
being  from  north  to  south  1,600  miles,  and  from 
east  to  west  1,000  miles.  The  actually  colonized 
territory  is  within  an  area  of  about  GOO  miles  by 
150.  The  outlying  territory  operates  as  a kind  of 
sanitary  ground,  over  which  the  infected  cannot 
approach  the  other  colonies.  Vessels  from  the 
pariah  settlement  are  subjected  to  strict  examin- 
ation and  social  quarantine  regulations  on  their 
entry  to  healthy  ports.  More  severe  measures  were 
once  threatened. 

There  is  not  responsible  government,  only  the 
nominee  system  that  has  been  mentioned  before. 
The  governor,  who  is  paid  $12,500  per  year,  dis- 
charges executive  functions,  and  calls  to  his  aid  a 
legislative  council  of  21  members,  seven  nominated 
and  the  remainder  elected.  Property  qualifications 
are  demanded  from  voters  and  representatives ; in 
one  case  a minimum  of  $50  per  year,  and  in  the  other 
of  $5,000  in  landed  property.  Instead  of  a respon- 
sible ministry  there  is  an  executive  council,  composed 


of  officials,  including  the  judiciary,  the  professional 
heads  of  departments,  and  six  secretaries  of  state. 

The  governor,  within  the  instructions  given  to 
him  with  his  commission,  or  subsequent  directions 
from  the  colonial  office  in  London,  is  dictator  in  the 
colony.  His  councilors  have  no  control.  The 
income  of  the  state  is  derived  from  sales  of  land, 
leases,  licenses,  and  customs  ; added  to  an  imperial 
grant  in  aid  of  $76,620  per  annum.  I11  the  year 
1879  Western  Australia  incurred  a debt  for  the 
construction  of  a railroad,  amounting  in  all  to 
$1,805,000.  At  the  end  of  1879  there  were  78  miles 
of  road  open  for  traffic.  The  territory,  as  defined 
by  the  royal  commission,  includes  all  that  portion 
of  New  Holland  to  the  west  of  129°  east  longitude. 
The  first  settlement  was  made  in  1829,  and  21  years 
later  the  gross  total  was  only  about  6,000  persons, 
bond  and  free.  The  last  census,  taken  in  1871, 
showed  only  a population  of  25,353,  nearly  1,800  of 
whom  were  prisoners.  The  exports  of  the  colony 
consist  almost  entirely  of  wool  and  lead  ore ; the 
value  of  wool  in  1879,  the  highest  point  reached, 
was  $787,945  ; and  the  lead  ore  exports  for  that  year 
aggregated  $56,875.  Coal  has  been  found  in 
small  quantities,  and  recent  investigations  favor  the 
belief  that  the  colony  is  rich  in  minerals,  including 
copper. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  Australasian  colon- 
ies will,  in  the  course  of  a few  years,  constitute 
themselves  a republic  after  the  manner  of  the  United 
States,  the  home  government  being  willing  to  afford 
the  colonists  every  facility  to  carry  out  desires  for 
independence  whenever  the  popular  will  may  take 
that  form ; and  almost  inevitably  the  city  of  Mel- 
bourne will  be  the  capital  of  the  nation  in  the  day 
which  no  loyal  Australian  would  wish  to  hasten. 
The  Queen  of  Great  Britain  has  no  portion  of  her 
well-ruled  empire  in  which  her  name  is  more  revered 
than  in  Australia,  but  in  the  progress  of  human 
affairs,  change  is  certain. 


r 


CHAPTER  LXVIII. 


The  Great  Britain  of  the  East — The  Country  Described— The  Cities  of  Japan — Products 
and  Population — Mines — Early  History — Japan  in  the  time  of  Caesar— The  Great 
Queen — Introduction  from  China  of  Letters  and  Philosophy — Buddhism  Introduced— 
First  Contact  with  Europeans — Jesuit  Missions— The  Dutch  in  Japan — Tycoon  Iyeyas 
— Two  Centuries  of  Peace — America  and  Japan — Fall  of  the  Daimios — Christian  Cal- 
endar Adopted — New  Japan — Japanese  Idolatry'  and  Sintuism— Transportation— Mod 
ern  Missions — Japanese  Literature. 


£ 


3* 


vAl  Neppon,  or  Nihon,  is 
the  native  name  of  that 
“ Sunrise  Kingdom,” 
known  to  Europe  and 
America  as  Japan.  This 
land  of  the  dawn,  which 
we  are  to  visit,  is  not  a 
part  of  the  continent  of 
Asia,  sustaining  to  it  much  the  same 
relation  that  Great  Britain  does  to 
Europe. 

Japan  consists  of  four  large  islands 
and  numerous  minor  isles,  embracing 
“ The  Thousand  Islands  ” of  the  Ori- 
ent. The  four  large  islands  are  Nipon, 
or  Niphon,  with  an  area  of  95,000 
square  miles ; Yesso,  with  30,000  square  miles ; Kin- 
sin,  area  10,000  square  miles;  Sikok,  10,000.  The 
entire  area,  including  the  3,840  small  islands,  is 
about  150,000  square  miles.  The  total  length  of  the 
empire  is  1,000  miles  from  north  to  south.  Conse- 
quently the  climate  varies  widely,  but  as  a whole  it 
belongs  to  the  temperate  zone. 

Japan  is  the  home  of  earthquakes.  The  country 
is  mountainous ; the  mountains  show  volcanic  effects. 
The  highest  peak,  Fusiyama,  14,170  feet  high,  is  an 


extinct  volcano.  The  rivers  are  short,  shallow  and 
rapid.  Throughout  the  empire  there  is  only  one 
fresh-water  lake  of  any  considerable  exteut.  That 
is  called  Biwako,  or  Lake  Orni. 

Near  this  lake  is  the  city  of  Miako,  or  Saikio,  the- 
western,  or  ancient,  capital.  Tokio,  commonly 
called  Yeddo,  is  the  eastern  capital.  The  former 
was  long  kept  sacred  from  the  intrusion  of  foreign- 
ers. It  was  built  about  1100  years  ago.  It  is  almost 
surrounded  by  mountains.  This  ancient  capital  has 
a population  of  about  380,000  inhabitants.  Tokio 
has  about  three  times  that  number  of  people.  The 
most  important  seaport  of  Japan  is  Yokohama,  the 
third  city  in  size.  Its  spacious  and  pacific  harbor 
affords  protection  for  ships.  It  is  on  the  bay  of 
Yeddo,  and  only  twenty  miles  from  the  national 
capital.  Osaca,  on  the  island  of  Nipon,  is  second 
only  to  Tokei  in  population.  Next  to  Yokohama 
in  size  ranks  Nagasaki,  on  the  island  of  Kinsin. 
Neigata,  on  the  northeast  coast  of  Nipon,  Kobe,  near 
Osaca,  and  llokodate,  on  Yesso,  are  the  remaining 
cities  of  some  magnitude. 

Japan  is  highly  cultivated,  so  far  as  it  is  arable. 
The  population,  by  the  census  of  1872,  was  33,110,- 
825,  and  it  requires  good  tillage  to  support  so  largo 
a number  of  inhabitants  on  an  area  so  small,  as  com- 


1*1 « 


(427) 


-i 


k_ 


428 


JAPAN  AND  THE  JAPANESE. 


pared  with  population.  The  same  census  gave  the 
number  of  farmers  as  14,870,420.  The  mulberry 
tree, with  its  silk- worm,  and  the  tea-plant,  furnish  the 
main  articles  of  export.  Raw  silk  goes  to  Europe 
in  large  quantities.  The  surplus  tea  of  the  country 
finds  its  way,  most  of  it,  to  this  country.  For  home 
consumption  rice  is  the  chief  product  of  Japan.  It 
exports  more  to  the  United  States  than  to  any  other 
country,  and  imports  more  from  England  than  from 
any  other,  although  the  import  trade  with  the 
U nited  States  is 
increasing  very 
rapidly. 

Speaking  of 
the  rural  popu- 
lation, a recent 
visitor  to  that 
country  writes, 

“ The  farmers 
are  a simple- 
hearted  and  in- 
dustrious race. 

Rakes,  spades, 
and  plows  used 
by  them  are  of 
rude  construc- 
tion. Sometimes 
the  plows  are 
drawn  by  oxen, 
but  just  as  fre- 
quently by  men, 
women  or  chil- 
dren. They  show 
great  kindness 
to  animals,  very 
few  of  which,  however,  are  to  be  found  in  the  em- 
pire.” The  grass  in  Japan  is  so  coarse  that  sheep 
and  cattle  cannot  thrive  upon  it.  The  few  domes- 
tic beasts  of  Japan  are  fed  on  grain  exclusively. 
The  people  live  almost  exclusively  on  rice,  fish  and 
radishes,  with  some  potatoes,  fowl,  onions,  pump- 
kins, and  the  like.  The  fruits  of  Japan  are  of  an  in- 
ferior quality. 

The  mines  in  Japan  are  very  important.  Gold, 
silver  and  copper  are  exported  in  large  quantities 
and  have  been  for  a long  time.  It  is  said  that  be- 
tween the  years  of  1550  and  1639,  the  Portuguese 
exported  from  that  country  not  less  than  8297,500,- 
000  in  gold  and  silver.  The  yield  has  fallen  off  in 


late  years,  but  it  is  still  a very  important  feature  of 
Japanese  resources. 

It  is  now  time  to  turn  our  attention  to  history. 
It  is  impossible  to  fix  a boundary  line  between  fable 
and  reality,  legend  and  authentic  history,  with  any 
degree  of  precision.  The  Japanese  have  a literature 
running  far  back  into  the  remote  past,  and  some 
things  are  credited  by  them  which  are  simply  incredi- 
ble. The  people  themselves  believe  that  they  had 
national  existence  about  2500  years  previous  to  the 

present  empire, 
and  that  was 
established  by 
Zinmu  about 
2,500  years  ago. 
According  to 
that  the  period 
of  the  Japanese 
world  does  not 
differmuchfrom 
the  period  of  the 
Christian  and 
Hebrew  world. 

This  Zinmu 
was  a great  war- 
rior, and  estab- 
lished his  king- 
dom over  the 
entire  area  of 
Japan.  It  was 
in  his  day  that 
the  people  of 
that  country 
learned  to  di- 
vide time  with 
some  degree  of  accuracy  into  months  and  years. 
That  fact  perhaps,  rather  than  any  great  exploits 
and  conquests,  makes  the  year  B.  C.  667  the  begin- 
ning of  definite  computation  and  narration  in 
Japan.  The  emperor,  or  mikado,  was  also  high- 
priest,  or  pope. 

The  first  capital  was  Kaswabara,  but  it  was 
changed  several  times.  Saikio,  or  Miako,  was  the 
capital  for  nearly  a thousand  years.  It  was  removed 
from  there  to  Tokei  in  1867,  as  one  of  the  results  of 
the  great  revolution  to  be  explained  later.  Native 
writers  agree  in  stating  that  the  total  number  of 
emperors  in  unbroken  line  was  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four.  The  emperor,  or  mikado,  became  so 


,4- 


japan  AND  THE  JAPANESE. 


429 


sacred  and  august  a personage  that  he  could  not 
stoop  to  practical  statesmanship,  and  for  a period 

of  six  hundred  

years  the  real 
rulers  were  the 
tycoons,  or  shio- 
goons.  Origin- 
ally the  tycoons 
were  the  mili- 
tary chieftains. 

They  ruled  by 
fear  and  fre- 
quently involv- 
ed the  country 
in  civil  war  over 
their  rival  and 
hostile  ambi- 
tions. 

The  first  cen- 
sus of  Japan 
was  taken  B.  C. 

97.  The  emper- 
or who  caused 
this  enumera- 
tion of  his  subjects  was  Sujintenno.  He  built  a 
powerful  navy  and  established  commercial  relations 
with  Corea,  ir- 


rigated the  arid 
landanddrained 
the  lakes.  Evi- 
dently he  was  a 
great  statesman. 

It  was  his  suc- 
cessor, Quinin- 
tenno,  who  abol- 
ished the  hid- 
eous practice  of 
requiring  the 
empress  and  her 
court  to  commit 
hari-kari  upon 
the  death  of  the 
emperor.  His 
humane  reforms 
extended  to  oth- 
er things,  and 

the  actual  civil-  

ization  of  Japan  was  greatly  advanced 
He  also  paid  much  attention  to  irrigation. 


JAPANESE  SOLDIERS. 


by  him. 
During 


his  reign  800  canals  and  ponds  were  constructed 
in  the  interest  of  agriculture.  After  him  came 

Kekotenno,  who 
had  the  land 
surveyed  and 
large  grain  ware- 
houses built,  in 
which  the  sur- 
plus of  the  years 
of  plenty  could 
be  stored  for  use 
in  the  years  of 
scarcity. 

In  the  year 
A.  D.  200,  a wo- 
man ascended 
the  throne  of 
Japan,  Jingu 
Kogu,  the  widow 
of  the  emper- 
or Chinaitenno. 
She  had  been 
her  husband’s 
companion  in 
arms,  and  her  scepter  was  a sword.  She  led  her 
army  to  victory  over  Corea.  She  acquired  more 

renown  than 
any  predecessor, 
and  to  this  day 
the  painters  and 
poets  of  J apan 
delight  in  set- 
ting forth  her 
exploits.  At  that 
time  the  art  of 
working  in  silk 
was  unknown  in 
the  empire.  It 
was  introduced 
from  Corea  dur- 
ing the  reign  of 
her  son. 

Late  in  the 
third  century  of 
the  Christian 
era,  Chinese  lit- 
erature and  let- 
ami  Confucius 
1 teacher  of  the 


ters  were  introduced  into  Japan, 
became  the  great  philosopher  ant 


"3T 


43° 


JAPAN  AND  THE  JAPANESE. 


Japanese.  His  practical  ideas  commended  them- 
selves to  their  approval,  and  they  adopted  him 
as  their  intellectual  father.  The  introduction  of 
Chinese  letters  was  a very  great  event.  “ Prior 
to  that  event,”  says  Lanman,  “ their  own  tongue 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  reduced  to  writ- 
ing.” About  that  time  the  favorite  Japanese  mu- 
sical instrument,  the  koto,  was  invented.  The 
emperor,  Osintenno,  son  of  Jingu  Kogu,  also  intro- 
duced from  China  improvements  in  silk  culture  and 


grand  on  the  little  island  of  Eno-Shima.  It  is  called 
Dai  Butsu,  or  “ The  Great  Buddha.” 

The  mild  and  meditative  religion  of  Buddha  did 
not  prevent  war,  civil  or  foreign.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  subjugate  China.  It  resulted  in  failure 
and  the  bootless  invasion  of  Japan  by  the  Chinese. 
It  was  found  that  either  could  repel  the  other; 
neither  could  subjugate  the  other.  Even  among  the 
disciples  of  Buddha  in  Japan  there  arose  war.  The 
priests  quarreled  so  bitterly  that  to  their  animosity 


DAI  BUTSA,  OR,  THE  GREAT  BUDDHA. 


manufacture.  Dikes  were  constructed  to  guard 
against  inundation,  and  rice-mills  built. 

The  first  national  history  dates  from  A.  D.  400. 
One  hundred  years  later  Buddhism  was  introduced. 
It  also  came  through  the  gateways  of  Corea  and 
China,  and  it  found  ready  acceptance,  rapidly  dis- 
placing the  old  Sintu  worship.  The  national  char- 
acter was  very  materially  modified  by  this  religious 
innovation.  The  higher  classes  were  especially  in- 
fluenced by  it,  and  it  became  the  fashion  for  the  em- 
perors to  abdicate  and  adopt  the  life  and  habit  of 
the  Buddhist  priesthood. 

One  of  the  truly  great  works  of  art  in  Japan  is 
the  bronze  image  of  Buddha,  fifty  feet  high  and  ad- 
mirable in  proportion,  which  stands  solitary  and 


is  attributed  a great  conflagration,  which  in  1536 
destroyed  about  one-half  of  the  capital.  During  the 
period  known  as  the  Dark  Ages  in  Europe,  Japan 
was  on  very  nearly  the  same  plane,  as  regards  civil- 
ization, as  that  continent.  The  records  of  that 
period  in  botli  cases  should  be  written  with  blood. 

The  first  connection  between  Japan  and  Europe, 
so  far  as  known,  dates  from  1541.  Some  Portuguese 
traders  voyaging  from  Siam  to  China  were  wrecked 
on  the  coast  of  Kinsin.  The  national  records  make 
mention  of  the  fact  on  account  of  the  firearms  which 
the  strangers  had.  Two  years  later  the  Portuguese 
opened  important  communications  with  Japan  for 
the  double  purposes  of  traffic  and  evangelization. 
The  Jesuits  and  the  merchants  kept  each  other  com - 


t 


<3 


10 


JAPAN  AND  THE  JAPANESE. 


pauy.  It  was  in  1549  that  Francis  Xavier,  called 
“ the  bright  and  morning  star  of  modern  missions,” 
visited  Japan.  He  spent  ten  years  in  the  establish- 
ment and  superintendence  of  Jesuit  missions  in  In- 
dia, Ceylon,  Japan  and  Malacca,  baptizing,  it  is  said, 
a million  converts.  Two  of  those  ten  years  were 
spent  in  Japan.  Such  was  the  progress  made  by 
missionaries  of  the  cross,  that  Tycoon  Xobu  Nanga? 
who  rose  to  eminence  in  1557,  like  Constantine  the 
Great,  espoused  the  cause 
of  Christ  from  motives  of 
policy.  He  waged  war  up- 
on  the  Buddhists,  begin- 
ning his  crusade  in  1569. 

A great  many  lives  were 
taken  and  temples  de- 
stroyed. The  Jesuits  were 
delighted  with  their  prog- 
ress. In  1581  their  com- 
munion numbered  150,- 
000.  But  the  triumph  was 
short,  and  the  reaction 
destructive.  Buddhism 
had  a firm  hold  upon  the 
people,  especially  the 
higher  classes,  and  the 
seeming  prosperity  of  the 
Jesuits  was  due  to  no  real 
sympathy  with  their  mis- 
sion. With  a change  of 
power  came  the  reaction, 
and  the  Jesuits  were 
swept  out  of  the  country, 
utterly  and  ruthlessly. 

They  appealed  to  the 
sword,  and  fell  by  it.  In  1585  they  were  ordered  to 
leave  the  country  within  twenty  days,  and  desist  at 
once  from  preaching  and  baptizing.  Those  who 
should  disregard  the  warning  were  threatened  with- 
death.  But  for  some  time  the  execution  of  the 
threat  was  evaded.  The  Jesuits  had  ships  of  their 
own,  and  the  tycoon  concluded  that  instead  of  send- 
ing them  away  it  would  be  better  to  employ  those 
ships  in  war  with  Corea. 

It  was  the  last  year  of  the  sixteenth  century  that 
the  English  and  Dutch  mariners  first  visited  Japan. 
The  English  never  made  much  headway  in  estab- 
lishing commercial  relations  with  that  country  until 
our  own  times.  The  Dutch  were  more  successful. 


431 


They  seem  to  have  succeeded  in  convincing  the  Jap- 
anese authorities  that  they  had  no  religious  designs, 
but  were  purely  commercial  and  financial  in  their 
purposes.  Such  certainly  was  the  fact,  and  for  quite 
a long  period  after  the  representatives  of  all  other 
parts  of  Europe  had  been  expelled,  the  Dutch  were 
allowed  to  maintain  a trading  post  at  the  island  of 
Hirado,  and  the  profits  realized  from  this  monopoly 
of  European  commerce  were  very  considerable.  The 
overthrow  of  this  monop- 
oly was  brought  about  by 
the  United  States.  But 
before  passing  to  that  re- 
volutionary event  we  must 
return  to  the  political 
affairs  of  the  empire. 

During  the  year  1600  a 
battle  was  fought  near 
Lake  Orni  which  gave 
to  Iyeyas  total  authority 
over  the  country.  This 
soon  removed  the  capital 
to  Yeddo.  He  gave  the 
country  a most  admirable 
system  of  laws,  and  estab- 
lished justice  upon  so  firm 
a foundation  that  for 
more  than  two  hundred 
years  after  his  death  the 
land  had  peace.  No  por- 
tion of  Christendom  could 
ever  boast  so  conspicuous 
practical  exemplification 
of  the  religion  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace  as  the 
Japan  of  that  period.  The  first  American  ship  in 
Japanese  waters  was  a man-of-war  commanded  by 
Commodore  Bidell.  That  was  in  1846.  The  naval 
visit  which  accomplished  practical  results  was  made 
by  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry  in  1853.  He  negotiated 
a commercial  treaty  with  Japan  which  was  the  be- 
odnnimr  of  one  of  the  most  radical  revolutions  that 
country  ever  experienced.  The  next  year  Sir  James 
Sterling  of  the  British  navy  arrived  at  Nogasaki,  de- 
termined to  secure  for  England  as  much  latitude  of 
commerce  with  Japan  as  had  been  granted  to  the 
United  States,  and  he  was  successful.  Other 
nations  followed,  and  the  Dutch  monopoly  fell,  and  j ^ 
with  it  Japanese  exclusiveness,  to  a very  consider- 


0 


JAPAN  AND  THE  JAPANESE. 


432 


able  extent.  Trade  was  limited  and  hedged  about 
with  many  restrictions.  The  new  policy  was  firmly 
established  by  1858. 

Japan,  like  France  and  Italy,  had  its  Renaissance. 
It  began  about  the  first  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
There  was  a great  revival  of  learning,  a mighty 
intellectual  development.  The  government  at 
Yeddo,  as  it  was  then  called,  had  presumed 
too  much  and  gone  too  far  in  ignoring  the  law- 
ful authority  of  the  Mikado  at  Mikio.  When 
in  1868  the  Tycoon,  now  for  the  first  time  officially 
taking  this  title,  negotiated  treaties  hy  which 
foreigners  were  al- 
lowed some  com- 
mercial privileges, 
that  innovation  was 
made  the  occasion 
of  revolution.  The 
battle  of  Fushimi 
was  fought,  and 
the  daimios  and 
their  leader  put 
down.  Suddenly 
as  if  by  magic  the 
power  which  had 
been  supreme  for 
centuries  was  crush- 
ed and  the  Mikado 
moved  from  Kioto 
to  Yeddo,  hence- 
forth Tokio,  and 
became  in  fact,  as 
in  theory,  the  supreme  authority  in  the  nation. 

The  immediate  object  of  the  revolution  was  not 
obtained.  The  Mikado  found  that  what  the  Tycoon 
had  assented  to  he  could  not  escape  from.  The 
foreign  governments  were  quite  too  poAverful  and 
their  navies  too  strong  to  be  defied  by  a kingdom  of 
islands.  A little  injury  was  inflicted  upon  property 
owned  by  foreigners  and  a few  outrages  committed 
(for  which  ample  indemnity  was  soon  paid),  and 
then  the  Japanese  accepted  the  situation.  The 
government  and  the  great  mass  of  the  people  were 
so  well  pleased  to  be  rid  of  the  daimio  despotism 
that  they  were  in  no  humor  to  maintain  a quarrel 
with  foreigners.  “Finding,”  says  an  able  writer, 
“it  impossible  to  drive  out  the  foreigners,  as  many 
of  the  patriots  desired,  the  new  government  ratified 
the  treaties,  and  thenceforth  followed  in  quick  suc- 


cession those  radical  changes  in  the  national  policy 
which  made  Japan  the  wonder  of  the  nations.  The 
feudal  system,  after  seven  centuries  of  existence, 
was  abolished  in  August,  1871,  and  the  daimios 
made  to  reside  as  pensioners  at  Tokio.  The 
Mikado  appeared  in  public  as  the  active  patron  of 
the  dock-yards,  light-houses,  hospitals,  schools, 
colleges,  railways  and  telegraphs  which  were  rapidly 
established.”  Finding  that  isolation  was  impossible, 
Japan  entered  with  enthusiasm  upon  a Study  of 
Western  civilization,  fully  resolved  apparently  to 
adopt  and  adapt  the  latest  improvements  of  the 

day.  In  a short 
time  a flourishing 
newspaper  press 
was  established, 
and  the  decimal 
system  of  reckon- 
ing money,  as  it 
obtains  in  the  Uni- 
ted States,  Avas 
ad  opted.  The  J ap- 
anese  sen  corre- 
sponds to  our  dol- 
lar. National  banks 
on  the  American 
plan  were  establish- 
ed. They  now  num- 
ber over  200.  The 
Avestern  postal  sys- 
tem is  also  in 
vogue  there.  The 
English  postal  savings  system  has  been  adopted, 
and  is  very  largely  patronized. 

All  these  changes  Avere  not  Avrought  Avithout 
some  very  stubborn  resistance,  especially  in  Kinshui. 
These  rebellions  required  the  intervention  of  the 
military  for  their  suppression.  The  chief  of  these 
Avas  the  Satsuma  rebellion,  led  by  Saigo  Takamori. 
It  began  February  1, 1877,  and  lasted  seven  months. 
The  rebels  numbered  37,500,  and  the  losses  in  killed 
and  Avounded  on  both  sides  amounted  to  about 
15,000. 

The  total  public  debt  of  Japan,  September  1, 
1878,  Avas  $375,725,677,  all  of  which  Avas  held  at 
home  except  $13,399,016,  held  in  England.  These 
figures  include  the  paper  money  in  circulation,  $121,- 
054,731.  By  the  operations  of  a sinking  fund  the 
debt,  foreign  and  domestic,  is  being  obliterated. 


k. 


JAPAN  AND  THE  JAPANESE. 


433 


The  first  line  of  railroad,  from  Hiogo  to  Osaka, 
25  miles,  was  opened  in  the  summer  of  1875.  At 
the  close  of  1879  there  were  open  to  business  76 
miles  of  railway,  with  140  miles  in  process  of  con- 
struction and  455  additional  miles  chartered.  The 
mileage  of  telegraphs  at  that  time  was  1,935.  The 
standing  army  is  about  80,000,  with  a militia,  or 
home-guard  liable  to  duty,  of  5,000,000.  The  navy 
consisted  in  June,  1878,  of  three  iron-clads.  one 
gunboat,  and  several  wooden  vessels. 


political  control.  As  Sintuism  is  the  indigenous 
religion,  it  deserves  especial  consideration.  The 
worship  of  the  sun  is  its  fundamental  idea. 
The  moon  is  also  an  object  of  adoration.  The 
emperors  claim  descent  from  the  sun.  Image 
worship,  or  idolatry,  abounds.  There  are  gods 
of  war,  rice,  riches  and  the  like.  Perhaps  the 
most  curious  feature  of  Sintuism  is  the  seven 
happy  gods,  who  are  represented  in  a way 
Quite  foreign  to  occidental  ideas  of  deity.  The  Jap- 


THE  SEVEN  HAPPY  GODS. 


In  theory  the  government  is  an  absolute  mon- 
archy ; in  practice  it  is  a responsible  ministry. 

The  empire  is  divided  into  thirty-eight  kens,  each 
having  a governor  appointed  by  the  central  govern- 
ment at  Tokio.  There  are  three  imperial  cities,  To- 
kio,  Osaka  and  Kioto,  governed  by  mayors.  The 
area  of  the  rice-fields  is  5,585,900  acres ; of  the  other 
cultivated  fields,  3,817,300  acres. 

In  1872  the  calendar  of  Christian  nations  was 
adopted,  and  it  may  be  said  that  old  Japan  dated 
from  B.  C.  667  to  A.  D.  1872.  The  ancient  faith 
has  97  temples,  the  Buddhists  296,900,  sustaining  a 
priesthood  numbering  168,654.  But  new  Japan  lias 
by  imperial  decree  abolished  the  religious  machinery 
of  former  days,  so  far  as  the  same  was  subject  to 


anese,  whatever  his  religion,  worships  his  ancestors, 
and  reverence  for  parents  is  carried  to  an  extreme 
unknown  in  Europe  or  America. 

The  government  school  for  boys  (Kaiseiyak-ko), 
at  Tokio,  employs  German,  French  and  English 
teachers,  and  thousands  of  boys  and  young  men 
may  now  receive  a complete  education  in  the 
science  and  literature  of  these  different  nations.  It 
is  the  science  and  worldly  wisdom  of  the  Occident, 
far  more  than  its  religion,  that  the  Japanese  arc 
disposed  to  adopt.  Japan  has  a voluminous  litera- 
ture, and  the  great  majority  of  the  people  can  read. 
No  European  or  American  has  ever  yet  discovered 
in  their  books,  whether  prose  or  poetry,  any  flashes 
of  genius. 


7 


CHAPTER  LXIX. 


Territorial  Extent — China  Proper — The  Chinese  Coast — The  Shanghai  Region — The  Val- 
ley or  the  Hwang-ho — The  Interior — Products — The  Rivers  or  China — The  Climate — 
The  Forests — The  Flora  or  China— Geology  or  the  Country— Mineral  Wealth  and 
Petroleum — Chinese  Animals — Corea  and  its  Exclusiveness — Manchuria  and  the  Mod- 
ern Tartars — Mongolia — Thibet  and  the  Grand  Llama. 


HINA,  embracing  China  Prop- 
er, Corea,  Manchuria,  Mon- 
golia, Tibet  and  Eastern  Tur- 
kestan, and  exclusive  of  Co- 
chin-China, Siam  and  other 
merely  nominal  tributaries, 
covers  an  area  of  4,740,000 
square  miles.  This  is  equal  to  nearly  the 
whole  of  continental  Europe.  It  extends 
from  the  jiarallel  of  north  latitude  18° 
30',  which  runs  nearly  centrally  through 
Soudan,  Africa,  and  falls  about  sixty 
miles  south  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  to 
north  latitude  53°  25',  almost  corre- 
sponding to  the  parallel  of  Liverpool, 
England,  and  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  Province  of  Quebec.  In  longitude 
it  stietclies  through  fifty  degrees,  from  the  80th  to 
130th  meridians.  Russia  bounds  it  along  its  entire 
northern  line,  of  nearly  3,000  miles ; the  Pacific 
Ocean  (or  its  subdivisions  known  as  the  Japan,  the 
\ellow  and  the  China  Seas)  washes  its  entire  east- 
ern and  southeastern  boundary,  of  more  than  4,000 
miles  in  extent;  Cochin-China,  Burmah,  British 
India,  Bootan,  Sikkim  and  Nepaul  border  it  on  the 
south  and  southwest,  and  the  latter  and  Russia  on 
the  west. 

China  Proper,  or  that  portion  which  is  distinctively 


Chinese  in  civilization  and  autonomy,  embraces  only 
about  half  of  this  vast  empire,  yet  it  has  an  area 
nearly  equal  to  that  of  Germany,  Austria,  France, 
Italy,  Spain,  Norway  and  Sweden,  and  the  British 
Isles  united,  having  a coast-line  of  about  the  same 
contour  and  length  as  that  of  the  United  States  on 
the  Atlantic,  and  a land  frontier  estimated  at  4,400 
miles.  With  the  exception  of  an  inconsiderable 
projection  in  the  northeast,  between  the  Gulf  of 
Pe-chi-li  and  Corea,  it  corresponds  in  latitude  with 
that  portion  of  the  United  States  south  of  the  south- 
ern line  of  New  York  State  and  that  part  of  Mex- 
ico north  of  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz.  It  lies  south  of 
all  Europe,  except  the  southern  portions  of  the  Span- 
ish, Roman  and  Grecian  peninsulas  and  their  out- 
lying islands.  About  half  of  China  Proper  is  hilly 
or  mountainous,  containing  a large  proportion  of 
lands  which  cannot  be  cultivated  even  by  the  labori- 
ous methods  of  terrace-farming  and  artificial  irri- 
gation, so  largely  practiced  in  that  country. 

From  its  southernmost  limit,  on  the  gulf  of  Ton- 
quin,  to  the  Chusan  Archipelago,  nearly  a thousand 
miles  northward,  the  lookout  of  China  on  the  sea  is 
indescribably  cheerless.  A range  of  disintegrated 
granite  mountains  frowns,  or,  under  a tropical  sun, 
glares,  on  the  passing  voyager  all  the  way.  Treeless, 
shrubless,  almost  bladeless,  their  flanks  of  rotten 
granite  gullied  into  red  and  yellow  gulches,  and  their 


(434) 


CUSTOM  HOUSE,  SHANGHAI. 


fi> 


CHINESE  EMPIRE. 


437 


intervening  ridges  and  summits  heaped  with  black- 
ened boulders,  these  desolate  mountains  yield  no 
hint  of  the  rich,  populous  interior  just  behind  them. 
But  within  a hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  Shanghai 
the  prospect  changes.  Here  the  charming  Chusan 
Archipelago  appears  off  the  Bay  of  Hangchow. 
These  islands  are  beautifully  terraced  from  their 
summits  to  the  sea.  Temples  perched  on  the  prin- 
cipal eminences  or  on  the  ledges  of  rocky  promon- 
tories, where  they  can  only  be  reached  by  steps  cut 
in  the  solid  rock,  stand  embowered  in  lovely  groves ; 
shrines  dot  the  waysides ; walled  towns  and  unwalled 
villages  are  seen  on  every  side ; and  around  all 

glistens  the  sea,  animated 

by  gaily  pennoned  junks  and 
bevies  of  fishermen’s  boats. 

Not  far  north  of  these 
islands  appears  the  low,  flat, 
alluvial  plain,  on  the  edge 
of  which  stands  Shanghai, 
ih  the  delta  of  the  river 
Yang-tse-Kiang.  This  plain 
is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able geographical  develop- 
ments of  China.  It  extends 
inland  from  Shanghai  (in 
north  latitude  30°  10')  to- 
wards the  south  150  to  250 
miles ; westward,  from  300 
to  500,  and  northward  about 
800  miles,  to  the  gates  of 

Peking  and  the  base  of  the  mountains  over  which 
climbs  the  great  wall,  the  northern  boundary  of 
China  proper.  From  its  southern  verge,  on  the  bay 
of  Hangchow,  to  its  northern  limit,  on  the  gulf  of 
Pe-chi-li,  only  the  bold,  mountainous  promontory 
interjected  between  the  Yellow  Sea  and  tlie  gulf  of 
Pe-chi-li,  constituting  the  greater  part  of  the  prov- 
ince of  Shantung,  intervenes  between  this  plain  and 
the  ocean.  In  the  interior  this  vast  sea  of  verdure 
sweeps  northward  past  the  Shantung  promontory, 
comes  out  to  the  gulf  coast  beyond  it,  and  continues 
about  a hundred  miles  still  farther  north.  From  the 
west  the  mountain  ridges  and  lines  of  foot-hills 
which  make  the  water-shed  between  the  tributaries 
of  the  two  great  water-courses  of  China,  the  ^ angtse 
and  the  Yellow  rivers,  project  into  it.  From  south 
to  north,  through  its  greatest  length,  runs  the  Grand 
Canal,  about  800  miles  in  length,  one  of  the  grand- 


est achievements  of  man,  considering  the  early  age 
in  which  it  was  constructed,  whether  regarded  as  a 
feat  of  civil  engineering,  or  as  a project  of  political 
and  commercial  sagacity. 

This  whole  plain,  except  in  seasons  of  extreme 
drought,  or  when  the  Yellow  river  overflows  its 
banks  (which,  like  those  of  the  lower  Mississippi, 
are  in  many  places  higher  than  the  surrounding 
country)  and  floods  whole  districts,  is  one  unbroken 
sea  of  harvest.  Rice,  maize,  millet,  mulberry,  cot- 
ton, sugar-cane,  vegetables  of  every  variety,  and  or- 
chards, interspersed  with  innumerable  cities,  towns 
and  hamlets,  fill  the  entire  region.  Westward  of  this 
wide,  extended  plain  lie  sev- 
eral large,  populous  prov- 
inces of  rich  valleys  and 
table  lands,  finely  watered 
by  the  sources  and  upper 
tributaries  of  the  Yang-tse 
and  Yellow  Rivers,  and  va- 
ried by  hill  and  mountain 
scenery  growing  more  and 
more  wild  and  romantic  as  it 
extends  westward  and  south- 
ward, until  the  limits  of 
China  Proper  are  reached  in 
the  lofty  mountain  chains 
which  make  the  boundaries 
of  Kokonor  and  Tibet,  and 
the  glaciered  heights  of  the 
Himalayas.  Southward  of 
the  Yang-tse  river,  the  mountains  and  hill  coun- 
try, bordering  the  Great  Plain,  are  the  favorite 
habitat  of  the  tea-plant.  The  bulk  of  the  teas 
and  their  choicest  varieties  are  produced  on  the 
beautifully  terraced  hill  and  mountain  sides  of 
this  rough,  broken  region.  Rice  is  the  principal  grain 
raised  in  this  portion  of  the  country,  which  yields 
nearly  all  the  fruits  produced  in  the  south-temperate 
zone  and  the  tropics,  in  America.  Oranges,  bana- 
nas, pomaloes  (or  shaddocks),  peaches,  pears,  and 
smaller  fruits  known  in  our  markets,  and  mangoes, 
lichens,  arbutus,  lungans,  carambolas  and  other  fruits 
peculiar  to  Asia,  grow  in  abundance.  Sweet  potatoes 
and  ground-nuts  (or  peanuts)  and  yams  arc  produced 
in  large  quantities. 

The  rivers  of  China  are  numerous,  but  only  a few 
of  them  are  of  great  length.  The  principal  of  theso 
are  the  Hwang-ho,  or  Yellow  river,  in  the  northern 


G 

1 


i 

G 


CHINESE  EMPIRE. 


438 

provinces,  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  in  the  central  prov- 
inces, and  the  Se-Keang,  or  Western  river,  in  the 
south.  The  Peiho,  a narrow  and  exceedingly  tortu- 
ous stream,  in  the  northeastern  province,  the  Ning- 
po  river,  emptying  into  the  Bay  of  Hangchow,  a 
little  south  of  the  Yang-tse,  and  the  river  Min,  in 
the  province  of  Fuh-kien,  are  all  navigable  for  ocean 
or  foreign  river  steamers  only  to  the  head  of  tide 
water,  a distance  of  12  to  100  miles.  The  Pearl, 


or  Canton,  river,  a branch  of  the  Se-Keang,  is  now 
navigable  for  the  same  class  of  vessels  about  sixty 
miles.  The  Yellow  river,  though  a stream  of  im- 
mense length  and  often  of  enormous  volume,  has  a 
broad,  inconstant  channel,  full  of  shifting  sand-bars, 
and  is  practically  unnavigable  for  anything  but 
small  native  flat-boats.  The  one  grand  river  of 
China  is  the  Yang-tse-Kiang,  which  is  navigated  by 
daily  lines  of  American  and  English-built  steamers, 
mostly  of  the  Hudson  river  pattern,  for  a distance  of 
750  miles,  and  could  be  used  for  several  hundred 
miles  further  by  vessels  like  those  employed  on  the 
Ohio  and  the  Upper  Mississippi.  Rising  in  the 


province  of  Tibet,  among  the  Min  mountains,  it 
enters  the  western  central  province  of  Sze-Chuen, 
and,  first  making  a great  bend  to  the  north,  receiv- 
ing its  chief  tributary,  the  Hean-Keang  (a  river  of 
about  the  size  of  the  Ohio),  then  curvi ng  for  more 
than  three  degrees  to  the  south,  it  finally  bears 
northward  and  eastward  again,  and  empties  into  the 
Yellow  Sea  in  north  latitude  31°.  From  its  source 
to  the  sea  it  traverses  not  less  than  2,900  miles. 


Through  the  lower  750  miles  of  its  channel  it  is 
thronged  in  all  seasons  of  the  year  with  native  craft 
and  large  numbers  of  foreign-built  vessels,  many  of 
which  are  owned  by  native  guilds. 

The  climate  of  China  Proper  corresponds  in  the 
main  to  that  of  the  United  States  and  northern 
Mexico  in  the  same  latitudes.  The  winter  tempera- 
ture in  the  northern  provinces  is  rather  milder  than 
in  the  corresponding  latitudes  of  the  United  States, 
and  is  not  quite  so  mild  as  in  the  same  belts  of  Eu- 
rope. On  the  other  hand,  the  summer  heat  aver- 
ages somewhat  higher  than  it  does  in  this  country 
and  Europe. 


o 


* 


Is 


* 


CHINESE  EMPIRE. 


This  may  be  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  so  large 
a portion  of  China  is  denuded  of  forests ; which  also 
accounts  for  the  small  rainfall  and  slight  humidity 
of  many  parts  of  the  country,  and  frequent  famines 
consequent  thereon.  The  most  thickly  settled  parts 
of  the  country,  whether  in  the  plains  or  in  the 
mountains,  are  quite  bare  of  timber,  the  exceptions 
being  chiefly  the  groves  around  the  temples  and 
monasteries  of  the  several  religious  orders ; where  the 
priests  protect  the  trees,  partly  for  the  purposes  of 
ornament  and  the  delectation  of  themselves  and  the 
devotees  who  throng  here  in  the  hot  season  to  enjoy 
the  cooling  shade  and  romantic  beauty  of  these  syl- 
van retreats,  and  partly  as  a source  of  revenue.  For 
lumber  and  wood-fuel  the  most  populous  regions 
are  now  dependent  mainly  on  the  timbered  districts 
far  back  in  the  sparsely  inhabited  mountain  regions, 
or  upon  importations  by  sea. 

China,  one  name  of  which  is  “ The  Central  Flow- 
ery Kingdom,”  is  unusually  rich  in  the  variety 
and  commercial  value  of  its  flora ; particularly  as  re- 
gards its  shrubs  and  flowering  plants  and  trees. 
Through  the  painstaking  efforts  of  early  Dutch  and 
English  gardeners  many  of  the  latter  have  been  ac- 
climated in  Europe,  and  distributed  from  Holland 
and  England  into  the  gardens  and  hot-liouses  of  all 
the  civilized  world.  Of  the  useful  shrubs  and  trees 
whose  products  are  eagerly  sought  for  by  all  nations, 
the  list  is  remarkably  long.  The  principal  ones  are 
the  tea-plant,  cinnamon,  camphor,  the  mulberry- 
tree,  ginger,  rhubarb  and  ginseng. 

Comparatively  little  is  known  of  the  geology  and 
mineralogy  of  this  country.  It  is  certain,  however, 
that  northern  China  is  largely  covered  with  the  loess 
formation,  identical  in  nature  with  the  loess  of  the 
Rhine,  and  the  similar  formation  covering  eastern 
Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  southeastern  Dakota  to  the 
depth  of  from  fifty  to  several  hundred  feet.  No 
more  fertile  soil  and  subsoil  have  been  discovered  in 
any  land.  The  mountains  and  hills  of  southern 
China  are  for  the  most  part  of  igneous  origin — 
composed  largely  of  a rotten  feldspathic  granite, 
easily  excavated  with  the  pickaxe,  interspersed  with 
quartzose  boulders  and  blocks  of  gneiss. 

Iron,  copper  and  coal  are  known  to  exist,  the  lat- 
ter of  good  quality  and  in  large  quantities,  and  of 
late  the  Chinese  government  has  consented  to  the 
employment  of  foreign  capital  and  mechanical  ap- 
pliances for  mining  it.  Petroleum  has  been  discov- 


439 


ered  in  several  parts  of  the  country,  and  if  foreigners 
were  permitted  to  explore  for  it  by  right  methods 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  it  would  be  found  in 
paying  quantities.  China  imports  many  thousand 
gallons  of  kerosene  from  America  every  year,  and 
the  trade  is  constantly  increasing  at  a rapid  rate — 
when  a little  encouragement  from  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment would  lead  to  home  manufacture  equal  to 
all  their  present  demands,  and  much  more.  Gold 
and  silver  are  found  hi  small  quantities,  but  the 
government  jealously  restricts  information  of  this 
nature,  and  the  product  is  a matter  of  mere  conjec- 
ture. The  mineral  wealth  of  this  great  empire  lies 
as  yet  undeveloped.  When  Western  learning  has 
raised  up  a class  of  Chinese  scientists  and  civil  en- 
gineers, and  the  imperial  government  becomes  more 
tolerant  of  foreign  enterprise,  then  the  rich  mineral 
treasures  of  China  will  burst  into  view  in  the  midst 
of  the  hundreds  of  millions  of  people  that  crowd 
Asia  in  all  quarters,  and  the  stories  of  the  caves  of 
Aladdin  will  be  surpassed  by  the  new-found  wealth 
of  Cathay.  Already  enough  is  known  of  these  re- 
gions to  warrant  the  fulfillment  of  this  prediction. 

The  fauna  of  this  empire  comprehends  all  the 
genera  and  most  of  the  species  of  animals  known  to 
Asia.  All  the  domestic  animals  of  Europe  and 
North  America  are  found  here.  Tigers,  lions,  leop- 
ards, and  other  beasts  of  prey  haunt  its  southern 
and  southwestern  jungles ; apes  and  monkeys  are 
found  in  the  districts  bordering  on  Cochin-China ; 
and  the  Bactrian  camel  and  the  elephant  are  reared 
in  the  west  and  southwest,  from  which  regions 
troops  of  camels  come  and  go  along  the  great  cara- 
van routes  of  Central  Asia.  Venomous  reptiles  are 
numerous,  of  which  the  most  dreaded  is  the  cobnq 
the  scourge  of  India.  Birds  of  innumerable  varie- 
ties, from  the  diminutive  humming-bird  to  the  con- 
dor and  the  eagle,  are  native  to  the  country.  Among 
those  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  their  plumage 
are  the  silver  and  the  golden  pheasant,  the  argus- 
bird,  paroquets  of  several  varieties,  the  cockatoo, 
the  peacock,  the  mandarin  duck,  and  humming-birds 
of  more  than  a dozen  species — “flying  flowers,”  as  the 
Chinese  call  them.  Food  birds  of  delicious  quality 
are  found  in  large  quantities,  including  the  rice- 
bird,  quails,  snipe,  woodcocks,  pigeons,  pheasants, 
and  ducks  and  geese,  both  wild  and  tame.  Fish  of 
excellent  sorts  are  taken  in  largo  quantities  from 
the  rivers  and  along  the  coast,  and  arc  raised  in  arti- 


\]GL 


440 


CHINESE  EMPIRE. 


ficial  ponds,  this  kind  of  food  being  the  main  re- 
liance of  a large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  for 
their  supply  of  meat-food,  particularly  in  the  south- 
eastern provinces. 

North  of  China  Proper  lie  Corea  and  Manchuria. 
The  former  maintains  the  most  complete  self-isola- 
tion, excluding  foreigners  from  direct  social  or  com- 
mercial intercourse,  with  a rigor  unknown  to  the 
Japanese  at  the  time  that  Commodore  Perry  first 
visited  them,  to  negotiate  the  treaty  that  has  succeed- 
ed in  bringing  Japan  into  the  general  comity  of  na- 
tions. It  is  death  for  a foreigner  to  enter  Corea  with- 


seen  of  this  scaled  and  mysterious  land.  Man- 
churia, the  native  • land  of  the  present  Tartar 
dynasty  of  China,  lies  north  of  Corea  and  China 
Proper,  stretching  northward  to  the  Amoor  river. 
It  is  composed  in  large  part  of  delightfully  di- 
versified regions  of  fertile  hills  and  vales,  covered 
with  extensive  forests,  broad  native  parks  of  oak 
openings,  and  vast  areas  of  prairie  land,  nearly  all 
lying  within  the  same  latitudes  as  Iowa  and  Min- 
nesota, or  France  and  Northern  Spain.  Other  por- 
tions of  it  are  rugged  and  mountainous,  bleak  and 
barren.  This  entire  country  is  divided  into  three 


out  special  permit,  and  the  latter  is  very  rarely  given, 
and  then  under  the  severest  restrictions  and  a sys- 
tem of  intolerable  espionage.  It  is  for  the  most 
part  a fertile  country,  well  diversified  with  hill  and 
vale.  The  government  is  a despotism.  Still  people 
are  industrious,  and  seem  to  be  contented.  Suffering 
for  lack  of  the  necessities  of  life  is  thought  to  be 
almost  unknown.  The  attempts  of  the  United  States 
to  lead  the  rest  of  the  world  in  opening  the  ports  of 
Corea  to  commerce,  as  it  opened  Japan,  although 
persistent,  have  effected  little  beyond  the  ameliora- 
tion of  the  condition  of  sailors  wrecked  upon  that 
coast.  Such  unfortunates  were,  until  very  lately, 
either  massacred  or  held  in  perpetual  slavery  in 
Corea,  to  prevent  their  reporting  what  they  had 


sub-provinces : Moukden  (or  Shin-king),  Kirin,  and 
Tsi-sti-har,  of  all  which  a great  part  is  believed  to 
be  as  capable  of  high  cultivation  as  the  American 
and  European  States  generally  are.  Yet,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  small  district  of  Moukden,  which 
contains  a considerable  population  of  Chinese  ag- 
riculturists, mechanics  and  traders,  it  is  still  the 
home  of  nomads,  a region  roamed  over  by  a people 
scarcely  more  nearly  assimilated  to  Chinese  civiliza- 
tion than  are  the  Sioux  of  Dakota  to  that  of  the 
adjacent  American  States.  The  merchants  of  the 
few  rudely  constructed  trading  towns  and  stations 
of  this  region  are  Chinese ; the  Tartars  them- 
selves preferring  to  live  by  the  chase,  fishing^ 
and  a rude  style  of  agriculture  but  little  bet- 


CHINESE  STREET  SCENE. 


<5" 


A 


CHINESE  EMPIRE. 


44] 


ter  than  that  practiced  by  the  North  American 
Indians  before  recent  efforts  to  civilize  the  latter. 
In  fact,  not  only  in  this  respect,  but  in  many 
other  of  their  practices  in  peace  and  in  war,  as 
well  as  in  physiological  distinctions,  they  bear 
striking  resemblances  to  several  North  American 
tribes. 

Mongolia  lies  west  of  Manchuria,  on  nearly  the 
same  parallels.  It  has  the  lofty  Altai  Mountains  in 
the  north,  the  snow-covered  Ala-shan  and  Kin-shan 


subject  to  the  ruling  dynasty  of  China,  to  which  the 
Mongols  acknowledge  hereditary  allegiance,  while 
they  maintain  their  ancient  Tartar  form  of  gov- 
ernment. 

South  of  Mongolia,  and  directly  west  of  China 
Proper,  are  piled  the  mountains  of  Kokinor  and 
Tibet,  with  their  glaciers  surpassing  those  of  all 
the  world  besides,  and  their  intervening  fertile  valleys 
and  plains  and  burning  deserts.  Tibet  is  the  tlirone- 
land  of  the  Grand  Llama,  who  is  pope  to  a church  of 


Mountains  in  the  south,  and  several  lateral  ranges, 
between  which  extend  plateaus  of  different  degrees  of 
elevation,  from  900  feet  to  over  3,000  feet  above 
the  ocean.  There  are  many  dreary  deserts  in  this 
immense  country,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are 
broad  areas  of  fertile  prairie  land  and  rich  hill  and 
valley  country,  as  capable  of  producing  enormous 
crops  of  wheat  and  maize  as  are  the  plains  of  Kan- 
sas and  Nebraska.  But  with  the  exception  of  lim- 
ited portions  settled  in  part  by  Chinese  agriculturists 
and  traders,  they  are  under  the  control  of  nomads, 
in  a state  of  semi-barbarism,  kindred  to  that  of  the 
Manchus.  Mongolia  is  rather  nominally  than  really 


many  millions  more  than  confess  allegiance  to  the 
Homan  pontiff.  He  resides  at  the  sacred  city  of  Lassa, 
renowned  in  all  Buddhist  countries  for  its  holy  tem- 
ples and  immense  monasteries.  The  people  are  en- 
gaged chiefly  in  agriculture,  herding,  and  a rude  form 
of  mining  for  silver,  gold,  copper  and  precious  stones. 
Most  of  them  live  in  tho  greatest  poverty,  the  prey  of 
despotic  rulers  and  swarms  of  idle  monks  who 
infest  the  countless  monasteries  and  constitute  a 
larger  ratio  of  tho  population  than  the  religious 
orders  in  any  other  part  of  the  globe.  Tho  history 
and  civilization  of  tho  Chinese  people  will  form  tho 
subject  of  another  chapter. 


© 


CHAPTER  L X X. 

The  China  of  Fable — Table  of  Dynasties — The  Age  of  Confucius,  and  the  Great  Wall — 
Peace  on  Earth— TnE  Most  Civilized  Land — Kublai  Kahn  and  Marco  Polo — Inter- 
national Commercial  Intercourse — Population  of  China — The  Goaernment — Revenue 
and  Taxation — Peculiarities  of  the  People — Food — Occupation — Architecture  and  Art 
— Education  and  Office-holding — The  Hanlin  University — Religion  of  China. 


1 IIINA  is  undoubtedly  the  old- 
est of  now  existing  nations. 
Its  ports,  like  those  of  Greece, 
claim  eons  upon  eons  when 
the  earth  was  filled  with  de- 
migods, demons  and  giants. 
Some  of  these  fables  refer  the 
origin  of  man  to  a point  of 
time  more  than  2,800,000  years  an- 
tecedent to  the  birth  of  Christ.  The 
earliest  epoch  of  rational  Chinese  his- 
tory begins  with  the  reign  of  Fulii,  2,825 
years  before  Christ,  or  only  303  years 
after  the  deluge — reckoning  according  to 
Hales’  Chronology,  which  nearly  corre- 
sponds with  that  of  the  Septuagint.  Per- 
haps some  credence  is  due  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  two  fable-obscured  sovereigns  immedi- 
ately preceding  Fulii.  One  of  these,  Yu-chow,  is 
said  to  have  led  the  Chinese  into  China  from  the 
far  West,  down  the  left  bank  of  the  Yellow  river, 
and  to  have  settled  them  in  some  measure,  in  its 
great  bend,  in  the  province  of  Shansi,  teaching 
them  to  exchange  their  shifting  tents  for  huts  of 
boughs  and  trees.  His  successor,  Sin-jin,  the 
“ Preacher  of  Righteousness,”  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  Chinese  war-ship  of  Shang-te,  the  “ Supreme 


Ruler,”  which  is  the  only  state  religion  of  China  to 
this  day,  and  of  which  the  emperor  is  the  sole  priest. 
He  was  also,  they  believe,  the  discoverer  of  fire,  by 
friction  of  two  pieces  of  wood.  However  that  may 
be,  he  encouraged  his  people  to  set  up  permanent 
homes  and  hearths,  and  abandon  nomadic  life. 

Fulii,  who  began  his  reign  B.  C.  2,852,  organized 
the  people  into  tribes  with  distinct  names,  heads, 
and  judges.  He  also  discovered  iron,  and  taught 
men  to  use  it  for  implements  of  peace  and  war.  He 
was  the  Tubal-Cain  of  China.  After  reigning  115 
years,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Sliimiung,  the 
“ Divine  Husbandman,”  who  invented  the  plow,  and 
encouraged  men  to  engage  in  agriculture,  and  taught 
them  the  use  of  herbs.  He  reigned  140  years,  and 
was  succeeded  by  the  usurper,  Hwang-ti,  about  B.  C. 
2,697.  Hwang-ti  was  a great  general  and  a wise 
ruler.  He  taught  the  people  arts  and  manufactures, 
encouraged  learning,  and  instituted  the  sexegenary 
cycle,  by  which  the  Chinese  still  reckon  time.  The 
first  of  these  cycles  dates  from  the  sixty-first  year  of 
Hwang-ti’s  reign,  or  B.  C.  2,637,  i.  e.,  518  years  af- 
ter the  Deluge.  He  seems  to  have  had  no  little 
knowledge  of  astronomy,  and  he  established  the 
Chinese  calendar  with  a true  understanding  of  the 
length  of  the  year,  not  recognized  by  the  Romans 
until  nearly  2,650  years  later.  His  wife,  Seling,  in- 


^7 


(442) 


\ 


k_ 


THE  CHINESE. 


443 


vented  and  taught  the  art  of  silk-spinning  and 
weaving.  He  reigned  100  years  and  was  succeeded 
by  three  kings  of  much  less  importance,  when  the 
reign  of  Yau  the  Great  began,  B.  C.  2357.  Here 
commences  the  authentic  history  of  this  wonderful 
nation.  The  historical  writings  of  Confucius,  the 
records  of  his  great  book,  the  “Shuking,”  go  no 
farther  back  than  Yau.  Under  this  sovereign  and 
his  successor,  Shun,  there  was  a remarkable  flood, 
or  overflow  of  the  Yellow  river,  along  which  the 
densest  population  had  settled.  Shun  called  Yu  to 
his  aid,  and  by  deepening  the  bed  of  the  river,  open- 
ing new  channels,  and  casting  up  dikes,  the  inunda- 
tion was  assuaged  and  the  fields  reclaimed.  Yu 
became  the  founder  of  the  first  Chinese  dynasty, 
that  of  Hia.  The  sovereignty,  theretofore  regarded 
as  elective,  became  from  this  time  on  hereditary  in 
the  eldest  son;  and  the  records  cease  to  claim  for 
sovereigns  reigns  of  improbable  duration.  It  is  im- 
possible in  this  volume  to  do  more  than  name  the 
several  dynasties  which  from  that  time  have  ruled 
the  destinies  of  China,  as  in  the  following  table 


Dynasties.  Founder 


Hia 

Shang 

Chau. 

Tsin 

Han 

After  Han.. 

Tsin 

Sung 

Tsi 

Liang 

Chin 

Sin 

Tang 

After  Liang. 
After  Tang. 
After  Tsin. 
After  Han. 
After  Chau. 
Interregnum 

Sung  

S.  Sung 

Yuen.. 

Ming . 

Tsing . 


Y u,  the  Great 

Ching-tang 

Wu-Wang 

Chwang-siang 

Liu-Pang 


Liu-Yu 

Kau-ti 

Wu-ti 

Yang-Kicn 

Li-Yuen 

Chwang-Tsung 

Ko-Wei 


Kublai  Kahn 

llung-Wu 

Sun-chi 


No.  Sov- 
ereigns. 

Years. 

Eras. 

17 

439 

B.  C.  2205  to  B.  C.  1766. 

28 

644 

B.  C.  1766  to  B.  C.  1122. 

35 

873 

B.  C.  1122  to  B.  C.  249. 

3 

47 

B C.  249  to  B.  C.  202. 

26 

423 

B.  C.  202  to  A.  D.  221. 

2 

44 

A.  D.  221  to  A.  I).  265. 

15 

155 

A.  D.  265  to  A.  D.  420. 

8 

59 

A.  I).  420  to  A.  I).  479. 

5 

23 

A.  D.  479  to  A.  D.  502. 

4 

55 

A.  D.  502  to  A.  D.  557. 

30 

A.  D.  557  to  A.  D.  587. 

31 

A.  D.  587  to  A.  1),  618. 

20 

289 

A.  I).  618  to  A.  D.  907. 

2 

16 

A.  D.  907  to  A.  D.  923. 

3 

13 

A.  D.  923  to  A.  D.  936, 

2 

11 

A.  D.  936  to  A.  D.  947. 

4 

A.  D.  947  to  A.  D.  951. 

9 

A.  I).  951  to  A.  D.  960. 

10 

A.  D.  960  to  A.  D.  970. 

9 

157 

A.  I).  970  to  A.  D.  1127. 

9 

153 

A.  D.  1127  to  A.  D.  1280. 

88 

A.  I).  1280  to  A.  I).  1368. 

10 

276 

A.  D.  1368  to  A.  D.  1644. 

9 

A.  D.  1644  to 

The  third  dynasty  is  remarkable  for  its  great 
length  of  rule,  873  years — the  longest  known  to  his- 
tory. It  was  during  the  sixth  century  of  this  dynasty 
that  Confucius  arose.  The  country  increased  in 
population  and  developed  in  resources  during  this 
long  period,  notwithstanding  the  many  internecine 
wars  growing  out  of  the  resistance  of  feudatory 
lords  to  the  power  of  the  emperor.  Learning  was 
cherished,  and  men  of  letters  were  conspicuous  in 
the  councils  of  the  government.  The  usurper, 
Chwang-Siang-Wang,  after  having  exterminated  the 


last  of  the  Chau  dynasty,  and  reduced  all  the  petty 
states  to  his  sway,  assumed  the  name  of  “ The  First 
Emperor,”  and  addressed  himself  to  the  extinction 
of  all  past  history.  He  ordered  the  principal  schol- 
ars of  the  realm  to  be  put  to  death,  all  books  were 
to  be  delivered  up  to  be  destroyed,  under  penalty  of 
death,  and  the  royal  and  provincial  libraries  were 
burned.  The  loss  to  China  and  the  world  can  never 
be  estimated. 

Although  this  emperor  was  one  of  the  greatest 
military  commanders  in  all  Chinese  history,  and 
although  he  constructed  bridges,  dikes,  canals,  and 
many  other  public  works,  crowning  all  his  feats  of 
civil  engineering  by  building  the  Great  Wall  of 
China,  one  of  the  marvels  of  the  world,  the  name  of 
this  vandal  emperor  lives  now  mostly  in  execration. 
His  dynasty  survived  him  only  seven  years. 

It  is  a singular  coincidence  that  the  succeeding 
dynasty,  the  last  of  the  old  era  of  the  world  and  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  was  remarkable  for 
the  progress  of  the  nation  in  the  arts  of  peace,  and 
that  at  the  same  time  that  the  Roman  Empire  was 
at  peace  witii  the  world,  and  Jesus  was  born  in  Beth- 
lehem, the  Emperor  Ping-ti  (signifying  “ peace  ”)  was 
enjoying  a quiet  reign  in  China. 

Owing  to  the  Weakness  of  the  last  of  the  Han  dy- 
nasty, and  the  quarrels  attending  the  attempts  to  set 
up  its  successor,  the  empire  became  divided  into 
three  principalities.  The  divisions  were  not  over- 
come and  the  country  reunited  until  nearly  four 
hundred  years  later,  under  the  strong  government 
of  Yang-Kien,  or  Kautsu.  One  of  the  most  illustri- 
ous dynasties  in  Chinese  history  was  that  of  Tang, 
extending  from  A.  U.  618  to  A.  I).  905,  when,  as 
that  learned  American  sinologue,  S.  Wells  Williams, 
has  well  said,  “China  was  probably  the  most  civil- 
ized country  on  earth” — Europe  being  then  “ wrapped 
in  the  ignorance  and  degradation  of  the  Middle 
Ages.”  Taitsung,  the  second  of  this  dynasty,  es- 
tablished schools,  instituted  the  present  system  of 
literary  examinations,  and  made  appointment  to 
ofliee  conditional  first  of  all  upon  the  rank  secured 
in  these  scholastic  examinations.  He  extended  his 
empire  over  all  the  countries  now  subject  to  China, 
and  even  beyond  these  limits. 

The  Yuen  dynasty,  that  of  the  Mongol  Tartars, 
was  founded  by  Kublai,  grandson  of  Genghis  Khan, 
the  terrible  Tartar  chief  who  overran  all  Asia  and 
Western  Europe.  It  was  during  Kublai’s  rule  that 


Q_ 


3 


444 


THE  CHINESE. 


Marco  Polo  visited  China,  and  on  his  return  amazed 
all  Europe  by  his  truthful  narrative  of  the  high  civili- 
zation, •wealth  and  magnificence  of  “ Cathay.”  The 
Grand  Canal  was  constructed  by  Kublai,  and  under 
him  and  his  grandson  the  empire  enjoyed  great 
prosperity.  Their  successors  were  profligate,  weak 
or  tyrannical,  and  after  88  years  of  Mongol  suprem- 
acy the  people  threw  off  the  Tartar  yoke,  and  the 
Chinese  dynasty  of  Ming  swayed  the  imperial  scepter 
for  276  years. 

In  1516,  during  the  reign  of  Kiah-tsing  of  this 
dynasty,  the  Portuguese  came  to  China.  Foreign  in- 
tercourse was  soon 
begun.  A Portu- 
guese colony  was 
begun  at  Ningpo 
and  a profitable 
trade  established, 
when  a series  of 
acts  of  piracy  and 
cruel  outrages  (in- 
cluding the  kid- 
napping of  Chinese 
to  be  sold  into  slav- 
ery), committed  by 
the  commanders 
and  owners  of  Por- 
tuguese vessels,  led 
to  the  expulsion  of 
the  foreign  traders. 

Acts  of  rapacity 
committed  by  oth- 
er foreigners  and, 
later,  the  quarrels  of  the  Roman  Catholic  mission- 
aries of  different  orders,  are  chiefly  responsible  for 
that  spirit  of  suspicion  and  exclusion  which  has 
ever  since,  to  a greater  or  less  degree,  marked  the 
Chinese  treatment  of  foreigners. 

The  Dutch  first  became  known  to  the  Chinese  in 
a naval  attack  upon  the  Portuguese  settlement  at 
Macao,  in  1622.  Beaten  off,  they  took  forcible  pos- 
session of  the  Pescadores  islands  in  the  China  Sea, 
to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  Portuguese  of  the 
China  coast  and  the  Spaniards  of  the  Philippine 
islands,  as  well  as  of  the  Chinese.  After  this,  in 
1624,  they  seized  a portion  of  the  island  of  For- 
mosa, and  held  it  by  force  for  28  years.  The  English 
appeared  off  the  mouth  of  the  Canton  river  in  May, 
1637,  and  asked  permission  to  trade.  Partly  by 


force,  they  succeeded  in  disposing  of  their  goods  and 
obtaining  cargoes.  No  further  attempt  was  made 
until  27  years  later,  when  the  East  India  Company 
sent  a single  vessel  to  Macao,  but,  through  the  jeal- 
ous treatment  of  the  Portuguese,  failed  to  dispose 
of  its  cargo.  Some  desultory  commerce  was  carried 
on  at  Formosa  and  Amoy.  At  last  the  English  se- 
cured trading  privileges  at  Canton  in  1684.  Their 
commerce  with  this  country  was  of  small  impor- 
tance, however,  until  the  opening  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, when  the  opium  trade  set  in.  This  soon  assum- 
ed frightful  proportions.  The  Chinese  strove  to  ex- 
clude it,  but  it  was 
smuggled  into  the 
country  under  cov- 
er of  the  arma- 
ments of  the  cor- 
rupt East  India 
Company  and  hire 
of  the  English  flag 
to  Chinese  and  Por- 
tuguese coast-trad- 
ers. This  led  to 
the  Anglo-Chinese 
war,  known  as 
the  “Opium  War,” 
closing  with  the 
treaty  of  Nanking, 
and  the  compul- 
sory opening  of  five 
Chinese  ports  in 
1842.  The  first 
American  vessel 
engaged  in  the  China  trade,  the  Empress,  set 
sail  frftm  New  York  in  1784,  only  six  months 
after  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  with  Great 
Britain  acknowledging  American  independence.  It 
made  a successful  voyage.  The  first  American  treaty 
of  amity  and  commerce  between  the  United  States 
and  China  was  negotiated  at  Macao  in  1844.  Nearly 
all  the  commercial  nations  of  the  earth  are  now  hi 
liberal  treaty  relations  with  the  Chinese,  securing  to 
them,  among  other  rights,  the  privilege  of  trading 
at  twenty-one  ports ; of  traveling  in  the  country ; of 
enjoying  and  disseminating  tlieir  religious  doctrines ; 
and,  what  is  still  more  noteworthy,  the  jurisdiction 
of  their  consuls  in  all  actions  for  debt  or  damages, 
or  prosecution  for  offenses  of  any  kind  committed 
by  their  subjects  on  Chinese  soil. 


■it 


THE  CHINESE. 


In  1872,  according  to  the  returns  of  the  Imperial 
customs,  there  were  3,661  foreigners  in  China,  of 
whom  1,771  were  natives  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, 1,541  of  the  United  States,  481  of  Germany, 
and  239  of  France.  More  than  half  of  all  these,  or 
2,047,  were  at  Shanghai,  and  308  at  Canton,  leaving 
1,306  scattered  among  the  other  treaty  ports,  at 
Peking,  and  at  the  several  mission  stations.  This 
does  not  include  the  foreigners  at  the  Portuguese  city 
of  Macao,  and  at  the  British  island  of  IIong-Kong. 


445 


mile.  The  most  densely  inhabited  portions  of  both 
countries  show  a much  larger  average.  The  rich, 
alluvial  Chinese  provinces  of  Kiangsu,  Anhevei, 
and  Chehkiang,  in  the  Great  Plain  of  China,  aver- 
age 850,705,  and  671  inhabitants,  respectively,  per 
square  mile.  These  are  the  most  densely  populated 
provinces.  The  Belgian  provinces  of  Brabant,  East 
Flanders,  and  Hainault  average  fully  as  dense  a 
population  as  this ; or,  severally,  771,  760,  and  679 
per  square  mile.  Behm  and  Wagner  estimate  the 


VIEW  OF  NINGPO,  CHINA 


The  population  of  the  entire  Chinese  empire  is 
still  an  indeterminate  problem,  since  the  statistics 
of  the  dependencies  are  mere  estimates.  These  are 
as  follows : population  of  Manchuria,  6,000,000,  of 
which  the  semi-civilized  province  of  Moukden,  or 
Shinking,  contains  2,187,286  ; of  Mongolia,  3,000,- 
000 ; of  Tibet,  6,000,000,  and  of  Corea,  8,000,000. 
The  population  of  China  Proper  is  known  with  about 
as  great  certainty  as  that  of  most  European  and 
American  countries.  According  to  the  latest  official 
returns,  the  Eighteen  Provinces  contained  360,279,- 
079  inhabitants,  or  277  per  square  mile.  There  is 
no  good  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  an  exaggera- 
tion. Belgium  lias  over  480  inhabitants  per  square 


total  population  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  excluding 
Eastern  Turkestan,  at  425,000,000,  which  is  in  ex- 
cess of  the  above  figures. 

The  government  of  China  is  practically  dual;  a 
democracy  within  an  autocracy.  From  the  ancient 
patriarchal  times  there  has  come  down  a system  of 
elders,  chosen  by  the  people  to  act  as  arbitrators  in 
matters  of  disagreement  and  preserve  the  peace. 
As  a rule  their  administration  is  eminently  mild  and 
just ; which  cannot  always  he  said  of  the  imperial 
rule.  The  imperial  government  is  wholly  vested, 
theoretically,  in  the  llwang-ti,  or  emperor.  Under 
the  title  of  Tien-tzi,  “ Son  of  Heaven,”  lie  is  both 
the  spiritual  and  secular  he;id  of  the  nation,  clothed 


A 

a 

> 


< 


71 


re  ..  e> 


446  THE  CHINESE. 

with  the  highest  legislative  and  executive  authority, 
without  limit  or  control.  But  in  reality  he  is  re- 
stricted and  held  in  by  time-honored  and  sacred 
customs,  which  have  all  the  potency  of  a written 
constitution.  The  emperor  is  the  sole  liigh-priest  of 
the  empire.  He,  with  his  representatives,  perform 
the  great  religious  ceremonies  at  the  Temple  of 
Heaven,  the  Temple  of  Agriculture  and  elsewhere. 
No  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  is  maintained  at  the  pub- 
lic expense ; nor  is  there  any  priesthood  attached  to 
the  Confucian  or  state  religion. 

The  succession  since  1644  has  not  been  hereditary, 
but  the  emperor  names  his  successor — any  member 
of  the  imperial  family,  within  certain  limits.  The 
administration  of  the  empire  is  under  the  supreme  di- 
rection of  the  Interior  Council  Chamber,  comprising 
four  members — two  Tartar  and  two  Chinese — assist- 
ed by  two  members  of  the  Hanlin,  or  Great  College 
of  Peking,  who  have  to  see  that  nothing  is  done 
contrary  to  the  civil  and  religious  laws  of  the  em- 
pire laid  down  in  the  Ta-tsing-hwei-tien  (i.  e.  Col- 
lected Regulations  of  the  Great  Pure  Dynasty,  the 
constitution  or  fundamental  law  of  the  empire),  and 
the  sacred  writings  of  Confucius.  Under  this 
Council,  or  Imperial  Cabinet,  are  six  boards,  each  of 
which  is  presided  over  by  a Tartar  and  a Chinese : 
the  Board  of  Civil  Appointments  and  Administra- 
tion ; the  Board  of  Revenue,  regulating  all  financial 
affairs ; the  Board  of  Rites  and  Ceremonies ; the 
Board  of  Military  affairs ; the  Board  of  Public 
Works;  and  the  Board  of  Judiciary — the  highest 
tribunal  of  criminal  jurisdiction.  Theoretically  in- 
dependent of  the  government,  and  above  all  these 
boards,  is  the  Board  of  Public  Censors,  of  about  40 
members,  under  two  presidents,  one  Tartar  and  one 
Chinese,  who,  by  the  ancient  custom  of  the  empire, 
have  each  the  privilege  of  presenting  any  remon- 
strance to  the  sovereign.  One  censor  must  be  pres- 
ent at  the  meetings  of  each  of  the  six  boards.  This 
right  of  remonstrance,  like  the  right  of  petition  in  the 
United  States,  is  generally  regarded  as  sacred  and 
inalienable,  and  is  exercised  with  a large  degree  of 
freedom. 

Great  effort  is  made  in  this  constitution  to  pre- 
serve a balance  of  power  between  the  Chinese  and 
the  Tartar  elements  of  China  Proper — the  standing 
army,  however,  being  at  all  times  largely  Tartar. 
Every  province  and  city  has  its  military  head,  usually 
a Tartar,  as  well  as  its  chief  civil  magistrate,  a Chi- 

nese  mandarin.  The  standing  military  force  of  the 
empire  consists  of  two  great  divisions — the  one  com- 
posed of  Tartars,  the  other  of  Chinese  and  other 
subject  races.  The  latter  is  used  mainly  as  a con- 
stabulary force,  the  former  is  maintained  in  garri- 
sons and  fortifications  in  all  the  great  cities  along 
the  coast  and  on  the  frontier.  China  had  nothing 
worthy  the  name  of  a navy  until  18??,  when  the 
government  purchased  four  admirably  constructed 
English-built  iron  gun-boats  of  about  450  tons  each. 

To  these  they  added  in  18?9  four  similar  ones,  and 
recently  they  have  constructed  and  equipped  several 
small  revenue  cutters  at  their  own  navy-yards  and 
arsenals.  These  yards,  docks  and  arsenals,  estab- 
lished with  the  aid  of  foreign  instructors  and  me- 
chanics, are  now  largely  operated  by  Chinese  offi- 
cials and  workmen.  This  navy  is  intended  only  for 
coast  defense  and  enforcement  of  the  customs  laws. 

The  public  revenue  of  China  of  late  years  has 
been  estimated  to  average  $125,000,000.  Only  the 
receipts  from  custom  duties  are  made  public.  In 
1878  these  amounted  to  12,483,988  haikwan  taels, 
or  about  $18,725,000.  The  largest  expenditure  of 
the  imperial  government  is  for  the  army — amount- 
ing to  almost  $45,000,000  per  annum. 

China  avoided  the  dangers  of  contracting  a for- 
eign debt  until  1874,  when  it  negotiated  a loan  of 
£627,675  at  8 per  cent.,  secured  on  the  customs  rev- 
enue. In  1878  it  negotiated  another  loan  of  £1,- 
604,276  at  8 per  cent.,  secured  in  the  same  way.  The 
total  foreign  imports  in  1878  at  all  the  twenty-one 
open  ports  amounted  to  £21,241,208,  and  the  exports 
to  £20,151,654.  In  the  ten  years  ending  1878  the  im- 
ports increased  18  per  cent,  and  the  exports  25  per 
cent.  Of  this  trade  the  English  get  the  lion’s  share, 
carrying  off  in  1878,  £14,600,000  of  the  exports,  and 
giving  in  exchange  £6,608,921  of  British  home  prod- 
uce and  the  whole  of  the  balance  in  opium.  There 
is  no  way  of  ascertaining  the  amount  of  the  domes- 
tic trade  of  this  populous  country,  or  the  volume  and 
worth  of  the  trade  carried  on  with  Asia  and  Europe 
overland. 

Physically,  the  Chinese  of  the  Great  Plain  and 
Southern  China  are  rather  smaller  than  the  average 
European.  Their  complexion  is  considerably  lighter 
than  the  Hindoos,  with  that  slight  yellow  or  sallow 
tinge  peculiar  to  the  Mongolian  race.  The  cheek- 
bones are  prominent,  the  shape  of  the  face  is  as 
generally  round  as  that  of  the  European  is  oval. 

THE  CHINESE. 


447 


The  hair  is  straight,  coarse  and  black,  the  beard  is 
thin  (whiskers  are  scarcely  ever  seen),  the  eyes  are 
in  all  cases  black,  small  and  almost  invariably  ob- 
lique. The  nose  is  small,  and  without  being  flat,  is 
wide  and  singularly  depressed  at  the  lower  extrem- 
ity. The  lips  are  seldom  so  thin  as  in  the  European 
type.  The  hands  and  feet  are  small  and  remarkably 
well-shapen  ; the  motions  of  the  body  are  light,  quick 


are  secluded,  except  those  of  the  laboring  class,  but 
they  have  large  influence  in  their  homes,  where  con- 
jugal and  filial  affection  and  respect  are  accounted 
the  highest  virtues.  Children,  as  a rule,  are  treated 
with  tenderness,  and  often  with  excessive  indul- 
gence. 

On  the  other  hand,  filial  respect  and  love  are  man- 
ifested more  generally  than  hi  other  nations.  The 


TEA  GARDENS  AT  SHANGHAI. 


and  often  graceful.  This  is  a sketch  of  the  typical 
Chinaman.  The  mountaineers,  the  people  of  the 
northwest  provinces,  and  the  Formosans,  Coreans, 
and  Tartar  tribes  in  general  average  fully  as  great 
height  and  muscularity  as  the  European  or  Anglo- 
American.  All  of  these  last-named  Asiatics  are 
semi-savage,  or,  at  least,  much  more  ignorant,  coarse 
and  fierce  than  the  true  Chinaman.  The  latter  is 
peaceable,  industrious,  temperate  in  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating drinks,  frugal,  yet  kind  and  hospitable. 
The  elders  are  sedate,  dignified  and  polite.  The 
younger  people  are  full  of  good  humor  and  bubbling 
over  with  love  of  social  sports  and  mirth.  Women 


doctrine  of  filial  obedience  is  fundamental  in  their 
social,  political  and  religions  systems ; the  first  essen- 
tial of  instruction  they  receive  at  home,  in  school,  in 
society,  in  and  out  of  oflice. 

Among  the  vices  most  common  in  China,  the 
opium-smoking,  which  has  developed  at  an  alarming 
rate  since  the  early  part  of  this  century,  is  one  of 
the  most  destructive. 

As  to  licentiousness,  there  is  nothing  to  prove  that 
this  people  is  any  more  addicted  to  it  than  Europe- 
an races.  Polygamy  is  allowable,  and  is  practiced 
by  men  of  wealth.  Concubinage  is  honorable ; con- 
cubines and  their  children  are  legitimate,  and  the 


7] 


56 


448 


THE  CHINESE. 


law  compels  the  man  to  provide  for  them.  But 
the  great  body  of  Chinese  are  monogamists,  either 
from  choice  or  necessity.  Infanticide  is  practiced 
to  some  extent,  but  it  is  in  direct  violation  of 
imperial  rescripts  against  it  and  the  popular  sen- 
timent, and  there  is  a benevolent  society  whose 
special  business  is  to  prevent  this  crime,  and  care 
for  foundlings. 

The  Chinese  seem  to  have  an  unaccountable  bent 
for  doing  tilings  in  a way  directly  opposite  to  the 
style  of  doing  the  same  in  other  lands.  The  point 
of  their  magnetic-needle  is  toward  the  south ; the 
place  of  honor  for  their  guests  is  on  the  left  hand ; 
they  wear  white  as 
a badge  of  mourn- 
ing ; their  joiners  saw 
inside  of  the  gauge 
line,  instead  of  just 
outside  of  it,  as  Eu- 
ropean joiners  do ; 
and  they  draw  a 
plane  towards  them 
instead  of  pushing 
it.  Scores  of  simi- 
lar inversions  of  Eu- 
ropean customs  can 
be  recited.  They  are, 
perhaps,  more  sensi- 
ble than  some  other 
people  in  abjuring 
artificial  heat  in 
their  dwellings  as 
much  as  possible,  supplying  its  place  by  increas- 
ing  the  weight  and  number  of  their  garments,  and 
wearing  furs  next  the  body  instead  of  with  the  hair 
outward.  The  unnatural  and  barbarous  practice  of 
compressing  the  feet  of  their  fashionable  women,  and 
insisting  on  it  as  an  essential  mark  of  high  life,  was 
introduced  about  A.  D.  950.  It  is  the  most  irration- 
al of  their  fashions ; less  injurious  than  such  ex- 
treme compression  of  the  vital  organs  as  is  frequent- 
ly seen  in  other  countries,  but  equally  indefen- 
sible. The  shaven  head  and  long  queue  of  the  China- 
man are  badges  of  loyalty  to  the  Tartar  government, 
liogues,  convicts  and  suspects  are  compelled  to  lose 
their  queues  and  wear  their  hair  long,  which  is  the 
most  effective  means  conceivable  to  induce  an  hon- 
est Chinaman  to  Hold  on  to  his  queue  and  keep  his 
head  shaved. 


The  food  of  the  Chinese  is  largely  rice,  millet,  or 
maize,  and  vegetables,  fish  and  fowl ; which  accounts 
for  their  living  so  inexpensively.  Their  habit  of 
saving  everything,  of  turning  everything  that  is  fit 
for  nothing  else  into  manure  for  the  fields,  and  con- 
verting it  through  agriculture  into  food  or  other 
field  products,  is  worthy  of  universal  imitation.  The 
eating  of  rats  and  mice  is  confined  to  the  poorest 
classes.  None  of  them  seem  to  crave  such  food,  as 
the  Viennese  epicure  does  his  fattened  snails  or  the 
Frenchman  his  dish  of  frogs. 

The  principal  occupations  of  this  people  are  agri- 
culture, manufactures  and  trade.  Excepting  lit- 
erature, no  pursuit 
ranks  so  high  in  the 
Chinese  code  as  agri- 
culture. The  Tem- 
ple of  Agriculture 
occupies  a large  in- 
closure in  one  corner 
of  the  Chinese  quar- 
ter of  Peking,  and 
there,  once  every 
spring,  the  emperor, 
accompanied  by  all 
his  ministers,  goes 
to  invoke  the  bless- 
ing of  Heaven  on 
the  toils  of  the  hus- 
bandman, while  he 
plows  a furrow  in 
the  sacred  field,  as 
an  example  to  all  his  people.  Artificial  irriga- 
tion and  fertilization  are  employed  to  a remark- 
able degree,  and  the  soil  is  made  to  produce  from 
two  to  three  crops  a year,  according  to  climate, 
from  age  to  age,  without  impoverishment. 

There  was  a time  when  the  inventive  genius  of 
the  Chinese  appears  to  have  been  as  strikingly  active 
as  it  is  now  sluggish.  The  use  of  the  magnetic 
needle  seems  to  have  been  discovered  as  early  as  in 
the  reign  of  Ilwang-ti,  fully  2,650  years  before  the 
opening  of  our  era,  although  it  was  not  applied  to 
navigation  until  very  much  later.  Silk  spinning 
and  weaving  is  referred  to  a still  earlier  period. 
Costly  furniture,  richly  embroidered  robes,  felts, 
mattings,  ornaments  of  silver,  gold,  copper  and 
brass,  and  the  use  of  precious  stones,  were  common 
in  the  older  dynasties,  contemporary  with  the  best 


Is 

rr- 


THE  CHINESE. 


449 


periods  of  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  magnificence. 
Porcelain  was  made  long  before  tlie  Christian  era. 
The  origin  of  paper,  the  art  of  printing,  gunpowder, 
and  numerous  other  inventions,  are  traced  back  to 
China  at  dates  varying  from  2000  to  9000  years  ago. 
For  reasons  not  well  understood,  the  spirit  of  in- 
vention seems  to  have  sunk  into  lethargy  during  the 
last  few  centuries,  and  the  Chinese  busy  themselves 
in  repeating  the  manufactures  of  their  fathers,  even 
the  patterns  of  their  costumes  having  remained 
unaltered  for 
generations. 

The  great 
quantities  of 
their  industri- 
al productions 
are  beyond  any 
known  means 
of  estimate ; 
besides  supply- 
ing the  home 
wants  of  their 
teeming  mill- 
ions, they  send 
their  tea,  silk, 
porcelain,  mat- 
tings, drugs, 
and  not  less 
than  one  hun- 
dred other  ag- 
ricultural or 
manufactured 
articles,  to  all 
parts  of  the 
world,  either 
in  fleets  of  Chinese  junks  and  foreign  vessels,  or 
by  caravans  overland  to  various  parts  of  Asia  and 
into  Europe. 

Chinese  architecture  is  not  of  a high  order.  Their 
dwellings,  for  the  most  part,  are  of  burnt  or  sun- 
dried  brick  and  of  stone,  seldom  more  than  two 
stories  in  height.  Only  the  very  poorest  classes  live  in 
huts  of  bamboo,  or  mud  and  straw.  Some  of  their 
temples,  pagodas,  palaces,  and  imperial  tombs  are 
works  of  considerable  architectural  grandeur,  gar- 
nished without  and  within  with  highly  colored  porce- 
lains, enameled  or  glazed  bricks,  and  porcelain 
figures,  bas-reliefs  and  intaglios  of  human  figures, 
animals,  birds,  flowers,  fruits,  etc.  Their  sculpturing 


is  of  little  merit,  being  rather  grotesque  than  nat- 
ural or  of  graceful  and  beautiful  designs,  and  pol- 
ished execution.  Their  carving,  especially  in  ivory, 
is  often  marvelously  elaborate  and  superb,  only  lack- 
ing a few  of  the  characteristics  of  the  most  refined 
art.  Some  of  their  India-ink  drawings  (always 
excepting  the  perspective)  and  their  paintings  in 
water-colors  of  birds,  fishes,  insects,  fruits,  flowers, 
costumes,  and  other  distinct  objects,  are  exquisite. 
The  brilliancy  of  their  water-colors  is  unsurpassed, 

and  European 
and  American 
artists  confess 
that  in  some 
shades  of  color 
they  have  not 
yet  learned  to 
equal  them. 
The  use  of  oil, 
iii  the  painting 
of  pictures,  the 
Chinese  have 
never  acquired 
to  any  com- 
mendable de- 
gree ; and  very 
few  of  them 
have  manifest- 
ed any  consid- 
erable effort  to 
learn  it.  Their 
paintings  on 
porcelains  and 
their  fine  gild- 
ing in  lacquer 
are  justly  admired  the  world  over, — although  these 
have  stiff,  hard,  realistic  features  which  separate  them 
from  superlative  art.  Feats  of  civil  engineering  have 
been  performed  by  the  Chinese  which,  considering  the 
age  in  which  they  were  wrought,  were  truly  marvelous. 
The  Great  Wall  already  referred  to  deserves  further 
attention.  Starting  at  the  sea,  winding  like  a hugo 
serpent  along  the  crests  of  mountain  chains,  spanning 
intervening  chasms  on  enormous  arches,  it  ends  at 
last  far  out  in  the  Gobi  desert,  thirteen  hundred 
miles  from  its  point  of  beginning.  It  is  constructed 
of  huge  bricks  and  stone  facings,  of  from  four  to  ten 
feet  thickness,  with  fillings  of  concrete  or  indurated 
clay.  For  most  of  the  immense  distance  above 


» 


■+M 


s> 


k. 


45° 


THE  CHINESE. 


given  it  is  thirty  feet  high,  twenty-five  feet  broad  at 
its  base,  fifteen  feet  at  its  summit,  paved  on  top  with 
brick  or  flag-stones,  protected  with  crenelated  battle- 
ments, and  guarded  every  few  hundred  yards  with  for- 
tified towers  rising  forty  feet  or  more  above  the  ground. 

The  Grand  Canal  is  still  unequaled  in  length  by 
any  other  single  canal  in  the  world.  Its  influence  in 
developing  China  is  a study  for  statesmen  of  all 
lands.  This  is  but  one  of  the  canals  of  this  country- 
The  great  plains  of  the  no^tli  and  the  broad,  alluvial 
delta  of  the  Canton  river  are  ramified  in  all  direc- 
tions with  canals.  In  no  other  country,  not  even 
excepting  Holland,  is  water  so  much  relied  on  for 
transportation.  Their  means  of  land  carriage  are 
still  exceedingly  primitive,  men  being  the  chief  bur- 
den-bearers in  the  most  thickly  populated  provinces. 
Beasts  of  burden  are  more  numerous  in  the  northern 
and  western  provinces.  Wheeled  vehicles  are  few. 
The  wheelbarrow  is  used  to  a considerable  extent  in 
some  parts  of  the  country — and  along  the  Grand 
Canal  and  in  other  parts  of  the  Great  Plain  region 
they  are  partly  propelled  by  wind  when  the  direction 
favors.  Few  roads  are  constructed  for  two-wheeled 
vehicles,  whereas  paved  roads  for  footmen  are  meas- 
ured by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  miles.  Railroads 
could  be  constructed  with  ease  in  the  greater  part  of 
the  most  fruitful  regions  of  China,  but  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  people  and  of  the  government,  for  various 
reasons,  is  still  unsubdued,  although  there  are  indi- 
cations of  late  of  a better  feeling.  A telegraph  line 
has  been  opened  between  Shanghai  and  Peking,  after 
long  opposition,  and  it  is  hoped  it  will  soon  lead  the 
way  to  other  modern  improvements  in  communica- 
tion. The  government  postal  system  has  been  re- 
stricted, until  lately,  to  government  dispatches,  and 
private  correspondence  has  been  conducted  by  pri- 
vate expresses.  Some  of  the  bridges  of  China,  built 
of  marble,  granite  and  other  kinds  of  stone,  are 
fine  specimens  of  engineering  skill  and  artistic  taste. 
There  are  marble  bridges  high  enough  for  large 
junks,  witli  lowered  masts,  to  pass  under.  The 
stone  bridges  of  China,  some  of  them  several 
hundred  feet  long,  are  numbered  by  hundreds — one 
might  say  thousands.  There  are  places  where 
roadways  have  been  quarried  out  of  the  sides  of 
precipices  in  the  canons  of  their  great  rivers,  and 
through  mountain  passes,  on  a scale  which  com- 
mands admiration  for  the  wisdom  of  their  rulers 
and  great  engineers. 


The  principal  roots  of  the  national  existence  are 
its  form  of  local  government,  hitherto  referred  to, 
(the  government  of  towns  and  city  wards  by  elective 
elders),  and  its  educational  system.  The  imperial 
government  for  nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  has 
intensified  the  influence  of  the  latter  by  basing  its  civil 
service  upon  it,  making  the  attainment  of  the  high- 
est literary  degrees  a condition  precedent  to  the  hon- 
ors and  emoluments  of  office.  There  is  no  heredi- 
tary civil  office  but  that  of  emperor,  and  even  that, 
as  previously  explained,  does  not  follow  the  law  of 
primogeniture.  All  other  offices  are  held  up  before 
the  sons  of  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  sons  of  the 
ministers  of  state  and  those  of  the  humblest  peas- 
ants and  mechanics,  as  prizes  to  be  contested  for, 
on  equal  terms,  first  of  all  in  the  schools,  which 
offer  them  the  only  portal  of  admission.  Subse- 
quent promotions  depend,  except  when  personal  fa- 
voritism or  corruption  creeps  in,  both  on  scholarship 
and  successful  administration.  Of  course  this  is  a 
powerful  stimulus  to  the  people  to  educate  their 
children.  The  government  provides  a system  of  ex- 
aminations, from  that  of  the  primary  schools  up 
through  all  the  grades  to  that  which  admits  the  gray- 
haired  doctor  of  philosophy  to  the  Hanlin  Univer- 
sity, “ the  college  of  forty,”  from  which  the  emperor 
selects  his  Highest  civil  ministers.  The  people  and 
their  wealthy  benefactors  provide  the  schools.  The 
founding  of  elementary  schools  and  academies  is  one 
of  the  most  common,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  grate- 
fully appreciated  forms  of  Chinese  benevolence. 
Very  generally  the  people  tithe  themselves  to  main- 
tain schools,  or  support  them  by  voluntary  subscrip- 
tions. Men  of  wealtli  employ  private  tutors.  But 
wherever  and  howsoever  educated,  all  the  pupils 
must  enter  the  examinations  through  the  one  door, 
and  pass  the  same  ordeal.  First,  there  is  an  exami- 
nation annually  in  each  district,  presided  over  by  the 
district  magistrate  assisted  by  examiners  selected 
from  among  the  elders  and  the  first  literati  of  the 
district.  This  examination  contains  certain  sjiecified 
elementary  work  in  writing,  reading,  and  the  memor- 
izing of  precepts  inculcating  respect  and  obedience 
to  parents  and  magistrates,  simple  lessons  in  social 
virtue,  the  great  importance  of  education,  a very 
limited  elementarv  knowledge  of  numbers,  £eo<rra- 
phy  and  history,  the  “ five  elements,”  the  four  sea- 
sons, the  six  principal  kinds  of  grain,  the  six  do- 
mestic animals,  etc.  Besides  these  elements,  the 


G' 

"7t 


"3  N 

" 


THE  CHINESE. 


451 


children  are  required  to  memorize  pages  on  pages  of 
the  classics,  without  being  expected  to  comprehend 
their  meaning  until  they  have  advanced  years  farther 
in  their  studies.  Those  who  pass  this  village  exam- 
ination have  their  names  posted  at  the  entrance  of 
the  magistrate’s  office,  and  are  said  to  have  earned 
“the  village  name.”  These  may  enter,  whenever  they 
choose  to  present  themselves,  the  annual  county  or 
district  examination,  covering  a much  more  arduous 
field  of  study.  If  they 
pass  this  ordeal  they  are 
said  to  have  earned 
“ the  county  name.” 

N ot  more  than  one  in  a 
hundred  of  those  who 
enter  the  district  exam- 
inations ever  attains  to 
this  distinction.  N one 
but  such  as  have,  how- 
ever, are  permitted  to 
enter  the  next  examin- 
ation, which  is  for  the 
first  literary  degree, 
carrying  the  title  of 
“ Beautiful  Ability.” 

This  entitles  the  holder 
to  wear  “the  gilt  but- 
ton,” “ the  white  robe  ” 
and  other  insignia  of 
scholarly  rank.  The 
curriculum  of  study  up 
to  this  point  embraces 
a thorough  memori- 
zing of  the  classical 
books  of  China  (the 
writings  of  Confucius  and  his  commentators), 
and  a good  degree  of  understanding  of  the  most 
practical  parts  of  them — including  Chinese  his- 
tory, geography,  social  science  and  political  gov- 
ernment. From  these  graduates  the  army  of 
teachers,  scribes,  lawyers,  and  physicians  is  continu- 
ally recruited ; but  before  the  citizen  can  hope  to 
hold  any  public  office  above  that  of  constable,  he 
must  enter  the  triennial  examinations,  held  at  each 
of  the  provincial  capitals,  and  win  the  second  liter- 
ary title — that  of  “ Advanced  Man.”  Preparation 
for  this  contest  carries  him  farther  and  farther  into 
the  depths  of  the  Confucian  philosophy.  It  involves 
great  labor,  embracing  the  mastery  of  the  most 


abstruse  doctrines  of  Confucian  metaphysics,  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  theory  and  code  of  the  Chi- 
nese government,  and  great  readiness  in  the  use  of 
the  language.  The  natural  sciences,  which  have 
gradually  wrought  their  way  into  the  higher  schools 
of  Europe  and  America,  and  which  have  done  so 
much  to  develop  these  countries  within  the  past  one 
hundred  years,  are  still  (with  the  exception  of  astron- 
omy) excluded  from  the  regular  curriculum  of  Chi- 
nese study,  although  be- 
ginning to  receive  atten- 
tion in  some  of  the  special 
schools  established  under 
government  auspices  at 
Peking,  and  the  great 
centers  of  foreign  trade, 
Shanghai,  Fuchow,  Can- 
ton, Tien-tsin,  and  other 
points. 

While  comparatively 
few  from  the  masses  of 
the  Chinese  people  attain 
to  even  the  first  literary 
rank,  it  may  be  truthful- 
ly said  that  the  multi- 
tudes are  able  to  read  and 
write  in  a rudimentary 
way,  if  nothing  better. 
There  are  very  few  of  the 
common  people — of  the 
males — who  cannot  read 
the  almanac,  keep  a 
written  memorandum  of 
accounts,  and  enjoy  the 
popular  romance,  writ- 
ten for  this  class  of  readers  in  the  limited  vocabu- 
lary of  common  speech,  and  found  scattered  through 
the  huts  of  the  laboring  classes  and  the  boats  of  the 
river  people.  The  folk-lore  of  China  is  voluminous, 
and  their  romances  of  love  and  war  are  almost  in- 
numerable. A large  part  of  this  stuff  is  the  veriest 
trash,  but  in  the  worthless  mass  there  is  a little  good 
wheat  which  manifests  itself  in  various  ways. 

The  religion  of  the  Chinese  is  a strangely  confused 
medley  of  Confucianism,  Taouism,  and  Buddhism 
engrafted  on  the  ancient  monotheism,  which  has 
come  down  to  them  from  the  earliest  ages.  They 
have  a vague  notion  of  one  “ Supreme  Euler,”  or 
“ Shang-te,”  of  whom  Confucius  taught  that  it  is 


452 


THE  CHINESE. 


impossible  for  man  to  know  anything  clearly.  As 
the  Creator  and  Supreme  Ruler  of  all  things  ani- 
mate and  inanimate,  he  is  to  be  regarded  with  rever- 
ence. He  has  established  the  relations  of  man  to 
man,  and  man  to  the  material  world ; and  to  the 
study  of  these  relations  and  the  duties  growing  out 
of  them  Confucius  addressed  himself,  using  all  the 
light  that  had  come  down  to  his  time  from  preced- 
ing sages.  Had  he  not  lent  his  authority  to  some 
of  the  ancient  mysticisms,  and  hallowed  many  of 
the  old-time  superstitions,  had  he  not  inculcated 
such  extreme  reverence  for  the  past,  and  had  not 
his  followers,  re-inforced  by  the  government  educa- 
tional system,  ordained  that  from  generation  to 
generation  the  whole  mind  of  the  ruling  class  of 
China  shouldbe  spent  in  looking  back  to  the  thoughts 
and  practices  of  the  past  and  patterning  after  them, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  commend  the  Confucian 
philosophy  too  highly.  The  worship  of  Shang-te, 
the  Supreme  Ruler,  as  observed  by  the  emperor  at 
the  Altar  of  Heaven,  at  Peking,  is  the  state  relig- 
ion of  China.  There  at  stated  periods  he  stands, 
as  the  sole  priest  and  father  of  his  people,  under  the 
open  sky,  with  not  an  idol  anywhere  in  the  vast  tem- 
ple enclosure,  and  burns  incense  and  offers  sacrifice 
to  “ Him  who  rules  in  the  zenith  and  in  the  four 
quarters  of  heaven ; ” asks  forgiveness  for  the  trans- 
gressions of  rulers  and  people ; and  invokes  blessings 
on  the  nation.  Confucius  has  his  temple  in  every 
city  and  considerable  town,  and  honors  almost  di- 
vine are  paid  to  him  by  order  of  the  government ; 
which  exerts  its  power  to  increase  the  popular  rever- 
ence for  his  teachings.  Taouism  dates  back  to  the 
sage,  Leaoutze,  a contemporary  of  Confucius.  It 
was  originally  a non-idolatrous  rationalism  and  spir- 
itology,  which  sought  to  exalt  men  above  their  fleshly 
lusts  and  into  a state  of  sagely  wisdom  by  the  con- 
templations of  reason,  very  much  as  Buddhism, 
which  was  introduced  from  India  into  China 
about  600  years  later,  in  A.  D.  65,  sought  to  pre- 
pare man  by  meditation,  self-denial,  prayers  and 
deeds  of  humanity  for  absorption  into  the  essence 


of  the  divine  Buddha.  Both  of  these  have  degenera- 
ted into  systems  of  idolatry,  superstition,  and  monk- 
ish indolence,  mendicancy  and  fraud.  Only  a few  of 
the  most  highly  educated  Confucianists,  and  about 
100,000  Christian  converts,  can  be  regarded  as  above 
subjection  to  these  corrupting  forms  of  religion. 

Slowly,  but  surely,  the  ferment  of  European  civ- 
ilization is  working,  as  may  be  inferred  from  some 
things  already  said,  and  many  other  indications  that 
might  be  noticed  if  there  were  space.  The  opera- 
tion of  the  Chinese  foreign  customs  service,  modeled 
after  the  English  service,  has  worked  a great  reform 
in  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  and  has  paved  the 
way  for  other  innovations.  The  establishment  of 
arsenals  and  navy-yards ; the  erection  of  light- 
houses ; the  re-organization  of  a portion  of  the 
army,  which  has  been  armed  and  drilled  by  Ameri- 
can and  European  tacticians;  the  education  of  a 
large  number  of  Chinese  youth  in  the  schools  of 
Europe  and  America ; the  establishment  of  schools 
of  foreign  learning,  at  Peking  and  elsewhere ; the 
adoption  of  foreign-built  vessels  for  a large  part  of 
their  river  and  coast  trade ; the  introduction  of 
clocks,  sewing-machines,  and  numerous  other  west- 
ern inventions ; the  progress  of  missions  directed 
against  their  superstitions ; the  growing  use  of  the 
public  press  ; the  use  of  the  marine  telegraph  cable, 
and  the  recent  establishment  of  a line  of  telegraph 
of  several  hundred  miles  in  length, — all  denote  that 
the  progress  of  the  age  cannot  be  stayed,  even  by 
Chinese  conservatism. 

According  to  the  census  of  1880,  there  are  105,465 
Chinese  in  the  United  States.  They  are  found  in 
every  state  and  territory  of  the  Union,  North  Car- 
olina and  Vermont  alone  excepted.  At  this  writing 
a bill  is  pending  before  Congress  to  prohibit  during 
the  next  twenty  years  immigration  from  China.  The 
Chinese  do  not  come  to  this  country  to  become 
Americans,  but  to  remain  a fe'w  years,  and  then 
return  to  their  native  land  and  families.  There  is 
to  be  no  disturbance  of  the  Chinese  now  within  the 
borders  of  the  United  States. 


V 


E are  about  to  leave  the  Old 
World  for  the  New,  but 
before  doing  so  it  is  pur- 
posed to  gather  into* one 
sheaf  the  ungarnered 
wheat  of  the  two  oldest 
continents. 

Of  all  the  continents  Asia  is  the  larg- 
est. According  to  Behrn  and  W aguer  its 
area,  inclusive  of  Islands,  is  16,924,000 
square  miles.  The  population  is  794,000,- 
000.  The  appended  table  presents  the 
details  on  this  point,  the  names  italicized 
being  those  of  countries  already  con- 
sidered. 


Names. 

Area  in 
Sq.  Mi 

Pop. 

Names. 

Area  in 
Sq.  Mi. 

Pop. 

Asiatic  Russia 
Chinese  Em. . 

Japan  

Anam  ) 

Siam  V 

Burmah  \ 
British  India. 

6.250.000 

4.740.000 

150.000 

752.000 

1.580.000 

12,000,000 

425.000. 000 

35.000. 000 

21.000. 000 

240.000. 000 

Bokhara 

E.  Turkestan.. 
Afghanistan... 
Beroochistan  .. 

Persia 

Arabia 

Turkey ... 

76,000 

590.000 

250.000 

107.000 

680.000 
1,020,000 

673,000 

2,500.000 

580.000 

.000 

2,000.000 

5.000. 000 

4.000. 000 
16,500,000 

The  Empire  of  Anam  is  also  known  as  Cochin- 
China.  It  was  created  about  eighty  years  ago.  It 
is  south  of  China.  The  government  is  thoroughly 
despotic.  The  emperor  rules  through  mandarin 
agents.  The  religion  is  Buddhism,  with  a sprink- 


ling of  Confucianism  among  the  higher  classes.  The 
capital  is  Hue,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  the 
same  name.  The  export  is  chiefly  silk.  In  the  six- 
teenth century  Roman  Catholic  missions  were  estab- 
lished in  the  country  which  have  continued  to  flour- 
ish in  spite  of  persecution.  The  present  Christian 
population  of  the  empire  is  about  half  a million. 
The  Anamese  language  is  very  similar  to  the  Chi- 
nese, and  the  literature  is  still  more  closely  allied  to 
that  of  China. 

No  other  part  of  Minor  Asia  is  so  important  as 
Siam,  “ the  kingdom  of  the  free,”  as  the  term  im- 
plies. The  freedom  referred  to  is  disbelief  in  Brah- 
manism. It  occupies  the  middle  portion  of  the  In- 
do-Chinese peninsula.  The  people  arc  ardent  Bud- 
dhists. The  capital  is  Bangkok,  the  “ Venice  of  the 
East.”  The  architecture  of  Siam  is  suggestive  of 
Egypt.  “ Their  structures,”  says  Leonowens,  “ are 
solid  and  endurable.  The  temples  are  beautifully 
situated  amid  spacious  avenues  of  trees,  and  enclos- 
ed by  gardens,  while  their  tapering,  pyramidal 
roofs,  sculptured  facades  and  lofty  jirochaidi  (spires 
all  painted,  gilded  and  glazed)  arc  made  vocal  witli 
tiny  air-bells  at  all  hours  of  the  night  and  day,  and 
resplendent  beyond  description  in  the  sunlight.”  Of 
all  the  nations  living  almost  entirely  apart  from  the 
outside  world,  Siam  is  the  only  one  to  have  a music 


CHAPTER  L XXI . 

Asia  in  General,  Minor  Portions  in  Detail — Anam — Siam— Burmah — Bokhara — East  Tur- 
kestan— Afghanistan— Beloochistan — Arabia— Africa  in  General  and  in  Detail — 
Madagascar — Algeria — Morocco — Tunis — Tripoli — Central  Africa  and  Siberia — South 
Africa — The  Dutch  and  the  English — Zululand  and  the  Last  of  the  Bonapartes — St. 
Helena— Birth-places  of  the  Great  Religions  of  the  World. 


(453^ 


> 


k. 


454  MINOR  ASIA  AND  AFRICA. 


which  is  truly  musical,  judged  from  the  European 
or  American  standard.  The  tang-wong  and  taJcay 
are  instruments  closely  resembling  the  piano.  The 
art  of  painting;  has  been  carried  to  some  degree  of 
merit,  but  architecture  is  the  art  most  perfected. 
Watt  Phra  Kean,  or  temple  of  the  Emerald  God,  is 
a magnificent  structure,  and  there  are  many  tem- 
ples and  palaces  of  hardly  less  grandeur.  The  relig- 
ion of  the  country  is  Buddhism.  The  ]:>eople  are 
exceptionally  moral  and  observant  of  the  five  com- 
mandments of  Buddha : thou  shalt  not  kill,  steal, 
commit  adultery,  lie,  or  get  drunk — and  the  posi- 
tive virtues  insisted  upon  are,  reverence  for  parents, 
care  for  children,  obedience,  gratitude,  moderation, 
fortitude,  patience  and  resignation.  The  Siamese 
literature,  which  is  quite  full,  is  largely  religious  in 
tone.  The  people  love  poetry.  The  sacred  books 
are  numerous  and  of  such  a high  character  that  a 
Christian  missionary  writes  : “ It  is  difficult  to  see 
how  the  human  understanding  unaided  by  revela- 
tion could  soar  so  high,  and,  as  it  were,  touch  the 
very  throne  of  God.” 

The  government  of  Siam  is  a duarchy,  there  be- 
ing two  kings ; but  the  second  king  is  hardly  more 
than  a vice  or  lieutenant.  About  his  court  is  the 
Council  of  Twelve,  or  Cabinet,  and  when  the  chief 
king  dies  that  body  may  defeat  the  execution  of  his 
will  as  to  his  successor  on  the  throne.  This  veto 
power  is  not  the  only  restriction  upon  royal  author- 
ity. There  are  laws,  written  and  unwritten,  to  which 
he  must  conform,  and  which  render  the  government 
in  effect  a constitutional  monarchy.  When  General 
Grant  visited  the  Siamese  court  in  1878,  he  found  it 
a seat  of  learning  and  justice  beyond  all  anticipa- 
tion. From  1851  to  the  present  time,  the  throne  has 
been  occupied  by  a patriot  and  statesman.  First, 
Malia  Mongkut,  crowned  in  1851,  a model  gentleman 
and  deep  student.  Astronomy  was  his  favorite 
study.  His  death  occurred  in  1868,  and  the  same 
night  the  Council,  Senabawdee,  confirmed  his  eldest 
son,  Somdetch  Chowfa  Chullalon  Korn,  as  king,  and 
the  younger  son,  Prince  George  Washington,  second 
king.  The  latter  king  had  a family  of  81  children. 
Polygamy  prevails,  and  the  wealth,  social  import- 
ance and  rank  of  a man  determines  the  number  of 
his  wives.  But  in  the  royal  household  there  can  be 
only  two  wives  whose  sons  are  eligible  to  the  throne. 
Slavery  existed  in  Siam  until  1872,  when  by  royal 
edict  the  institution  was  abolished,  or  rather,  its  ab- 


olition began  then,  for  the  process  was  gradual.  A 
system  of  compensation  to  masters  was  adopted 
which  prevented  any  serious  dissatisfaction. 

Siam  is  sometimes  called  “The  Land  of  the  White 
Elephant.”  Any  white  animal  or  bird  is  held  to 
be  almost  sacred,  as  being  animated  by  the  pure  soul 
in  its  metempsychosis.  A white  elephant  is  sup- 
posed to  be  animated  by  a deceased  king  of  excep- 
tional whiteness  of  character.  The  palatial  stable 
of  the  white  elephant  is  guarded  from  the  evil  spirits 
by  a white  monkey.  The  same  veneration  prevails 
in  Burmah  for  the  white  elephant,  or  “ august  and 
glorious  mother-descendant  of  kings  and  heroes.” 

Burmah  is  between  latitudes  19°  and  27°  north, 
and  forms  a part  of  what  is  sometimes  called  Far- 
ther India.  The  soil  is  productive  and  the  climate 
agreeable.  The  mineral  wealth  of  the  country  is 
great  and  varied,  including  gold,  silver,  copper,  anti- 
mony, lead,  tin,  iron,  coal  and  precious  stones,  such  as 
rubies  and  sapphires.  Rice,  corn,  cotton,  tobacco, 
indigo  and  milldt  are  the  chief  products  of  the  coun- 
try. Elephants,  tigers,  the  rhinoceros  and  the  buf- 
falo are  found  there,  the  first  and  the  last  being  do- 
mesticated. The  people  are  short,  robust  and  swarthy 
members  of  the  Mongolian  race.  Buddhism  is  the 
prevailing  religion.  The  ruler  of  Burmah  is  abso- 
lute in  his  authority,  and  not  even  the  most  horrible 
abuse  of  power  by  the  sovereign  seems  to  shake  the 
loyalty  of  his  subjects. 

Bokhara  is  the  name  of  both  a city  and  a country, 
the  former  being  the  capital  of  the  latter,  and  the 
most  important  commercial  city  of  Central  Asia. 
It  has  long  been  famous  as  a seat  of  Mohammedan 
learning.  It  contains  a hundred  colleges  and  has 
about  10,000  students  in  attendance.  The  fierce 
Tartar,  Ghengis  Khan,  desolated  the  city  in  1230.  It 
was  soon  restored,  so  far  as  possible.  The  popula- 
tion is  about  100,000.  The  country  of  which  it  is 
the  capital  is  sometimes  called  Great  Bucharis.  With 
the  exception  of  a little  gold  in  the  sands  of  the 
Oxus  or  Amoo  river,  Bokhara  is  destitute  of  miner- 
als. It  is  also  deficient  in  timber.  The  ancient 
Bactria  nearly  corresponds  to  this  country.  The 
Russians  exercise  semi-protectoral  jurisdiction  over 
Bokhara.  The  religion  of  Islam  prevails,  and 
Christianity  has  no  foothold  whatever,  except  as  the 
Russians  have  given  the  Greek  church  a little  ad- 
vancement. No  part  of  the  world  is  more  com- 
pletely isolated  than  Bokhara. 


MINOR  ASIA  AND  AFRICA. 


455 


Turkestan  (land  of  the  Turk)  is  estimated  to 
have  an  area  of  1,576,402  square  miles.  The  west- 
ern portion  is  now  a part  of  Russia.  It  is  the  home 
of  the  ancient  Scythians.  East  Turkestan  is  nat- 
urally an  arid  land.  Agriculture  requires  irrigation. 
With  the  aid  of  mountain  torrents  tamed  and  ren- 
dered supplemental  to  the  plow,  the  people  manage  to 
raise  fair  crops,  generally.  The  system  of  govern- 
ment is  exceedingly  crude  and  despotic,  the  policy 
being  to  levy  all  the  tax  that  the  productions  of  the 
country  would  possibly  bear.  The  religion  of  the 
inhabitants  is  Mohammedanism,  with  a few  scat- 
tered traces  of  Buddhism,  which  prevailed  until  the 
eighth  century.  The  Chinese  long  claimed  sover- 
eignty over  the  country.  They  were  finally  expelled 
from  Kashgar,  the  capital,  in  1865,  by  YakoobBey, 
who  has  since  attracted  some  general  attention  as  a 
brave  mountain  warrior  whose  exploits  are  important 
from  their  supposed  bearing  upon  the  eastern  rival- 
ries of  Russia  and  England.  Formerly  the  com- 
merce of  the  country  was  conducted  by  way  of 
China,  but  now  the  trade  with  Russia  is  very  consid- 
erable. 

Afghanistan,  or  land  of  the  Afghans,  is  known 
in  Persia  as  Wilijet,  “ the  mother  country.”  It  is  the 
bridge  between  India  and  AVestern  Asia.  It  is  a very 
mountainous  region.  The  Afghans  are  divided  into 
many  tribes,  each  independent  of  the  rest,  until  re- 
cently. It  was  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury when  they  became  an  organized  people.  The 
British  have  repeatedly  tried  to  conquer  the  country, 
but  the  mountains  serve  as  natural  fortresses  for  the 
natives,  and  the  English  were  obliged  to  be  content 
with  the  establishment  of  a non-Russian  nationality. 
It  is  now  quite  well  conceded  at  London  and  St.  Pe- 
tersburg that  the  country  shall  remain  free.  The 
religion  of  Islam  prevails. 

Beloochistan  is  a part  of  the  same  wild  and  inhos- 
pitable region  as  Afghanistan  and  Turkestan,  inhab- 
ited sparcely  by  wandering  shepherds,  subject  in  a 
vague  way  to  a despotic  khan  whose  seat  of  empire 
is  Kelat,  which  was  stormed  and  taken  by  the  En- 
glish in  1839.  In  the  sack  the  khan  of  the  period 
was  slain.  Industry  is  almost  unknown.  The  peo- 
ple are  worshipers  of  Allah  and  his  prophet  Mo- 
hammed. In  the  more  favored  valleys  a little  rice, 
tobacco,  cotton,  barley  and  indigo  are  produced. 

Arabia,  the  land  of  the  Prophet,  is  a peninsula 
surrounded  by  water  on  all  sides  except  the  north, 


where  it  borders  on  Turkey.  It  is  a very  uninviting 
country,  hot,  dry  and  unproductive.  By  the  aid  of 
irrigation  the  people  manage  to  coax  from  the  soil 
meager  harvests  of  coffee,  cotton,  indigo,  tobacco, 
barley,  sugar,  and  many  aromatic  plants.  Thei’e  is 
really  no  national  government.  The  Arabs  being 
wandering  tribes,  each  sheik,  or  patriarch,  is  a 
petty  tyrant.  A few  of  the  people  dwell  in  villages 
and  cultivate  the  soil,  but  for  the  most  part  they 
are  Bedouins,  or  predatory  and  vagabondish  tribes. 
Mecca  is  the  chief  city,  owing  its  prominence  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  the  birthplace  of  Mohammed.  The 
other  cities  of  Arabia  are  Medina,  Loheia,  Mocha, 


MOCHA. 

Aden,  Muscat,  Yemba,  and  Rostok.  Once  tire  Arab 
caravans  were  a very  important  feature  in  interna- 
tional transportation,  but  they  have  dwindled  into  ut- 
ter insignificance  now,  and  Arabia  is  interesting  only 
from  its  suggestions  of  antiquity.  Owing  to  its  deso- 
lation and  sand,  the  conquerors  of  the  jiast  shunned 
it,  and  the  Arabs  were  allowed  to  develop  in  their  own 
weird  way,  undistributed  by  the  rise  and  fall  of 
empires.  It  can  boast  a literature  which  was  rich 
in  poetry,  at  least,  before  the  religious  insanity  and 
terrible  earnestness  of  Mohammed  had  given  birth 
to  the  Saracen  Empire,  which  was  rather  an  out- 
growth from  than  a development  of  Arabia.  The 
principal  exports  of  the  country  are  dates,  coffee, 
gum  arabic,  myrrh,  aloes,  pearls,  balsams  and  other 
drugs. 

The  least  important  of  all  the  continents,  Africa, 
was  the  first  to  attract  our  attention,  including  as  it 
does  that  once  splendid  country,  Egypt.  The  name 
itself  was  not  known  until  after  the  Romans  had 


456 


MINOR  ASIA  AND  AFRICA. 


come  into  collision  with  the  Carthaginians.  The 
ancient  designation  was  Libya.  Africa  extends 
about  4,500  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  contains 
an  area  of  11,600,000  square  miles.  Its  population 
is  a matter  of  wild  conjecture,  not  far,  perhaps,  from 
200,000,000. 

In  these  estimates  Madagascar  is  included.  That 
is  the  chief  island  in  the  near  vicinity  of  the  con- 
tinent. It  has  an  area  of  228,500  square  miles,  and 
a population  of  5,000,000.  Some  faint  suggestions 
of  civilization  are  found 
there,  hut  that  is  about 
all.  Very  considerable 
effort  has  been  made  to 
introduce  Christianity, 
and  not  without  some 
success,  especially 
among  the  higher  clas- 
ses. The  chief  city  of 
the  island  is  Tanan- 
arive, in  the  interior. 

It  has  a population  of 
25,000,  and  carries  on  a 
thriving  business  in 
gold  and  silver  manu- 
factories, and  in  rings. 

The  language,  Mala- 
gasy, has  been  reduced 
to  writing  by  European 
missionaries.  In  the 
sixteenth,  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies the  island  was  the 
resort  of  pirates  who 
roved  the  sea  in  quest 
of  ships  laden  with  the  treasures  of  Indian  commerce. 

We  return  now  to  the  continent  of  Africa.  In 
remote  antiquity  none  of  the  continents  could  com- 
pare  with  Africa  in  the  scale  of  importance.  Egypt, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  the  fountain-head  of  that 
mighty  stream  of  civilization  which  has  fertilized 
the  world,  and  even  Ethiopia  was  not  to  be  despised. 
Cartilage,  the  formidable  rival  of  old  Rome,  and  for 
a long  time  the  queen  city  of  commerce,  was  located 
on  the  African  side  of  the  Mediterranean  sea.  The 
Saracen  Empire  was  largely  African,  and  the  Moors, 
the  noblest  race  of  the  medieval  age,  belonged  in 
part  to  that  continent.  But  since  their  day  Africa 
has  been  little  better  than  a cipher,  her  unfortunate 


sons  the  drudges  of  white  masters,  and  the  continent 
itself  contributing  very  little  to  the  civilization  of 
mankind.  It  belongs  to  the  past,  and  perhaps  to  the 
future,  but  in  only  a very  subordinate  way  to  the 
vital  present.  Upon  its  monumental  ruins  the 
mind’s  eye  reads  the  inscription,  “ Ichabod  ” — the 
glory  has  departed. 

A very  lively  interest  is  felt  in  the  geography  of 
Africa,  and  numerous  efforts  of  great  enterprise  have 
been  made  during  the  last  decade  to  ascertain  what 

are  the  physical  facts  in 
regard  to  that  conti- 
nent. A recent  writer 
who  conceals  his  name 
remarks : “ Africa  is 

no  longer  the  terra  in- 
cognita that  it  was  in 
the  days  when  the 
adults  of  this  gener- 
ation thumbed  their 
school  geographies. 
Then  the  vast  interior 
of  that  mysterious  con- 
tinent was  marked  as 
‘desert’  or  ‘uninhab- 
ited,’ but  now  we  know 
that  numerous  oases 
dot  the  sandy  wastes, 
and  that  the  supposed 
‘ uninhabited  regions  ’ 
teem  with  millions  of 
human  beings.  To  the 
indefatigable  labors 
and  indomitable  cour- 
age of  such  men  as  Liv- 
ingstone, Cameron,  Stanley,  Grant,  Burton,  Speke, 
Pinto,  and  other  explorers ; to  the  zeal  of  the  mission- 
aries, and  to  the  ever-pushing  spirit  of  barter,  is  the 
world  indebted  for  its  present  store  of  knowledge  of 
the  Dark  Continent.  Still,  Africa  is,  in  its  great  inte- 
rior, comparatively  unknown.  There  are  yet  vast 
regions  of  that  continent  where  the  foot  of  the  white 
man  has  never  trodden,  and,  on  this  account,  is  that 
country  a present  favored  field  of  exploration  and 
travel.  There  are  now  expeditions  engaged  in  ex- 
ploring Africa  under  the  direction  of  societies  in 
Germany,  Russia,  France,  England,  Italy,  Spain,  and 
other  States.” 

In  northern  Africa  there  are  four  countries,  each 


MINOR  ASIA  AND  AFRICA. 


•V<s 


possessing  a very  considerable  civilization.  Decay, 
but  not  death,  is  stamped  upon  them  all.  They  are, 
to  name  them  in  the  order  of  their  importance, 
Egypt,  Algeria,  Morocco,  Tunis  and  Tripoli.  They 
all  skirt  along  the  Mediterranean  on  one  side  and 
the  Sahara  on  the  other.  One  of  them,  Morocco,  is 
washed  by  the  Atlantic  also.  They  are  strongly, 
almost  wholly,  Mohammedan  in  faith.  The  excep- 
tions are  mainly  Jews.  Of  the  once-flourishing 
Christian  churches  which  may  almost  be  said  to 
have  covered  that  vast  region  in  the  early  period  of 
the  church,  hardly  a vestige  remains.  Islam  swept 
them  all  away,  and  is  itself  secure  against  dislodg- 
inent,  apparently.  From  Cairo  to  Fez,  the  Prophet 
and  the  Koran  have  absolute  sway,  and  their  influ- 
ence is  silently  extending  southward.  In  the  opin- 
ion of  some  eminent  authorities  Mohammedanism 
is  sure  to  conquer  Africa,  not  as  in  its  infancy,  by 
the  sword,  but  by  the  natural  affinity  between  itself 
and  the  colored  race  upon  its  native  sand.  In  so 
doing  it  is  displacing  most  revolting  forms  and 
phases  of  idolatry,  and  its  progress  may  be  viewed 
with  satisfaction. 

We  have  no  occasion  here  to  pause  over  Egypt. 


A STREET  IN  ALGIERS. 

Algeria,  the  most  considerable  colonial  possession  of 
France,  swarmed  in  the  early  part  of  this  century 
with  pirates,  as  did  all  that  coast.  To  the  United 
States  is  the  world  principally  indebted  for  the  sup- 
pression of  Algerian  piracy.  The  French  maintain 
there  an  army  of  60,000. 

Morocco  has  a population  about  the  same  as  Al- 
geria. It  is  independent,  ruled  by  a sultan  known 
to  his  own  subjects  as  “ Absolute  Ruler  of  True  Be- 
lievers.” The  dynasty  boasts  descent  from  Moham- 

>T*— ^ 


=®  £ 


457 


mod’s  great  son-in-law,  Ali.  Fez,  its  capital,  is  a 
gloomy  town  of  about  100,000  inhabitants,  having 
the  air  of  being  wholly  subservient  to  the  sultan  and 
his  numerous  harem.  In  the  days  of  Moorish  glory, 
and  long  into  its  decline,  Fez  was  a splendid  city, 
but  of  its  splendor  there  remain  only  mosques. 

Tunis  has  recently  acquired  special  prominence. 
As  we  write,  France  is  trying  to  annex  it,  in  effect,  to 
Algeria,  and  Tripoli  is  in  danger  of  the  same  fate. 
The  Bey  of  Tunis  is  under  treaty  obligations  to 
furnish  the  Ottoman  Empire  a certain  number  of 
troops  in  time  of  war. 

Tripoli,  the  easternmost  part  of  what  was  once 
the  Barbary  States,  is  small  in  population  and 
somewhat  vague  in  area.  It  is  little  better  than  a 
desert,  with  a few  oases.  The  country  is  under  the 
rule  of  an  absolute  pasha. 

In  jiassing  from  northern  to  southern  Africa,  on 
either  side  extends  the  most  extensive  desert  on  the 
globe,  the  Sahara.  It  consists  of  rocky  plateaus  and 
mountains  separated  by  immense  tracts  of  barren 
gravel.  South  of  the  Sahara,  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
is  Senegambia,  noted  only  for  its  exportation  of 
slaves  before  the  traffic  was  abolished.  Just  below 
it  is  the  small  and  kindred  country  of  Sierra  Leone. 
Inland,  and  extending  indefinitely,  is  Soudan,  a 
somewhat  fertile  belt,  having  for  its  principal  cities, 
Kano,  Kuka,  Timbuctoo  and  Sokoto.  The  coast 
from  the  south  line  of  Liberia  southward  some 
twenty  degrees  below  the  equator  is  called  Upper 
and  Lower  Guinea.  Still  farther  south  lies  the  land 
of  the  Hottentots,  whose  pitiable  degradation  early 
eidisted  missionary  effort.  On  the  eastern  coast 
stretches  the  same  domain  of  savagery,  between  the 
Gulf  of  Aden  and  Port  Natal,  the  names  Zululand, 
Mozambique,  Sofala,  Zanguebar  and  Soumati  stand- 
ing for  parts  of  the  same  general  country  stretching 
through  thirty  degrees  of  latitude  and  contributing 
hardly  anything  except  ivory  and  ostrich  feathers  to 
the  world.  The  heat  of  the  climate,  except  in  Zu- 
luland and  Sofala,  forbids  any  considerable  civiliza- 
tion. The  one  spot  at  all  civilized  and  occidental 
in  all  that  vast  reach  of  continent  is  Liberia,  just 
north  of  the  equator.  Moravia  is  its  capital.  That 
republic  was  founded  in  1820  by  the  American  Col- 
onization Society,  which  hoped  that  it  would  form 
the  nucleus  of  a general  exodus  of  negroes  from  this 
country.  But  less  than  twenty  thousand  American 
Africans  are  to  be  found  there.  The  colored  man, 


'v 


» 


MINOR  ASIA  AND  AFRICA. 


even  in  the  days  of  slavery,  had  no  longings  for  the 
Canaan  of  his  ancestors.  The  constitution  of  Libe- 
ria was  modeled  after  that  of  the  United  States, 
only  white  men  cannot  vote.  There  are  schools  and 
churches  fairly  well  sup- 


people 
n their 


ported,  and  the 
are  prosperous  i 
small  way. 

The  extreme  southern 
point  of  Africa,  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  is  on 
about  the  35th  degree 
of  latitude,  and  the  cli- 
mate is  delightful,  re- 
sembling that  at  Santi- 
ago and  upon  the  pam- 
pas of  the  Argentine 
Republic.  In  that  re- 
mote region  are  to  be 
found  very  considerable 
settlements  of  Europe- 
ans, Dutch  and  English. 

The  former  went  there 
first,  but  having  no 
strong  home  government 
to  protect  them,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 
These  Dutch  are  called  Boers.  They  are  an  easy- 
going people,  unambitious,  luxuriating  in  exemp- 
tion from  the  ex- 
acting tasks  of  civ- 
ilization without 
being  barbarians. 

They  are  truly  Ar- 
cadian. They  love 
liberty,  are  virtu- 
ous, and  as  indus- 
trious as  their  cir- 
cumstancesrequire. 

The  English  find 
it  no  child’s  play 
to  suppress  their 
rebellion.  This 
cluster  of  Europe- 
an settlements  in 
South  Africa  con- 


NATTVE MISSIONARY  CHILDREN. 


MISSIONARY  RESIDENCE. 


sists  of  Cape  Colony,  Natal,  Orange  River  Free 
State,  and  Transvaal.  Cape  Colony  was  origin- 
ally founded  by  Van  Riebeck  in  1G52,  and  seemed 
as  promising  as  English  settlements  in  America. 


It  fell  into  English  hands  in  1796.  The  area  of 
this  colony  is  348,000  square  miles  and  the  popu- 
lation 1,500,000,  and  of  these  only  about  240,000 
are  of  European  descent.  Wool  is  the  chief  export. 

Natal,  formerly  a part 
of  the  Cape  settlement, 
has  a European  popula- 
tion of  25,000,  and,  like 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
colony,  has  no  increase 
from  without,  and  is 
wholly  given  to  sheep- 
raising. Orange  River 
Free  States  is  a territory 
west  of  Natal,  occupied 
by  some  40,000  Dutch 
settlers  who  would  not  re- 
main in  Natal  after  the 
English  had  taken  pos- 
session. Transvaal  is  so 
named  because  it  is  loca- 
ted beyond  the  river  V aal 
which  divides  it  from 
Orange.  It  was  in  the 
valley  of  this  river  that 
diamonds  began  to  be  found  in  such  rich  abund- 
ance in  1870.  It  was  to  secure  these  precious  stones 
that  the  English  organized  an  independent  colony 

across  the  Vaal.  It 
is  thought  that  no 
country  is  richer  in 
mineral  resources 
than  this  part  of 
Africa,  but  only 
the  diamonds  and 
the  gold  have  been 
mined. 

J ust  north  of 
Natal  is  Zululand. 
The  natives  are 
fierce  warriors,  sav- 
ages of  the  most 
dangerous  if  not 
the  lowest  type. 
They  are  passion- 
ately fond  of  war  and  the  chase.  They  hate  Euro- 
peans because  the  tendency  of  civilization  is  to  lessen 
game.  They  have  given  the  English  a great  deal  of 
trouble,  fighting  and  fleeing  as  the  emergency  might 


MINOR  ASIA  AND  AFRICA. 


459 


require.  At  last,  however,  after  a great  deal  of  ex-  civilized  world  for  his  unhappy  mother,  while,  in  an 
pense  and  loss  of  life,  these  savages  have  been  so  far  impersonal  point  of  view,  it  was  regarded  as  an 


* 


it 

- 0 


< 


subdued  as  to  give  no  serious  trouble  to  the  natives. 
In  their  subjugation  occurred  the  highly  sensation- 
al death  of  a 
young  man  who 
may  well  be  call- 
ed the  last  of 
the  Bonapartes, 
the  Prince  Im- 
perial, son  of 
Louis  Napoleon 
and  Eugenie, 
lie  was  a very 
worthy  youth, 
and  in  the  hope 
of  winning  some 
military  renown, 
he  went  to  that 
distant  land  an 
officer  in  tiie  British  army.  Ambushed  and  slain, 
his  melancholy  fate  excited  the  sympathy  of  the 


additional  guarantee  of  republicanism  in  France. 
There  is  no  longer  any  danger  from  the  Bonapartists. 


PORT  NATAL. 


Had  the  son  of 

the  great 

em- 

peror. 

and 

tlie 

grand  nephe 

w of 

the  still  gre 

ater 

emperor, reti 

urn- 

ed  with 

an  1 

ion- 

orable 

military 

record, 

he  would 

have 

been 

a 

standin 

g 11 

ueii- 

ace  to 

self- 

gov- 

ernmen 

it  in 

re- 

publican  France. 

It  was 

inexj 

ires- 

siblyim 

ilanc 

holy 

fall'  a 

vict.ii 

n to 

be  said 

that 

. all 

V 


<S 


MINOR  ASIA  AND  AFRICA. 


unconsciously  those  Kaffirs  immolated  him  upon 
the  altar  of  French  liberty. 

The  island  of  St.  Helena  is  accounted  as  an  Afri- 
can island,  although  it  is  no  less  than  1,400  miles 
east  of  the  mainland.  It  contains  only  47  square 
miles.  The  nearest  land  is  the  Isle  of  Ascension, 
and  that  is  800  miles  distant.  This  solitary  and 
rocky  speck  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  was  rendered  fa- 


the  really  great  continents  of  to-day,  Europe  and 
America,  borrowed  their  religion  from  Asia,  and  that 
in  the  birth-places  of  the  two  religions  which  are 
supreme  in  the  world,  neither  has  now  any  foothold. 
Dr.  Hurst  divides  the  world,  religiously,  thus : Chris- 
tianity, 418,000,000,000 ; Buddhism,  400,000,000 ; 
Mohammedanism,  215,000,000;  Brahmanism,  175,- 
000,000;  Judaism,  7,000,000;  all  other  forms  of 


mous  by  the  fact  that  Napoleon  Bonaparte  spent  the 
last  years  of  his  life  there,  the  great  international 
prisoner.  The  otherwise  unimportant  island  has 
the  pre-eminence  of  being  the  most  august  jail  the 
world  ever  knew,  the  cage  in  which  the  lion  of  the 
nineteenth  century  breathed  his  last. 

In  this  chapter  the  less  important  portions  of 
two  continents  have  engaged  attention,  and  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  actual  both  are  of  trivial  im- 
portance. But  it  is  a remarkable  fact,  that  both  of 


religious  belief,  174,000,000.  Gautama  Buddha 
attempted  to  reform  Brahmanism,  and  his  re- 
ligion, after  a brief  home  success,  was  driven  out 
of  India,  utterly  and  permanently,  as  was  Chris- 
tianity out  of  Palestine.  As  nearly  all  Africa 
seems  disposed  to  accept  Islamism,  so  Asia,  except 
India,  Arabia  and  Persia,  unites  in  worshiping  Gau- 
tama Buddha,  who  might  well  say  with  Jesus  Christ, 
“A  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own 
country.” 


k 

© 


► 


> 

9 


CHAPTER  LXXII. 


Spanish  Thirst  for  Gold — The  Discovery  by  Cortez— The  Aztecs  and  their  Civilization — 
The  Conquest  op  Mexico — New  Spain — Mexican  Independence — Civil  War  and  “ Mexi- 
canization” — Santa  Anna  and  his  Political  Fortunes— The  War  between  Mexico  and 
the  United  States  and  its  Territorial  Result — Disestablishment  of  toe  Church — 
Maximilian  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine — Juarez  and  Political  Stability — Subsequent 
Presidents — The  Federal  System— City  of  Mexico— Resources  of  the  Country  and 
the  Total  Yield  of  Silver  and  Gold — Agriculture  an'd  Transportation — Banco 
N ACIONAI.  Mexicano. 


f II E historian  Prescott  re- 
marks of  the  Spaniards 
who  braved  the  perils  of 
the  ocean  to  follow  where 
Christopher  Columbus  had 
led  that  they  were  “afflicted 
with  a thirst  for  which  gold 
was  a specific  remedy.” 
Columbus  himself  wasted  much 
of  the  time  which  should  have 
been  spent  in  harvesting  the  field 
which  he  had  discovered  in  a 
fruitless  search  for  the  precious 
metals.  Neither  on  the  islands 
of  the  Caribbean  sea  where  he 
first  saw  the  new  world  nor  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  were  to  be 
found  in  any  considerable  quan- 
tities what  they  all  sought.  The  gold  and  the  silver 
lay  farther  west,  in  what  was  long  known  as  New 
Spain,  later  as  Mexico,  and  in  the  region  farther 
south  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

Mexico  is  the  southern  portion  of  North  America. 
Its  area  is  701,040  square  miles,  and  its  population 
about  10,000,000.  It  was  in  the  year  1519  that 
Spanish  avarice  discovered  Mexico.  Hernando  Cortez 


landed  at  what  is  now  Vera  Cruz,  on  the  Atlantic, 
or  gulf  side  of  the  country,  having  under  his  com- 
mand less  than  six  hundred  men.  lie  had  with  him 
two  things  unknown  to  the  natives,  gunpowder  and 
horses.  Dr.  Draper  attributes  the  fall  of  aboriginal 
Mexico  to  the  lack  of  horses.  The  country  which 
is  now  almost  overrun  with  them  was  then  wholly 
destitute  of  them.  The  invader  destroyed  his  ships, 
to  prevent  retreat.  But  before  proceeding  with  the 
exploits  of  this  intrepid  but  detestable  intruder  it 
may  be  well  to  survey  the  country  which  he  found 
and  despoiled. 

“At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,”  says 
Prescott,  “ the  Aztec  dominion  reached  across  the 
continent,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.”  It  was 
a truly  magnificent  empire.  The  government  was 
a monarchy,  but  the  monarch  was  elected,  no  one 
being  eligible,  however,  but  the  brothers  or  nephews 
of  the  late  king.  A system  of  hieroglyphics  re- 
sembling the  Egyptian  was  in  use,  serving  as  a 
means  of  promulgating  and  preserving  laws  and 
records.  According  to  the  dubious  testimony  of 
Spanish  historians  the  Aztecs  sacrificed  human  be- 
ings to  appease  their  gods,  sometimes  immolating 
upon  the  altar  of  worship  no  loss  than  20,000  victims. 
Of  course  this  must  be  a gross  exaggeration,  but  the 


-71 


(461) 


b 


G\ 


4 


4 

& 


462  MEXICO  AND  THE  MEXICANS. 


horrible  custom  no  doubt  prevailed.  Otherwise  the 
people  were  far  advanced.  Their  especial  excellence 
was  astronomy.  In  that  science  they  attained  re- 
markable proficiency.  They  had  discovered  the 
cause  of  eclipses,  and  the  location  in  the  heavens  of 
the  more  important  constellations.  They  could  cal- 
culate time  accurately.  They  were  good  farmers, 
succeeding  remarkably  well  in  their  agriculture, 
considering  the  fact  that  they  had  no  beasts  of 
burden. 

“ The  Aztec  character,”  to  quote  farther  from 
Prescott,  “ was  perfectly 
original  and  unique.  It 
was  made  up  of  incon- 
gruities, apparently  irre- 
concilable. It  blended 
into  one  the  marked  pe- 
culiarities of  different 
nations,  not  only  of  the 
same  phase  of  civiliza- 
tion, but  as  far  removed 
from  each  other  as  the 
extremes  of  barbarism 
and  refinement.  It  may 
find  a fitting  parallel  in 
their  own  wonderful  cli- 
mate, capable  of  produc- 
ing on  a few  square 
leagues  of  surface  the 
boundless  varieties  of 
vegetable  forms  which 
belong  to  the  frozen  re- 
gions of  the  north,  the 
temperate  zone  of  Eu- 
rope and  the  burning 
skies  of  Arabia  and  Hin- 
dustan.” Cortez  found  the  Aztec  throne  occupied  by 
Montezuma  II.  He  had  succeeded  his  uncle,  the  first 
and  great  Montezuma,  sixteen  years  before.  The 
uncle  had  extended  his  kingdom  by  the  conquests  of 
the  Mextecas  and  the  Tlaxcalans.  The  capital  (the 
city  of  Mexico)  was  called  Tenochtitlan.  The  follow- 
ing description  is  given  of  it : “ The  city  was  nine 

miles  in  circumference  and  the  number  of  its  houses 
was  about  00,000,  and  of  inhabitants  probably  500,- 
000.  Though  a few  of  the  streets  were  wide  and  of 
great  length,  most  of  them  were  narrow  and  lined  with 
mean  houses.  The  large  streets  were  intersected  by 
numerous  canals  crossed  by  bridges.  The  palace, 


near  the  center  of  the  city,  was  a pile  of  low,  irreg- 
ular stone  buildings  of  vast  extent.  It  was  a walled 
town,  well  garrisoned.”  The  wonderful  strangers 
were  treated  with  cordiality  and  confidence,  at  first. 
Montezuma  allotted  Cortez  a palace  for  his  occu- 
pancy. This  kindness  was  repaid  with  treachery 
and  cruelty.  The  king  was  seized  and  imprisoned, 
his  life  sacrificed  and  his  capital  destroyed. 

The  news  that  Cortez  had  discovered  the  ardently 
sought  land  of  gold  and  silver  some  way  reached  the 
Spaniards  in  Cuba  and  in  the  mother  country.  Oth- 
ers joined  him,  and  with 
their  aid  and  the  aid  of 
tribes  hostile  to  the 
Aztecs,  he  succeeded  in 
subjugating  the  country. 
In  1522  the  invader  was 
appointed  governor  and 
captain-general  of  what 
was  then  called  New 
Spain,  which  position  he 
held  without  interrup- 
tion until  1528,  when  he 
returned  to  Spain.  After 
an  absence  of  two  years 
he  resumed  the  gover- 
norship of  New  Spain, 
remaining  ten  years.  In 
1540  he  returned  to 
Spain,  dying  in  1547. 
Cortez  established  sla- 
very, compelling  the  na- 
tives to  till  the  soil  and 
work  the  mines  for  their 
conquerors.  They  were 
somewhat  skillful  in 
mining,  and  it  was  only  that  feature  of  the  country 
which  interested  the  Spaniards. 

From  the  time  of  Cortez  until  independence  was 
achieved,  about  three  centuries,  there  were  sixty- 
four  viceroys,  or  governors.  During  that  period 
the  present  Mexican  people  may  be  said  to  have 
come  into  existence,  for  the  native  is  neither  Indian 
nor  Spanish,  but  a mixture  of  both.  For  a long 
time,  however,  the  foreign  element  was  an  alien 
element.  Mexico  was  looked  upon  by  the  mother 
country  during  all  the  colonial  period,  as  a good 
place  to  accumulate  a fortune,  but  a poor  place  to 
enjoy  it. 


4- 


±1 


MEXICO  AND  THE  MEXICANS. 


463 


The  native  population  had  its  aristocracy.  The 

Aztec  noble- 
men were 
called  Ca- 
ciques. They 
were  never 
in  any  sort 
of  personal 
ser  v i t u d e, 
but  as  a 
class  they 
were  depriv- 
ed of  the  op- 
portunities 

MEXICAN  CACIQUE.  which  of 

right  belonged  to  them.  The  Creoles  were  also  de- 
prived of  political  privileges.  The  government  was 
administered,  and  the  army  officered,  by  men  sent 
over  from  Spain  for  that  purpose. 

The  first  formidable  resistance  to  the  home  gov- 
ernment occurred  in  1810,  under  a priest  named 
Hidalgo.  It  was  soon  suppressed  and  the  leader  shot. 
Ten  years  later  a native  of  Mexico,  Hon  Augustin 
Iturbide,  came  forward  as  the  leader  of  a movement 
for  independence.  The  declaration  of  independence 
was  issued  February  24,  1821.  The  country  was 
ripe  for  it.  In  the  autumn  the  colonial  government 
was  forced  to  surrender  unconditionally.  The  viceroy 
vacated  the  capital.  In  the  following  May  the  army 
declared  Iturbide  emperor.  Spain  was  in  no  condi- 
tion to  assert  its  claim  to  sovereignty. 

But  the  end  was  only  the  beginning.  The  struggle 
for  independence  over,  civil  war  began.  In  Decem- 
ber next,  Santa  Anna,  who  was  destined  to  be  the 
most  prominent  man  in  Mexican  affairs  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  led  a republican  movement  by 
proclaiming  the  republic  of  Yera  Cruz.  The  coun- 
try seemed  to  be  on  the  eve  of  a protracted  civil 
war.  It  was  averted,  temporarily,  by  the  abdication, 
in  March,  of  Iturbide.  lie  was  exiled  and  a provis- 
ional government  established.  A condition  border- 
ing on  anarchy  prevailed  until  October  4, 1824,  when 
a constitution,  framed  in  imitation  of  the  consti- 
tution of  the  United  States,  was  adopted.  Under 
that  organic  law  the  republic  consisted  of  nineteen 
states  and  five  territories.  The  first  president  was 
Victoria.  Iturbide  returned  and  attempted  to  re- 
claim the  throne.  Ho  was  defeated,  captured  and 
shot. 


SANTA  ANNA. 


Affairs  moved  on  tolerably  smoothly  until  1828, 
when  a presidential  election  gave  rise  to  another  civil 
war,  which  resulted  in  the  success  of  the  insurgents. 
In  the  year  following,  Spain  so  far  bestirred  itself  as 
to  attempt  to  regain  control  of  the  country,  but  the 
army  sent  over  for  that  purpose  was  defeated  in  a 
few  months,  disbanded  and  sent  to  Cuba.  That  was 
the  end  of  Spanish  intervention  in  Mexico. 

One  insurrection  followed  another  in  quick  suc- 
cession for  quite  a long  series  of  years  until  a new 
world  was  added  to  the  English  vocabulary,  Mexi- 
canization  becoming  a synonym  for  elections  which 
lead  to  anarchy.  In  1833  Santa 
Anna  came  to  the  fore  as  presi- 
dent. He  ruled  for  two  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  a new  constitution 
was  adopted  under  which  the  au- 
thority of  the  central  government 
was  greatly  increased.  In  the  | 
meanwhile  that  portion  of  Mexico  j 
north  of  the  Rio  Grande  river  re-  } 


volted  and  declared  itself  inde- 
pendent, taking  the  name  of 
Texas.  Without  anticipating  what  properly  comes 
under  the  head  of  Texas,  it  may  be  said  the  success 
of  that  secession  had  the  effect  to  bring  on  a relapse 
rnto  anarchy.  The  president  whom  Santa  Anna 
had  driven  into  exile,  Bustamante,  returned  and  be- 
came president.  That  was  in  1837.  Before  the  year 
expired  Santa  Anna  returned  and  was  able  to  regain 
much  of  the  reality  of  power.  In  1839  he  became 
the  recognized  president.  In  July  of  the  same  year 
General  Bravo  deposed  him  and  usurped  the  reins 
of  government.  His  rule  continued  just  one  week. 

Out  of  the  confusion  which  followed  arose  a dic- 
tatorial triumvirate,  Santa  Anna,  Bravo  and  Canal- 
izo,  being  the  three  rulers*  A new  constitution  was 
adopted  in  1843,  under  which  Santa  Anna  became 
president  again.  Before  the  year  closed  ho  was  de- 
posed and  Canalizo  put  in  his  place,  but  in  Decem- 
ber following  still  another  man.  General  Herrera, 
was  elevated  to  the  presidency.  A year  later  and 
General  Paredes  succeeded  him  in  the  same  revolu- 
tionary way. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  United  States,  without  just 
cause,  had  provoked  war  with  Mexico.  That  war 
brought  Santa  Anna  back  from  exile  to  be  the  leading 
general.  The  great  republic  found  it  an  easy  task  to 
overrun  and  override  the  little  republic.  In  every 


*7\ 


58 


\e- 


OL. 


464 


MEXICO  AND  THE  MEXICANS. 


engagement  the  United  States  was  victorious.  In 
1848  a treaty  of  peace  was  negotiated,  by  virtue  of 
which  an  immense  area  of  country  was  taken  from 
Mexico  and  added  to  the  United  States,  including 
California,  New  Mexica,  Nevada,  and  in  general  the 
region  known  as  the  great  mineral  belt  of  this  re- 
public. A territory  which  had  never  been  of  much 
value  to  Mexico  soon  developed  such  a wealth  of 
gold  and  silver  as  to  be  positively  revolutionary  to 
the  monetary  system  of  the  entire  world. 


contract,  and  the  union  of  church  and  state  abolished. 
When  the  United  States  became  involved  in  civil 
war  the  three  European  powers,  France,  Spain  and 
England,  conceived  that  the  time  had  come  to  foist 
upon  Mexico  a foreign-born  emperor.  Louis  Napo- 
leon was  the  prime  mover  in  the  plot.  Enormous 
claims  against  the  Mexican  government  were  pre- 
sented. A Spanish  force  under  General  Prim  occu- 
pied Vera  Cruz,  soon  reinforced  by  English  and 
French  troops.  It  was  arranged  that  those  claims 


* 


0 


ENTRY  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS  INTO  THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO. 


Santa  Anna  was  now  in  disgrace  and  once  more 
compelled  to  leave  the  country.  Again  revolutions 
followed  each  other  in  quick  succession.  At  last,  in 
1861,  Benito  Juarez  gained  possession  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  succeeded  in  holding  it  long  enough  to 
effect  many  radical  reforms,  and  when  he  finally  re- 
tired from  public  life  the  country  had  aoquired 
political  stability.  The  power  of  fhe  priesthood  had 
been  the  especial  curse  of  Mexico.  Under  Juarez, 
who  was  a full-blooded  Aztec,  the  property  of  the 
church,  nearly  one-half  of  the  real  estate  of  the  re- 
public, was  confiscated.  Monasticism  was  abolished, 
also  ecclesiastical  courts.  Marriage  was  made  a civil 


should  be  paid  out  of  the  customs  revenue,  and  En- 
gland and  Spain  withdrew.  But  the  French  forces 
remained.  The  church  party  co-operated  with  the 
French,  and  the  native  government  was  powerless. 
The  United  States  protested,  but  was  in  no  condi- 
tion to  enforce  its  protest.  An  hereditary  monarchy 
was  declared  established  July  10,  1863.  The  crown 
was  tendered  to  the  Archduke  of  Austria,  Maximil- 
ian. With  much  pomp  and  circumstance  he  ac- 
cepted, departing  with  his  wife,  “ poor  Carlotta,”  for 
his  empire,  having  first  received  the  blessing  of  the 
Pope  and  the  farewell  good  wishes  of  the  sovereigns 
of  France,  England  and  Belgium.  His  formal  en- 


MEXICO  AND  THE  MEXICANS. 


try  into  the  city  of  Mexico  occurred  June  12,  1864. 
Having  no  child,  he  adopted  as  his  heir  the  son  of 
the  Emperor  Iturbide.  French  bayonets  propped  the 
throne,  and  he  seemed  to  be  master  of  the  situation. 

But  when  the  United  States  settled  its  own  trouble 
it  turned  its  attention  to  Mexico,  demanding  the 
withdrawal  of  the  foreign  troops.  The  moral  sup- 
port of  this  government  was  of  the  greatest  service 
to  Juarez  and  the  Mexican  patriots.  The  French 


American  continent.  The  bullet  that  terminated 
the  life  of  Maximilian  and  rendered  his  poor  wife  a 
maniac,  established  that  part  of  the  “ Monroe  doc- 
trine” which  means  the  non-intervention  of  foreign 
governments  in  American  affairs.  The  lesson  was 
severe,  but  the  result  was  well  worth  the  cost. 

Mexico  was  substantially  harmonious  under  the 
restored  rule  of  J uarez.  He  held  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment until  his  death  hi  1872,  having  been  re- 


government  was  given  distinctly  to  understand  that 
it  must  cease  its  intervention  or  prepare  for  war 
with  the  United  States.  This  protest  had  the  de- 
sired effect.  Louis  Napoleon  sent  an  envoy  to  Max- 
imilian urging  him  to  abdicate.  He  refused  to  do 
so.  The  French  troops  were  withdrawn,  the  last 
detachment  leaving  Mexican  soil  early  in  1867. 

Maximilian  had  fatally  mistaken  his  strength. 
Wholesale  desertions  followed,  and  in  a few  months 
he  was  a prisoner.  A court-martial  tried  him,  and 
very  justly  condemned  him  to  be  shot.  On  the  19th 
of  June,  1867,  he  and  his  two  generals,  Miramon 


and  Mejia,  were  executed.  Thus  ingloriouslv  ended 
the  great  test  case  of  European  intervention  on  the 


elected  in  1871.  His  successor  was  Chief  Justice 
Lerdo  do  Tejada,  who  was  succeeded  by  General 
Diaz.  December  1,  1880,  General  Gonzales  was  in- 
augurated President. 

As  now  constituted,  Mexico  consists  of  twenty- 
seven  states  and  one  territory,  the  latter  being  Lower 
California.  The  city  of  Mexico,  like  the  city  of 
Washington,  belongs  in  a district  which  is  under 
the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  the  general  government. 
The  Mexican  District  of  Columbia  is  called  the  Fed- 
eral District  of  Mexico. 

There  are  several  cities  in  Mexico  of  some  impor- 
tance, hut  the  onlv  really  large  one  is  the  capital. 
That  has  a population  of  250,000.  Tradition  has  it 


3 


[L 


4 66 


MEXICO  AND  THE  MEXICANS. 


that  it  was  founded  about  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  Cortez  destroyed  the  old  city,  and 
laid  out  the  new  town  with  wide  streets  and  on  a 
magnificent  scale.  It  chief  structure  is  a cathedral 
which  is  thought  to  have  cost  not  less  than  $2,500,- 
000.  The  academy  of  San  Carlos  is  remarkable  as 
containing  the  most  valuable  collection  of  paintings 
in  America. 

Mexico  is  rich  in  undeveloped  resources.  Even 
the  mines  have  yielded  but  a very  small  per  cent, 
of  their  capacity.  The  eighteenth  century  witnessed 
the  most  prolific  yield  of  those  mines.  The  long 
period  of  civil  disquietude  operated  very  unfavorably 
upon  the  mining  interest.  There  are,  however, 
eleven  mints  in  the  country  which  coin  annually 
about  $20,000,000,  mostly  silver.  The  total  pro- 
duction of  the  Mexican  mines  up  to  1875  is  esti- 
mated at  $4,300,000,000  ; the  total  coinage  to  that 
date  had  been  $3,063,660,068.  About  95  per  cent, 
of  all  this  was  silver. 

The  agricultural  resources  of  the  country  are  very 
great,  but  owing  to  the  indolence  of  the  people,  and 
the  difficulties  of  transportation,  very  little  is  raised 
for  export.  At  the  end  of  1879  the  total  number  of 
miles  of  railway  open  to  traffic  was  only  372,  the 
“National  Mexican  ” being  the  principal  line.  It  ex- 
tends from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  Other 
lines  are  in  process  of  construction.  It  is  expected 
that  direct  communication  by  rail  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  will  soon  be  established, 


leading  to  a revolution  in  the  commercial  relations 
of  the  two  countries.  At  the  present  time  there  is 
no  paper  money  used  in  Mexico,  except  a little 
United  States  money  on  the  border.  In  January, 
1882,  a charter  was  granted  for  the  “ Banco  National 
Mexicano,”  with  a minimum  capital  of  $3,000,000 
and  a maximum  capital  of  $20,000,000,  with  au- 
thority to  establish  branches  and  issue  $3  of  paper 
money  for  every  $1  of  coin  in  the  treasury. 

This  chapter  cannot  be  closed  better  than  by  giv- 
ing, in  a condensed  form,  Prescott’s  description  of 
the  great  Coteocalli,  or  temple  of  Mexico,  completed 
in  1486,  the  most  remarkable  building  ever  erected 
in  America.  It  was  “ a solid  pyramidal  structure  of 
earth  and  pebbles,  coated  externally  with  white  hewn 
stones.  It  was  square,  its  sides  facing  the  cardinal 
points,  and  was  divided  into  five  stories,  each  of 
which  receded  so  as  to  be  smaller  than  that  below  it. 
The  ascent  was  by  a flight  of  114  steps  on  the  out- 
side, so  contrived  that  to  reach  the  top  it  was  neces- 
sary to  pass  four  times  around  the  whole  edifice. 
The  base  of  the  temple  is  supposed  to  have  been  300 
feet  square.  The  summit  was  a broad  area  covered 
with  flat  stones.  On  it  were  two  towers  or  sanc- 
tuaries, and  before  each  was  an  altar  on  which  a 
fire  was  kept  continually  burning.”  Near  this  tem- 
ple was  garrisoned  a guard  of  10,000  soldiers.  It 
may  well  be  doubted  if  the  present  Mexicans  could 
present  any  equally  high  evidence  of  civilization,  in 
any  department  of  human  effort. 


"71 


CHAPTER  L XXI 1 1 

The  South  American  Continent,  as  a Whole — Patagonia  and  the  Patagonians — The  Ar- 
gentine Republic — The  Paradise  of  Cattle  and  Indolence — Uruguay — Paraguay,  Its 
History  and  Melancholy  Fate — From  the  Jesuits  to  Lopez — Brazil,  the  Only  Empire 
in  America — The  Amazon,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Diamond-Beds  and  Coffee  Raising — Portugal 
and  the  Portuguese  Dynasty  in  Brazil — National  Independence  without  Conflict — 
Guiana,  English,  French  and  Dutch — Venezuela — Bolivar,  the  Liberator— The  Work 
Accomplished  by  Bolivar— The  United  States  of  Colombia — Peru — Pizarro  and  the 
Incas— Mountains  and  Mines— Guano-Beds  and  Railroads— Bolivia— Chili  and  the 
Chilians— The  Leading  Nation  of  South  America— The  History  and  Condition  of  Chili 
— The  Late  War  Between  Chili,  Its  Cause  and  Probable  Result. 


'HUS  far  in  the  history  of 
the  world  the  only  conti- 
nental portion  of  America 
really  known  to  Columbus 
has  contributed  very  little 
to  the  benefit  of  mankind, 
and  is  still  a land  of  great 
possibilities,  rather  than 
actual  achievement.  Until  a com- 
paratively recent  period  the  entire 
continent  of  South  America,  so  far 
as  it  was  inhabited  by  civilized 
man,  was  under  the  colonial  yoke, 
and  that  not  of  liberal  and  progres- 
sive England,  but  of  narrow  and 
repressive  Spain  and  Portugal.  Al- 
most at  the  same  time  that  Mexico 
became  independent  the  colonies  of 
Spain  farther  south  broke  their  chains,  and  Portu- 
gal’s one  dependency,  Brazil,  changed  from  a colony 
to  an  empire.  Columbus  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Orinoco  river,  Venezuela,  in  1498,  taking  possession 
of  the  continent  in  the  name  of  his  august  sover- 
eigns, Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  That  was  the  shadow 


cast  before  by  a dominion  which  continued  for 
about  three  hundred  and  thirty  years. 

South  America  extends  from  the  isthmus  of  Pan- 
ama to  Cape  Horn,  a distance  of  about  4,800  miles. 
Its  area  is  about  7,000,000  square  miles,  or  1,500,000 
square  miles  less  than  North  America. 

The  most  notable  general  feature  of  the  continent 
is  the  mountain  range  known  as  the  Andes,  which 
lies  along  the  Pacific  coast  in  almost  a straight  line 
for  over  4,000  miles.  It  is  not  wide,  but  high  and 
precipitate.  In  altitude  it  is  unrivaled,  except  by 
the  Himalayas.  The  highest  peak  of  the  Andes  is 
the  Sonata,  24,800,  feet;  of  the  Himalayas,  Everest, 
29,000  feet.  The  Andes  lias  no  less  than  thirty 
active  volcanoes,  the  highest  being  the  Saliama  in 
Peru.  This  vast  mountain  range  is  rich  in  precious 
minerals.  On  the  east  side  of  it  flows  the  largest 
river  in  the  world,  the  Amazon.  Its  capacious 
mouth,  95  miles  wide,  is  at  the  very  equator.  For 
over  two  thousand  miles  the  Amazon  is  navigable. 

The  equatorial  portion  of  the  continent  is  not  so 
warm,  by  any  means,  as  the  same  latitude  in  the  old 
worlds,  thanks  to  the  snow-capped  Andes,  the  trade 
winds  and  other  causes.  The  condor  is  the  most 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 


remarkable  of  the  animate  products  of  the  coun- 
try, whether  bird  or  beast.  That  solitary  dweller 
in  the  least  accessible  portions  of  the  Andes  is  the 
largest  bird  in  the  world.  Its  body  is  from  three  to 
three  and  a half  feet  long.  In  some  portions  of  the 
continent  a great  variety  of  small  monkeys  abound. 
The  other  peculiarities  of  the  continent  will  appear 
in  connection  with  the  several  countries. 

The  southern  apex,  Patagonia,  is  very  nearly 
worthless.  The  wild  beasts  and  wilder  men  roam 
over  its  barren  rocks  and  frost-bound  hills  unmo- 
lested by  white  men.  It 
was  first  visited  in  1520  by 
Magellan,  who  named  it 
Patagonia  (Big-feet).  The 
inhabitants  are  large  and 
fierce.  So  far  as  now  known, 
that  portion  of  the  conti- 
nent is  incapable  of  being 
made  useful.  The  same  is 
true  of  a group  of  islands, 
in  that  vicinity,  the  Archi- 
pelago of  Terra  del  Fuego. 

North  of  Patagonia,  and 
adjoining  it  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Andes,  lies  the  Ar- 
gentine Republic,  of  which 
Buenos  Ayres,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  river, 
is  the  capital.  The  wealth 
of  that  country  consists  of 
wool  and  hides.  The  meat 
is  hardly  marketable  at  all, 
so  plenty  is  it.  The  skins  of  the  cattle  and  the 
clothing  of  the  sheep  can  be  exported  to  advan- 
tage, and  are  the  main  source  of  revenue.  The 
annual  export  of  wool  averages  over  200,000,000 
pounds.  The  number  of  hides  exported  annually 
is  about  3,000,000.  The  exportation  of  horse  hides 
is  also  very  considerable,  although  sensibly  dimin- 
ishing. Herds  of  liorses,  thousands  in  number, 
roam  wild  over  the  pampas,  yet  horses  were  unknown 
there  until  introduced  from  Europe  in  1530  by  Men- 
doza. Fourteen  years  later  goats  and  sheep  were 
introduced,  and  seven  years  later  cattle.  Where  na- 
ture was  best  prepared  for  these  most  useful  animals 
they  were  not  known  until  what  might  be  called 
human  accident  occurred  (for  no  special  pains  were 
taken  in  South  America  or  any  where  else  by 


NATIVES  OF  PATAGONIA 


the  Spaniards  to  introduce  European  animals). 
The  La  Plata  was  discovered  in  1516  by  Juan 
Diaz  de  Salis.  The  climate  is  delightful,  and  to 
those  who  seek  ease  the  country  is  inviting.  At  the 
present  time  it  seems  to  be  quite  attractive  to  the 
Italians.  The  republic  is  a federal  union  of  fourteen 
states.  Some  claim  to  authority  over  Patagonia  is 
asserted  by  the  Argentine  government.  The  Argen- 
tine population  is  about  2,000,000,  including  the 
40,000  in  Patagonia. 

A part  of  the  La  Plata  country  forms  a distinct 
republic,  called  Uruguay. 
This  small  nation  has  an 
area  of  63,300  square  miles, 
and  a population  of  about 
500,000.  It  is  indistinguish- 
able, except  ui  a political 
way,  from  the  Argentine 
Republic.  The  first  settle- 
ment was  made  there,  and 
in  Paraguay  which  is  far- 
ther inland,  hi  1622,  by 
Spanish  Jesuits.  When 
Spain  and  Portugal  be- 
came distinct  nations,  after 
their  brief  union,  there  was 
a sharp  rivalry  for  the 
possession  of  both  Para 
guay  and  Uruguay,  lying 
as  they  do  between  the  old 
Spanish  colony  and  state  of 
Buenos  Ayres  and  Brazil 
which  was  settled  by  emi- 
grants from  Portugal.  In  1828  Brazil  recognized 
Uruguay  as  an  independent  republic;  since  then  it 
lias  continued  to  vegetate  without  serious  molestation. 

Paraguay  is  a nominal  republic,  but  in  point  of 
fact  it  is  under  the  mild  dominion  of  the  great 
(geographically  speaking)  empire  north  of  it.  It 
was  first  discovered  by  Sebas- 
tian Cabot,  the  brave  naviga- 
tor, who  accompanied  his  fa- 
ther, John  Cabot,  to  Canada  in 
the  first  fleet  ever  sent  to  the 
new  world  by  England.  It 
was  in  the  year  1526  that  Ca- 
bot, searching  for  a passage 

across  the  continent,  sailed  up  SEBASTIAN  CABOT. 

the  broad  La  Plata,  as  far  as  the  confluence  of  the 


<f 


ished  dominion.  In  1811  the  foreign  yoke  was 
thrown  off,  and  for  twenty-nine  years  the  country 
was  strangely  and  completely  isolated.  During  that 
period  it  was  ruled  by  that  unique  character,  Jose 
Caspar  Rodriguez  Francia.  Speaking  of  his  rule, 
Hon.  C.  A.  Washburne,  late  diplomatic  representa- 
tive of  the  United  States  at  Paraguay,  says,  “ The 
country  being  accessible  only  by  way  of  the  river, 
he  stopped  all  ingress  and  egress,  allowing  during 
all  this  time  only  some  half  a dozen  foreigners  to 
leave  the  country  and  none  to  enter  it.  The  ship- 
ping then  in  the  river  stayed  there,  rotted,  and  fell 
to  pieces.”  At  the  death  of  Francia  the  country  was 
| without  even  the  form  of  a government.  Carlos 


the  Andes,  we  come  to  the  one  American  monarchy, 
the  Empire  of  Brazil.  It  occupies  nearly  one-half 
of  the  entire  continent,  extending  from  latitude  4° 

23'  north,  to  latitude  4°  44'  south.  Its  area  is 
3,242,900  square  miles.  The  country  has  some  gold, 
but  its  especial  wealth  of  a mineral  nature  consists 
of  diamonds,  found  in  river  beds.  But  the  sugar 
and  coffee  productions  of  the  empire  arc  of  more 
value  each  year  than  all  the  mining  products  of  a 
period  of  eighty  years.  The  population  is  about 
10,000,000,  not  including  the  shifting,  vagabondish 
aboriginal  population,  estimated  at  about  1,000.000. 
Brazil  is  the  only  part  of  America  now  where  slav-  k 
cry  has  a legal  existence,  and  it  is  being  gradually 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 


Paraguay  and  Parana  rivers.  He  was  iu  the  em- 
ploy of  Spain  at  the  time.  In  1536  the  country 
was  settled,  and  early  acquired  very  considerable 
prominence.  The  Spaniards  freely  intermarried 
with  the  natives,  called  Payaguas.  The  Jesuits 
flocked  thither  as  early  as  1610  and  acquired 
almost  absolute  sovereignty  over  the  natives.  In 
1767  they  were  expelled  from  there  as  from  all  the 
Spanish  colonies.  They  had  erected  splendid 
churches  and  lofty  mansions  which  attest  their  van- 


Antonio  Lopez  finally  succeeded  to  the  dictatorship, 
holding  it  until  1862,  under  the  title  of  President. 
At  his  death,  his  more  illustrious  son,  Francisco 
Solano  Lopez,  succeeded  him.  He  set  up  as  pro- 
tector of  the  “ equilibrium  ” of  the  La  Plata  region. 
He  soon  inaugurated  war  with  Brazil,  the  Argentine 
Republic  and  Uruguay.  For  five  years  (1865-1870) 
the  war  was  waged.  The  country  was  nearly  depopu- 
lated before  Lopez  was  killed  and  peace  restored. 

Proceeding  farther  north,  still  on  the  east  side  of 


47° 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 


extinguished  there.  Brazil  was  discovered  in  1500 
by  Pincon,  a companion  of  Columbus.  It  was  ear- 
ly selected  by  the  Portuguese  as  their  favorite  resort 
in  America.  In  1808  the  king  of  Portugal,  John  VI., 
took  refuge  from  the  French  in  Brazil,  accompa- 
nied by  his  court.  He  remained  there  until  1820,  to 
the  great  benefit  of  the  country.  When  Napoleon 
fell,  he  took  the  title  of  King  of  Portugal,  Algarve 
and  Brazil.  A national  congress  was  assembled  at 
Rio  de  Janeiro  in  1822,  when  Dom  Pedro,  son  of 
John  VI.,  was  elected  “ Perpetual  Protector.”  The 
country  was 
declared  inde- 
pendent, and 
Portugal  ac- 
quiescedwith- 
out  a mur- 
mur." Consti- 
tutional Em- 
peror ” was 
soon  after 
adopted.  In 
1831  Dom 
Pedro  I.  ab- 
dicated in  fa- 
vor of  his  son 
Dom  Pedro 
II.,  the  pres- 
ent emperor. 

Father,  son, 
and  grandson 
deserve  high 
credit  for  pa- 
triotism and  good  ability,  without  brilliancy  or  great 
force  of  character.  The  empire  is  divided  into  nu- 
merous provinces  for  administrative  purposes.  In 
nothing  excepting  its  mighty  river,  the  Amazon,  its 
diamond-beds  and  the  extent  of  its  area,  is  Brazil  at 
all  above  the  dead  level  of  uninteresting  mediocrity. 
rIhe  chief  cities  of  Brazil  are  Rio  de  Janeiro,  the 
capital  and  metropolis,  and  the  largest  city  of  South 
America,  population  nearly  300,000 ; Bahia,  or  San 
Salvador,  population,  180,000  ; Pernambuco,  popu- 
lation, 90,000  ; Maranhao,  population,  40,000. 

There  are  two  geographical  terms  so  nearly  alike 
as  to  be  confusing,  Guinea,  a common  name  of  a 
large  tract  of  country  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa, 
and  Guiana,  a large  territory  of  the  northeastern  part 
of  South  America,  between  the  Amazon  andtheOri- 


THE  CITY  OF  CARACAS. 


noco.  The  latter  country  is  subject  to  several  powers. 
Great  Britain,  France,  Holland,  Brazil  and  Venezu- 
ela. It  is  a tropical  wilderness,  valuable  only  for  its 
few  large  sugar  plantations  and  its  forests  from 
which  are  shipped  various  kinds  of  high-priced  lum- 
ber. French  Guiana,  with  the  island  of  Cayenne 
just  off  the  coast,  is  used  as  a penal  colony.  In  the 
early  days  of  American  discovery  it  was  supposed 
that  that  region  was  rich  in  gold,  but  the  supposed 
precious  metals  were  only  mica  and  quartzose  rock. 

North  and  west  of  Guiana  stretches  Venezuela, 

of  which  Ca- 
racas, on  the 
seaboard,  is 
the  capital.  It 
has  a popula- 
tion of  some- 
thing less 
than  2,000,- 
000  and  an 
area  of  403,- 
261  square 
miles.  Coffee 
is  its  chief 
article  of  ex- 
port, but  cot- 
ton, cacao, 
sugar,  tobac- 
co and  indigo 
are  also  im- 
portant pro- 
ductions for 
exportation. 
The  republic  consists  of  twenty  states  and  one  ter- 
ritory. The  president  is  in  effect  almost  dictator. 
Diamonds,  gold,  silver,  tin,  zinc,  quicksilver  and 
copper  are  believed  to  abound,  but  the  mineral 
wealtli  has  never  been  very  much  developed.  The 
capital,  Caracas,  has  a population  of  about  fifty 
thousand  souls,  and  is  a somewhat  thrifty  seaport. 
Its  chief  honor  is,  however,  that  it  can  boast  being 
the  birthplace  of  the  Great  Liberator  of  South 
America,  Simon  Bolivar,  whose  services  may  well  be 
narrated  in  this  connection. 

The  Liberator  was  born  July  25,  1783.  ne  in- 
herited immense  wealth  from  his  father.  His  edu- 
cation was  completed  at  Madrid.  In  1810  he  joined 
the  patriot  army.  In  three  years  he  rose  to  emi- 
nence as  a soldier  and  entered  Caracas  in  triumph. 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 


471 


But  Jiis  achievements  were  not  hi  the  interest  of  that 
particular  part  of  the  continent.  All  Spanish 
America  rebelled  at  about  the  same  time,  and  the 
South  American  colonies  formed  one  power,  much 
as  the  thirteen  colonies  which  afterwards  became 
the  United  States,  did.  The  period  of  struggle,  re- 
sulting in  independence  for  all  continental  Spanish 
America,  extended  from  1810  to  1825.  If  Spain 
had  been  free  to  concentrate  its  energies,  wasted 
though  they  were,  upon  any  one  colony,  as  now  upon 
Cuba,  the  uprising  might  have  been  suppressed  ; but 
there  was  either  actual  rebellion  or  the  mutterings 
of  the  coming  storm  all  along  the  line  from  Pata- 
gonia to  the  United  States,  and  from  ocean  to 
ocean.  This  simultaneousness  was  not  the  re- 
sult of  preconcerted  action,  to  any  considerable 
extent,  but  rath- 
er a notable  il- 
lustration of  the 
familiar  truth 
that  “like  causes 
produce  like  ef- 
fects.” The  heel 
of  oppression 
had  become  in- 
tolerable. The 
great  island  of 
Cuba  alone  es- 
caped the  con- 
tagion of  liberty  and  missed  its  great  opportunity 
by  waiting  until  it  had  become  almost  alone  in  its 
colonial  dependency. 

General  Bolivar  was  made  first  president  of  Co- 
lombia in  1819.  A few  years  later  lie  led  an  army 
of  liberation  into  Peru,  and  its  independence  was 
also  achieved.  The  portion  of  country  between  the 
present  Pern  and  Chili,  extending  much  farther  east 
than  either  of  them,  was  created  a distinct  republic, 
named,  in  honor  of  the  Great  Liberator,  Bolivia. 
That  was  in  1825. 

During  those  fifteen  years  Bolivar  made  many 
enemies,  and  was  accused  of  trying  to  consolidate 
South  America  into  a kingdom,  himself  to  be  the 
founder  of  a dynasty  of  his  own.  lie  may  not  have 
been  as  free  from  personal  ambition  as  our  own 
Washington,  but  he  had  a very  different  people  to 
deal  with,  and  only  oneof  the  many  republics  (Chili) 
has  thus  far  shown  capacity  for  self  government. 
In  1830  General  Bolivar  died,  not  having  the  high 


satisfaction  of  seeing  the  South  American  problem 
solved.  In  him  Venezuela  furnished  the  liberator 
of  several  states,  but  not  the  founder  upon  a solid 
basis  of  free  institutions. 

It  may  here  be  added  that  the  South  American 
republics  have  been  rent  and  torn  frequently  with 
civil  wars  and  wars  between  each  other,  and  as  a 
whole  they  have  cast  discredit  upon  the  principle  of 
self-government.  But  the  condition  of  those  coun- 
tries has  been  materially  improved  during  the  period 
of  independence,  notwithstanding  all  hindrances. 

We  return  now  to  the  detailed  consideration  of 
the  nations  of  South  America. 

The  United  States  of  Colombia,  formerly  New 
Granada,  is  the  extreme  northwestern  portion  of  the 
continent.  It  has  an  area  of  357,179  square  miles 

and  a popula- 
tion of  nearly 
three  millions. 
The  first  Span- 
ish colony  was 
established  there 
in  1510.  The 
Cauca  valley  is 
believed  to  be 
very  rich  in  min- 
erals and  ca- 
pacity for  tropi- 
cal production ; 
but  it  is  so  malarious  as  to  be  a dangerous  place 
for  any  but  natives  to  live.  Some  attempts  have 
been  made  to  open  up  the  valley  and  develop  its 
resources  by  Yankee  enterprise,  but  without  suc- 
cess. Bogata,  the  capital,  is  an  inland  city,  pleas- 
antly situated  on  the  San  Francisco  river.  Ow- 
ing to  its  high  altitude,  it  enjoys  a delightful 
climate.  It  is  an  old  city,  dating  back  to  1537. 
Its  population  is  about  40,000.  A few  miles  below 
the  city  is  the  great  cataract  of  Tequendama,  with  a 
perpendicular  fall  of  600  feet.  The  United  States 
of  Colombia  has  about  the  same  sea-water  frontage 
on  the  Pacific  Ocean  as  on  the  Caribbean  sea.  Car- 
thagenais  its  principal  seaport.  Its  principal  com- 
munication with  the  world  is  by  way  of  the  Pacific 
and  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  to  the  southeast 
end  of  which  it  extends. 

Directly  south  of  Colombia,  between  it  and 
Peru,  lies  the  republic  of  Ecuador,  so  called  be- 
cause it  is  beneath  the  equator.  Its  extent  is  from 


' 


59 


■'  a 


472 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 


1°  35'  north  to  5°  50'  south.  From  east  to  west  it 
extends  about  800  miles.  The  estimated  area  is 
250,000  square  miles.  It  might  well  be  called  the 
home  of  the  volcanos,  for  it  has  no  less  than  sixteen 
in  good  working  order.  The  famous  truncated  cone, 
Cotopaxi,  towering  to  the  height  of  18,875  feet,  and 
the  still  loftier  Chimborazo  (21,424  feet  high)  are 
the  chief  natural  curiosities  of  the  country.  Earth- 
quakes are  common  and  often  very  severe.  It  is 
supposed  that  its  capital,  Quito,  was  once  the  capi- 


tion  a trifle  over  2,500,000.  It  is  estimated  that  57 
per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants  are  Indians,  and  23  per 
cent.  Creoles,  or  “ C halos.”  In  1876  the  capital, 
Lima,  had  a population  of  160,056  It  is  six  miles 
inland  from  the  seaport  town  of  Callao.  Politically, 
the  republic  is  divided  into  seventeen  departments  and 
has  a constitution  modeled  after  that  of  the  U nited 
States,  or,  rather,  such  was  the  case  previous  to  the 
late  disastrous  war  with  Chili,  since  which  time  the 
government  has  been  in  a chaotic  condition,  with 


ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  TEMPLE  OF  THE  SUN. 


tal  of  a flourishing  Indian  empire.  The  present 
population  is  exceptionally  uninteresting  and  the 
country  is  peculiarly  destitute  of  attractions. 

We  are  now  arrived,  in  our  circuit  around  the 
continent,  at  Peru,  the  country  having  the  most  in- 
terest in  history  of  any  in  South  America.  It  is 
the  only  one,  in  fact,  which  may  be  said  to  fill  any 
considerable  space  in  history,  while  its  most  pros- 
perous neighbor,  Chili,  alone  seems  to  be  on  the 
highway  to  an  important  future. 

Peru  lies  between  latitudes  30°  20'  and  22°  20' 
south  and  longtitudes  67°  and  81°  26'  west.  The 
area  is  about  503,000  square  miles  and  the  popula- 


an  uncertain  future.  Nature  has  divided  it  into 
three  parts.  Between  the  ocean  and  the  Andes  lies 
a narrow  strip  of  fairly  level  land,  varying  in  width 
from  60  to  20  miles.  This  region  is  called  the  coast. 
Except  in  the  near  vicinity  of  rivers  and  rivulets 
the  coast  is  a barren  waste.  Rains  are  unknown  in 
that  region.  There  are  two  parallel  ranges  of  the 
Andes,  and  between  them  extends  the  best  part  of 
the  country.  That  second  division  is  called  the 
Sierra.  It  is  a series  of  valleys,  somewhat  broken 
with  mountain  spurs,  but  in  the  main  very  fertile. 
The  average  width  of  the  Sierra  is  100  miles.  It  is 
described  as  “ a region  diversified  -with  tropical  val- 


d 


3 


T 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 


473 


leys  and  vast  elevated  plateaus.”  Nine-tentlis  of  the 
cultivated  area  and  four-fifths  of  the  population  are 
to  be  found  in  the  Sierra.  Beyond  the  second  moun- 
tain range  lies  the  Montana,  very  little  known.  The 
Indians  of  that  region  have  never  been  seriously 
disturbed,  and  they  are  more  barbaric  than  those  of 
the  Sierra  ever  were. 

The  fame  of  Peru  early  reached  the  Spaniards. 


tured  and  plundered  a city.  The  invaders  built  a 
town  which  they  called  San  Miguel.  That  was  the 
beginning  of  a conquest  hardly  if  any  less  impor- 
tant than  the  subjugation  of  Mexico  by  Cortez. 

Peru,  Ecuador  and  Bolivia  then  formed  one  na- 
tion, ruled  by  the  Inca  dynasty,  with  Cuzco  as  its 
capital.  That  remarkable  city  is  11,380  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  The  Incas  claimed  descent 


They  were  told  of  a land  in  the  southwest  where  gold 
was  as  plenty  as  iron.  In  1512  Balboa,  governor- 
general  of  the  Darien  colony,  tried  to  find  it.  Tie 
met  with  no  success.  Twelve  years  later  an  adven- 
turous Spaniard,  who  had  been  a swineherd  in  youth 
and  was  destitute  of  intelligence  or  character,  Fran- 
cisco Pizarro,  made  a voyage  along  the  Peruvian 
coast.  Nothing  seemed  to  be  accomplished.  But 
in  1531  he  made  a second  voyage,  under  commission 
as  governor  and  captain-general,  to  conquer  and  rule 
whatever  country  he  could  find.  He  sailed  south 
from  Panama  fourteen  days,  when  he  landed,  cap- 


from  the  sun,  which  they  worshiped  as  the  god  of 
the  world.  Many  architectural  ruins,  including 
temples  and  palaces,  attest  a high  degree  of  attain- 
ments in  the  art  of  building. 

Pizarro  was  received  as  a friend  by  the  Inca  Ata- 
huallpa.  In  return  for  this  kindness  the  gracious 
sovereign  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  swineherd,  lie 
bought  his  liberty  by  an  enormous  ransom  of  gold 
to  the  amount  of  over  seventeen  millions  of  dollars, 
and  even  then  he  was  not  liberated.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  was  burned  alive.  Ilis  half-brother  was 
placed  upon  the  throne.  Pizarro  established  his  seat 


- 


A 


474 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 


at  Lima,  which  he  founded  in  1535.  That  low  and 
brutal  wretch  treated  the  natives  with  unspeakable 
barbarity  until  the  year  1541  when  he  was  assassin- 
ated. The  King  of  Spain  had  dubbed  him  Marquis. 
He  married  the  Inca’s  daughter.  His  descendants 
are  among  the  more  aristocratic  of  the  present  Pe- 
ruvian grandees. 

Pizarro  reduced  the  natives  to  slavery  and  made 
them  work  assiduously  in  the  mines.  His  successor 
Yaca  de  Oastra,  introduced  some  administrative  re- 
forms. It  was  not  many  years  before  African  slavery 
was  introduced  as  a substitute  for  Indian  slavery. 
The  latter  was  abolished  in  1856. 

Peru  had  an  uneventful  career  for  nearly  three 
centuries,  during  which  time  it  contributed  immense 
quantities  of  gold  and  silver  to  the  world’s  stock.  The 
mines  are  still  very  rich  and  profitable.  But  upon  the 
shore  and  on  neighboring  islands  of  the  Pacific  isfound 
an  article  of  commerce  which  is  the  chief  source  of 
Peruvian  wealth,  the  excrement  of  birds,  called  gu- 
ano. Speaking  on  this  point,  a recent  writer  says : 
“ The  guano-beds  constitute  government  monopo- 
lies of  sufficient  value  to  have  paid  for  the  construc- 
tion of  1,000  miles  of  railways  which  traverse  the 
Andes  in  a zigzag  way,  connecting  the  Sierra  with 
the  seaboard.”  There  are  many  millions  of  tons  of 
guano.  The  Incas  protected  the  birds  and  the  Pe- 
ruvian farmers  then,  even  more  than  now,  used  this 
best  of  all  fertilizers  to  enrich  the  soil.  The  coun- 
try has  over  2,000  miles  of  railway,  costing  about 
1180,000,000.  Their  construction  was  a great  tri- 
umph of  financial  management  and  engineering 
skill.  F or  the  former,  Mr.  Meiggs  deserves  the  cred- 
it ; for  the  latter,  the  highest  praise  belongs  to  an- 
other American,  Mr.  Thorndike. 

We  have  now  reached  a point  at  which  Chili  and 
Bolivia  sustain  such  relations  to  Peru  that  it  is  best 
to  trace  their  respective  lines  of  development  until 
they  converge  toward  a point  common  to  the  three. 

The  southern  boundary  of  Peru  extends  very 
nearly  to  the  northern  extremity  of  Chili,  but  not 
quite.  Bolivia  separates  them,  having  a seaport, 
Cabija,  which,  however,  is  cut  off  from  the  rest  of 
the  republic  by  the  desert  of  Atacama.  In  the  days 
of  the  Incas  that  desert  was  a favorite  burial  place, 
the  saltness  of  the  soil  preserving  the  body  from  de- 
cay. The  area  of  Atacama  is  70,181  and  the  popu- 
lation about  5,000.  The  entire  republic  of  Bolivia 
has  an  area  of  535,000  square  miles  and  a popula- 


tion of  2,000,000.  In  the  days  of  Spanish  rule  the 
chief  part  of  the  country  was  called  either  Upper 
Peru  or  Cliarcas,  having  very  little  if  any  in- 
dividuality. In  1767  it  was  cut  off  from  Peru 
and  made  a part  of  the  viceroyalty  of  Buenos  Ayres. 
It  is  intermediate  between  the  two,  and  peculiarly 
isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  hedged  in  on 
the  east  and  south  by  Brazil  and  the  Argentine  Re- 
public, on  the  west  and  south  by  Peru  and  Chili ; its 
only  seaboard  having  the  Andes  between  it  and  any 
habitable  territory.  Bolivia  is  a mountainous  coun- 
try, comprising  as  it  does  the  Cordilleras  at  their 
greatest  altitude.  From  that  range  two  chains 
break  off,  the  western,  containing  many  volcanoes 
and  Mount  Sajaina,  22,760  feet  high ; and  the  east- 
ern, to  which  belong  Mounts  Illampu  and  Illimano. 

Lying  as  it  does  between  southern  latitudes  12°  and 
24°,  Bolivia  is  tropical  in  climate,  except  as  the 
mountain  tower  into  the  regions  of  frost,  and  pos- 
sesses every  range  of  climate  and  productions.  The 
interior  of  the  country  is  productive,  but  its  greatest 
wealth  is  mineral.  All  through  the  Bolivian  Cor- 
dilleras silver  is  found  in  large  quantities,  and  gold 
also,  both  placer  and  quartz.  A railroad  is  in  pro- 
cess of  construction  along  the  banks  of  the  Madeira 
river  for  about  150  miles.  That  river  empties  into 
the  Amazon  and  is  navigable,  except  as  its  rapids, 
which  extend  for  about  150  miles,  impede  it.  With 
that  obstacle  overcome,  Bolivia  might  develop  into 
a great  and  rich  country.  The  capital  is  the  forti- 
fied town  of  Oruro.  Formerly  it  was  La  Paz.  In 
theory  the  government  is  a republic  on  the  most 
approved  American  plan,  with  a president  elected 
for  four  years ; practically  the  rulers  are  military 
dictators,  and  civil  wars  have  been  almost  a con- 
stant quantity.  From  1820  to  1839  Grand-Mar- 
shal Santa  Cruz  ruled  Bolivia.  Insurrections,  assas- 
sinations, banishments  and  anarchy  succeeded  each 
other,  the  last  being  the  deposition  of  President 
Campeio,  who  had  been  elected  in  June,  1880.  He 
was  deposed  for  failure  to  resist  successfully  the  su- 
perior power  of  Chili. 

From  a mere  glance  at  the  map  of  South  Amer- 
ica one  would  infer  that  Chili  was  the  least  import- 
ant part  of  the  continent,  being  a narrow  strip  of 
land  between  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  the  Andes.  Of 
all  the  South  American  states  on  the  Pacific  coast 
it  alone  has  no  territory  east  of  the  great  mountain 
range.  As  a matter  of  fact,  however,  it  stands  first 


a 

K 


Ala- 


<5)  “ 


' 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 


-* 9t^ 

P 

475 


in  actual  importance.  It  is  about  1,200  miles  long, 
and  in  width  varies  from  90  to  130  miles.  The 
average  height  of  the  Chilian  Andes  is  14,000  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  highest  peak  is  the 
porphyritic  Nevado  of  Aconcagua,  22,422  feet  high. 
There  are  several  active  volcanoes  in  this  republic, 
Antuco  being  the  chief.  The  total  area  of  the 
country  is  132,606  scpiare  miles,  the  population  a 
little  more  tliau  two  millions.  It  has  two  large  towns, 
Santiago,  the  capital,  and  Valparaiso,  the  port.  The 
former  is  in  the  interior  and  has  a population  of 
130,000 ; the  latter  is  midway,  nearly,  as  between 
northern  and  southern  boundaries,  and  has  a popu- 
lation of  about  100,000. 

The  northern  half  of  Chili  is  nearly  worthless  for 
agriculture,  and  even  the  mineral  wealth  cannot  be 
developed  to  very  good  advantage.  But  the  land 
has  rest,  comparatively  speaking,  from  civil  strife. 
Says  an  English  Avriter,  “The  Chilians  have  made 
the  best  of  their  advantages,  instead  of  squandering 
nature’s  prodigal  gifts  in  strife  and  indolence.  Rail- 
roads and  telegraphs  have  been  introduced,  and  a 
thrifty  foreign  commerce  established.  Chili  is  pro- 
verbial for  its  steady  progress  in  all  industrial  en- 
terprises, for  the  absence  of  political  perturbation, 
and  for  its  punctuality  in  meeting  its  financial  en- 
gagements. Its  securities  rank  among  the  foremost 
on  the  London  Stock  Exchange,  being  usually  held 
for  investment ; it  builds  its  own  railways  and  its 
own  telegraphs  without  much  foreign  help  ; and  the 
money  it  borrows  for  such  purposes  is  secured  by 
national  and  private  bonds.” 

Historically  speaking,  this  portion  of  the  Empire 
of  the  Incas  began  to  have  a separate  existence  in 
1535,  when  a Spanish  expedition  under  Diego  Al- 
magro  pushed  southward  from  Peru  as  far  as  Copi- 
apo  into  the  territory  of  the  Purumancians.  The 
natives  drove  back  the  intruders.  Five  years  later, 
Pedro  de  Valdivia  repeated  the  experiment.  He 
established  a permanent  settlement,  calling  the  city 
he  founded  Santiago,  in  honor  of  the  patron  saint 
of  Spain.  After  securing  his  position  there  he 
pushed  southward  to  encounter  the  Araucanians,  a 
tribe  never  yet  subdued,  and  who  continue  to  occupy 
a strip  of  Chilian  territory  190  miles  in  length.  The 
city  of  Concepcion  was  founded  by  Valdivia  in  the 
Araucanian  country,  but  in  1559  it  was  destroyed 
and  Valdivia  put  to  death.  For  over  a century  the 
Spaniards  and  the  Araucanians  were  at  Avar.  The 


peace  of  1665  acknowledged  the  independence  of  the 
native  tribe  south  of  Bobio.  Again,  from  1723  to 
1773,  the  Chilians  Avere  at  war  Avith  their  aboriginal 
neighbors. 

Chili  Avas  one  of  the  first  colonies  to  rebel  against 
Spain.  The  movement  for  independence  began  in 
,1810.  The  first  step  was  to  depose  the  Governor- 
General,  Carrasco,  and  vest  the  political  authority 
in  a Junta,  corresponding  to  the  Continental  Con- 
gress. The  Junta  placed  General  Carrera  in  su- 
preme authority.  But  he  was  unequal  to  the 
demands  of  the  case.  He  was  not  destined  to  be 
the  George  Washington  of  his  country.  Before  1813 
closed,  Spain  had  re-established  its  authority.  It 
might  have  retained  it  perhaps,  but  harsh  and  op- 
pressive measures  folloAved,  provoking  a renewal  of 
rebellion  hi  1816.  Speaking  of  the  struggle  thus 
renewed,  a Chilian  historian  says,  “ The  patriots 
now  raised  an  army  in  the  neighboring  province  of 
La  Plata,  and  made  General  San  Martin  its  com- 
mander. He  marched  into  Chili  and  Avon  an  im- 
portant victory  over  the  royalist  forces  at  Chacabu- 
co,  on  the  12th  of  February,  1817.  A provisional 
government  Avas  set  up  by  the  patriots,  and  Don 
Bernardo  O’Higgins  Avas  placed  at  its  head  as  su- 
preme dictator.  The  Spaniards  now  rallied  and 
defeated  the  Chilians  with  heavy  loss  at  Chauchar- 
ayda;  but  Avere  themselves  utterly  routed  by  the 
patriots  at  Chilenos  on  the  5th  of  April,  1818.  Not 
more  than  500  Spaniards  escaped  from  the  field. 
This  victory  entirely  destroyed  the  Spanish  power 
in  Chili,  Peru  and  Buenos  Ayres,  and  secured  the 
independence  of  those  states.  The  Spaniards  re- 
treated to  the  port  of  Valdivia,  which  they  held  until 
1820,  when  they  surrendered  to  the  Chilian  forces.” 
During  the  next  three  years  General  O’Higgins  Avas 
virtual  dictator,  but  he  lost  his  popularity  and  had 
to  retire. 

A stable  government,  a genuine  republic,  was  not 
adopted  until  1828.  Affairs  moved  on  smoothly, 
the  country  steadily  growing  in  prosperity  and  en- 
joying the  substance  and  not  the  mere  shadoAV  of 
republicanism,  undisturbed  by  any  serious  difficul- 
ties, apart  from  some  Indian  warfare,  until  1864, 
when  Avar  broke  out  between  Spain  and  Peru.  An 
alliance  Avas  formed  between  Peru,  Chili  and  Bo- 
livia, in  accordance  Avith  which  the  three  republics 
made  common  cause  against  the  mother  country, 
justly  looked  upon  us  a common  enemy.  This  alli- 


_ Id 

_•> . 


V 


ance  was  not  formal  and  recognized  until  1867. 
Before  that  time  Chili  had  shown  such  strong  sym- 
pathy with  Peru  that  her  coast  was  blockaded  by 
the  Spanish  fleet.  That  blockade  led  to  the  cap- 
ture of  the  Spanish  steamer  “ Covadonga”  by  the 
Chilian  steamer,  “Esmeralda,”  and  later,  to  the 
bombardment  of  Valparaiso  by  the  Spanish  Ad- 
miral Nunez.  That  was  a very  impolitic  thing  to 
do,  for  the  actual  loss  fell  upon  foreign  residents 
mainly,  and  thus  secured  the  ill-will  of  other  na- 
tions. The  United  States  offered  to  mediate  be- 
tween the  allies  and  Spain.  The  offer  was  accepted, 
and  in  April,  1871,  a treaty  providing  for  a cessa- 
tion of  hostilities  was  signed  at  Washington.  That 
may  well  be  called  the  last  struggle  of  Spain  to  re- 
cover its  foothold  in  America. 

In  1879  hostilities  began  between  Chili  and  the 
allied  republics  of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  growing  out 
of  rival  territorial  claims  and  claims  to  Guano-beds, 
and  mineral  deposits.  Chili  insisted  that  having 
done  more  than  either  of  the  others  to  repel  the 
enemy,  she  was  entitled  to  generous  treatment.  When 
the  war  came  she  had  an  army  of  22,000  and  a navy 
of  ten  small  steamers  and  two  powerful  iron-clads. 
With  these  land  and  naval  forces  she  was  an  over- 
match for  the  other  two  nations  combined.  The  war 
was  conducted  with  great  spirit  and  intrepidity.  In 
the  spring  of  1881  Callao  and  Lima  were  taken,  and 
the  Chilians  were  absolute  masters  of  the  situation. 

The  final  settlement  of  the  questions  in  dis- 
pute and  of  the  relations  of  those  countries  to  each 
other  still  remains  to  be  accomplished.  The  national 
debts  of  Peru  and  Bolivia  (especially  the  former) 
cannot  be  ignored.  Peru  was  virtually  mortgaged 
to  non-resident  capitalists  before  the  last  war,  and 
Chili  will  not  be  allowed  to  sacrifice  those  interests, 
more  especially  the  guano  interests  of  foreign  claim- 
ants. It  is  a curious  and  appropriate  fact  that  the 
present  question  of  supreme  importance  in  the  pub- 
lic affairs  of  all  South  America  relates  to  the  excre- 
ment of  sea-fowls. 


In  the  fall  of  1881  the  Secretary  of  State,  Mr. 
Blaine,  with  the  approval  of  President  Arthur,  sent 
two  envoys-extraordinary  to  Peru  and  Chili  for  the 
purpose  of  facilitating  negotiations  of  amity  and 
protecting  Peru  from  the  apprehended  unjust  de- 
mands of  her  victorious  sister  republic.  Soon  after, 
Mr.  Blaine  was  superseded  by  Mr.  Frelinghuysen 
who  early  made  material  changes  in  the  instructions 
issued  to  the  chief  envoy,  Mr.  Trescott.  It  is  not 
absolutely  certain  what  negotiations  have  been  en- 
tered into,  but  it  is  supposed  to  be  morally  certain 
that  the  following  terms  will  be  exacted  and  en- 
forced : 

First — The  absolute  annexation  of  Tarapaca  and 
a large  strip  of  territory  immediately  north  of  it. 
These  include  all  the  nitrates  and  the  great  bulk  of 
the  guano.  Second — Chili  holds  and  occupies  the 
district  of  Arica  and  Tacna,  nominally  for  ten 
years,  to  be  then  released  to  Peru  on  payment  of 
$20,000,000,  which  they  leave  her  no  more  power  to 
pay  than  if  it  were  $20,000,000,000.  Arica  and 
Tacna  may  therefore  be  considered  permanently  an- 
nexed. Third — The  Lobis  Islands  to  be  seized  and 
held  by  Chili  so  long  as  there  is  any  guano  on  them. 

Keferring  to  this  ultimatum,  and  the  sagacious 
provision  of  the  Chilians  to  protect  the  British  in- 
terest in  Peru,  Mr.  Blaine  declares  that  the  United 
States  has  lost  a great  opportunity  to  advance  its 
own  commercial  interest  while  enforcing  the  princi-  I 
pie  of  the  Monroe  doctrine.  His  words  on  this  point 
are,  “By  commercial  interests  I mean  the  entire  inter- 
change of  commodities,  the  supplying  of  manufac- 
tured articles  and  raw  material,  the  concentration 
in  our  commercial  cities  of  a share  of  that  which 
will  now  go  wholly  to  London  and  Liverpool.  The 
trade  of  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  from 
this  time  forward,  will  be  as  much  in  the  hands  of 
Great  Britain  as  the  trade  of  British  India.”  Evi- 
dently that  portion  of  the  world  is  in  a condition 
of  extreme  incertitude  both  as  to  domestic  and  for- 
eign relations. 


<2- 


47  6 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 


CENTRAL  AMERICA- 


HERE  is  one  unbroken 
stretch  of  land  from  Behr- 
ings Straits  to  the  Straits 
of  Magellan,  from  Cape 
Prince  of  Wales  to  Cape 
Horn,  to  the  hindrance  of 
commerce ; but  from  the 
southern  extremity  of 
North  America  to  the  northern  ex- 
tremity of  South  America,  is  a dis- 
tance of  about  800  miles.  The  link 
that  binds  the  two  continents  to- 
gether,  or,  to  put  it  in  a more  practi- 
cal  way,  the  barrier  that  divides  the 
^Atlantic  coast  from  the  Pacific,  is 
that  narrow  ridge  of  land  called 
Central  America,  and  which  ex- 
tends from  the  southern  boundary 
of  Mexico  to  the  southern  bound- 
ary of  Panama.  The  width  of  Central  America 
varies  from  20  to  400  miles. 

The  eastern  shore  of  Central  America  was  first 
visited  by  Christopher  Columbus  in  1502,  or  rather 
discovered,  for  he  merely  passed  along  it.  The  natives 
and  his  crew  were  agreed  in  opposition  to  landing. 
Twenty-one  years  later  Cortez  sent  Pedro  Alvarado 


to  explore  and  conquer  the  west  coast.  He  was 
absent  two  years.  Almost  incredible,  yet  hardly 
too  extravagant,  stories  were  told  by  the  Aztecs 
and  other  natives  of  the  abundance  of  gold  and 
silver  in  that  region,  and  the  splendor  of  the  civ- 
ilization existing  there.  Relics  dug  from  the  ruins  of 
Central  America  in  our  own  day  attest  the  essential 
correctness  of  the  representations  made.  Gold  and 
silver  are  found  in  many  localities,  and  some  mines 
are  in  operation,  but  the  climate  is  so  hot  and  the 
air  is  so  fetid,  the  government  so  insecure  and  the 
people  so  indolent,  that  no  considerable  amount  of 
mining  is  done.  The  only  industry  of  any  account, 
apart  from  transportation,  is  lumbering.  The  dense 
forests  contain  mahogany,  logwood,  lignum-vit®, 
pimento,  sarsaparilla,  vanilla,  black  balsam,  and 
other  trees  valuable  for  bark,  timber  or  gum.  There 
are  said  to  be  not  less  than  ninety-seven  varieties  of 
poisonous  trees  in  that  region  fatal  to  animal  life, 
but  they  arc  valuable  for  drugs.  The  sparce 
population  consists,  it  is  estimated,  of  one- 
twelfth  whites,  four-twelfths  mixed  races,  and  seven- 
twelfths  Indians.  The  country  is  mountainous,  and 
the  mountains  volcanic.  There  are  several  lakes, 
Nicaraugua  being  the  chief.  Its  outlet,  the  San  .1  uan, 
is  the  only  considerable  river  of  Central  America. 


Central  America  in  General — Early  Settlement — Political  Divisions — Gautemala,  the 
Republics  of  Honduras  and  San  Salvador — Nicaragua,  Costa  Rica,  and  British  Hon- 
duras— Panama — The  West  Indies  in  General — TnE  Bahamas — The  Antilles— Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico — Cuban  History — Havana — Hayti  ; Spanish  and  French*  Occupation  of  it — 
Toussaint  and  Napoleon — Soulouque — San  Domingo — Jamaica — The  Lesser  Antilles — 
The  Barbadoes — The  Gulf-Stream — The  Bermudas — The  Azores — The  Sandwich  Islands 
— The  Fiji  Islands— Samoan  Isles. 


CHAPTER  LXXIV. 


(477) 


i 


CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND  THE  ISLES  OF  THE  SEA. 


Politically  there  are  five  Central  American  repub- 
lics and  one  European  dependency,  British  Hondu- 
ras. These  republics  are : Guatemala,  Honduras, 
San  Salvador,  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica.  In  1823 
the  Spanish  yoke  was  thrown  off.  The  division  of 
the  country  into  districts  and  states  having  no 
unity  occurred  about  ten  years  later. 

The  present  constitution  of  Gautemala  was 
adopted  in  1859.  Santiago  de  Guatemala  is  the 


principal  seaport  is  La  Libertad,  distant  fifteen 
miles  from  the  capital.  The  Indians  of  that  state 
are  more  industrious  than  those  of  any  other  part 
of  Central  America.  Indigo  is  their  chief  article 
of  export. 

Nicaragua  has  a population  estimated  at  350,000. 
Their  chief  occupation  is  cattle  raising.  The  capital, 
Managua,  is  built  on  the  slope  of  an  active  volcano. 
The  old  capital,  Leon,  ten  miles  from  the  Pacific 


capital.  It  has  a population  of  45,000.  Guatemala 
de  Cabelleros,  once  the  capital,  had  a population 
of  60,000,  but  earthquake  and  fire  nearly  de- 
stroyed it  in  1773,  and  it  now  has  only  about  one- 
third  of  that  population.  The  republic  of  Honduras 
is  almost  wholly  peopled  by  Indians.  Its  capital  is 
the  little  town  of  Comayagua,  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
San  Salvador  lias  for  its  capital  the  city  of  the  same 
name,  founded  by  Pedro  Alvarado  in  1528,  or  rather, 
it  did  have,  until  repeated  earthquakes  and  vol- 
canic eruptions  compelled  a change  of  site.  The 
city  of  San  Salvador  was  visited  by  destructive 
earthquakes  and  volcanic  eruptions  in  1873.  The 


coast,  was  surrounded  by  five  active  volcanos.  Costa 
Rica  is  supposed  to  have  a population  of  little  less 
than  200,000  souls.  The  Spanish  portion  of  the 
population  clusters  about  the  capital,  San  Jose, 
which  has  a population  of  26,000.  Costa  Rica  is 
trying  to  connect  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans  by 
a railroad  running  from  Alajuela  to  Limon,  a dis- 
tance of  114  miles.  That  portion  of  the  line  from 
Alajuela  to  Cartago  (42  miles)  was  finished  early  in 
1873.  Only  a very  little  more  work  was  done  until 
1879,  when  construction  was  resumed.  Like  all  the 
rest  of  Central  America,  Costa  Rica  abounds  in  vol- 
canoes. 


CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND  THE  ISLES  OF  THE  SEA. 


479 


British  Honduras  has  a population  of  about  25,- 
000,  and  is  hardly  more  than  a naval  station,  kept 
up  for  the  convenience  of  the  British  Empire  and 
to  strengthen  Great  Britain’s  supremacy  on  the  high 
seas  of  the  world. 

Panama  is,  politically  speaking,  a part  of  South 
America,  one  of  the  states  of  the  United  States  of 
Colombia  being  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  (formerly 
Darien) ; hut  in  reality  is  a part  of  the  connectiug 
link  between  the  two  continents.  It  has  an  area  of 
29,756  square  miles 
and  a population 
of  175,000  souls.  It 
varies  in  width 
from  30  to  70  miles. 

Its  chief  feature  is 
the  Panama  rail- 
road, extending 
from  Aspinwall  on 
the  Atlantic  coast 
to  the  city  of  Pan- 
ama on  the  Pacific 
coast.  It  was  built 
at  tremendous  cost, 

§500,000  a mile, 
and  the  loss  of  life 
from  the  unwhole- 
someness of  the 
climate  was  enor- 
mous. That  rail- 
road is  one  of  the 
great  triumphs  of 
modern  enterprise. 

Citizens  of  the 
United  States  projected  and  accomplished  the  work. 
Great  numbers  of  Chinamen  were  employed  in  the 
construction.  The  property  has  always  been  a very 
profitable  investment.  It  was  recently  purchased  by 
the  company  organized  by  M.  de  Lessepsto  construct 
a ship  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  one  of 
the  most  gigantic  and  important  undertakings  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  The  country  is  rocky  and 
mountainous  on  the  Atlantic  or  Caribbean  side,  and 
swampy  on  the  Pacific  side.  The  soil  is  all  too 
productive.  Its  yield  of  tropical  plants  is  so  very 
luxurious  that  the  decay  incident  thereto  poisons  the 
atmosphere.  The  town  of  Panama  has  a popula- 
tion of  about  10,000,  Aspinwall  of  4,000.  I lie 
I Panama  railroad  was  completed  in  1855.  W ith  the 


Panama  ship  canal  completed  (and  it  is  a moral 
certainty  that  it  will  be)  engineering  skill  and  enter- 
prise will  have  supplied  to  the  commerce  of  the 
world  the  shortest  passage  to  the  Indies,  which  Co- 
lumbus sought,  the  search  for  which  opened  to  Eu- 
rope a new  world. 

The  West  Indies  is  the  general  designation  of 
the  archipelago  which  breaks  the  watery  monotony 
of  the  Caribbean  sea,  which  is  that  portion  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  extending  from  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  the  pe- 
ninsula of  Florida 
to  the  northern 
coast  of  Venezuela. 
It  consists  of  four 
groups  of  islands, 
the  Bahama  Isl- 
ands, the  Greater 
Antilles, the  Virgin 
Islands,  and  the 
Lesser  Antilles. 

The  Bahamas 
have,  all  told,  only 
about  40,000  in- 
habitants, and  a 
total  area  variously 
estimated  at  from 
3,000  to  5,000 
square  miles.  This 
group  consists  of 
12  islands,  661 
keys,  2,387  reefs 
and  cliffs,  and 
3,060  islets.  The 
larger  islands  include 'the  Grand  Bahama,  San  Sal- 
vador and  New  Providence.  The  latter  contains 
Nassau,  the  capital.  San  Salvador  is  supposed  to 
be  the  first  land  discovered  by  Columbus.  Waling’s 
Island  lays  some  claim  to  that  distinction.  The  ab- 
origines were  early  exterminated  by  the  Spaniards. 
The  English  possession  of  the  Bahamas  dates  from 
1629.  These  islands  furnish  for  export  canella, 
arrowroot,  sponges,  salt,  conch-shells,  cleuthera  bark, 
and  pineapples.  The  soil  and  climate  are  especially 
adapted  to  raising  pineapple  plants. 

The  term  Antilles  is  often  applied  to  all  the  West 
Indies  except  the  Bahamas.  Tho  Greater  Antilles 
comprise  the  four  largo  islands,  Cuba,  llayti,  Ja- 
maica and  Porto  Pico. 


k. 


4S0 


CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND  THE  ISLES  OF  THE  SEA. 


Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  are  the  remaining  American 
possessions  of  Spain  of  any  considerable  import- 
ance. The  latter  island  lias  an  area  of  3,530  square 
miles  and  a population  of  about  600,000,  one-half 
white,  one-third  Creole,  and  the  rest  negroes.  The 
island  produces  a great  deal  of  sugar,  some  coffee, 
tobacco,  cotton  and  cattle.  It  has  a little  mineral 
wealth,  gold,  copper,  iron,  lead,  coal  and  rock-salt. 
Its  capital  is  also  called  Porto  Rico.  Cuba  has  an  area 
of  43,220  square  miles.  It  entire  annual  production 
is  estimated  in  value  at  $126,000,000,  mostly  sugar 
and  tobacco.  The  Cuban  census  of  1877  gave  the 
population  as  follows : whites,  764,164 ; free  negroes, 
3,444,050; 
slaves,  227,- 
902  ; Chi- 
nese,58, 400. 

Columbus 
gave  to  Cu- 
ba the  name 
of  Juana; 
the  original 
name,  how- 
ever, finally 
p revailed. 

The  first 
Spanish  col- 
ony was  es- 
tablished in 
1511.  The 
Captain  - 

General  who  ruled  the  colony  in  its  infancy, 
Hernando,  was  a monster  of  cruel  rapacity.  By 
1553  the  native  population  had  been  nearly 
exterminated  by  their  inhuman  taskmasters,  who 
then  resorted  to  the  African  slave  trade  to  sup- 
ply the  labor  market  with  slaves.  In  1524  the  French 
destroyed  Havana,  and  again  twenty  years  later,  but 
they  gained  no  substantial  advantage  thereby.  I11 
1624  the  Dutch  took  it.  Later  in  the  same  century 
piratical  marauders,  flying  no  national  flag,  seriously 
ravaged  the  coast.  In  1762  the  English  took  Ha- 
vana, restoring  it,  however,  the  next  year  in  exchange 
for  Florida.  Spain  has  always  shown  a desper- 
ate resolution  to  maintain  possession  of  Cuba.  The 
II  nited  States,  prior  to  the  abolition  of  slavery,  cov- 
eted it,  offering  Spain  at  one  time  $100,000,000  for  it. 
That  was  in  1848.  Six  years  later  an  attempt  was 
made  to  intimidate  the  government  at  Madrid. 


Three  American  ministers-plentipotentiary,  Messrs. 
Buchanan,  Mason  and  Soule,  met  and  went  through 
the  solemn  farce  of  issuing  the  Ostend  manifesto, 
claiming  for  the  United  States  the  right  to  take 
possession  of  the  island  if  Spain  persisted  in  re- 
fusing to  sell  it.  This  game  of  bluff  failing,  the 
project  of  annexation  was  abandoned. 

For  a long  time  prior  to  the  abolition  of  the  Af- 
rican slave  trade  (1845),  Cuba  was  the  center  of  an 
immense  traffic  in  fresh  supplies  of  negroes  from  the 
continent  of  Africa.  The  South  American  colonies 
largely  depended  upon  Cuba  for  servants,  until  their 
independence  and  emancipation,  and  a great 

many  were 
clandestine- 
ly brought 
to  the  Uni- 
ted States 
by  way  of 
Cuba.  Sev- 
eral insur- 
rections oc- 
curred that 
were  crush- 
ed out  with 
great  cruel- 
ty- 

The  most 
resolute  ef- 
fort to  ob- 
tain inde- 
pendence was  begun  in  1868.  The  leader  of  the 
movement  was  Manuel  Carlos  Cespedes,  afterwards 
elected  President  of  the  “Republic,”  or  abortive  gov- 
ernment set  up  by  the  insurgents.  The  war  was 
maintained  for  several  years,  seriously  interfering 
with  the  prosperity  of  the  island  and  resulting  in 
failure. 

Havana  is  not  only  the  chief  city  of  the  West 
Indies,  as  well  as  the  capital  of  Cuba,  but  it  is  one  of 
the  best  known  centers  of  commerce  in  the  world.  It 
has  a most  excellent  harbor,  and  a population  of 
over  200,000  souls.  Of  the  city,  a recent  traveler 
says,  “ The  most  prominent  among  the  public 
buildings  are  the  opera  house,  one  of  the  largest  in 
the  world;  the  cathedral,  built  in  1724  and  contain- 
ing the  ashes  of  Christopher  Columbus,  transferred 
hither  from  St.  Domingo  in  1796  ; the  palace  of  the 
Governor-General,  with  apartments  for  the  different 


■71 


s> 


CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND  THE  ISLES  OF  THE  SEA. 


481 


government  officers.  None  of  the  buildings,  how- 
ever, are  very  remarkable ; but  with  respect  to  its 
public  parks  and  promenades,  Havana  perhaps  sur- 
passes all  other  cities  in  the  world,  the  Plaza  de  Ar- 
mas, the  Alameda  de  Paula,  the  Parque  de  Isabel 
and  the  Pasco  de  Tacon  being  the  more  prominent.” 

Hayti  is  second  only  to  Cuba,  from  which  it  is 
separated  by  the  Windward  Passage.  It  measures, 
from  east  to  west,  405  miles,  and  its  greatest  width 
is  165  miles,  comprising  an  area  of  28,000  square 
miles,  inclusive  of  a few  contiguous  islets.  The  soil 
is  very  rich  and  productive.  Coffee,  sugar  and  to- 
bacco are  raised  in  large  quantities.  The  island  is 
divided  into  two 
states,  only  the 
western  portion 
being  known,  po- 
litically, as  Hayti. 

The  eastern  part 
is  San  Domingo. 

The  latter  is 
Spanish,  so  far  as 
concerns  its  Euro- 
pean elements,  the 
former  French. 

Hayti  was  the 
second  American 
place  visited  by 
Columbus.  It  has 
the  distinction  of 
being  the  part  of  the  New  W orld  first  settled  by  w bite 
men,  receiving  the  appropriate  name  of  Hispaniola. 
The  mines  of  the  island  were  poor  as  compared  with 
those  subsequently  found  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  but 
rich  as  compared  with  any  at  that  time  known  to  the 
Spaniards,  and  they  were  very  eager  in  their  develop- 
ment. The  native  population,  estimated  at  2,000,- 
000,  was  enslaved  and  soon  literally  used  up  and 
worn  out  by  excessive  labor.  Like  all  the  West  In- 
dia aborigines  they  were  unaccustomed  to  hard 
work  and  soon  succumbed  beneath  the  lash  of  cruel 
taskmasters.  Negro  slavery  was  introduced  in 
Hayti  in  1522.  Pedro,  son  of  Christopher  Colum- 
bus, was  viceroy  at  the  time,  and  it  was  on  his  prop- 
e:ty  that  the  first  consignment  of  African  slaves 
was  set  at  work.  By  1711  the  aborigines  had 
dwindled  to  about  20,000.  There  are  said  to  be  a 
few  of  their  descendants  still  surviving  in  the  mount- 
ains of  the  island. 


The  discoveries  of  Mexico  and  Peru  were  almost 
ruinous  to  Hispaniola.  The  population  shrank  to 
utter  insignificance.  But  in  1630  a new  era  dawned 
upon  the  island.  A French  settlement  was  formed 
in  the  northern  part  of  it  and  flourished  rapidly. 

There  was  considerable  trouble  between  the  two 
nationalities,  but  in  1699  by  the  treaty  of  Ryswick 
Spain  ceded  the  western  part  of  the  island  to 
France.  The  French  proceeded  to  develop  the  agri- 
cultural wealth  of  the  country,  sugar,  coffee  and 
other  tropical  productions.  Some  idea  of  the  growth 
of  San  Domingo  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that 
in  the  year  1790,  1,400  vessels  and  30,000  men  were 

employed  in  the 
commerce  be- 
tween France  and 
St.  Domique,  as 
it  is  sometimes 
given. 

The  French  rev- 
olution spread  in 
its  ideas  to  Hayti 
and  had  a some- 
what unique  out- 
growth. The 
wealth  of  the 
country  was  not 
confined  to  the 
white  people,  but 
all  political  rights 
were.  Besides  the  semi-French  population  and  the 
slaves  there  had  grown  up  a third  class,  the  Mulat- 
toes,  possessing  frequently  extensive  plantations. 

They  demanded  the  extension  to  themselves  of  the 
principles  of  universal  brotherhood.  Civil  war  re- 
sulted. The  Spaniards  of  the  east  side  of  the  island 
took  advantage  of  the  disturbed  state  of  things  to 
make  encroachments,  and  so  did  English  adventur- 
ers. The  slaves  rose  in  insurrection,  and  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  was  simply  desperate.  In  1791  the 
demands  of  the  Mulattoes  were  complied  with,  and 
two  years  later  the  slaves  were  emancipated.  Com- 
missioners from  France  decided  that  no  other  course 
could  be  taken. 

This  ITaytian  complication  brought  into  promi- 
nence that  very  remarkable  man,  Toussaint  L’  Ou- 
verture,  an  African  of  unmixed  blood.  He  was  born 
in  the  island  in  1743.  Ilis  father  was  a native  of  ^ 
Africa,  the  son  of  a chief.  Toussaint  was  favored 

l& 

” - 


•Me- 


A 


k. 


482 


CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND  THE  ISLES  OF  THE  SEA. 


with  a kind  master  who  taught  him  to  read  and 
write.  In  the  servile  insurrection  of  1791  and  the 
massacre  attending  it  he  was  passive,  except  to  pro- 
tect his  master  and  his  family ; but  a few  years  later 
he  appears  in  the  negro  army,  first  as  a surgeon  and 
then  as  a general.  In  1795  he  rendered  eminent  ser- 
vice as  a soldier.  When  the  French  government 
granted  liberty  to  the  slaves  he  threw  his  influence 
in  favor  of  France  as  against  Spain  and  England. 
He  took  the  lead  in  expelling  both  the  Spanish  and 

the  English 

intruders.  He 
showed  a won- 
derful genius 
for  war,  also 
for  civil  af- 
fairs. The  Mu- 
lattoes,  the 
freedinen,  the 
French  and  the 
other  foreign- 
ers came  to 
recognize  him 
as  the  supreme 
authority  in 
every  thing. 

I11  1800  he 

took  possession 
of  the  entire 
island  in  the 
name  of  the 
French  Direc- 
tory. He  was 
madepresident 
for  life.  The 


and  died  a prisoner  in  the  castle  of  Joux,  the  vic- 
tim of  treachery  and  cruelty,  including  starvation. 
The  treatment  of  this  great  man  was  one  of  the 
foulest  blots  upon  the  name  of  Napoleon,  and  a su- 
preme calamity  to  Hayti.  It  seemed  to  be  on  the 
highway  to  a large  prosperity,  but  with  Toussaint’s 
fall  it  withered  and  shriveled. 

Notwithstanding  the  fate  of  L’Ouverture,  the 
French  had  to  abandon  the  idea  of  re-enslaving  the 
negro.  In  all  the  world’s  history  no  act  of  emanci- 
pation, once 


BAY  OP  SAMANA. 


whole  island  was  at  peace  and  prosperous  under  him. 
But  Napoleon,  then  consul  of  France,  proposed  to  re- 
store the  old  state  of  affairs,  including  the  re-estab- 
lishment  of  slavery.  He  sent  Leclerc  with  06  vessels 
of  war  and  30,000  soldiers  to  carry  out  this  purpose. 
They  arrived  on  the  island  early  in  1802.  Toussaint 
issued  a proclamation  declaring  loyalty  to  France  but 
death  to  the  invaders.  Leclerc  in  turn  denounced  him 
as  an  outlaw.  The  forces  of  the  island  were  utterly 
inadequate  to  the  resistance.  Toussaint  retired  to 
the  mountains,  but  was  induced  to  surrender  on  the 
promise  of  personal  immunity  and  the  continued 
freedom  of  the  negroes.  That  pledge  was  shame- 
fully broken.  lie  was  carried  to  France  in  irons 


effective,  has 
been  practical- 
ly and  perma- 
nently  recalled. 
Failing  in  this, 
the  army  left 
the  island  in 
1804,  and  San 
Domingo  de- 
clared itself  a 
free  and  inde- 
pendentrepub- 
lic.  The  first 
president,  Des- 
salines,  who 
had  proved  a 
worthy  suc- 
cessor to  Tous- 
saint in  the 
field,  was  ut- 
terly unfitted 
for  the  trust 
reposed  in  him. 
He  attempted 
to  make  himself  emperor  of  all  Hayti.  Two  years 
later  he  was  assassinated,  but  not  until  after  the 
island  had  been  drenched  in  blood  and  the  indus- 
tries terribly  crippled.  With  his  death  the  eastern 
part  of  the  island  returned  to  Spanish  rule.  An- 
archy prevailed  until  1822,  when  Boyer  united  the 
entire  island  under  one  government. 

For  twenty  years  he  remained  in  power.  At 
the  expiration  of  that  period  he  was  banished 
and  the  island  once  more  divided.  It  remained  so 
until  1849,  when  Soulouque,  a freedman  who  had 
acquired  some  prominence  in  the  civil  wars  which  had 
desolated  the  island,  and  had  been  elected  president 
of  Hayti  in  1847,  declared  himself  emperor  of  the 


r 


rv 


0 


CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND  THE  ISLES  OF  THE  SEA. 


483 


t 


entire  island.  His  pretentions  were  successfully  re- 
sisted by  the  San  Domingans  under  the  lead  of 
Santana,  who  from  1844  to  1861  was  at  the  head  of 
public  affairs  in  San  Domingo,  much  of  the  time  as 
president.  In  1855  Santana  put  an  effectual  termi- 
nation by  overwhelming  superiority  in  the  field,  to 
the  pretensions  of  the  Haytian  rival.  Santana  died 
in  1864 ; Soulouque  in  1867.  Between  them  what  lit- 
tle prosperity  the  island  had  previously  enjoyed  was 
destroyed.  A land  which,  a century  ago,  contributed 
largely  to  the  wealth  of  the  world  is  now  a mere 
cipher.  The  only  redeeming  feature,  or  consola- 
tion, is  that  the  bulk  of  the  people  are  now  crudely 
happy,  while  under  the  old  regime  they  were  excru- 
ciatingly miserable. 

During  his  first  presidential  term  General  Grant 
was  very  desirous  of  annexing  San  Domingo  to  the 
United  States.  He  exerted  all  his  influence  to  se- 
cure its  annexation.  Everything  was  arranged,  and 
it  was  only  necessary  for  the  senate  of  the  United 
States  to  concur.  But  that  concurrence  could  not 
be  secured.  Senator  Charles  Sumner  was  as  warmly 
opposed  to  it  as  the  president  was  in  favor  of  it.  The 
controversy  involved  the  two  great  men  in  personal 
unpleasantness.  Mr.  Sumner  carried  his  point,  but 
in  punishment  therefor  the  friends  of  the  admistra- 
tion  deposed  him  from  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  a position 
which  he  had  long  filled  with  pre-eminent  ability. 
An  attempt  to  annex  the  small  West  Indian  island 
of  St.  Thomas  was  also  defeated.  The  sentiment 
of  the  United  States  was  and  is  averse  to  the  ac- 
quisition of  any  outlying  southern  territory. 

Jamaica,  with  an  area  of  4,473  square  miles  and 
a population  of  500,000,  is  one  of  the  Antilles  and 
a colonial  possession  of  Great  Britain.  It  produces 
in  large  quantities  sugar  and  coffee.  Much  of  the 
former  is  distilled  into  rum  lief  ore  exportation.  This 
island  was  visited  by  Columbus  and  settled  by  the 
Spaniards  in  1500.  The  English  captured  it  in  1655. 
For  a century  and  a half  it  was  managed  as  one 
vast  plantation,  the  supply  of  slaves  being  kept  up 
by  importations  from  Africa.  The  slave  trade  was 
abolished  in  1807,  and  slavery  itself  in  1833.  The 
amount  of  sugar  and  coffee  raised  was  very  greatly 
reduced  by  emancipation.  It  is  governed  by  a cap- 
tain-general appointed  by  the  crown.  The  capital 
is  Kingston. 

The  Lesser  Antilles  are  divided  into  two  groups, 


the  Windward  or  South  Carribee  Islands,  and  the 
Leeward  or  North  Carribee  Islands.  The  former  are 
Barbadoes,  Granada,  the  Grenadines,  Martinique,  St. 
Lucia,  St.Vinceut,  Trinidad  and  Tobago.  They  are 
all  British  possessions,  except  Martinique,  which  be- 
longs to  France.  The  Leeward  Islands  are  Anguilla, 
Antigua,  Barbuda,  Deseada,  Dominica,  Gaudaloupe, 
Marie  Galante,  Montserrat  Nevis,  Saba,  St.  Barthol- 
omew, St.  Christopher,  St.  Eustacius,  St.  Martin, 
Santa  Cruz,  and  a group  of  still  smaller  islands 
called  the  Virgin  Islands.  All  told,  they  are  trivial 
in  importance.  Their  ownership  is  divided  between 
England,  France,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Holland  and 
Spain,  the  possessions  of  the  latter,  outside  of  Cuba 
and  Porto  Rico,  being  utterly  insignificant.  The 
Danish  islands  are  St.  Thomas,  St.  John  and  St. 
Croix.  These  small  islands  are  almost  worthless, 
except  as  they  may  be  useful  as  coaling  stations  and 
for  other  naval  purposes. 

The  most  eastern  of  these  islands  are  the  Barba- 
does. That  term  was  often  used,  in  colonial  times,  as 
applying  to  all  the  British  possessions  in  the  West 
Indies.  Slavery  was  abolished  within  the  British 
possessions  about  the  same  time  that  the  Spanish 
states  became  independent  and  freed  their  slaves. 
At  one  time  New  England  traded  extensively  in 
slaves,  rum  and  molasses  with  the  British  portion 
of  those  tropical  islands,  especially  the  two  latter 
articles.  Since  the  restrictions  of  trade  were  re- 
moved the  principal  commercial  intercourse  of  this 
country  and  the  world  generally  with  those  innu- 
merable islands  is  carried  on  with  Cuba  at  its  business 
and  political  capital,  Havana,  and  the  chief  article 
of  trade  is  the  cigar.  Many  parts  of  the  tropical 
world  produce  sugar,  coffee,  and  even  tobacco,  but 
the  flavor  of  the  Cuban  tobacco-leaf  is  peculiar, 
and  preferred  to  that  of  any  other. 

In  Central  America  and  the  West  Indies  there 
are  only  two  seasons  of  the  year,  instead  of  four, 
wet  and  dry.  During  the  cooler  months  it  rains  a 
great  deal,  but  when  the  sun  is  more  vertical  rain 
hardly  ever  falls ; an  earthquake  or  a hurricane  is 
more  to  be  expected  than  a thunderstorm. 

It  may  be  added  here  that  the  waters  of  the  Ca- 
ribbean sea,  flowing  from  it  by  an  ocean  current  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  find  egress  only  through  the 
narrow  passage  between  the  Bahamas  and  Florida, 
and  thus  is  formed  that  incalculably  important  and 
mighty  ocean  river,  the  Gulf-Stream. 


•V 


484 


CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND  THE  ISLES  OF  THE  SEA. 


The  Bermudas  is  a term  suggestive  of  a group  of 
islets  having  far  more  prominence  than  import- 
ance. They  lie  about  620  miles  off  Cape  Hatter  as, 
the  nearest  land.  Their  number  is  400,  their  area 
only  24  square  miles  and  their  population  only  about 
ten  thousand.  Juan  Bermudez  discovered  them  in 
1522.  The  temperature  is  always  mild  and  the  ver- 
dure perpetual.  The  English  have  some  strong  bat- 
teries on  the  largest  isle  of  the  group.  The  only 
thing  for  which  the  Bermudas  are  famous  is  onions, 
which  are  exported  in  large  quantities. 

The  Azores,  situated  in  the  North  Atlantic  about 
500  miles  west  of  Portugal,  are  a group  of  islands 
which  have  been  under  Portuguese  rule  ever  since 
1449.  For  nearly  half  a century  they  were  the  ex- 
treme western  limit  of  the  known  world.  Their 
area  is  1149  square  miles,  population  about  250,000. 
There  are  three  groups,  the  Flores  and  Corvo  form- 
ing one ; Terceira,  St.  George,  Pico,  Fayal  and  Gra- 
ciosa  a second,  and  St.  Michael  and  St.  Mary  the 
third.  The  chief  exports  are  wine,  brandy  and 
oranges.  The  people  are  simple,  superstitious  and 
uninteresting. 

Leaving  the  Atlantic  and  visiting  the  Pacific,  the 
important  group  is  the  Sandwich  or  Hawaiian  Isl- 
ands. These  islands  were  discovered  by  the  Span- 
ish in  the  16th  century,  but  they  were  soon  lost 
sight  of.  They  may  be  said  to  have  first  become  a 
part  of  the  world  actual  when  visited  by  that  great 
English  navigator,  Captain  Cook,  in  1778,  who  was 
killed  by  the  natives  the  following  year.  The 
people  were  indeed  barbarians,  but  not  downright 
savages.  Something  approaching  a civilization  was 
found.  A system  of  government  strongly  resem- 
bling medieval  feudalism  prevailed,  with  several 
rulers  of  about  equal  dignity,  each  independent  and 
sovereign.  But  in  the  year  1790,  Kamehamelia  ex- 
tended his  sway  to  all  Hawaii.  When  he  died  the 
entire  group  formed  one  kingdom.  In  1819  a civil 
, war  occurred  which  resulted,  among  other  things,  in 
the  destruction  of  the  idols  of  popular  worship. 


Very  soon  after  seven  American  missionaries,  with 
their  wives,  came  among  them  to  make  known  to 
them  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  They  came  at  a very 
opportune  time.  The  ground  was  prepared  for  the 
seed  sown,  and  in  an  almost  incredibly  short  time 
the  Hawaiians  became  Christians.  In  1825  the  Ten 
Commandments  were  adopted  and  formally  made  a 
part  of  the  code  of  the  country.  Honolulu  became 
the  capital.  In  1829  the  United  States  recognized 
the  government  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  as  a treaty 
power,  and  in  1843  and  1844  that  goverment  re- 
ceived full  and  general  recognition  as  a nation. 

Captain  Cook  estimated  the  population  at  400,- 
000,  but  by  the  last  census  it  had  fallen  to  about 
57,000.  Commercial  intercourse  proved  terribly  de- 
structive to  life.  The  people  on  the  coast  contract- 
ed diseases  from  contact  with  sailors  which  killed 
them  off  with  unprecedented  rapidity.  Sugar  rais- 
ing is  the  chief  industry,  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  product  is  exported  to  San  Francisco.  All  these 
twelve  islands,  of  which  Hawaii  is  the  chief,  are  vol- 
canic. There  are  two  active  volcanoes  on  Hawaii — 
Kilauea  and  Manna  Loa. 

The  Fiji  Islands  constitute  a group  in  the  South 
Pacific  Ocean  numbering  about  209,  with  a popula- 
tion estimated  at  200, 000'.  The  first  European  to 
visit  them  was  the  Dutch  navigator,  Tasman,  in 
1643.  There  was  no  full  exploration  until  two 
centuries  later,  when  an  American  by  the  name  of 
Wilkes  visited  them.  There  are  only  two  islands  of 
any  considerable  magnitude,  Yiti  Levu  and  Vanua 
Levu.  The  people  were  savages  of  the  most  pro- 
nounced type,  but  the  missionaries  of  the  cross  have 
met  with  great  success  there.  At  least  one-half  the 
population  habitually  attend  Christian  service  on 
the  Sabbath. 

Having  now  visited  the  more  interesting  Isles  of 
the  Sea,  it  is  time  to  return  to  the  American  conti- 
nent and  trace  from  many  small  beginnings  to  its 
present  magnificence,  that  grandest  republic  of  all 
the  ages — the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  LXX  V. 


The  Subject  in  Hand — Origin  op  the  Indian  Race  and  the  Name— Mounds  and  the  Extinct 
Mound  Builders— The  Land  op  the  Pueblos — Cliff  Houses— Cave  Dwellers— The 
Nations  and  Tribes  Once  on  the  Atlantic  Coast — Testimony  op  Trumbull — Reserva- 
tions— The  Indian  Bureau — Indian  Territory — Wampum — Indian  Opportunities  and 
Prospects — The  Aboriginal  Problem — Relation  op  the  Indian  to  the  History  op  the 
United  States. 


ETWEEN  the  Republic  of 
Mexico  and  the  British  de- 
pendency of  Canada  is  situ- 
ate the  most  important  na- 
tion on  the  globe,  viewed 
from  the  standpoint  of  the 
actual.  Its  history  covers  a 
comparatively  short  period, 
but  already  it  ranks  with  the 
great  powers  of  the  earth,  and  its 
growth  is  absolutely  unprecedented. 
The  United  States  can  best  be  studied 
and  understood  by  viewing  it  from  a 
variety  of  standpoints,  and  first  of  all 
naturally  from  the  aboriginal  point  of 
view. 

We  use  the  term  Indian  to  designate 
all  the  peoples  and  tribes  found  by  Eu- 
ropeans on  this  continent,  and  whose 
occupancy  of  the  soil  antedates  history.  It  was  origi- 
nally a misnomer,  given  from  the  misapprehension 
that  the  islands  in  the  Caribbean  sea  were  a part  of 
the  country  in  and  about  the  Indian  Ocean  of  the 
far  East.  Misnomer  though  it  be,  Indians  is  the 
designation  of  all  prehistoric  Americans. 

Many  wild  notions  have  been  entertained  relative 
to  the  origin  of  the  Indians.  Some  have  tried  to 


trace  them  to  the  “ Lost  Ten  Tribes  ” of  Israel,  oth- 
ers to  the  “ Shepherd  Kings  ” who  were  expelled 
from  Egypt  some  four  chiliads  ago.  All  such  con- 
jectures are  preposterous.  As  well  try  to  trace  the 
origin  of  tobacco  or  wheat.  It  would  be  quite  pos- 
sible for  the  inhabitants  of  northern  Asia  or  north- 
ern Europe,  especially  the  former,  to  make  their  way 
from  island  to  island  to  the  western  hemisphere,  but 
in  the  sands  of  time  are  no  footprints.  Behring’s 
Strait  and  the  Aleutian  Islands,  if  they  have  a se- 
cret, keep  it  well. 

The  Indian  found  upon  the  Atlantic  coast,  from 
Labrador  to  Buenos  Ayres,  was  a mere  savage, 
somewhat  interesting  as  a novelty,  but  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  a crude  barbarian  liko  the  prehistoric 
man  set  forth  in  our  third  chapter.  In  the  interior 
and  the  west,  however,  he  was  found  to  have  done 
some  remarkable  things.  There  were  and  still  are 
vast  mounds  which  attest  the  presence,  in  a buried 
past,  of  a people  possessing  some  real  civilization. 
Men  of  science  have  been  richly  rewarded  for  exca- 
vating these  earthworks.  Regular  and  exact  are 
they,  proving  capacity  for  calculation  and  execution 
above  the  level  of  barbarism.  Indeed,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  Mound-builders  understood  somewhat 
the  principles  of  geometry.  They  may  have  had 
their  Archimedes  or  Euclid.  If  they  had  only  had 


486 


NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 


a Cadmus  to  give  them  letters,  they  might  have  fig- 
ured among  the  historical  peoples^  There  is  one 
mound  in  the  Miami  valley,  Ohio,  laid  out  in  the 
form  of  a huge  snake.  Knives  and  other  implements, 
also  pottery,  have  been  found,  all  uncouth  and 
primitive,  leaving  no  doubt  that  the  continent  was 
once  occupied  by  a people  who  “ knew  enough  to 
know  ” that  by  softening  metal  with  fire  it  could  be 
made  useful,  and  that  clay  could  be  moistened,  fash- 
ioned and  baked  with  equally 

good  results. 

It  is  thought  probable  that 
the  Aztecs  of  Mexico  are  de- 
scended from  the  Mound-build- 
ers, and  that  the  Indian,  as  he 
was  found  roaming  the  forests 
by  the  Europeans  who  settled 
this  country  and  made  it  a part 
of  the  civilized  world,  was  him- 
self an  interloper,  and  not  really 
the  aboriginal  American.  But 
this  is  matter  of  conjecture.  We 
only  know  that  the  extent  and 
magnitude  of  these  mounds 
serve  as  an  index-finger  pointing 
to  a history  never  to  be  written 
of  a people  who  had  ceased  to 
inhabit  the  country  long  before 
the  advent  of  the  white  man, 
or  if  still  the  same,  changed  sadly 
in  character,  and  practically  ex- 
tinct. 

Of  the  Canadian  Indians,  in- 
cluding the  Esquimaux,  enough 
has  been  said  in  previous  chap- 
ters, but  Indian  archaeology  and  present  facts  unite  in 
presenting  other  aborigines  quite  as  interesting  and 
civilized  as  the  Mound-builders,  known  as  Cave- 
dwellers  and  Cliff-dwellers. 

The  land  of  the  Mound-builders  is  now  under 
cultivation,  peopled  by  a race  noted  for  what  it  can 
do  in  the  line  of  utility,  but  the  land  of  the  Cave 
and  Cliff  dwellers  is  still,  for  the  most  part,  undis- 
turbed by  white  men.  That  land  extends  over  a 
large  part  of  Colorado,  Utah,  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico.  That  vast  region  is  inconceivably  rich  in 
precious  metals,  yields  a growth  of  very  nutritious 
grasses  for  buffaloes,  cattle  and  sheep.  It  may  be 
said  to  be  at  once  the  treasure-house  and  the  pasture 


GREAT  SERPENT,  ADAMS  CO.,  OHIO. 


of  the  United  States.  From  the  standpoint  of  pro- 
ductive value  it  is  those  two  and  no  more.  But  to 
the  student  of  the  curious  it  is  interesting  as  the 
home  of  a more  remarkable  people,  apparently,  than 
the  Mound-builders. 

The  architectural  remains  and  attestations  of  a 
decayed  civilization  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  are 
pueblos,  casa  grandes,  cave-houses  and  cliff-houses. 
A pueblo  is  sometimes  inhabited,  but  often  a desert- 
ed  village.  The  pueblo  struc- 
tures are  made  of  stone,  quite 
large,  sometimes  two  or  three 
stories  in  height.  Within,  the 
building  is  divided  into  numer- 
ous apartments,  as  many  as  a 
thousand  in  some  instances. 
South  of  the  pueblos  are  found 
casa  grandes,  differing  from  the 
other  class  of  structure  in  mate- 
rial, rather  than  size  or  object. 
They  were  made  of  mud,  or 
adobe.  For  the  most  part  these 
are  now  shapeless  ruins. 
Cliff-houses  are  another  highly 
, interesting  feature  of  the  an- 
tiquities of  the  interior  of  the 
United  States.  A writer  who 
was  on  the  ground  and  wrote 
from  actual  observation,  says  in 
describing  one  of  these  cliff- 
houses,  “ Over  six  hundred  feet 
from  the  bottom  of  the  canon, 
in  a niche  in  the  wall,  is  a 
fine  specimen  of  cliff-dwellings. 
Five  hundred  feet  of  the  ascent 
to  this  aerial  dwelling  was  comparatively  easy, 
but  a hundred  feet  of  almost  perpendicular  wall 
confronted  the  party,  up  which  they  could  never 
have  climbed  but  for  the  fact  that  they  found 
a series  of  steps  cut  in  the  face  of  the  rock  leading 
up  to  the  ledge  upon  which  the  house  was  built. 
This  ledge  was  ten  feet  wide  by  twenty  feet  in  length, 
with  a vertical  space  between  it  and  the  overhang- 
ing rock  of  fifteen  feet.  The  house  occupied  only 
half  this  space,  the  remainder  having  been  used  as 
an  esplanade,  and  once  was  inclosed  by  a balustrade 
resting  on  abutments  built  partly  upon  the  sloping 
face  of  the  precipice  below.  The  house  was  but 
twelve  feet  high  and  two-storied.  Though  the  walls 


it 


NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 


■vte 


1 


-i  o 


did  not  reach  up  to  the  rock  above,  it  is  uncertain 
whether  it  ever  had  any  other  roof. 

The  ground  plan  showed  a front  room 
of  six  by  nine  feet  in  dimensions,  in 
the  rear  of  which  were  two  smaller 
rooms,  each  measuring  five  by  seven 
feet.  The  left-hand  room  projected 
along  the  cliff  beyond  the  front  room 
in  the  form  of  an  L.  The  rock  of 
the  cliff  served  as  the  rear  wall  of  the 
house.  The  cedar  beams  upon  which 
the  upper  floor  rested  had  nearly  all 
disappeared. 

“ The  door  opening  upon  the  es- 
planade was  but  twenty  by  thirty 
inches  in  size,  while  a window  in  the 
same  story  was  but  twelve  inches 
square.  A window  in  the  upper  story 
which  commands  an  extended  view 
down  the  canon  corresponds  in  dimen- 
sions and  position  with  the  door  below. 

The  lintels  of  the  window  were  small, 
straight  cedar  sticks  laid  close  to- 
gether, upon  which  the  stones  rested. 

Opposite  this  window  was  another 
one,  opening  in- 
to a semi-circu- 
lar cistern, form- 
ed by  a wall  in- 
closing the  angle 
formed  by  the 
side  wall  of  the 
house  against 
the  rock,  and 
holding  about 
two  and  a half 
hogsheads.  The 
bottom  of  the 
reservoir  was 
reached  by  de- 
scending on  a 
series  of  cedar 
pegs  about  one 
foot  apart,  and 
leading  down- 
ward from  the 
window.  The 
workmanship  of 
the  structure  was 


ESQUIMAUX. 


diculars  were  true  ones  and  the  angles  carefully 
squared.  The  mortar  used  was  of  a 
grayish  white  color,  very  compact  and 
adhesive.  Some  little  taste  was 
evinced  by  the  occupants  of  this 
human  swallow’s-nest.  The  front 
rooms  were  plastered  smoothly  with  a 
thin  layer  of  firm  adobe  cement,  col- 
ored a deep  maroon,  while  a white 
band  eight  inches  wide  had  been 
painted  around  the  room  at  both  floor 
and  ceiling.  An  examination  of  the 
immediate  vicinity  revealed  the  ruins 
of  half  a dozen  similar  dwellings  in 
the  ledges  of  the  cliffs,  some  of  them 
occupying  positions,  the  inaccessibility 
of  which  must  ever  be  a wonder  when 
considered  as  places  of  residence  for 


human  beings.” 


houses  of  the  aboriginal 


and  smaller 


CASA  GRANDE  OP  THE  GILA  VALLEY. 


of  a superior  order;  the  perpen-  ! than  their  descendants. 


The  cave 

American  were  substantially  similar 
to  the  cliff  houses,  except  this,  instead 
of  being  constructed  on  a shelf  of 
the  cliff,  they  seem  to  have  been  set 
into  openings  in  the  cliffs.  Caves  a thousand  feet 

above  the  level 
of  the  valley 
have  been  found 
which  show  evi- 
dence of  long 
and  populousoe- 
cupaucy.  Some 
cave  villages 
havebeenfound. 
This  class  of  ex- 
ploration is  still 
incomplete,  but 
enough  isknown 
to  justify  the 
conclusion  that 
the  older  gener- 
ations of  In- 
dians, no  doubt 
the  real  progen- 
itors of  those 
now  there,  wore 
far  more  capa- 
ble and  efficient 
If  not  exactly  “ thodogen- 


488 


NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 


reate  sons  of  noble  sires,”  there  is  certainly  no  doubt 
about  the  de- 
generacy. 

The  reader 
may  desire  to 
be  informed 
how  many  In- 
dians there 
probably  were 
on  this  conti- 
nent when  it 
was  first  dis- 
covered. There 
is  no  way  of 
telling,  but  the 
fairestestimate 
is  five  millions, 
one-fifth  of  the 
number  being 
within  the  bor- 
ders of  the 
United  States. 

Central  gov- 
ernments and  the  civilization  implied,  were  confined 
to  Peru  and  Mexico,  as  those  terms  are  used  in  his- 
tory, and  notin 
the  present  re- 
stricted sense. 

According  to 
the  classifica- 
tion made  by 
J.  Hammond 
Trumbull  and 
other  eminent 
authorities  on 
this  subject, 
the  Indians 
west  of  the 
Rocky  Mount- 
ains were  divi- 
ded into  eight 
nations,  or  con- 
federations of 
tribes,  bound 
loosely  togeth- 
er by  a vague 
sense  of  kin- 
ship. They 


Catawbas,  Uchees,  Natchez,  Mobilians,  Dakotas  or 

Sioux.  The 
vast  section  of 
country  ex- 
tending from 
Pennsylvania, 
Virginia,  Dela- 
ware and  New 
Jersey, through 
Southeastern 
New  York, 
along  the  coast 
of  the  Atlantic 
off  New  En- 
gland, thence 
inland  by  the 
St.  Lawrence 
to  the  lake  re- 
gion, embrac- 
ing the  area  of 
the  states  of  Il- 
linois, Indiana, 
and  sections  of 

Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  formed  the  hunting- 
grounds  of  the  Algonquins.  This  distinct  nation 

was  divided  in- 
to numerous 
tribes,  the  most 
of  which  were 
decidedly  no- 
madic, moving 
from  one  sec- 
tion of  their 
vast  territory 
to  another,  as 
their  fancies 
dictated  or  necessities  demanded.  Some 
of  the  more  important  of  the  tribes  be- 
longing to  the  Algonquin  nation  were 
the  Narragansetts,  Pequots,  Mohegans 
and  Massachusetts  who  occupied  South- 
ern New  England,  while  further  south 
of  them  were  to  be  found  the  Shawnees, 
Delawares  and  Powhattans,  and  some 
less  noteworthy  branches  of  the  nation. 
The  Miamis,  Foxes,  Illinois,  Sacs,  Kick- 
apoos,  Chippewas  and  Menominees,  were 
scattered  throughout  the  West,  and  in 
were  the  Algonquins,  Huron-Iroquois,  Cherokees,  | the  section  of  country  bordering  upon  the  great 


Urn Sl^s 


j 


-V|SL 


NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 


489 


lakes.  The  Montagnais  inhabited  a region  on 
the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  They  were  objects 
of  great  interest  to  the  Jesuit  priests  of  Quebec,  who, 
with  a true  missionary  spirit,  sought 
their  rude  habitations  in  winter, 
with  a view  of  bringing  them  with- 
in the  pale  of  the  church.  The  Al- 
gonquin nation  gave  birth  to  many 
noted  warriors  who  left  records  long 
remembered  by  the  early  settlers 
of  the  country.  Of  these  may  be 
named  Massasoit,  King  Philip,  Powhatan,  Pontiac, 


BLACKHAWK 


Blackhawk  and  Tecumseh. 

In  the  year  1600,  the  Algonquins  were  estimated 
to  number  nearly  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand. 

The  Indians  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  are  gradually  be- 
ing concentrated  upon  res- 
ervations, and  it  will  not  be 
very  many  years  before 
every  Indian  will  be  obliged 
to  adopt  civilization  or  re- 
move to  and  abide  upon  his 
reservation.  Not  that  a red 
man  is  imprisoned  and  cannot  go  beyond  certain 
territorial  limits  in  his  individual  capacity.  Not 
that  at  all.  But  simply  the  roving  about  of  preda- 
tory bands  cannot  be  allowed  where  white  folks  live. 
The  office  of  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  was 


created  by  congress  in  1832,  and  is  in  charge  of  the 
bureau  of  Indian  Affairs,  a branch  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior.  It  is  his  duty  to  superin- 
tend the  distribution  of  the  appropriations  which 
congress  makes  yearly  for  the  Indians,  who  are  re- 
garded as  “ wards  of  the  government.’’  There  are 
numerous  agencies  scattered  over  the  western  coun- 
try, subject  to  the  Indian  Commissioner.  During  a 
part  of  General  Grant’s  term,  a real  Indian,  Captain 
Parker,  held  this  office,  but  the  service  is,  and  with 
this  exception  always  has  been,  altogether  in  the 
hands  of  the  whites.  The  aim  is  to  protect  the  pio- 
neers from  depredations  and  enable  the  Indians  them- 
selves to  evade  the  fundamental  law  that  “ lie  who 
will  not  work  shall  not  eat.”  Some  of  these  agen- 
cies and  reservations  are  within  the  limits  of  states, 
or  territories  which  will  become  states,  but  it  is  evi- 
dent that  before  many  years  all  settlements  of 
Indians  will  be  concentrated  in  Indian  Territory. 


This  fair  portion  of  our  continent,  bordering  on 
Texas,  Kansas,  Arkansas,  Colorado  and  Missouri, 
contains  an  area  of  about  70,000  square  miles.  The 
policy  of  removing  the  tribes  of  Indians  to  a territory 
of  their  own  originated  in  1834.  At  first  it  was 
somewhat  vague  in  conception  and  legislative  defini- 
tion, but  this  policy  has  assumed  precision  at  last,  and 
now  the  United  States  stands  ready  to  guard  and 
protect  “ the  nation,”  as  Indian  territory  is  popularly 
called,  from  intruding  whites.  The  principal  tribes 
there  are  Cherokees,  Chicasaws,  Choctaws,  Creeks, 
Quapaws,  Seminoles  and  Poncas.  The  entire  popu- 
lation is  not  far  from  100,000.  A good  deal  of  corn 
and  wheat  are  annually  raised,  and  large  herds  of 
cattle  pastured.  There  are  schools  among  them  and 
newspapers.  It  is  not  believed  that  the  population 
is  decreasing".  The  old  idea  of  ultimate  Indian  ex- 
tinction is  unfounded. 

The  general  characteristics  of  the  Indian  are,  a 
copper-colored  skin  ; straight  black  hair  ; high 
cheek  bones ; a tall,  erect  form ; stolidity  and  an 
incorrigible  aversion  to  work.  Their  speech  is  guttu- 
ral, rasping  and  disagreeable.  Many  dialects  there 
are,  as  a matter  of  course,  among  a people  widely 
scattered,  unsocial,  and  having  nothing  approaching 
a literature  nearer  than  a few  rude  pictures  on  birch- 
bark.  Some  claim  that  there  were  at  least  ten  dis- 
tinct languages  spoken  in  this  country  by  the  prim- 
itive natives.  There  may  have  been  a hundred.  John 
Eliot,  the  one  Englishman  who  truly  and  sincerely 
came  to  America  early  in  the  seventeenth  century  to 
convert  the  heathen,  faithfully  mastered  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Indians  about  him  in  Massachusetts. 

With  infinite  pains  he  translated  the  Bible  into  it, 
thinking:  he  had  done  for  the  Indians  much  the 
same  service  that  Wycliffe  had  done  for  the  English. 

The  dreary  difficulties  of  his  mighty  task  were  ren- 
dered recreative  by  the  anticipation  of  a redeemed 
people.  But  a few  generations  passed  and  nothing  was 
left  to  attest  the  wisdom  of  his  goodness.  Indians 
are  numerous  enough,  in  the  far  West,  but  it  has 
been  a long,  long  time  since  any  “ noble  red  man” 
could  read  that  curiosity  of  literature,  or  understand 
it  if  read  to  him,  however  accurate  the  pronunciation. 

A great  deal  of  sentimental  folly  has  been  wasted 
upon  the  Indian.  He  had  an  infinitely  bettor 
chance  to  become  civilized  than  the  negro  had,  but 
he  would  not  become  a part  of  the  industry  of  the  1 
country.  A little  corn  and  tobacco  would  he  raise, 


49° 


NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 


► 


and  that  is  all.  In  the  field  of  American  pro- 
duction he  was,  and  still  persists  in  being,  a mere 
thistle,  fond  of  the  baubles  and  hurtful  inventions 
of  civilized  life,  without  accepting  anything  which 
is  the  just  pride  of  progressive  humanity.  The  skin 
of  beasts,  a wigwam,  war  paint,  bow  and  arrow, 
tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  are  still  the  Indian’s 
measure  of  improvement.  In  the  midst  of  a most 
productive  continent  the  aboriginal  American  is  a 
constitutional  pauper,  supported  by  annuities,  and 
self-excluded  from  participation  in  the  events  of  the 
day.  Originally  sea-shells  somewhat  carved  and 
fashioned,  constituted  the  Indian’s  only  object  of 
trade  or  standard  of  values.  Wampum,  as  those  shells 
were  called,  was  both  commerce  and  coin.  Their 
stone  hatchets,  clay  kettles,  baskets,  fish-nets,  corn, 
with  a few  beans  and  squashes  added,  might  be 
prized,  but  there  was  no  traffic  in  them.  Sometimes 
copper  or  pipe-stone  was  exchanged  for  wampum. 
Now  that  the  white  man  feeds  and  clothes  him,  the 
Indian  will  barter  the  skins  of  the  beasts  of  the 
chase  for  nothing  else  so  readily  as  for  alcohol. 

The  Indian  proper  has  a certain  individuality,  de- 
fying change  which  excites  some  admiration.  He 
worships  God  as  a Great  Spirit,  accepts  the  inevitable 
with  stoical  heroism,  and  if  he  does  fight  in  ambush 
and  scalp  his  victim,  he  is  not  ungrateful.  Revenge 
is  the  sweetest  bread  an  Indian  ever  tasted,  but  many 
instances  could  be  given  of  kindness  rendered 
at  great  peril  to  repay  kindness.  The  Indian 
has  some  sense  of  justice  ; none  at  all  of  mercy.  He 
hopes  at  death  to  enter  “the  happy  hunting  grounds” 
of  the  spirit  land,  but  he  expects  to  be  welcomed  to 
heaven  and  made  glad  with  the  smiles  of  the  blessed 
in  proportion  as  he  was  “ a mighty  man  of  valor.” 
The  works  mete  for  repentance,  according  to  the 
Indian’s  religion,  are  the  scalps  of  enemies. 

History  records  numerous  instances  of  the  dis- 
placement of  one  people  by  another.  From  the  Red 
Sea  to  the  British  channel  the  march  of  empire  was 
over  the  road  of  ruthless  usurpation.  The  new 
comers,  from  the  Jordan  to  the  Thames,  assumed 
that  the  original  occupants  had  no  rights  which  the 
invaders  were  bound  to  respect.  It  is  true  that  in 
this  country  the  aborigines  have  been  crowded  on 
and  off  a good  many  reservations,  and  been  fre- 
quently cheated  by  dishonest  agents — sometimes 
cruelly  murdered ; but  the  very  fact  of  reservations, 


agents,  and  annuities  attests  the  exceptional  human- 
ity of  the  United  States  government.  As  compared 
with  the  record  of  any  other  people,  Jew  or  gentile, 
ours  may  justly  boast  a century  of  honor.  It  is  not 
a pioneer  prejudice,  but  an  undeniable  fact,  that  the 
Indian  is  the  wild  partridge  of  humanity.  The  ne- 
gro did  his  best  to  acquire  civilization,  and  despite 
the  most  persistent  skepticism  and  hostility,  rose  to 
the  dignity  of  American  sovereignty.  There  was 
never  a time  when  this  country  would  not  have 
gladly  taken  the  Indian  by  the  hand  if  he  had 
shown  a disposition  to  rise.  It  is  “ Indians  untaxed  ” 
who  are  discriminated  against  in  the  suffrage  clause 
of  some  organic  laws.  The  United  States  government 
has  tried  to  solve  this  Indian  problem — for  it  must  be 
admitted  that  with  all  our  reservations,  missions,  and 
annuities,  this  country  has  failed  to  civilize  “ the 
first  families  ” of  America  in  a way  ignoring  the 
necessary  steps  in  passing  from  barbarism  to  civili- 
zation. The  attempt  has  been  to  convert  the  hunter 
into  a farmer,  without  any  intermediate  stage.  The 
shepherd,  as  shown  in  a previous  chapter,  is  the  con- 
necting link  between  following  the  chase  and  follow- 
ing the  plow.  No  civilized  people  ever  jumped  at 
one  leap  from  hunting  to  agriculture.  In  the  earlier 
days  of  the  republic,  the  raising  of  grain  and  live- 
stock were  inseparably  blended ; but  it  is  not  so  now. 
There  are  vast  tracts  of  land  in  the  far  West  which 
are  exactly  adapted  to  grazing,  and  nothing  else. 
Already  millions  of  cattle  roam  those  plains,  run- 
ning together,  but  none  the  less  individualized  prop- 
erty. If  the  owner  is  absent,  he  has  a superinten- 
dent, and  in  either  case  employs  “greasers”  to  assist 
in  the  general  care  of  the  stock.  This  life  on  the 
plains  is  half  way  between  buffalo  hunting  and  grain 
raising.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  the  attempt 
should  not  be  made  to  utilize  the  Indians  as  herders, 
and  thus  teach  them  the  alphabet  of  civilization. 

Having  taken  this  general  survey  of  the  Indian 
race,  it  is  proposed  to  enter  upon  the  history  of  the 
United  States  and  follow  it  chronologically,  from 
the  earliest  settlements  to  date.  It  may  be  added 
that  between  Mexico  and  Canada,  nothing  of  im- 
portance to  subsequent  events  occurred  before  the 
seventeenth  century.  But  from  the  time  the  first 
English  colony  was  established  in  North  America 
the  Indian  became  of  secondary  and  rapidly  lessen- 
ing importance. 


N a certain  vague  sense  it 
might  be  said  that  the 
United  States  dates  from 
1496,  when  Henry  VII.  of 
E n g 1 a n d commissioned 
John  Cabot  to  sail  to 
America  and  establish  there 
a New  England.  There 
was  already  a New  Spain,  with  a New 
France  soon  to  follow.  But  that  expe- 
dition was  fruitless.  For  about  a cen- 
tury England  seemed  to  be  singularly 
oblivious  of  America.  The  last  of  the 
Ilenrys,  his  son  Edward  and  daughter 
Mary,  paid  no  heed  to  the  new  world. 

The  first  Englishman  to  interest  him- 
self, thoroughly  and  to  some  purpose, 
in  America  was  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert. 
In  1583  Queen  Elizabeth  authorized  him  to  form  a 
colony  on  this  continent,  lie  set  sail  intending  to 
establish  a permanent  settlement  for  agriculture  and 


fishing,  especially  the  latter,  at  or  near  Newfound- 
land. Ilis  ideal  was  radically  different  from  that  of 
the  Spanish  adventurers  who  had  preceded  him  on 
this  continent.  Sir  Humphrey  was  lost  at  sea.  But 
his  melancholy  fate  did  not  discourage  others  from 
adopting  his  plan.  His  half  brother,  the  illustrious 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  took  up  the  mantle  of  Gilbert, 
and  right  royally  did  he  wear  it.  His  patent  was 
granted  in  1584.  He  did  not  accompany  the  expe- 
dition, but  the  explorers  whom  he  sent  out  effected 
a landing  off  Pamlico  Sound,  finding  a country  far 
more  inviting  than  either  Newfoundland  or  New 
Spain.  It  was  named  Virginia,  in  honor  of  the 
Virgin  Queen.  Two  attempts  were  soon  after  made 
to  found  a permanent  settlement,  both  of  which 
proved  unavailing. 

In  1602  Gosnold  discovered  and  named  Cape  Cod. 
The  settlement  there  and  then  was  soon  given  up. 
Others  came  over  on  exploring  expeditions,  and  the 
English  public  became  greatly  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject of  American  colonization.  In  1806  James  I. 


England  and  English  America — Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh — Cape  Cod, 
Virginia  and  Plymouth — Capt.  John  Smith  and  Pocahontas — Introduction  of  Slavery 
and  English  Wives — Indian  Warfare — Lord  Culpepper  and  the  Royalists — Gov.  Rerke' 
ley  and  Nathaniel  Bacon — Maryland  and  Lord  Baltimore — New  England  and  Capt. 
Smith — Landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers — The  Pilgrims  in  Holland — Gov.  Carver — 
Massasoit  and  Canonicus — Other  Massachusetts  Settlements — Governors  Wintiirop  and 
Endicott— Harvard  College  and  the  Printing  Press — Connecticut  and  New  Hampshire — 
Rhode  Island  and  Roger  Williams— Boston  and  Quakers — Salem  and  Witchcraft- 
King  Philip’s  War — New  England  Bigotry  and  the  Charge  against  Roger  Williams — 
Other  Notable  Early  New  Englanders — New  Netherlands  and  Henry  Hudson— The 
Patroons — Dutch  Governors— New  Sweden — William  Penn  and  Pennsylvania— The 
Carolinas  and  John  Locke — The  Huguenots  and  Scotch — Georgia  and  Oglethorpe— 
Whitefield  and  Slaa-ery — Spanish  and  French  Settlements  in  the  United  States — 
Florida — Mississippi  River  and  Valley — Pere  Marquette  and  New  France. 


CHAPTER 


LXXVI. 


" 7 <s 


(A9l) 


EARLY  COLONIAL  UNITED  STATES 


402 


divided  the  region  claimed  by  England  into  North 
and  South  Virginia,  granting  the  first  to  the  Ply- 
mouth Company,  and  the  second  to  the  London 
Company.  Each  company  attempted  to  establish 
a colony,  but  only  the  latter  was  successful,  and  that 
success  was  the  first  permanent  English  settlement, 
not  only  in  Virginia,  but  America.  The  fleet  was 
under  the  command  of  Christopher  Newport.  It 
sailed  up  the  stately  James  River  in  1607,  and 
founded  Jamestown. 

The  colony  had  a hard  struggle,  and  was  saved 
from  ruin  by  Captain  John  Smith.  On  one  occasion 
Smith  was 
captured  by 
the  Indians. 

The  chief, 

Powhatan, 
condemned 
him  to  death 
but  Poca- 
hontas, the 
daughter  of 
the  chief, 
saved  him. 

At  least,  it 
is  the  story 
told,  and 
long  im- 
plicitly be- 
lieved. It  is 
certain  that 
the  daugh- 
ter was  an  illustrious  personage  in  the  history  of  Vir- 
ginia. She  vis- 
ited England, 
received  Chris- 
tian baptism, 
married  an  En- 
glishman, Rolfe, 
and  became  the 
founder  of  a. 
family  which 
has  always  been 
very  proud  of 
her. 

Slavery  was 
introduced  into 
Virginia  in  1619.  The  English  never  attempted  to 
enslave  the  natives,  but  they  seemed  to  have  no 


scruples  about  dealing  in  African  chattels.  The 
first  negroes,  twenty  in  number,  were  imported  by  a 
Dutch  trading-vessel.  The  next  year  the  planters 
bought  a cargo  of  English  wives,  one  hundred  in 
number,  warranted  to  be  respectable.  The  price 
paid  was  120  pounds  of  tobacco  each,  which  was  the 
price  of  her  passage.  With  wives  and  slaves  the  col- 
onists were  quite  established. 

The  first  serious  Indian  war  occurred  in  1622. 
The  massacre  was  very  large,  and  the  retaliation 
still  more  wholesale.  Hostilities  were  maintained 
with  more  or  less  steadiness,  until  1646,  when  peace 

was  effect- 
ed, and  for 
the  most 
part  ever 
afterward 
maintained. 

The  Lon- 
don Com- 
pany was 
dissolved  in 
1624,  upon 
which  Vir- 
ginia be- 
came a 
province  of 
the  crown. 

It  so  re- 
mained un- 
til the  year 
1673,  when 

Charles  II.  ceded  it  for  the  period  of  thirty-one  years 
to  Lord  Culpepper  and  the  Earl  of  Arlington,  names 
conspicuous  in  the  geography 
of  the  present  Virginia.  But 
the  colony  received  its  great- 
est impetus  when  the  civil  war 
in  England  culminated  in  the 
defeat  of  the  rovalists.  Vir- 
ginia was  settled  by  adherents 
to  the  Established  Church  of 
England,  and  many  royalists 
fled  thither  when  the  Com- 
monwealth was  established. 

When  Charles  II.  regained  the  pocahontas. 
crown  (1650)  the  population  of  Virginia  was  30,000, 
and  several  flourishing  towns  had  been  established, 
including  Richmond  and  Williamsburg.  The 


BUILDING  JAMESTOWN 


<5” 


EARLY  COLONIAL  UNITED  STATES. 


493 


first  governor  appointed  by  Charles  II.  was  Gov- 
ernor Berkeley.  He  had  been  in  Virginia  before, 
and  the  colonists  hated  him.  They  had  good  rea- 
son for  their  hatred.  He  was  a detestable  tyrant 
and  opposed  to  everything  progressive.  He  discour- 
aged education,  prohibited  the  introduction  of  the 
printing-press,  and  tried  to  conduct  the  colony  as  a 
great  tobacco  plantation,  and  nothing  else,  on  sub- 
stantially the  same  plan  as  we  have  seen  that  the 
Dutch  have  always  managed  Java.  The  leader  of 
the  opposition  to  Berkeley  was  Nathaniel  Bacon,  the 
first  great  patriot  of  English  descent  on  American 
soil.  He  put  down  an  Indian  uprising  and  curbed 
the  arrogance  of  Berkeley.  “ Bacon’s  rebellion  ” oc- 
curred about  two 
centuries  ago,  and 
was  a presage  of 
the  Revolution- 
ary War  of  one 
hundred  years 
later. 

The  Virginia 
Colony  can  now 
be  left  to  itself 
until  it  came  to 
form  a part  of  the 
colonial  confed- 
eration, as  the  be- 
ginnings of  the 
Union  might  be 
called.  It  was  not  until  the  French  and  Indian 
War,  which  began  in  1653,  that  this  colony  had  any 
further  experience  worthy  of  note.  Year  after  year 
it  continued  to  raise  tobacco  for  exportation,  and 
acquire  wealth  in  the  business.  Gradually  a new 
nationality  was  growing  up  beneath  the  genial  sun 
and  the  free  air  of  young  Virginia,  as  subsequent 
events  served  to  prove. 

Maryland  was  carved  out  of  Virginia  during  the 
reign  of  Charles  I.  In  1629  that  sovereign  granted 
the  state  of  Maryland  substantially  to  George  Cal- 
vert, Lord  Baltimore.  His  lordship  was  a papist, 
and  designed  the  establishment  of  an  asylum  for 
persecuted  Romanists.  So  far  was  he  from  being  a 
papist  of  the  Spanish  type,  however,  that  the  colony 
which  he  established  was  the  most  tolerant  of  any 
in  the  new  world.  lie  called  the  country  Mary- 
land in  honor  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  chief  city 
bears  his  own  name.  1 1 is  colony  became  a refuge 


for  Episcopalians  from  New  England,  for  dissenters 
from  Virginia,  and  other 
victims  of  persecution. 

So  many  Protestants 
were  there  at  one  time 
in  Maryland,  and  so  un- 
grateful were  they,  that 
they  actually  expelled 
all  Roman  Catholics 
from  the  colonial  legis- 
lature. In  1691  the  pro- 
prietary charter  was  re- 
voked and  remained  in 
suspense  until  1715,  when  the  Calverts  regain- 
ed their  vested 
rights.  They  con- 
tinued to  govern 
the  colony  until 
the  Revolution- 
ary War. 

The  name  New 
England  was  giv- 
en to  the  region 
around  Cape  Cod 
by  Captain  John 
Smith,  who  tried 
assiduously  in 
1614  to  plant 
there  an  English 
colony.  He  was  a 
man  of  broad  views,  great  foresight,  and  a keen  eye 
to  business. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  m New  England 
dates  from  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  on 
Plymouth  Rock,  December  21,  1620. 

James  I.  was  then  King  of  England.  That  nar- 
row and  bigoted  sovereign  was  determined  to  make 
all  his  subjects  conform  to  the  Established  or  Epis- 
copal Church.  The  non-conformists  were  subject  to 
persecution.  To  enjoy  their  religion,  a great  many 
of  them  crossed  over  to  Holland,  where  the  widest 
latitude  was  allowed.  But  that  did  not  suit  them. 
The  free  and  easy  Dutch  ways  were  shocking  to 
them.  What  in  the  Low  Country  was  thought  to 
be  liberty  merely,  the  Puritans  looked  upon  as  li- 
cense, irreligious  and  immoral.  Those  who  felt  that 
way  the  deepest  returned  to  their  former  home, 
(Plymouth,  England)  and  prepared  to  sail  for 
the  new  world.  By  that  time  the  Virginians  had 


CECIL.  SECOND  LORD  BALTIMORE. 


494 


EARLY  COLONIAL  UNITED  STATES. 


begun  to  prosper,  and  were  well  known  to  have 
found  a pleasant  land.  The  Pilgrims  took  their  fam- 
ilies with 
them,  sail- 
ing iii  the 
now  fa- 
mous ship, 
the  May- 
flower, in 
September. 

It  was  near- 
ly a three 
months’voy. 
age,  and  the 
weather  en- 
countered 
was  more 
frigid  than 
anything  to 
which  they 
had  ever 
been  accus- 
tomed, and  utterly  unlike  the  mild  climate  they  had 
expected  to  find. 

These  Pilgrims  had  no 
really  valid  charter,  but  be- 
fore landing  they  formed 
themselves  into  a body  politic, 
or  miniature  state,  electing 
John  Carver  first  governor 
of  the  Plymouth  Colony. 

That  first  winter  was  terrible. 

One-half  the  little  company 
died,  including  the  governor. 

But  in  the  spring,  when  the 
Mayflower  returned  to  En- 
gland, none  of  the  Pilgrims 
went  with  her. 

The  Pilgrims  were  wel- 
comed by  the  Indians.  The 
latter  knew  something  of  the 
fishermen  who  had  visited  the 
N orth  Atlantic  coast  in  quest 
of  fish,  and  felt  friendly.  A 
powerful  chief,  Massasoit, 
negotiated  a treaty  <4  peace 
with  the  new-comers  which 
continued  uninterruptedly  for  a long  period.  The 
chief  of  the  N arragansetts,  Canonicus,  was  disposed 


to  make  trouble,  but  changed  his  mind.  Governor 
Bradford,  who  succeeded  Carver,  understood  how  to 

deal  with 
the  natives. 

Plymouth 
Colony  re- 
mained dis- 
tinct until 
1692,  when 
it  became 
mergedwith 
the  settle- 
ments about 
Boston  in 
the  Colo- 
ny of  Mas- 
sachusetts 
Bay.  Of 
those  other 
settlements 
one  was 
Salem,  es- 
tablished in  1629,  with  John  Endicott  as  Governor. 

That  colony  consisted  of  two 
hundred  Pilgrims.  In  1630 
John  Winthrop  brought  over 
a colony  of  1,000,  many  of 
whom  were  highly  educated 
and  wealthy.  They  greatly 
improved  the  general  charac- 
ter of  the  settlement,  Win- 
throp  remaining  the  leading 
man  of  all  the  region  until 
his  death,  a period  of  twenty 
years. 

In  1638  Harvard  College 
was  founded.  It  was  the  first 
institution  of  the  kind  in  this 
country.  William  and  Mary’s 
College,  Virginia,  was  not 
much  later.  The  first  presi- 
dent of  Harvard  set  up  in 
his  own  house  the  first  print- 
ing-press of  the  continent 
north  of  Mexico  the  year  fol- 
lowing. 

Gradually  the  Puritans  ex- 
tended their  settlements  to  the  Connecticut  Valley 
and  Long  Island  Sound.  Connecticut  was  thus 


EMBARKATION  OF  THE  PILGRIMS 


EARLY  COLONIAL  UNITED  STATES. 


495 


settled,  as  were  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  so  far 
as  they  were  settled  at  all,  as  continuations  of 
Massachusetts.  Vermont  had  no  development  until 
long  after.  Connecticut  early  acquired  a reputation 
for  being  more  puritanical  than  Massachusetts. 
Its  “ blue  laws  ” have  long  been  held  up  to  ridicule, 
but  there  was  no  good  ground  for  invidious  com- 
parison. 

New  Hampshire  can  point  with  pride  to  Dartmouth 
College  and  Connecticut  to  Yale  College,  as  evidence 
of  the  high  character  of  their  early  settlers.  The 
story  of  the  Charter  Oak  is  one  of  which  the  state 
of  Connecticut  may  well  be  proud.  Charles  II.  at- 
tempted to  deprive  the  puritan  colonies  of  their 
charter,  but  the  one  granted  to  Connecticut  was  con- 
cealed in  an  oak-tree,  where  it  remained  until  it  was 
safe  to  bring  it  to  light.  The  Charter  Oak  stood 
until  1856.  Its  memorable  use  was  in  1687. 

In  early  colonial  days  the  only  peculiar  part  of 
New  England  was  Rhode  Island,  or  Providence, 
founded  by  Roger  Williams, 
a clergyman  who  was  ban- 
ished from  Plymouth  for  his 
liberal  views,  especially  for 
his  opposition  to  persecution 
and  the  union  of  church  and 
state.  He  founded  Provi- 
dence in  1636.  Newport  was 
started  by  a few  men  of  simi- 
lar views  as  himself  in  1638. 
It  was  a long  time  before 
the  other  New  England  col- 
onies fraternized  with  “ the  plantations  on  Narragan- 
sett  Bay.” 

The  settlers  about  Boston  were  particularly  bigoted. 
In  1656  the  first  Friends  or  Quakers  arrived  at  Bos- 
ton. They  were  persecuted  shamefully.  They  were 
ordered  to  leave.  Some  were  whipped  in  public; 
some  imprisoned;  four  hanged  on  Boston  Common, 
and  two  little  girls  ordered  sold  as  slaves  in  the  Bar- 
badoes,  an  order  no  sea  captain  could  be  found  to 
carry  out.  Boston  has  almost  as  much  to  be  ashamed 
of  as  Salem.  One  hanged  a few  Quakers,  the  other 
burnt  several  witches.  The  account  of  Salem  witch- 
craft finds  place  in  connection  with  witchcraft  in 
general. 

The  first  Indian,  as  appears  from  a previous  chap- 
ter, to  realize  the  conflict  between  the  aborigines  and 
the  pale  faces  about  them,  was  Philip,  son  of  Mas- 


sasoit,  chief  of  the  Pokanokets.  In  1674  he  rallied 
the  savages  for  a war  of  extermination.  For  four 
years  King  Philip’s  war  was  waged.  The  Narragan- 
setts  were  in  the  alliance  ; many  of  the  whites  were 
massacred.  Peace  was  restored  in  1678,  after  two 
thousand  Indians  had  been  killed,  including  Philip 
himself.  The  saintly  John  Eliot  saw  the  work  lie 
had  prosecuted  for  thirty  years  undone,  and  all  hope 
of  incorporating  the  Indians  of  New  England  into 
the  body  of  civilized  society  destroyed.  Philip’s  only 
son  was  sold  into  slavery  in  Bermuda,  and  the  Indi- 
ans of  the  region  rendered  helplessly  weak.  That 
war  rid  New  England  forever  of  what  had  been  the 
especial  peril  and  fear  of  the  whites  for  half  a cen- 
tury. What  the  good  Eliot  had  hoped  to  do  by  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  was  superseded  and  rendered  nu- 
gatory by  gunpowder.  King  Philip’s  war  determined 
the  Indian  policy  of  the  United  States,  notwithstand- 
ing the  pacific  and  just  policy  of  Roger  Williams  in 
Rhode  Island,  William  Penn  at  Philadelphia  and 
the  intermediate  policy  of  other  settlements. 

During  the  ten  years  immediately  succeeding  the 
arrival  of  Winthrop  at  Boston  not  less  than  20,000 
Puritans  became  pilgrims  to  America.  The  Boston 
settlement  was  somewhat  less  rigidly  puritanical 
than  the  Separatists  of  Plymouth.  It  is  a curious 
fact  that  Roger  Williams  was  banished  from  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  partly  for  advanced  ideas  and  partly  for 
his  bigotry.  The  sentence  of  the  court  rested  on 
these  four  indictments : first,  teaching  that  the  title 
of  the  Massachusetts  Company  from  the  king  to  its 
lands  was  not  valid,  but  that  the  Indians  were  the 
true  owners ; second,  that  it  was  not  lawful  to  call 
a wicked  person  to  swear  or  to  pray,  as  being  the 
acts  of  God’s  worship ; third,  that  it  was  wrong  to 
listen  to  any  of  the  ministers  of  the  Parish  Assem- 
blies of  England ; fourth,  that  the  civil  power  had 
no  authority  over  the  opinions  [religious]  of  men. 
For  the  first  and  last  he  is  revered,  while  the  first  part 
of  the  second  and  all  the  third  are  generally  ignored. 
I f is  memory  is  also  revered  for  his  great  service  in 
1637,  in  saving  the  New  England  settlements  from 
a general  Indian  war.  Owing  to  his  influence  the 
Narragansetts  and  the  Mohegans  did  not  join  the 
Pequots  in  raiding  the  whites.  The  result  was  that 
the  latter  tribe  was  exterminated  without  much 
trouble.  A few  other  illustrious  names  belong  to 
early  colonial  New  England.  Miles  Standish,  the 
first  soldier,  John  Alden,  the  friend  whom  he  sent 


62 


•*i<s 


Li- 


496 


EARLY  COLONIAL  UNITED  STATES. 


to  court  the  maiden  whom  both  loved,  and  who 
finally  said,  “Why  don’t  you  speak  for  yourself, 
John,?”are  the  three  characters  having  romantic  in- 
terest. Cotton  Mather  was  a powerful  minister  of  the 
gospel.  Salem  witchcraft  has  always  been  a reproach 
to  his  otherwise  fair  name.  Speaking  of  this  point, 
Poole  says : “ While  witchcraft  raged  in  Europe  thirty 
thousand  victims  perished  in  the  British  Islands, 
seventy-five  thousand  in  France,  one  hundred  thou- 
sand in  Germany,  and  corresponding  numbers  in 
Italy,  Spain,  Switzerland,  Sweden.”  He  puts  the 
number  of  executions  in  New 
England  at  thirty-two,  all 
told.  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson 
was  the  “strong-minded” 
woman  in  the  colonies.  She 
had  the  honor  of  being  asso- 
ciated with  Williams,  Wil- 
liam Coddington,  John 
Clarke,  William  Aspinwall, 
and  some  others,  in  the  pur- 
chase of  Rhode  Island,  for 
which  they  paid  the  aborigi- 
nes “ forty  fathoms  of  white 
beads.”  In  1G42  she  removed 
with  her  family  to  New  Neth- 
erlands, where  she  was  the 
victim  of  an  Indian  massacre. 

One  child  escaped  the  toma- 
hawk. She  was  a second 
cousin  of  the  poet  Urvden. 

Thomas  Hooker,  long  the 
leading  minister  of  Con- 
necticut, as  John  Cotton  and 
Cotton  Mather  were  of  Massachusetts,  was  a man  of 
great  intellectual  strength. 
He  belonged  to  a family  al- 
ready illustrious  in  ministeri- 
al annals,  and  which  is  still 
nobly  represented  in  the 
pulpit. 

L The  Connecticut  Puritans 
early  came  into  contact  with 
the  Dutch.  In  1G09  Henry 
Hudson,  an  English  sailor 
who  had  already  made  two  voyages  to  America,  was 
sent  by  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  in  quest  of 
a passage  across  the  continent,  in  the  hope  of  a short 
cut  to  the  Orient.  In  his  search  he  sailed  into  New 


HENKY  HUDSON. 


Y ork  harbor,  never  before  visited  by  white  men,  and 
sailed  up  the  river  now  bearing  his  name  as  far  as 
the  present  site  of  Albany,  when  he  was  obliged  to 
abandon  his  enterprise  and  turn  back.  His  report 
of  the  beauties  of  the  country  suggested  the  idea  of 
a Dutch  settlement  in  America.  In  1613  a trading- 
post  was  established  at  New  York,  which  was  first 
called  New  Amsterdam.  The  next  year  another  was 
established  at  Fort  Orange,  or  Albany. 

The  settlement  of  New  York  for  purposes  of 
cultivation  dates  from  1623,  when  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company  established 
colonists  on  the  shores  of  the 
Hudson  river,  on  a plan 
widely  different  from  that  of 
any  of  the  English  colonies. 
There  was  never  any  religious 
persecution,  nor  was  religion 
considered  in  any  way,  appar- 
ently. The  early  settlers  of 
New  York  may  be  ‘called 
“Christian  pagans.”  But  the 
most  remarkable  feature  of 
New  Netherlands,  as  the 
region  was  called,  was  the 
patroon  system.  Any  man 
bringing  fifty  persons  with 
him  was  allowed  a tract  of 
land  with  sixteen  miles  of 
river  frontage  and  a depth  as 
great  as  “the  situation  of  the 
occupiers  would  permit.”  The 
patroon  was  allowed  almost 
absolute  control  within  his 
own  domain.  New  England  had  its  small  farms  and 
farmers,  Virginia  and  Maryland  their  spacious  plan- 
tations, tilled  by  slave  labor,  and  New  Netherlands 
its  lordly  estates,  cultivated  by  tenants.  The  latter 
system  was  not  adapted  to  a country  of  boundless 
landed  resources,  still,  it  has  not  wholly  disappeared 
from  New  York  yet.  Two  centuries  and  a half 
have  rolled  by  and  the  “ patroon  ” may  be  found  oc- 
casionally. The  Wadsworth  estate  in  the  Geneseo 
valley  is  the  largest  still  left.  Those  upon  the  Hud- 
son and  the  Mohawk  have  nearly  all  disappeared. 
“The  Patroon  War,”  or  rebellion  of  the  tenants  of 
the  Van  Rensselaer  estate,  which  occurred  some  two 
generations  ago,  virtually  removed  the  system  from 
the  eastern  part  of  the  state. 


Tv 


4a 


EARLY  COLONIAL  UNITED  STATES. 


497 


PETER  8TUYVE8ANT . 


The  first  Dutch  governor  was  Wouter  Van  Twil- 
ler,  a singularly  stupid  man;  the  second,  William 
Kieft,  a busy  little  despot,  and  the  third  and  last 
was  the  stalwart  Peter  Stuyvesant,  a man  of  ex- 
traordinary will  power. 
Many  of  the  people 
were  English.  Abso- 
lute religious  liberty 
drew  to  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson  a great  variety 
of  people.  In  1664  the 
English  fleet  entered 
.the  harbor,  passing  Hell- 
sAxgate  and  without  seri- 
ous opposition  taking 
possession  of  the  coun- 
try. Henceforth  new 
names  were  adopted, 
New  York  being  substituted  for  New  Netherlands  and 
New  Amsterdam,  and  Albany  for  Fort  Orange.  The 
people  took  kindly  to  the  change,  for  the  mass  of 
the  colonists  were  restless  under  the  patroon  system 
as  originally  adopted,  with  its  denial  of  all  political 
rights  to  the  common  people.  This  fact,  rather 
than  any  lack  of  courage  on  the  part  of  Stuyvesant, 
paralyzed  the  arm  of  that  stout-hearted  last  of  the 
Dutch  governors. 

A little  south  of  New  York  was  the  Swedish  col- 
ony projected  by  Gustavus  Adolphus,  but  not  es- 
tablished until  1638.  New  Sweden  comprised  the 
territory  from  Cape  Ilenlopen  to  Trenton  Falls. 
The  present  state  of  Delaware  and  parts  of  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  belonged  to  the  Swedes  by 
right  of  purchase  from  the  Indians  and  of  act- 
ual occupancy.  After  an  existence  of  seventeen 
years  New  Sweden  was  annexed  to  New  Netherlands, 
almost  without  a struggle,  the  annexation  including 
all  except  that  portion  of  it  in  or  near  Philadelphia, 
which  William  Penn  purchased  of  the  Swedes.  The 
Dutch  regained  possession  of  New  York  after  nine 
years,  retaining  it  for  fifteen  months  only ; but 
Sweden  made  no  attempt  to  maintain  control  of  its 
colony,  and  the  colonists  themselves  seemed  quite 
indifferent  to  political  changes. 

It  was  not  until  1683  that  William  Penn  estab- 
lished his  Quaker  colony  in  the  new  world.  This 
illustrious  Friend  was  the  friend  of  Charles  II.  of 
England,  and  the  king  owed  his  father,  Admiral 
Penn,  a large  sum  of  money.  In  discharge  of  that 


WILLIAM  PENN. 


debt  His  Majesty  gave  the  son  a charter  to  a large 
tract  of  land  west  of  the  Delaware  river,  and  vested 
in  him  full  regal  powers. 

Penn  established  a “ free  colony  for  the  good  and 
oppressed  of  all  nations,” 
more  particularly  his  co- 
religionists. The  city  of 
Philadelphia  was  the  start- 
ing-point of  the  settlement. 

Among  those  who  availed 
themselves  of  the  privileges , 
of  Pennsylvania,  was  a-' 
company  of  Germans,  who, 
like  the  English  Quakers, 
were  non-residents,  very 
simple  in  their  tastes,  demure  in  manner,  and  pure 
in  morals.  Many  of  their  descendants  have  main- 
tained their  national  speech  and  old-time  peculiari- 
ties almost  unchanged  for  two  centuries.  Pennsyl- 
vania was  never  disgraced  by  an  Indian  war,  by  re- 
ligious persecution,  or  any  form  of  fanaticism.  The 
nearest  approach  to  it  was  a trial  for  witchcraft 
which  resulted  in  acquittal.  Penn  was  born  in  Lon- 
don in  1644,  educated  at  Oxford,  and  early  converted 
to  Quakerism.  He  never  resided  long  in  the  colony 
which  he  founded.  His  last  years  were  spent  in 
poverty  and  distress.  He  died  in  1718. 

The  Carolinas  came  into  view  in  1630  when 
Charles  I.  made  a grant  of  “The  Province  of  Car- 
olina ” to  Sir  Robert  Heath.  But  only  a very  little 
was  done  in  that  part  of  the  new  world,  beyond 
some  lumbering  in  the  pineries,  until  a movement 
was  made  at  the  head  of  which  stands  the  illustrious 
name  of  John  Locke.  The  greatest  of  English 
philosophers,  Lord  Bacon,  had  been  a shareholder 
in  a company  gotten  up  to  make  money  out  of  Vir- 
ginia, but  his  brother  philosopher  was  actuated  by 
no  mercenary  motive.  Locke  and  his  associates  un- 
dertook to  establish  an  ideal  state  in  America.  He 
and  Lord  Shaftesbury  drew  up  a grand  model  of  an 
aristocratic  Utopia.  The  “ Model  ” was  utterly  un- 
suited to  the  purposes  of  the  pioneers,  Imt  the  settle- 
ment grew  and  prospered.  The  Locke  Grant  was 
issued  in  1663.  The  first  permanent  colony  was 
planted  in  North  Carolina.  The  first  within  the 
limits  of  South  Carolina  dates  from  1670.  Before 
that  time  French  and  Spanish  representatives  had 
tried  to  gain  a foothold  on  that  coast.  Much  blood 
had  been  shed,  and  all  to  no  advantage,  for  the 


<s 


498 


EARLY  COLONIAL  UNITED  STATES. 


country  was  neither  French  nor  Spanish.  But  after 
the  English  had  fairly  taken  undisputed  possession 
many  French  Huguenots  flocked  thither  from  the 
persecutions  of  France.  Between  the  years  1686 
and  1688  no  less  than  a million  Huguenots  fled  from 
their  native  land,  a few  of  them  seeking  asylum  in 
Carolina.  From  Scotland  also  came  many  victims 
of  persecution,  Covenanters  who  were  subject  to  most 
cruel  treatment  at  home.  The  Carolinas  were  not 
so  much  established  by  Englishmen  as  by  French- 
men and  Scotchmen.  Many  of  the  latter  settled 
in  New  Jersey,  where  Elizabethtown  was  founded 
in  1670. 

In  a general  way  it  deserves  to  be  added,  that  the 
seeds  of  the  United  States  were  sown  by  persecution, 
and  tiiat  even  where  persecution  was  not  the  first 
cause. 

The  latest  distinct  settlement  in  America  to  grow 
into  a separate  state  was  effected  at  Savannah  in 
1733,  under  the  auspices  of  the  philanthropic  Gov- 
ernor Oglethorpe, 
the  father  of  Geor- 
gia. This  amiable 
map  excluded  rum 
and  slaves,  both  be- 
ing at  that  time 
common  to  all 
American  colonies. 
His  influence  was 
counteracted,  so  far 
as  slavery  was  con- 
cerned, by  that 
james  edwahd  OGLETHORPE.  eminent  evangelist, 
George  Whitefield.  Oglethorpe’s  primal  idea  was  to 
establish  an  asylum  for  insolvent  debtors.  In  effect 
it  proved  mainly  a resort  for  the  malcontents  of  the 
Carolinas  and  Virginia.  It  grew  rapidly,  and  early 
became  an  important  colony.  It  was  named  in 
honor  of  George  II.  of  England. 

We  have  now  spoken  of  the  colonies  which  devel- 
oped ultimately  into  the  thirteen  colonies  and  states, 
each  in  its  infancy.  It  may  be  well  in  this  connec- 
tion to  refer  to  the  other  early  settlements  within 
the  present  limits  of  the  United  States,  but  which 
had  no  part  or  lot  in  achieving  for  these  once  widely 
severed  settlements  national  unity. 

The  earliest  of  these  was  Florida.  Ponca  de  Leon 
landed  on  the  north  side  of  the  gulf-stream,  opposite 
the  Bahamas,  on  Easter-day  of  1513,  naming  the 


country  Pascua  Florida.  He  was  in  search  of  the 
fabled  fountain  of  youth.  No  practical  results  fol- 
lowed, de  Leon  receiving  a wound  in  an  encounter 
with  the  natives  which  proved  fatal  to  him  in  Cuba. 
But  in  1539  Fernando  de 
Soto,  a Spanish  nobleman 
who  had  been  with  Cortez  in 
Mexico  and  Pizarro  in  Peru, 
amassing  a large  fortune,  was 
commissioned  to  take  posses- 
sion of  Florida.  He  fitted 
out  a large  fleet.  He  had  600 
men  with  him  and  a goodly 
supply  of  domestic  animals, 
including  bloodhounds.  In 
May  of  the  next  year  he  landed.  For  three  years 
he  and  his  men  wandered  about  in  search  of  gold. 
He  was  the  first  to  discover  the  Mississippi  River. 
He  finally  perished  in  the  wilderness.  In  1565  Pedro 
Menendez,  another  Spaniard,  landed  in  Florida.  He 
had  3,000  men  with  him.  They  founded  the  city  of 
St.  Augustine,  which  now  has  the  honor  of  being 
the  oldest  European  town  in  the  United  States. 

Three  years  before,  a French  settlement  had  been 
effected  at  Port  Royal,  South  Carolina.  Admiral 
Coligny,  the  great  Huguenot  statesman,  was  the  real 
father  of  the  settlement.  Carolina,  it  may  be  ob- 
served, was  named  in  honor  of  Charles  of  France,  not 
of  England.  This  colony  and  the  one  at  Florida  were 
far  enough  from  each  other,  one  would  suppose,  to 
prevent  clashing.  But  unfortunately  a second  French 
settlement  had  been  effected  on  the  St.  John’s  River 
in  Florida,  which  served  as  a connecting  link  of  hos- 
tility. The  Spaniards  were  intense  papists,  the 
French  hardly  less  bigoted  Huguenots.  They  fell  to 
cutting  each  other’s  throats.  All  the  French  at 
Fort  Caroline  on  the  St.  John’s  were  massacred  by 
Menendez,  “ not  as  Frenchmen,  but  as  heretics,”  he 
setup  as  his  defense.  Not  long  after  a Frenchman 
of  great  wealth,  Dominique  de  Gourgues,  fitted  up  a 
fleet  for  revenge,  and  terrible  was  his  success.  Such 
of  the  Spaniards  as  escaped  in  battle  he  hanged,  in- 
scribing over  their  heads,  “Not  as  Spaniards,  but 
as  traitors,  robbers  and  murderers.”  Such  was  the 
tragic  fate  of  “ New  France  ” and  “ New  Spain  ” on 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  United  States,  for  the  French  colony  farther 
north  was  destroyed  in  counter-revenge. 

During  the  period  of  colonial  infancy  under  con- 


■ ■Jo" 

EARLY  COLONIAL  UNITED  STATES.  499 


than  by  quoting  Mr.  Francis  Parkman’s  very  dis- 
criminating comparison  between  the  colonial  aims 
and  purpose  of  New  England  and  New  France. 
“ The  growth  of  New  England,”  he  says  “ was  a re- 
sult of  the  aggregate  efforts  of  a busy  multitude, 
each  in  his  narrow  circle  toiling  for  himself,  to 
gather  competence  or  wealth.  The  expansion  of 
New  France  was  the  achievement  of  a gigantic  am- 
bition striving  to  grasp  a continent.  It  was  a vain 
attempt.  Eong  and  valiantly  her  chiefs  upheld 
their  cause,  leading  to  battle  a vassal  popula- 
tion, warlike  as  themselves.  Borne  down  from 
numbers  from  without,  wasted  by  corruption  from 
within,  New  France  fell  at  last;  and  out  of 
her  fall  grew  revolutions  whose  influence,  to  this 
hour,  is  felt  throughout  every  nation  of  the 
civilized  world. 

“ The  French  dominion  is  a memory  of  the  past ; 
and  when  we  evoke  its  departed  shades,  they  rise 
upon  us  from  their  graves  in  strange  romantic  guise. 
Again  their  ghostly  camp-fires  seem  to  burn,  and 
the  fitful  light  is  cast  around  on  lord  and  vassal  and 
black-robed  priest,  mingled  with  wild  forms  of  sav- 
age warriors,  knit  in  close  fellowship  on  the  same 
stern  errand.  A boundless  vision  grows  upon  us ; 
an  untamed  continent ; vast  wastes  of  forest  ver- 
dure ; mountains  silent  in  primeval  sleep ; river, 
lake,  and  glimmering  pool ; wilderness  oceans  min- 
gling with  the  sky.  Such  was  the  domain  which 
France  conquered  for  civilization.  Plumed  helmets 
gleamed  in  the  shade  of  its  forests,  priestly  vest- 
ments in  its  dens  and  fastnesses  of  ancient  barbar- 
ism. Men  steeped  in  antique  learning,  pale  with  the 
close  breath  of  the  cloister,  here  spent  the  noon  and 
evening  of  their  lives,  ruled  savage  hordes  with  a 
mild,  parental  sway,  and  stood  serene  before  the 
direst  shapes  of  death.  Men  of  courtly  nurture, 
heirs  to  the  polish  of  a far-reaching  ancestry,  here, 
with  their  dauntless  hardihood,  put  to  shame  the 
boldest  sons  of  toil.” 


sideration  the  French  made  some  progress  in  the 
interior  of  the  country  by  way  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  lakes.  In  1G73  Pere  Marquette,  a Jesuit 
of  the  better  type,  who  had  already  spent  several 
years  as  a missionary  hi  Canada,  set  out  with  Louis, 
Joliet  and  others,  to  explore  the  sources  of  the  St. 
Lawrence.  They  reached  the  Mississippi  in  J une  of 
the  same  year,  going  by  way  of  Green  Bay,  Fox 
river  and  the  AVisconsin  river.  They  descended  the 
Mississippi  as  far,  at  least,  as  Kaskaskia,  Illinois,  and 
returned  by  way  of  the  Illinois  river.  Joliet  re- 
turned to  Quebec,  but  the  good  Father  Marquette 
remained  hi  the  wilderness,  dying  two  years  later  on 
the  east  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  while  engaged  in 
mission  work. 

Gradually,  and  undisturbed  by  English,  Spanish 
or  Indian  hostility,  the  French  established  settle- 
ments on  the  prairie  along  the  river-banks.  Some 
interesting  relics  and  records  attest  very  considera- 
ble prosperity  in  those  days  ; but  later  they  fell  into 
decay,  and  in  the  permanent  settlement  of  that  por- 
tion of  the  United  States  north  of  what  was  once 
Louisiana,  the  region  purchased  of  France  during 
the  sovereignty  of  Napoleon,  those  French  settle- 
ments exerted  hardly  a perceptible  influence.  In  a 
word,  they  belong  to  the  historical,  in  distinction 
from  the  actual,  in  the  new  world. 

Louisiana  received  its  name  from  LaSalle,  the 
illustrious  French  explorer.  The  term  was  designed 
to  embrace  all  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
French  built  great  expectations  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  that  valley,  and  of  fur  trade  with  the  In- 
dians of  the  interior.  Mobile  was  established  in 
1702,  New  Orleans  fifteen  years  later,  and  all  seemed 
prosperous,  when  suddenly  the  Mississippi  bubble  of 
the  visionary  Law  burst,  whelming  France  in  bank- 
ruptcy, and  preparing  the  way  for  English  triumph 
over  her  great  continental  rival  in  the  possessions 
of  the  North  American  continent. 

This  chapter  cannot  be  closed  more  appositely 


vvvv  v ^ t ,,-v  ^ < 


vvvv..v.,  v y VVV.VV,  »VVV» 


hzzizizii; 


AND  OUTGROWTH 


COLONIAL  GROWTH 


First  Step  Toward  Union — “Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations’" — Intercolonial  Wars — 
The  Floridans  and  the  Georgians — Wars  Between  French  and  English  Colonists — A 
Century  of  Blood — Lieutenant-Colonel  George  Washington  and  Dr.  Franklin — Rela- 
tive Possessions  of  France,  Spain  and  England  in  North  America — Capture  of  Quebec 
— New  France  and  Old  England — Colonial  Debts  and  Money — Indirect  Results  of 
the  French  War — Stamp  Act — Boston  and  North  Carolina — Smuggling  and  the  Gaspee — 
Boston  Tea  Party — Port  Bill — First  Continental  Congress  and  Patrick  Henry — Minute 
Men  and  Paul  Revere’s  Ride— Battle  of  Lexington — Continental  Army  Organized — 
Ethan  Allen  and  the  Green  Mountain  Boys — Battle  of  Bunker  Hill — The  Canadian 
Expedition — Evacuation  of  Boston — Charleston  Harbor  and  Moultrie — Declaration  of 
Independence — Eminent  Men  of  the  Period — Benjamin  Franklin  again. 


N 1696  the  English  govern- 
emrnent  created  a “ Board 
of  Trade  and  Plantations  ” 
for  the  administration  of 
colonial  affairs.  This  Board 
recommended  a closer 
union  between  the  colonies. 
Previous  to  that  time  the 
Puritan  colonies  had  developed  very 
considerable  fellowship,  and  there  had 
been  established  a little  communication 
between  New  York,  Boston  and  the  in- 
tervening towns  accessible  by  water. 
William  Penn  drew  up  the  plan  of  a 
close  union  which  was  not  carried  out 
until  long  after. 

The  English  policy  was  to  restrict  col- 
onial trade  to  commerce  with  the  moth- 
er country  alone.  That  “ mercantile  system”  was 
embodied  in  the  Navigation  Act,  and  similar  stat- 
utes of  Parliament.  By  every  means  posssible  the 
home  government  attempted  to  render  the  Ameri- 
can colonies  entirely  subservient  to  the  wealth  of 
the  mother  country.  It  was  not  until  about  the 


beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  England 
realized  the  importance  of  America,  and  set  about 
making  it  tributary  in  right  good  earnest.  The 
policy  which  culminated  in  war  for  independence 
may  be  said  to  date  from  the  creation  of  the  “ Board 
of  Trade  and  Plantations.” 

But  the  great  agency  in  making  the  colonists  ac- 
quainted with  each  other  and  binding  them  together 
by  a bond  of  common  sympathy,  was  intercolonial 
war,  growing  out  of  French  and  English  rivalries  in 
the  new  world.  The  Georgians  had  a conflict  with 
the  Floridans  which  resulted  favorably  to  the  for- 
mer without  requiring  any  help  from  more  northern 
colonies,  but  when  the  British  lion  met  the  French 
unicorn  in  the  wilderness,  victory  was  not  so  easy. 

There  were  four  distinct  wars  between  the  French 
and  English  colonists,  culminating  in  what  is  known 
as  “ The  old  French  and  Indian  War,”  beginning  in 
1754  and  continuing  until  1763.  The  other  three 
were,  King  William’s  War,  1689-97 ; Queen  Anne’s 
War,  1702-13;  King  George’s  War,  1744-48.  Treat- 
ies of  peace  were  signed  or  formal  declarations  of 
hostility  proclaimed  by  the  home  governments  ac- 
cording to  the  general  situation  in  Europe,  without 


(50°) 


COLONIAL  GROWTH  AND  OUTGROWTH.  50 1 


much  regard  to  the  real  state  of  affairs  in  Amer- 
ica. For  a century  there  was  hardly  any  actual 
cessation  of  hostilities  for  any  considerable  length 
of  time.  It  was  only  after  France  had  lost  Canada, 
and  England  the  United  States,  that  permanent 
peace  was  secured.  From  that  time  on,  the  conti- 
nent was  delivered  from  wars  which  were  both 
intercolonial  and  international.  The  melancholy 
fate  of  Acadia,  a part  of  Canadian  history  already 
narrated,  belongs  to  that  series  of  wars. 

By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  French 
and  English  pioneer  enterprise  began  to  touch  and 
clash  in  the 
Ohio  valley. 

In  1753  Gov- 
ernor Dinwid- 
dieof  Virginia, 
sent  George 
Washington, 
then  only  21 
years  of  age, 
to  Venango  to 
know  his  rea- 
sons for  invad- 
ing the  Brit- 
ish dominions. 

The  reply  was 
that  the  whole 
country  west 
of  theAllegha- 
nies  belonged 
to  France  by 
right  of  discovery.  The  next  year  the  young 
Virginian,  then  a lieutenant-colonel  of  colonial 
militia,  established  a fort  at  the  forks  of  the 
Ohio  river.  A South  Carolina  company  came  to  his 
assistance.  The  two  commanders  quarreled  over  the 
leadership.  The  discussion  was  soon  ended  by  a 
successful  attack  by  the  French,  who  acquired  pos- 
session of  the  entire  Ohio  valley.  The  colonists  were 
alarmed,  for  everywhere  the  French  secured  Indian 
alliance. 

In  1755  Gen.  Braddock,  in  command  of  the  Brit- 
ish and  Colonial  forces  on  the  frontier,  undertook 
to  capture  Fort  DuQuesne,  the  key  to  the  Ohio  val- 
ley. They  were  attacked  in  the  woods  by  the  In- 
dians. “ The  British  could  only  fire  in  platoons,” 
says  Thalheimer,  “ hitting  rocks  and  trees  much 
oftener  than  Indians,  while  the  colonists,  springing 


behind  trees,  took  aim  with  effect.”  Braddock  was 
mortally  wounded.  The  retreat  of  his  regulars  was 
covered  by  the  colonists  with  such  gallantry  that  it 
gave  their  commander,  Washington,  a reputation 
throughout  the  colonies  for  coolness,  bravery  and 
skill.  It  is  probable  that  to  Braddock’s  defeat  is 
this  country  and  the  world  indebted  for  the  public 
services  of  George  Washington. 

o o 

The  success  of  the  French  over  the  English  in  the 
Ohio  wilderness  stimulated  a movement  for  a closer 
union.  All  the  colonies  north  of  the  Potomac  sent 
delegates  to  a convention  held  at  Albany.  Benjamin 

Franklin  was 
a delegate.  He 
presented  a 
plan  of  union 
which  the  con- 
vention accept- 
ed. But  the 
English  Board 
of  Trade,  al- 
though it  had 
at  first  been  in 
favor  of  union, 
prudently  veto- 
ed the  Frank- 
lin plan.  Many 
of  the  colonists 
were  pleased 
with  the  veto, 
apprehensive  of 
losing  colonial 
individuality  in  a union  of  the  colonies.  The  French 
war  was  early  transferred  from  the  remote  valley  of 
the  Ohio  to  the  east,  especially  to  northern  New 
York.  At  this  period  eighty  per  cent,  of  North 
America  belonged  to  France,  sixteen  per  cent,  to 
Spain,  and  four  per  cent,  to  England. 

The  great  event  of  the  culminating  war  between 
the  French  and  the  English  in  the  new  world  was 
the  capture  of  Quebec  in  1759.  That  stronghold 
was  defended  by  the  brave  Montcalm  and  assailed 
by  the  gallant  General  Wolfe.  Gaining  access  to 
“ the  Plains  of  Abraham  ” by  a secret  path  and  in 
the  night,  Wolfe  led  a charge  at  daybreak.  The 
armies  were  about  equal  in  number.  Both  generals 
were  mortally  wounded.  A noble  monument  has 
been  erected  to  mark  the  equal  heroism  of  the  two 
commanders. 


•v 


4 


0 

7 


The  next  year,  1760,  Montreal  was  captured,  as 
well  as  Quebec  held,  and  in 
1763  by  the  terms  of  the 
peace  of  Paris,  France  sur- 
rendered to  England  all  the 


SCALING  THE  HEIGHTS  OF  ABRAHAM. 


GENERAL  WOLFE. 

country  north  of 


the 

St.  Lawrence  and  east 
of  the  Mississippi ; one 
of  the  most  important 
cessions  of  all  history. 

It  was,  in  effect,  the  a- 
bandonment  by  France 
of  a colonial  policy.  It 
was  the  beginning  of 
the  total  end  of  “ New 
France.”  What  En- 
gland did  not  secure 
was  to  fall,  ultimately, 
to  the  United  States. 

The  colonies  found 
themselves  heavily  in 
debt  when  the  last 
French  war  was  ended, 
namely,  $16,000,000. 

Of  this  amount  the 
home  government  re- 
imbursed the  colonies 
to  the  extent  of  $5,000,- 
000.  The  first  colonial 
money,  or  medium  of 
exchange,  was  corn, 
furs,  tobacco,  or  the 
like.  Virginia  early 
drew'  from  England  in 
exchange  for  tobacco 
money  enough  for  all 
practical  purposes.  The  first  mint  was  established  in 
1652  by  Massachusetts,  and  the  first  coin  was  “ the 
pine-tree  shilling.”  Paper  money  was  first  used  hi 


Massachusetts,  its  introduction  dating  from 


belong 


Dollars  and  cents 
pendence. 

Speaking  of  the  relations 


to  the  period  of 


1690. 

inde- 


of  the  French  war  to 


the  colonies,  a historical  writer  says,  “ The  signifi- 
cance of  the  war  was  in  its  being  a preparation  for 
the  impending  struggle  of  the  revolution.  It  was 
a training-school  for  the  generals  and  soldiers  of  the 
colonies.  It  showed  them  war  as  conducted  by  the 

best  captains  of  Eu- 
rope. Washington,  Put- 
nam, Gates,  Montgom- 
ery, Stark,  Arnold, 
Morgan,  and  others, 
who  acted  in  the  revo- 
lution, here  learned  the 
tactics  of  war.  It  also 
taught  the  colonies  the 
idea  of  consolidation, 
and  that  ‘ in  union  there 
is  strength.’”  It  did 
more  than  that.  It  se- 
cured for  the  colonies, 
when  they  came  to 
strike  for  liberty,  the 
sympathy  of  France, 
which  proved  to  be  a 
matter  of  incalculable 
importance. 

The  French  war  was 
a part,  although  a very 
small  part,  of  the  Seven- 
Years  War  in  Europe. 
That  war  involved  the 
great  powers  in  heavy 
debts,  and  besides  sus- 
taining their  own  bur- 
dens, the  colonies  were 
ultimately  required  to 
contribute  as  never  be- 
fore to  the  English  Ex- 
chequer. About  this 
time  (1760)  George  III. 
came  to  the  throne. 
From  the  first  he  was 
unfriendly  to  the  Amer- 
ican colonies.  In  1765  was  enacted  the  famous 
Stamp  Act  in  accordance  with  which  all  legal  docu- 
ments had  to  bear  a stamp,  costing  from  three- 
pence to  six  pounds  sterling,  according  to  their 
importance.  Even  newspapers  had  to  be  stamped. 
The  act  called  out  intense  hostility.  The  next 
year  it  was  repealed,  but  only  to  give  place  to  a 


COLONIAL  GROWTH  AND  OUTGROWTH. 


COLONIAL  GROWTH  AND  OUTGROWTH.  503 


substitute  in  the  way  of  a tax  on  tea,  glass,  paper 
and  other  necessary  imports. 
British  soldiers  were  quarter- 
ed on  the  people.  Boston 
was  foremost  hi  resisting  the 
encroachments  of  the  home 
government,  but  the  brave 
North  Carolinians  were  not 
much  behind  the  patriots  of 
Boston.  It  was  to  escape 
British  tyranny  that  many 
of  the  people  of  North  Caro- 
lina moved  west,  establishing  what  is  now  the  state 
of  Ten- 
nessee hi 
1772.  But 
every  part 
of  the 
country 
had  its 
grievance, 
negativ  e 
and  posi- 
tive. The 
restriction 
upontrade 
and  man- 
ufactures 
was  quite 
as  injuri- 
ous as  di- 
rect taxa- 
tion. Even 

Pitt,  the  advocate  in  parliament  of  political  justice, 
declared,  “If  I could  have  my  way,  there  would  not 
be  so  much  as  a hob-nail  made  in  the  colonies.’ 

The  iron  of  Pennsylvania  and 
the  timber  of  the  South  and 
of  Maine  could  not  be  used  at 
all.  Smuggling  developed  into 
a respectable  line  of  business, 
especially  in  Rhode  Island. 
The  British  sent  the  schooner 
Gaspee  to  Narragansett  Bay 
to  lay  in  wait  for  smugglers. 
Citizens  of  Providence  set  lire 
to  her,  and  all  the  people  approved  the  act. 

In  1773  all  taxes  were  removed,  except  that  on  tea, 
three-j>ence  a pound,  and  this  was  only  a matter  of 


form,  for  the  actual  cost  of  tea  was  less  in  America, 
under  this  tax,  than  it  was  in  England.  The  cargoes 
brought  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia  were  sent 
back,  but  the  British  troops  at  Boston  prevented 
this  from  being  done  there.  Hereupon  a great  meet- 
ing for  protestation  was  held  at  Faneuil  Hall  (well 
called  the  cradle  of  American  liberty),  after  which 
a party  of  men  in  disguise  boarded  the  ships  in  the 
harbor  and  threw  all  the  tea  overboard.  That  fa- 
mous “ tea-party  ” created  great  excitement.  Other 
colonies  were  delighted,  and  the  English  were  enraged. 
Parliament  passed  the  “ Boston  Port  Bill”  by  which 
the  port  of  Boston  was  closed.  This  act  of  petty 

spite  on 
the  part 
of  a great 
nation  ex- 
cited the 
wrath  of 
all  the  col- 
onies, and 
went  far 
to  develop 
a feeling 
of  com- 
mon inter- 
est. The 
sentiment 
of  patriot- 
ism found 
expression 
in  the  or- 
ganization 

of  the  “Sons  of  Liberty ” throughout  the  colonies. 
It  was  to  this  society,  very  largely,  that  was  due  the 
convocation  of  a deliberative  and  representative 
body  to  consult  over  the  grave  situation.  That 
body  met  at  Philadelphia,  the  most  central 
of  all  the  cities  at  that  time,  in  September,  1 774. 
It  proved  to  be  something  more  than  a convention, 
nothing  less  than  the  beginning  of  a series  of  con- 
vocations which  were  regular  and  of  supreme  impor- 
tance. It  is  known  as  the  First  Continental  Con- 
gress. It  consisted  of  fifty-three  members.  It  was 
opened  with  an  eloquent  address  by  the  supreme 
orator  of  Virginia  and  of  the  entire  country,  Pat- 
rick Henry.  The  next  year  ho  was  elected  governor 
of  Virginia,  and  ever  after  remained  a provincial 
statesman,  in  practical  work ; but  his  advocacy  of 


A STAMP. 


3 


1 


Q 

71 


hL 


5°4 


COLONIAL  GROWTH  AND  OUTGROWTH. 


the  rights  of  the  colonies  and  denunciations  of  op- 
pression entitle  him  to  the  profound  gratitude  of 
the  nation.  He  was  born  in  1736  and  died  in  1799. 
The  deliberations  of  the  first  congress  were  charac- 
terized by  prudence.  There  was  no  defiance,  no 
menace.  A respectful  petition  was  drawn  up  expres- 
sive of  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  king,  but  earnestly 
protesting  against  quartering  armies  upon  the  colo- 
nies against  their  consent.  A resolution  was  also 
adopted  to  the  effect  that  no  commercial  intercourse 


immortalized  at  Bunker  Hill,  learned  what  was  to 
be  done,  lie  sent  Paul  Revere  to  rouse  the  surrounding 
towns  and  call  out  the  minute  men.  His  ride  has 
been  rendered  illustrious  by  Longfellow’s  thrilling 
poem  on  the  subject.  In  an  incredibly  short  time 
thirty  thousand  brave  men  were  on  their  way  in 
hot  haste  to  “ Boston  town,”  musket  in  hand. 

The  battle  of  Lexington  was  the  first  engagement 
of  the  Revolutionary  War.  It  was  fought  early  in 
the  spring  of  1775.  General  Gage  sent  800  men  to 


should  be  held  with  England  until  a change  of  pol- 
icy  towards  the  colonies.  From  a British  point  of 
view  that  resolution  was  almost  a declaration  of 
war. 

About  this  time  the  people  formed  themselves 
into  military  companies,  sworn  to  serve  in  the  de- 
fense of  their  rights  at  a moment’s  notice,  hence 
“minute  men.”  There  had  been  some  premonitory 
symptoms  of  war  in  the  way  of  collisions  and  blood- 
shed in  the  streets  of  Boston  and  New  York,  also 
in  North  Carolina ; hut  nothing  approaching  the 
dignity  of  a battle.  Actual  hostilities  were  inaugu- 
rated by  the  British  at  Boston.  They  cannonaded 
the  city.  General  Gage  was  in  command  of  the 
English  forces.  As  soon  as  Dr.  Warren,  afterwards 


destroy  some  military  supplies  at  Concord.  They 
accomplished  their  object  without  very  serious  oppo- 
sition, but  on  their  return  they  were  met  by  “ the 
embattled  farmers,”  who  had  gathered  to  give  them 
a warm  greeting.  The  British  were  routed  in  that 
first  encounter,  the  battle  of  Lexington.  Thirty-one 
towns  were  represented  in  that  conflict.  That 
“ brush,”  for  it  was  hardly  more,  served  to  sharply 
outline  and  distinctly  presage  the  conflict  which 
was  to  close  with  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at 
Yorktown.  The  war  which  began  in  the  spring  of 
1775  was  destined  to  end  in  the  fall  of  1781.  Most 
appropriately,  what  began  in  Massachusetts  closed  in 
Virginia. 

The  second  Continental  Congress  met  at  Phila- 


RETREAT  OP  THE  BRITISH  FROM  CONCORD  AND  LEXINGTON.'’ 


COLONIAL  GROWTH  AND  OUTGROWTH. 


505 


delphia  about  six  months  after  the  battle  of  Lexing- 
ton. Loyalty  to  King  George  was  still  professed. 
Our  revolutionary  fathers  were  slow  to  break  abso- 
lutely with  the  mother  country.  There  were  a great 
many  colonists  who  would  have  been  shocked  at  the 
idea  then  who  soon  embraced  it.  George  Washing- 
ton was  of  this  number.  Those  who  never  ceased 
to  be  in  favor  of  British  rule  in  the  colonies  were 
called  Tories  ; the  patriots,  Whigs.  A “ Continental 
army”  was  organized  by  Congress  for  seven  months, 
and  W ashington  was  elected  commander-in-chief.  It 
was  about  this  time  that  he  wrote  that  he  “ abhorred 
the  idea  of  independence,”  an  idea  already  boldly 
advocated  by  the  Adamses,  Samuel  and  John, 
and  by  some  others. 

After  Lexington, the 
first  movement  was 
in  the  direction  of  se- 
curing Canada.  On 
the  west  shore  of  Lake 
Champlain  stood  two 
strong  forts,  designed 
for  use  in  the  old 
French  and  I ndian 
war.  Without  waiting 
for  orders  or  assist- 
ance, Ethan  Allen 
and  Seth  Warner,  who 
lived  in  the  sparsely 
settled  region  between 
that  lake  and  the  Con- 
necticut river,  rallied 
a few  fellow  “ Green 
Mountain  Boys  ” and 
crossed  Champlain,  surprised  the  garrisons  and 
took  the  forts  without  firing  a shot.  Immense  sup- 
plies of  war  material  were  found  there  and  captured. 
It  was  a brilliant  sortie,  and  justly  entitled  Vermont 
to  immediate  recognition  as  a distinct  colony,  but 
New  York  and  New  Hampshire  both  claimed  juris- 
diction over  the  region.  Allen  soon  afterward  made 
an  attempt  on  Montreal,  was  captured,  and  disap- 
peared from  the  annals  of  the  war.  After  his  re- 
lease he  returned  to  Vermont,  where  he  died  in  1789, 
fifty  years  of  age.  Ilis  companion,  Warner,  re- 
mained in  the  service  throughout  the  war,  but  was 
never  again  prominent. 

The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  fought  June  16th  of 
the  same  year.  It  was  a victory  for  the  British,  yet 


it  afforded  the  colonists  great  satisfaction.  The 
Americans  were  obliged 
to  surrender  because  their 
powder  gave  out.  They 


had  shown,  however,  that, 
as  General  Gage  wrote  in 
his  report,  “ The  rebels  are 
not  the  despicable  rabble 
too  many  have  supposed 
them  to  be.”  General 
Warren  fell  in  that  battle. 

Throughout  the  country 

there  was  unbounded  ad-  general  warren. 

miration  for  the  desperate  heroism  with  which  the 

British  were  repulsed 
until  the  ammunition 
was  spent.  Washing- 
ton, then  on  his  way 
to  Boston,  was  greatly 
encouraged. 

Washington  arrived 
at  Boston  and  took 
actual  command,  July 
3d.  In  the  preceding 
May  the  bold  patriots 
of  N orth  Carolina  had 
met  in  Charlotte, 
Mecklenburg  coun- 
ty, and  adopted  the 
“ Mecklenburg  Reso- 
lutions,” which  were 
similar  in  tone  to  the 
Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence which  came 
more  than  a year  later.  But  even  with  Bunker  Hill, 
Ticonderoga,  Crown  Point 
and  Lexington  behind  them, 
the  colonists  were  not  quite 
ready  for  the  avowal  of 
separation.  They  wished  to 
secure  the  co-operation  of 
Canada,  and  unite  all  British 
America  in  the  struggle.  To 
this  policy  everything  was 
directed.  General  Montgom- 
ery proceeded  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain  to  capture 
St.  John’s  and  Montreal,  while  Benedict  Arnold 
reached  Quebec  by  another  route  and  demanded  its 
surrender.  He  was  soon  joined  by  Montgomery, 


GENERAL  MONTGOMERY. 


the  latter  taking  the  command.  An  assault  was 
made.  The  gallant  commander  lost  his  life,  Ar- 
nold was  severely  wounded,  and  the  whole  of  the 
expedition  defeated  forever.  The  battle  of  Quebec 
was  fought  on  the  last  day  of  1775.  In  a short 
time  the  British  recaptured  Montreal  and  St.  John’s, 
thus  settling,  at  the  outset,  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  United  States,  and  binding  Canada  with  colo- 
nial handcuffs  which  are  now  worn  as  bracelets. 

With  the  winter  of  1775-76  begins  Washington’s 
great  career.  His  first  aim  was  to  compel  the  Brit- 
ish to  evacuate  Boston. 
Works  were  erected  at 
Dorchester  Heights  which 
forced  General  Howe,  who 
had  superseded  General 
Gage,  to  evacuate.  With 
over  a thousand  Tories  and 
his  own  army,  he  sailed  for 
Halifax,  which  served  as  a 
genekal  moultrie.  rendezvous  for  the  British 
during  the  war.  Henceforth  to  the  end  the  prob- 
lem for  Washington  was  to  so  conduct  a defensive 
warfare  as  to  tire  out  the  enemy  and  prevent,  so  far 
as  possible,  the  loss  of  life 
and  the  destruction  of  prop- 
erty. It  was  the  F abian  pol- 
icy upon  a continental  scale. 

What  the  next  movement 
would  be,  no  one  could  tell. 
Washington  feared  an  at- 
tack upon  New  York.  It  was 
a very  important  point,  al- 
general  lee.  though  smaller  then  than 
Boston.  But  the  British  fleet  steered  farther  south 
when  it  sailed  away  from  Halifax,  appearing  in 
Charleston  harbor  in  June.  General  Charles  Lee, 
who  was  in  command  of  the  southern  department, 
thought  it  hopeless  to  defend  the  city,  hut  Colonel 
Moultrie  resolved  to  try  it,  erecting  a rude  fort  on 
Sullivan’s  Island.  From  that  point  he  canonaded 
the  fleet  before  it  could  bombard  the  city.  The 
enemy  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  assault.  General 
Clinton,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  expedition,  then 
set  his  sails  for  New  York.  The  fort  on  that  island 
has  ever  since  borne  the  name  of  Moultrie. 

The  next  event  of  interest  was  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  After  some  hesitation  and  with 
great  deliberation  Congress  decided  to  throw  off  all 


disguise  and  boldly  announce  independence.  A 
committee  for  that  purpose  was  appointed,  consist- 
ing of  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  Robert  Livingston  and  Roger  Sherman. 
The  declaration  was  submitted  by  Jefferson,  who  is 
supposed  to  have  written  it.  His  was  certainly  “ the 
pen  of  a ready  writer.”  The  members  signed  it, 
John  Hancock,  the  Presi- 
dent, leading  off  with  his 
bold  sign  manual.  The 
country  was  fairly  electrified 
by  the  declaration.  It  in- 
spired the  patriotism  of  all 
sections,  and  for  the  time 
obliterated  provincial  preju- 
dices and  converted  thirteen 
colonies  into  states.  Hence- 
forth there  was  no  recogni- 
tion of  colonial  obligations.  State  legislatures  ana 
governors  were  elected  and  the  mechanism  of  local 
self-government  set  up  at  once,  and  substantially  as 
now.  There  was  no  nation  then,  only  the  embry- 
onic elements  of  one,  but  the  states,  like  Minerva, 
sprang  forth  fully  armed.  It  is  a curious  fact  that 
the  great  act  which  originated  and  was  completed  on 
a broadly  national  scale  had  the  effect  to  create 
states  long  before  it  bore  fruit  in  the  creation  of  a 
nation,  in  a well-defined  political  sense  of  the  term. 

We  have  in  this  chapter  followed  the  course  of 
British  rule  and  American  growth  and  outgrowth  to 
the  point  where  the  colonies  emerge  into  states  and 
the  corner-stone  of  the  nation  was  laid.  There  are 
a few  great  names  and  events  which  belong  to  that 
period  distinctively,  and  to  which  specific  attention 
should  be  called  before  proceeding  further. 

The  captain-general  of  Massachusetts  when  the 
Revolutionary  War  began  was  Artemas  Ward.  He 
sustained  much  the  same  relation  to  that  Avar  that 
General  Scott  did  to  the  civil  Avar  of  a century  later. 
He  Avas  elected  major-general,  but  never  served  after 
General  Washington  assumed  command.  William 
Prescott  Avas  the  American  commander  at  Bunker 
Hill  (or  Breed’s  Hill,  as  that  battle  should  have  been 
called).  Later  he  fought  in  the  ranks.  He  Avas 
a brave  and  able  man.  The  glories  of  Bunker 
Hill,  howeA'er,  enshrined  the  name  of  Joseph  War- 
ren. He  was  a physician.  Congress  elected  him  a 
major-general,  but  he  Avas  mortally  Avounded  in  de- 
fending the  illustrious  hill,  and  died  while  fighting  in 


5 06 


COLONIAL  GROWTH  AND  OUTGROWTH. 


.k 

(0 

> 


4 


s> 


<Sf 


COLONIAL  GROWTH  AND  OUTGROWTH. 


i 


the  ranks.  “The  Sword  of  Bunker  Hill  ” was  a mus- 
ket. James  Otis  was  the  first  defender  of  the  right  of 
separation  and  the  duty  of  union  between  the  colo- 
nies. He  was  stricken  down  just  before  the 
war  began.  He  was  not  quite  fifty  years  of  age  at 
that  time.  Samuel  Adams,  a second  cousin  of  John, 
was  hardly  less  useful  in  those  preliminary  days  than 
Otis.  He  was  a man  of  great  wisdom  and  high  cour- 
age. What  he  grandly  began  his  younger  cousin 


an  author  and  a discoverer.  Born  in  Boston  in  1706, 
he  survived  until  1790.  He  was  a printer  by  trade. 
His  career  as  a man  began  in  Philadelphia,  where  in 
1 730  he  married  and  started  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette 
newspaper.  Ho  may  be  called  the  father  of  the  press, 
insurance,  science  and  invention  in  America.  His 
experiments  hi  electricity  and  discovery  of  the 
principle  on  which  his  great  invention,  the  lightning- 
rod,  rests,  made  him  famous  at  home  and  abroad. 


worthily  maintained  to  the  end.  The  Adams  family 

is  the  most  illustrious 
in  the  political  annals 
of  America.  But  the 
supreme  name  of  the 
period  was  Benjamin 
Franklin,  lie  lived,  it 
is  true,  to  render  im- 
portant service  to  his 
country  at  the  French 
court  after  the  declar- 
ation had  been  issued, 
and  in  framing  the  con- 
james  otis.  stitution,  but  his  best 

days  were  colonial.  He  early  organized  the  postal 
system  of  the  country.  Franklin  was  a philosopher, 


England  and  France  delighted  to  honor  him.  lie 
was  given  the  title  of  LL.  1).,  F.  R.  S.,  and  otherwise 
recognized.  As  a writer  his  chief  aim  was  to  incul- 
cate good  habits,  especially  frugality.  His  “Poor 
Richard’s  Almanac,”  published  annually  from  173;J 
to  1757,  made  him  familiarly  known  in  this  country 
and  largely  in  England  to  a class  of  people  not  ca- 
pable of  following  his  scientific  treatises.  lie  filled 
many  positions  of  trust,  the  last  being  a member  of 
the  convention  which  drafted  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  He  was  then  over  eighty  years 
of  age.  In  him  were  united  simplicity,  dignity,  pru- 
dence, perseverance  and  philanthropy.  To  him, 
more  than  to  any  one  else,  unless  it  he  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson, is  this  nation  indebted  for  the  complete  sep- 
aration of  church  and  state.  When  lie  died  the 


k. 


5°8 


COLONIAL  GROWTH  AND  OUTGROWTH. 


wliole  nation  mourned.  Washington  was  indeed  the 
father  of  his  country,  but  Franklin  is  no  less  deserv- 
ing of  deathless  honor  and  gratitude.  It  was 
not  without  good  reason  that  the  learned  men  of 
France,  a century  ago, 
were  accustomed  to  speak 
of  the  United  States  as 
“ Franklin’s  Republic.” 

During  the  period  thus 
far  traversed,  this  coun- 
try was  almost  wholly 
agricultural.  Its  com- 
merce was  very  consid- 
erable, but  clandestine. 

Under  the  restraints  of 
colonial  suppression,  law- 
ful com- 
m e r c e 
was  con- 
fined en- 
tirely to 
E nglisli 

BRITISH  FLAG.  bottolUS, 

and  only  the  British 
Hag  allowed  in  American 
waters.  The  pioneers  of 
American  shipping  were 
smugglers,  and  the  mer- 
chant princes  of  the  day 
were  largely  engaged  in  contraband  trade.  Ship- 
building, however,  was  tolerated,  and  throve  greatly, 
until  the  home  government  interfered,  and  checked 


it.  Ordinary  manufactures  were  few  and  insignifi- 
cant. For  a century  and  a half  the  English  hi 
America  were  under  colonial  restraints,  and  succeed- 
ed only  in  laying  the  foundations  of  a great  future. 

Speaking  of  the  Amer- 
ican people  in  this  stage 
of  development,  a recent 
historian  well  observes, 
“ These  people,  whose 
ancestors  had  been  driven 
into  exile  by  the  exac- 
tions of  European  gov- 
ernments and  the  bigot- 
ry of  ecclesiastical  power, 
had  become  the  rightful 
proprietors  of  the  New 
World.  They  had  fairly 
won  it  from  savage  man 
and  savage  nature.  They 
had  subdued  it  and  built 
states  within  it.  They 
owned  it  by  the  claims 
of  actual  possession ; by 
toil  and  trial ; by  the  or- 
deal of  suffering ; by 
peril,  privation,  and 
hardship ; by  the  bap- 
tism of  sorrow  and  the 
shedding  of  blood.”  The 
time  had  now  fully  come  for  the  announcement 
and  establishment  of  the  principles  of  Union  and 
Independence. 


CHAPTER  LXXVIII. 

Hessians— Battle  op  Long  Island  and  the  Disaster  Resulting — The  Spring  op  1777- 
Marquis  de  La  Fayette— Battle  op  Brandywine — The  War  in  the  North — Valley 
Forge — Congressional  Action — Distinguished  Foreigners  in  the  American  Army — 1778 — 
1779 — 1780— Mutiny  and  Finance  in  1781 — Arnold  and  New  London— Lord  Cornwallis 
and  Yorktown — Peace — The  War  Debt  and  TnE  Union — The  Constitution— The  Great 
Crisis  and  its  Leading  Features — From  July  4,  1776,  to  March  4,  1789. 


disguise  was  now  thrown 
off,  all  hesitation  at  an  end. 
Henceforth  to  the  end  of  the 
conflict  it  was  treason  in 
America  to  sympathize  with 
Great  Britain  and  in  En- 
to  sympathize  with  the 
rebellious  colonies.  The 
British  government  freely  spent  money 
in  hiring  mercenary  troops  from  petty 
German  states  (known  in  our  history 
as  Hessians)  and  in  securing  Indian 
allies.  The  number  of  Hessians  were 
seventeen  thousand,  many  of  whom  de- 
serted and  became  American  citizens. 
The  only  remaining  military  opera- 
tions of  that  first  year  of  the  war  were  in  New  York 
and  New  Jersey.  Eight  days  after  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  Lord  IIowc  sailed  into  New  York 
Bay.  His  brother,  General  Howe,  was  already  on 
Staten  Island  with  a force  of  50,000  men.  The 
Howes  thought  they  were  masters  of  the  situation. 
They  offered  pardon  to  all  rebels  who  returned  to 
allegiance.  They  mistook  public  sentiment.  On 
the  20th  of  August  the  battle  of  Long  Island 
was  fought,  General  Clinton  at  the  head  of  the 


GENERAL  CLINTON. 

rendered  necessary 


British  forces.  The  Americans,  under  Gener- 
als Sullivan  and  Sterling, 
were  routed.  The  dead  on 
our  side  were  several  hundred, 
the  prisoners  nearly  one  thou- 
sand. The  latter  were  sent 
on  board  of  “prison  ships,”  as 
Ethan  Allen  had  been  before 
them.  During  the  war  no  less 
than  11,000  Americans  perish- 
ed on  these  floating  bastiles. 

The  disaster  of  Long  Island 
the  retreat  of  Washington. 

He  crossed  East  River  and  es- 
tablished his  headquarters  on 
Harlem  Heights  first.  Howe 
took  possession  of  New  York 
City.  A great  conflagration 
consumed  about  five  hundred 
houses.  The  battle  of  White 
Plains  followed,  October  27, 
in  which  Washington  was  de- 
feated, hut  not  routed.  He  retired 
North  Castle.  He  now  began  to  be  apprehensive 
for  the  safety  of  Philadelphia.  He  crossed  to  New 
Jersey,  intending  to  defend  the  city  which  was  in 


GENERAL  SULLIVAN. 


in  good  order  to 


(5°9) 





k_ 


IO 


INDEPENDENCE  AND  UNION. 


effect  the  national  capital.  But  lie  was  too  late.  It 
was  taken  by  the  British,  November  1G,  and  with 
it  2,600  prisoners  in  arms.  Congress  was  obliged  to 
take  hasty  leave  for  Baltimore.  “ These  are  times 
that  try  men’s  souls,”  wrote  the  brilliant  patriot, 
Thomas  Paine.  Cornwallis  rapidly  followed  Wash- 
ington who  crossed  the  Delaware,  taking  care,  how- 
ever, to  destroy  the  boats  behind  him.  On  Christmas 
night  he 
took  by  sur- 
prise and 
captured  a 
tli  on  s and 
Hessians  at 
Trenton.  A 
week  later, 
it  being  evi- 
dent that 
Cornwallis 
intended  to 
fall  on  the 
C out  ment- 
als, Wash- 
ington, not 
waiting  for 
the  attack, 
marched  at 
once  upon 
Princeton 
where  there 
was  some- 
thing over 
three  regi- 
ments of 
the  enemy. 

At  day- 
break, Jan- 
uary 3,  1777,  he  fell  upon  the  town,  and  in 
twenty  minutes  he  had  routed  and  dispersed  the 
British  with  a loss  on  that  side  of  200  killed  and 
wounded  and  230  prisoners.  The  American  loss 
was  slight.  The  moral  effect  of  this  victory  was  very 
great.  It  revived  the  hopes  of  the  country  and  led 
to  a series  of  operations  which  resulted  in  driving 
the  enemy  out  of  the  “ the  Jerseys.”  About  this 
time,  however,  both  armies  went  into  winter  quar- 
ters, the  British  at  New  Brunswick,  the  Americans 
at  Morristown. 

Thus  far  Washington  would  seem  to  have  been  a 


failure,  yet  Congress  had  no  thought  of  displacing 
him.  On  the  contrary,  he  had  grown  in  their  good 
opinion.  That  winter  he  was  clothed  with  supreme 
authority  in  all  military  matters,  invested  with 
almost  dictatorial  powers.  The  winter  was  employed 
in  recruiting  his  thinned  ranks.  By  spring  he  had 
an  army  of  ten  thousand  men.  There  was  consid- 
erable skirmishing  during  the  winter  and  spring, 

W ashington 
obtaining 
some  advan- 
tage, but 
the  mam  ar- 
mies did  not 
resume  op- 
erations un- 
til June, 
1777.  Even 
then  the  two 
armies  were 
slow  in  com- 
ing togeth- 
er. The  Brit- 
ish General, 
Burgoyne, 
was  moving 
southward 
from  Can- 
ada, re-tak- 
ing Crown 
Point  and 
Ticondero- 
ga.  Wash- 
ington was 
perplexed  to 
find  out  if 
Howe  in- 
tended to  co-operate  with  Burgoyne  and  sweep  all 
before  them  from  New  York  har- 
bor to  St.  John’s,  or  to  swing 
around  and  fall  upon  Philadel- 
phia. He  had  to  be  on  the  alert 
to  meet  either  emergency.  July , 

23,  Ilowe  left  General  Clinton  in 
command  at  New  York,  and 
with  eighteen  thousand  soldiers 
sailed  for  the  Delaware.  Wash- 
ington made  all  haste  with  his 
main  army  to  succor  Philadelphia.  The  condition 


GENERAL  LA  FAYETTE. 


V ■ 


K 


INDEPENDENCE  AND  UNION. 


of  the  country  was  critical  in  the  extreme.  Just 
then  came  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette.  This  young 
French  nobleman,  of  whom  we  heard  in  connection 
with  the  subsequent  French  Revolution,  met  Wash- 
ington July  31.  He  had  been  made  a Major-General 
by  Congress  a few  days  before.  The  reinforcements 


the  enemy  at  Germantown,  but  suffered  defeat. 
Soon  after,  Howe  made  Philadelphia  the  winter 
quarters  of  his  whole  army,  W ashington  going  into 
camp  fourteen  miles  distant,  at  White  Marsh. 

Turning  now  to  the  northern  army,  we  find  Gen- 
eral St.  Clair  obliged  to  abandon  the  strongholds  on 


he  brought  were  of  incalculable  importance.  Now, 
for  the  first  time,  the  Com- 
mander-in-chief was  ready  for 
a pitched  battle.  It  came 
September  11,  and  is  known 
as  the  Battle  of  the  Brandy- 
wine. It  was  fought  several 
miles  above  Wilmington,  Dela- 
ware. It  was  a hard-fought 
battle.  La  Fayette  was  wound- 
ed. The  Americans  were 
obliged  to  fall  back  toward 
Philadelphia.  Congress,  which 
had  returned  from  Baltimore, 

now  made  haste  to  seek  a safe  rattuh  at  tub 

retreat,  going  first  to  Lancaster  and  then  to  York.  | 
In  October  Washington  attacked  the  detachment  of 


the  west  shore  of  Champlain.  The  main  body  of 
his  army  retreated  toward  Fort 
Edward,  New  York.  A de- 
tachment crossed  the  lake  un- 
der Colonel  Seth  Warner.  An 
engagement  occurred  at  Hub- 
hard  ton,  Vermont,  July  7, 
1777,  which  resulted  in  tho 
defeat  of  the  Americans. 
About  that  time  Whitehall, 
then  Slcenesborough,  was  very 
nearly  destroyed  by  tho  British, 
who  irero  having  everything 
their  own  way.  But  August  16 
bkanuywine.  there  was  fought  and  won  by 

tho  patriots  the  battle  of  Bennington,  tho  second 
and  last  battle  of  the  war  on  Vermont  soil.  Colonels 


WASHINGTON  CROSSING  THE  DELAWARE. 


64 


INDEPENDENCE  AND  UNION. 


Burgoyne  served  as  a powerful  aid  in  securing  that 
recognition.  Other  Europeans 
besides  La  F ayette  came  to  our 
assistance.  Baron  Steuben,  a 
Prussian  of  thorough  military 
training,  became  Inspector- 
General.  He  did  much  in  the 
way  of  disciplining  the  raw 
recruits  and  volunteer  officers 
of  our  army.  Another  Ger- 
man, Baron  De  Kalb,  render-  baron  de  kalb. 
ed  excellent  service.  Two  gallant  Poles,  Count  Pu- 
laski, who  died  in  our  cause,  and  Thaddeus  Koscius- 
ko, who  survived  to  lead  his  own  country  in  unavail- 
ing efforts  at  national  restoration,  also  came  to  our 
aid  in  the  dark  hour  of  our  sorest  need. 

When  General  Clinton  left  Philadelphia  to  join 
Howe  in  New  York,  Wash- 
ington dogged  his  retreating 
steps.  At  Monmouth  an  en- 
gagement occurred.  At  first 
the  British  were  successful, 
but  General  Washington 
going  to  the  front  in  person, 
saved  the  day  and  turned  de- 
feat into  victory. 

, , a COUNT  PULASKI. 

lhat  summer  a band  of 
Tories  and  Indians  from  Western  New  York  de- 
scended upon  the  peaceful  inhabitants  of  the  lovely 
Wyoming 
valley  in 
Pennsyl- 
vania, as 
also  Cher- 
ry Valley, 
in  New 

York,  committing  every  outrage.  The  massacre  was 
avenged  the  following  year  by 
General  Sullivan.  Howe’s  fleet 
was  held  in  check  by  the 
French  fleet  under  D’Estaing. 

On  the  whole,  the  British  went 
into  winter  quarters  in  New 
York  and  the  Americans  at 
Middlebrook,  with  the  war  no 
nearer  its  close,  apparently, 
than  it  was  when  the  first  gun  count  d’estainq. 
was  fired.  For  the  patriots,  1779  was  a gloomy  year. 
The  two  fleets,  French  and  English,  sailed  south- 


BATTLE  AT  MONMOUTH. 


GENERAL  ST.  CLAIR. 


Forge. 


John  Stark  and  Seth  Warner  rallied  there  a brave 
force  of  Yankees,  and  defeated 
a detachment  of  the  British 
army.  About  that  time  the 
enemy  suffered  defeat  in  the 
Mohawk  valley,  General  Ar- 
nold being  at  the  head  of  the 


American  forces.  The  English 
general,  Burgoyne,  fixed  his 
camp  near  Saratoga,  and  Gen- 
eral Gates  of  the  Americans 
established  his  camp  not  far  from  that  of  the 
enemy.  Two  indecisive  engagements  followed,  when 
Burgoyne,  despairing  of  reinforcements  and  short 
of  provisions,  surrendered.  That  was  a most  en- 
couraging turn  in  the  tide  of  fortune.  That  may  be 
called  the  first  really  great  victory  of  the  war. 

While  the  operations  in  the 
North  were  thus  brilliant,  Wash- 
ington’s movements  farther 
south  were  clouded  with  gloom. 
December  11  he  took  up  per- 
manent winter  quarters  at  Valley 
That  was  a winter  of 
From  White 
Marsh  to  Valley  Forge  was  nine- 
teen miles,  and  the  march  was 
stained  with  the  blood  of  bleeding  feet.  The  army 
was  almost  naked  and  actually  hungry.  The  hero- 
ism which  sustained  them  was  a match  for  the  hero- 
ism which  had  triumphed  at  Saratoga. 

It  was  in  1777  that  Congress  adopted  the  national 
flag  as  we  now  have  it,  thirteen  stripes  of  red 
and  white,  and  thirteen  stars  on  a blue  background, 
the  former  representing  the 
states  and  the  latter  the 
union.  It  also  framed  and 
submitted  to  the  several  states 
the  Articles  of  Confederation, 
which  were  not  fully  adopted, 
however,  until  1783. 

The  spring  of  1778  opened 
with  revived  hope.  France 
became  the  avowed  ally  of 
the  United  States,  thanks  hi 
part  to  the  diplomacy  of  Dr.  Franklin  and  in  part 
to  the  French  hostility  to  England.  The  recog- 
nition  of  American  independence  by  the  govern- 
ment at  Paris  was  all-important.  The  surrender  of 


horrible  suffering. 


GENERAL  BURGOYNE. 


BARON  STEUBEN. 


-Ssfc 


e> 

"7T 


INDEPENDENCE  AND  UNION. 


5X3 


GENERAL  PICKENS. 


ward,  the  former  to  attack  British  possessions  in  the 
Caribbean  sea,  and  the  lat- 
ter to  defend  them.  The 
war,  so  far  as  concerned 
this  country,  was  mostly  in 
the  South  that  year,  Georgia 
and  the  Carolinas.  Tories 
were  numerous,  and  the  pa- 
triotic militia  had  to  bear 
the  brunt  of  the  war  with- 
out dependence  upon  the 
forces  of  the  regular  army.  General  Pickens  and 
General  Marion  rendered  most  excellent  service. 
It  was  in  fu- 
tile endeavor 
to  regain  Sa- 
vannah that 
Count  Pu- 
laski lost  his 
gallant  life. 

The  British 
Parliamen  t 
showed  great 
determina- 
tion to  curb 
the  rebellious 
colonies,  and 
the  French, 
on  the  other 


WEST  POINT 


Point.  While  returning  from  the  interview  Andre 
was  taken  prisoner  on  sus- 
picion of  being  a spy,  and 
papers  setting  forth  the  plot 
were  found  on  his  person, 
lie  was  tried,  convicted  and 
hanged.  Arnold  made  good 
his  escape,  only  to  live  de- 
spised and  miserable,  his  name 
a synonym  for  treachery.  The 
year  1781  opened  with  a mu- 
tiny at  Morristown.  The  general  gates. 
sufferings  of  the  soldiers  had  become  unendurable. 

Fifteen  hun- 
dred of  the 
Pennsylvani- 
ans threaten- 
ed to  march 
on  Philadel- 
phia and  “in- 
terview” Con- 
gress at  the 
point  of  the 
bayonet. 

They  were 
only  prevent- 
ed from  so 
doing  by  Con- 
gress meeting 


hand,  showed  signs  of  weakening.  In  1780  the  Brit- 
ish were  still  successful  at  the  South.  Charleston 
fell,  and  with  it  Lincoln  and  his  three  thousand 
men.  The  battle  of  Camden  was  fought  between 
the  English  under  Cornwallis, 
and  the  Americans  under 
Gates,  the  hero  of  Saratoga. 
Cornwallis  won  a complete 
victory.  In  that  battle  fell 
Baron  De  Kali). 

In  the  North,  Benedict  Ar- 
nold forfeited  his  hitherto 
honorable  name  by  basely 
selling  himself  to  the  enemy. 
His  lietrayal  of  his  country  came  very  near  proving 
fatal.  His  treasonable  design  was  to  surrender  the 
stronghold  of  West  Point  to  the  British.  The  dc- 
tails  of  the  infamous  business  were  arranged  in  an 
interview  between  Major  Andre,  of  Clinton’s  staff, 
and  Benedict  Arnold,  then  in  command  at  West 


GENERAL  LINCOLN. 


them  with  provision  for  their  more  pressing  imme- 
diate wants.  For  this  mutiny  bickerings  in  Con- 
gress were  more  at  fault  than  the  soldiers  them- 
selves, but  the  chief  cause,  it  must  be  conceded, 
was  the  almost  utter  pros- 
tration of  the  public  means 
of  support.  Every  device 
for  raising  revenue  had 
been  exhausted  and  the 
treasury  was  empty.  Robert 
Morris,  one  of  the  mer- 
chant princes  of  Philadel- 
phia, rendered  th 
est  service  in  raisii 
for  Congress  to  employ  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  war.  benedkt  aknold. 

The  year  which  opened  so  inauspiciously  proved 
to  lie  the  last  one  of  the  war.  La  Fayette’s  influ- 
ence secured  the  co-ojieration  of  a second  French 
fleet.  That  fleet  had  7,000  men  on  board,  under  the 


the  great-  ' J 

ising  funds  *') 


command  of  Count  Rochambeau.  In  South  Car- 
olina General  Greene  was 
in  command,  and  won 
the  victory  of  Cowpens. 
The  enemy  no  longer 
assumed  the  aggressive. 
The  battle  of  Guilford 
Court-IIouse,  North  Car- 
olina, was  one  of  the 


ROBERT  MORRIS. 

most  severe  of  the  war,  but 
it  was  a victory  for  neither 
side.  That  battle  was 
fought  in  March,  Cow- 
pens  in  January.  The 
patriot  army  of  the  South 
was  under  the  command 
of  General  Nathaniel 
Greene,  of  Rhode  Island, 
one  of  the  bravest  and 
most  strategic  of  Ameri- 
can soldiers.  lie  was  one 
of  the  few  generals  of  the 
revolution  who  thoroughly 
understood  the  science  of 
war,  and  he  was  self- 
taught.  General  Greene 
was  born  in  1742.  After 
the  war  he  engaged  in  cot- 
ton raising  in  Georgia. 
He  died  on  his  plantation 
in  1786. 

The  British  general  at 
Cowpens  was  Bannastre 


Carle  ton  ; at  Guilford, 
Cornwallis  himself  was  in  com- 
mand. The  last  battle  of  the 
war  in  the  Carolinas  was  fought 
at  Eutaw  Springs  on  the  8th  of 
September.  The  Continentals 
were  repulsed.  During  the 
summer  Cornwallis  committed 
depredations  in  Virginia,  now 
for  the  first  time  during  the 
count  de  rochambeau.  war  become  the  field  of  actual 
operations.  La  Fayette  was  in  command  of  the 
Virginia  district.  Washington  planned  a blow  for 


the  recovery  of  New  York,  where  Clinton  still  held 
possession,  but  finding  that 
the  French  fleet  would  soon 
enter  the  Chesapeake,  he 
changed  his  plan,  still  keep- 
ing up  the  appearance  of 
preparations  for  New  York. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Cornwallis 
was  fortifying  himself  at 

COLONEL  TARLETON. 

Yorktown.  When  Clinton 
discovered  the  design  of 
Washington,  he  attempted 
to  divert  him  from  his 
purpose  by  sending  the 
traitor  •>  Arnold  against 
New  London,  Connecti- 
cut. The  town  was  burnt, 
its  fort,  Griswold,  taken 
and  its  gallant  defenders 
ruthlessly  massacred  after 
they  had  surrendered.  The 
fall  of  Fort  Griswold  and 
New  London  closed  opera- 
tions at  the  North.  The 
last  move  upon  the  chess- 
board was  about  to  be 
made  in  Virginia. 

The  French  fleet,  under 
Count  De  Grasse,  block- 
aded the  York  and  James 
rivers,  wliile  the  French 
and  American  forces  on 
the  land  completed  the  in- 
vestiture of  Yorktown. 
Hemmed  in  on  every  side, 
Cornwallis  could  not  escape,  and  on  the  9th  of 
October  connonading  com- 
menced. The  British  held  out 
until  the  19th  day  of  the 
month,  when  Cornwallis  sur- 
rendered to  Washington  his 
sword  and  his  army,  about 
10,000  men. 

On  both  sides  it  was  felt  that 
the  end  had  come.  Neither 
army  had  any  heart  for  fur-  L0RD  cornwallis. 
ther  bloodshed.  Both  may  be  said  to  have  rested  on 
their  arms  for  the  negotiation  of  terms  of  peace.  In 


INDEPENDENCE  AND  UNION. 


November  of  the  next  year  a provisional  treaty  was 
signed.  The  cessation  of  hos- 
tilities was  formally  announced 
in  April,  1783.  On  the  third  day 
of  the  following  September  the 
final  treaty  was  signed  at  Paris, 
nearly  two  years  after  the  war 
had  virtually  closed.  In  these 
, days  of  electricity  and  steam 
count  DE  GRASSE,  everything  would  have  been  ar- 
ranged in  two  months. 

It  was  in  December,  1775,  that  the  Continental 
Congress  passed  a bill  creating  a navy,  with  Ezekiel 
Hopkins  in  command  of  it.  Thirteen  vessels  were 
authorized.  They  were  built, 
but  were  of  no  service.  All 
were  captured  by  the  British  or 
destroyed,  to  keep  them  out  of 
British  hands.  But  American 
waters  swarmed  with  privateers. 

Hundreds  of  British  ships 
were  captured.  The  Raphael 
Semmes  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  was  Paul  Jones,  who  with 
his  Bon  Homme  Richard,  car- 
rying forty  guns,  captured  the 
British  Serapis,  carrying  forty- 
four  guns.  The  engagement 
occurred  off  the  coast  of  Scot- 
land in  the  fall  of  1779.  

The  ratification  of  the  ar- 
ticles of  confederation  was  completed  the  same  year 
that  Cornwallis  surrendered.  But  even  then  the 
states  did  not  form  a nation,  and  it  was  a very  grave 
question  whether  the  Union  would  be  dissolved  or 

perpetuated.  In  the  very 
act  of  disbanding  the  army 
this  issue  was  raised  in  a 
practical,  if  somewhat  in- 
direct, way.  The  order  for 
its  disbandment  was  given 
by  Congress  after  the  rat- 
| ification  of  the  final  treaty, 
and  three  weeks  before  the 
British  evacuated  New 
York.  Washington  took 
leave  of  his  comrades  in  a 
very  appropriate  address  on  the  23d  of  December, 
resigned  his  commission  and  retired  to  his  planta- 


SIEGE OP  YORKTOWN, 


iihTF' 

JOHN  PAUL  JONES. 


tion  at  Mount  Vernon.  All  that  was  easy  enough, 
but  what  must  be  done  to  pay  the  arrearages  of  the 
soldiers  and  defray  the  war  debt  ? Congress  had  no 
power  to  levy  the  necessary  taxes,  and  the  experi- 
ment of  an  irredeemable  paper  money  had  been  car- 
ried so  far  that  the  Continental  currency  was  worth- 
less. The  individual  states  were  asked  to  meet  the 
demand.  This  was  found  to  be  a very  unsatisfactory 
reliance. 

The  inadequacy  of  the  confederation  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  country  led  to  the  holding  of  a conven- 
tion called,  theoretically,  to  amend  the  existing  ar- 
ticles of  confederation,  but  practically,  as  it  proved, 
for  the  framing  of  a radically  different  organic  law, 
the  constitution  under  which 
these  United  States  became 
the  United  States.  George 
Washington  presided  over  that 
pre-eminently  important  de- 
liberative body.  It  met  at 
Philadelphia,  and  completed 
its  work  September  17,  1787. 
In  several  states  there  was  con- 
siderable opposition  to  its  rati- 
fication, but  it  was  adopted 
and  went  into  operation  M arch 
4,  1789,  without  having  re- 
ceived the  indorsement  of 
North  Carolina  or  Rhode 
Island. 

From  July  4, 1776,  to  March 
4,  1789,  was  the  period  during  which  the  founda- 
tions of  the  great  republic  were  laid.  During  all 
that  time  the  statesmanship  of  the  country  was 
severely  tested,  and  the  triumphs  of  peace  were 
greater  than  those  of  war.  Other  armies  have  fought 
as  bravely,  but  no  land  was  ever  blessed  with  such  a 
truly  sublime  array  of  great  statesmen  appearing 
upon  the  stage  of  action  at  the  same  period.  At  its 
head  stood  the  venerable  Franklin  with  the  august 
Washington  at  his  side,  while  the  youthful  Hamil- 
ton and  Madison  not  only  helped  as  leaders  to  frame 
the  Constitution,  but  by  their  pens  in  its  advocacy  to 
secure  its  adoption.  In  all  the  history  of  mankind 
can  be  found  no  crisis  more  critical  and  important 
than  the  one  through  which  the  United  States 
passed  in  developing  from  thirteen  colonies  into  a 
Confederation,  and  then  into  a Union  solemnly 
declared  to  be  perpetual. 


CHAPTER  L X XIX. 


The  Youth  of  this  Republic— Washington  and  His  Inauguration — The  Capital — Indians 
and  Whisky — The  “Monroe  Doctrine” — Finance — The  National  Bank— First  Census — 
New  States  and  Slavery — John  Adams’  Administration — Jefferson— Burr  and  Hamil- 
ton— The  Louisiana  Purchase — War  of  1812 — General  Dearborn — Naval  Battles — 
Land  Battles — Lundy’s  Lane  and  Plattsburg — Jackson  and  New  Orleans — Burning  of 
Washington — The  Treaty — Algerine  Piracy — Review  of  the  Period. 


AT  I ONS,  like  individuals, 
have  their  infancy,  child- 
hood, youth,  majority  and 
senility.  We  have  now 
_ reached  the  adolescent  pe- 
riod  of  American  history, 
and  are  to  trace  in  this 
chapter  the  progress  of  the  United 
States  in  its  teens,  from  March  4, 
1789,  to  March  4,  1817. 

George  Washington  was  elected 
the  first  President  of  the  United 
States,  practically  without  opposi- 
tion, to  take  the  office  March  4, 1789, 
the  day  appointed  for  the  Constitu- 
tion to  go  into  effect.  John  Adams 
was  elected  Vice-President.  Each 
was  re-elected  four  years  later  with- 
out serious  opposition. 

Although  the  inauguration  of  Washington  should 
have  occurred  on  the  4th  of  March,  it  was  not 
until  April  30  that  a quorum  of  the  first  Congress 
under  the  Constitution  had  convened  at  New  York, 
the  temporary  capital,  and  it  was  on  the  latter  date 
that  the  oath  of  office  was  administed. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  be  done  by  Congress  was 
to  select  a permanent  capital.  It  was  decided  to 


avoid  all  the  cities,  and  even  all  the  states,  by  a novel 
plan.  A tract  ten  miles  square  on  the  Potomac 
river,  partly  in  Virginia  and  partly  in  Maryland,  was 
selected.  It  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  so  far 
as  concerned  jurisdiction,  and  became  known  as  the 
District  of  Columbia.  The  selection  of  the  site  was 
virtually  left  to  President  Washington,  in  whose 
honor  the  capital  itself  was  named.  To  allow  suit- 
able buildings  to  be  erected,  Congress  fixed  the  cap- 
ital at  Philadelphia  for  ten  years. 

During  Washington’s  administration  occurred  an 
extensive  Indian  war  between  the  Ohio  and  Wabash 
rivers.  The  tribes  in  that  region  were  somewhat 
given  to  agriculture,  but  they  were  still  savages  and 
bitterly  hostile  to  the  westward  expansion  of 
the  area  of  civilization. 

Generals  Harrison  and  St. 

Clair  were  defeated  by  the 
Indians,  but  General  Wayne 
finally  won  a complete  victo- 
ry. In  1795  a treaty  was 
made  which  quieted  the  In- 
dian title  to  the  Ohio  valley. 

About  the  same  time  occur- 
red the  Whisky  Insurrection 
in  the  Monongahela  valley,  general  wayne. 

Western  Pennsvlvania.  The  distillation  of  whisky 


• 9 


^1 


THE  YOUNG  REPUBLIC. 


517 


was  a prominent  industry  in  that  section,  and  the  tax 
levied  upon  it  during  the  administration  of  Wash- 
ington was  

strenuous- 
ly resisted. 

The  milita- 
ry was  call- 
ed out  and 
the  insur- 
gentsyield- 
ed.  W ash- 
ington  ex- 
hibited re- 
markable 
firmness 
and  wis- 
dom alsoin 
preventing 
the  French 
minister  in- 
volviugthis 
country  in 
the  interminable 
“ Monroe 
be 


INAUGURATION  OF  WASHINGTON. 


The  so-called 


wars  of  Europe. 

Doctrine  ” should 
Known  as  “Washington’s 
policy.”  The  fact  that  J antes 
Monroe  was  minister  to 
France  at  the  time  connected 
his  name  with  the  doctrine. 

The  facts  are  these : When 
France,  the  great  national 
friend  of  America,  was  in- 
volved in  war  with  other 
European  powers,  incident  to 
the  French  Revolution,  there 
was  a very  strong  feeling  in 
this  country  in  favor  of  help- 
ing her.  There  was  much 
to  be  said  in  support  of  the 
policy.  But  it  was  decided 
that  then  and  always  this 
republic  would  stand  aloof 
from  complication  in  the 
wars  of  other  nations.  Iso 
foreign  power  must  meddle 
with  our  affairs,  nor  will  we 
interfere  with  theirs.  The 

wisdom  of  this  policy  was  not  apparent  to  all  at  the 
time.  On  the  contrary,  it  occasioned  intense  party 


feeling.  The  Federalists,  as  the  party  of  Washing- 
ton, Adams,  Hamilton  and  Jay  was  called,  were 

bitterly  de- 
nounced by 
the  Repub- 
lican party 
of  Jeffer- 
son, Burr 
and  Madi- 
son. But 
the  sober 
s e c ond- 
thought  of 
the  people 
approved  it. 
The  Feder- 
alists sacri- 
ficed the 
political 
advantages 
of  their  po- 
sition by 

the  passage  of  alien  and  sedition  laws,  the  former  to 
restrict  personal  liberty,  the 
latter  to  restrain  the  liber- 
ties of  the  press.  The  first 
great  problem,  however,  was 
financial.  Governeur  Morris 
and  Alexander  Hamilton 
were  the  great  financiers  of 
their  day.  It  was  assumed 
that  the  Continental  money, 
the  greenbacks  of  the  Revo- 
lution, could  never  be  re- 
deemed. That  was  an  act  of 
repudiation  unjustifiable,  but 
not  inexplicable.  The  ties 
of  the  Union  were  so  frail 
that  it  was  feared  that  to 
levy  the  tax  necessary  to  the 
redemption  of  the  paper 
money  would  snap  them 
asunder.  All  other  debts  con- 
tracted by  the  Continental 
Congress  were  faithfully 
iiaid,  also  all  state  debts  con- 
tracted in  support  of  the  war. 


The  great  me;isuro  of  Hamilton  was  the  creation 
of  a national  bunk  ; not  of  a system  of  banks,  such  as 


±1 


1 


el 

7T 


Q 9 


518  THE  YOUNG  REPUBLIC. 


the  country  now  has,  but  one  stupendous  institution, 
modeled  after  the  Bank  of  England.  The  IT nited 
States  Bank  was  located  at  Philadelphia.  The 
Bank  of  England  went  into  operation  in  1695,  the 
United  States  Bank  was  chartered  in  1791,  its  char- 
ter to  hold  for  twenty  years.  It  was  not  renewed  at 
its  expiration,  but  Avas  in  1816,  to  go  into  effect 
January  1,  1817,  this  renewal  occasioning  but  very 
little  controversy  compared  with  the  subsequent 
Jacksonian  agitation  of  the  subject. 

The  first  census  was  taken  in  1790.  It  was  found 
that  the  population  of  the  nation  was  3,929,214. 
Of  these  700,000  were  slaves.  The  census  is  taken 
every  ten  years.  It  was  during  Washington’s  ad- 
ministration that  John  Jay  negotiated  a second 
treaty  with  England,  under  which  some  things  left 
indefinite  by  the  treaty  of  Paris  were  settled,  but 
others  were  still  left  open,  destined  to  be  settled  at  the 
cannon’s  mouth.  It  was  also  during  his  administra- 
tion that  Vermont,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  were 
added  to  the  Union,  and  the  Northwest  territory  or- 
ganized under  an  ordinance  forbidding  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery  north  of  the  Ohio  River. 

The  administration  of  John  Adams  can  hardly 
be  said  to  have  had  any  individuality.  His  four 
years  were  a continuation  of  Washington’s  eight- 
The  Federalists  averted  war  with  England  by  what 
seemed  to  the  Republicans  ingratitude  and  mean- 
ness to  France.  Jefferson  and  Burr  were  the  lead- 
ers of  the  latter  party,  as  Adams  and  Hamilton 
were  of  the  former.  George  Washington  strongly 
leaned  toward  Federalism,  but  he  never  stooped  to 
be  a party  leader. 

In  1800  the  people  decided  in  favor  of  a change. 
The  Federalists  had  been  in  power  all  the  twelve 
years  of  constitutional  gov- 
ernment, and  now  the  other 
side  had  a chance.  Jefferson 
was  elected  President  and 
Burr  vice-President.  Jeffer- 
son was  re-elected  in  1804 
by  an  overwhelming  major- 
ity. Hitherto  the  government 
had  been  aristocratic,  but 
Jefferson  was  perfectly  sim- 
ple and  unostentatious  in  his 
habits.  He  was  a man  of  the 
people.  The  duel  between  Burr  and  Hamilton,  the 
rival  leaders  in  New  York,  was  the  culmination  of 


the  party  animosity  of  the  time.  Burr  challenged 
his  rival,  and  according  to  the  code  of  honor  then 
recognized,  Hamilton  could  not  do  otherwise  than 
accept.  The  result  was  fatal  to  the  life  of  Hamilton 
and  the  reputation  of  Burr.  Public  indignation 
was  aroused  much  as  it  was  by  the  assassination 
of  President  Garfield  by  Guiteau. 

The  most  notable  feature  of  Jefferson’s  adminis- 
tration was  the  Louisiana  Purchase.  When  this 
nation  came  into  national  existence  Spain  and  France 
were  in  possession  of  Florida  and  Louisiana,  the 
latter  including  the  region  between  the  Mississippi 
River  and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  acquisition 
of  all  that  area  was  secured  by  diplomacy  and  pur- 
chase. To  the  French  in  their  war  with  England 
New  Orleans  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  were  a source 
of  weakness,  and  the  emperor  made  the  sale  as  a 
stroke  of  military  policy  in  1803.  It  may  be  added 
that  the  direct  purchase  money  paid  by  the  United 
States  for  territorial  acquisitions  foots  up  as  follows : 
Florida,  $5,000,000  ; Louisiana,  $15,000,000  ; Cali- 
fornia and  other  possessions  from  Mexico,  $18,500,- 
000;  total,  $38,500,000. 

The  English  claimed  the  right  to  search  Ameri- 
can vessels,  and  impress  into  her  service  in  time  of 
war  British  subjects  found  on  board.  In  retaliation 
the  French  claimed  the  same  right.  Our  govern- 
ment protested,  and  at  last  declared  war  against 
England  in  support  of  the  protest.  That  Avar  Avas 
not  actually  begun  until  June,  1812,  near  the  close 
of  Madison’s  first  term  as  President,  but  it  had  been 
imminent,  almost  certain,  e\’er  since  the  Republicans 
came  into  poAver  upon  the  overthrow  of  the  Feder- 
alists. When  it  finally  came,  the  Federalists  bitterly 
resisted  it.  It  never  ceased  to  be  somewhat  of  a 
division  line  betAveen  the  parties,  although  it  is  a 
Arell-established  political  fact 
that  no  party  can  afford  to 
antagonize  a Avar  after  it  has 
once  been  declared,  and  if  it 
does,  even  to  a limited  extent, 
the  result  Avill  be  fatal  to  it. 

The  Federal  party  Avas  utterly 
destroyed  by  the  Avar  of  1812. 

General  Dearborn  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Avas  the  first  com- 
mander-in-chief in  that  war,  general  dearborn. 
under  the  President,  Avho,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  held 
that  position.  No  President  ever  took  the  field  in 


AARON  BURR. 


(D 


i 


Fv 


B 


£ 


of 

? 


THE  YOUNG  REPUBLIC. 


519 


person.  Dearborn’s  policy  was  to  take  Canada,  but 
now,  as  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  that  plan  failed. 
In  the  war  of  independence  the  colonies  had  no  navy 
of  any  consequence  of  their  own,  but  in  the  second 
British  war  the  navy  took  a conspicuous  part.  A great 
many  English  vessels  were  captured.  The  important 
naval  battle  was  fought  on  Lake  Erie,  and  the  victory 
wonby  the  gallant  young  Commodore  Perry,  who  sent 
to  General  Harrison  the  memorable  report,  “We  have 
met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours.”  Commodore  Law- 
rence of  frigate  Chesapeake  had  an  encounter  with  the 
English  frigate  Shannon  off 
Boston  which  proved  disas- 
trous, but  as  the  brave  Com- 
modore fell  mortally  wound- 
ed, he  shouted,  “Don’t  give  up 
the  ship.”  These  two  brief 
sentences  served  to  stimulate 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  whole 
nation.  There  were  nineteen 
naval  battles,  and  in  four- 
teen of  them  the  Americans 
were  successful.  Commodore 
Stewart,  grandfather  of  the 
great  Irish  land  - leaguer 
Parnell,  with  the  American 
frigate  Constitution,  success- 
fully engaged  two  British 
ships  off  Madeira. 

There  were  twenty-two  land 
battles.  The  most  humilia- 
ting feature  of  the  war  was  the 
surrender  of  Detroit  to  the 
British  by  General  Hull, 

August  16,  1812.  By  that 

unnecessary  cowardice  the  English  gained  con- 
trol of  Michigan,  and  if  Perry  had  been  beaten 
on  Lake  Erie  a year  later, 
they  would  have  been  masters 
of  the  lakes  and  the  cities 

upon  their  shores.  Of  these 

twenty-two  battles  the  Amer- 
icans won  fourteen.  For  the 
most  part  these  battles  were 
near  the  lakes,  extending 

- from  Plattsburg  on  Lake 

captain  Lawrence.  Champlain  and  Sackett’s 

Harbor  on  Ontario,  to  Detroit,  then  the  extreme 
limit  of  western  civilization.  But  Fort  McHenry, 


which  guards  Baltimore,  was  subjected  to  a terrible 
bombardment  from  sixteen  British  ships,  September 
13,  1814.  The  failure  of  that  assault  called  out  the 
popular  song,  “ The  Star  Spangled  Banner,”  from 
the  pen  of  Francis  S.  Key,  a Marylander,  then  de- 
tained as  a prisoner  on  one  of  the  English  vessels 
of  the  bombarding  fleet.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
the  two  most  spirited  and  brilliant  military  songs  in 
American  literature  were  written  by  Marylanders, 
the  second  being  “My  Maryland”  by  Mr.  Randall. 

The  only  really  eminent  land  engagement  of  that 
war  was  the  battle  of  New  Or- 
leans, January  8,  1815,  some 
time  after  the  treaty  of  peace 
had  been  signed,  but  before 
it  had  become  known  in  this 
country.  That  battle,  with 
its  prelude  of  December  31, 
alone  shed  luster  upon  the 
American  army,  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  navy.  Had 
it  not  been  for  New  Orleans, 
the  second  war  with  England 
would  have  been  accounted, 
and  justly,  as  an  American 
defeat.  There  were,  however, 
some  brilliant  feats  of  arms 
before  that  post-treaty  battle. 
Two  of  them  deserve  special 
notice — Lundy’s  Lane  and 
Plattsburg.  The  former  was 
fought  on  the  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario,  July  25,  1814.  Gen- 
eral Brown  was  in  command, 
witli  General  Winfield  Scott 
next  in  rank.  The  latter  led  the  advance.  He  and 
Brown  were  both  wounded,  but 
the  enemy  were  defeated,  each 
side  losing  about  800  men. 

“That  battle”  says  Ingersoll  in 
his  historical  sketches,  “has 
never  teen  appreciated  as  it 
ought  to  be.  The  victory  was 
the  resurrection,  or  birth,  of 
American  arms.  The  charm 
of  British  military  invincibility 
was  as  effectually  broken  by  a Niagara  frontier. 
single  brigade  or  that  of  naval  supremacy  by  a 
single  frigate,  as  much  as  if  a large  army  or  licet 


65 


A 


a 


52° 


THE  YOUNG  REPUBLIC. 


had  been  the  agent.” 


GENERAL  BROWN. 


Another  writer  says  of  the 
battle  of  Plattsburg,  fought 
September  11th  of  the  same 
year : “ In  September,  Sir 
George  Prevost,  at  the  head 
of  fourteen  thousand  men, 
marched  against  Macomb, 
who  had  only  a few  hundred 
men, and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
British  fleet  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain, 


com- 
manded by  Commodore 
Downie,  sailed  to  attack 
the  American  fleet  under 
Commodore  MacDonough. 

While  the  British,  from 
their  batteries,  commenced 
on  the  land,  their  fleet  en- 
gaged MacDonough’s  ves- 
sels which  were  at  anchor 
in  the  bay  of  Plattsburg. 

In  a little  more  than  two 
hours  MacDonough  gained 
a complete  victory.  The 
fire  from  the  land  batteries 
then  slackened,  and,  at 
nightfall,  Prevost  made  a 
hasty  retreat,  having  lost  in 
killed,  wounded  and  deser- 
tions, about  twenty-five 
hundred  men.” 

Early  in  the  war  the  En- 
glish had  secured  the  co- 
operation of  disaffected  In- 
dians in  Alabama  and  Florida,  especially  the  Somi- 
noles,  and  General  Andrew  Jackson  had  been  sent 
south  to  hold  the  savages  and  their  instigators  in 
check.  Pensacola  was  then  a Spanish  port,  but  the 
British  had  been  allowed  to  occupy  it  the  same  as  if 
it  were  a part  of  the  British  empire.  Finally,  Jack- 
son,  who  was  in  command  at  Mobile,  marched  upon 
Pensacola  with  three  thousand  men,  seized  it  and 
drove  out  the  English.  That  was  late  in  1814.  Soon 
after,  he  learned  that  the  enemy  proposed  to  take  New 
Orleans  in  retaliation.  He  lost  no  time  in  marching 
to  its  defense.  What  followed  is  well  told  by  Ander- 
son, and  we  quote  from  him : “ Toward  the  middle 

of  December  a British  squadron  entered  Lake  Borgne, 


carrying  12,000  troops,  commanded  by  Sir  Edward 
Pakenham,  the  first  object  of  the  expedition  being 
to  capture  New  Orleans.  On  the  14th  a flotilla  of 
American  gunboats  was  compelled  to  surrender,  and, 
on  the  23d  Jackson  made  a spirited,  though  inef- 
fectual, attack  upon  an  encampment  of  the  enemy’s 
vanguard.  On  the  28th,  and  again  on  the  first  day 
of  the  new  year,  the  British  were  unsuccessful  in 
cannonading  the  intrenchments  which  Jackson  had 
thrown  up  four  miles  from  the  city.  On  the  8th 
of  January,  1815,  the  Brit- 
ish made  a general  advance 
against  the  enemy’s  in- 
trenchments ; but  volley 
after  volley  was  poured  up- 
on them  with  such  terrible 
effect,  that  they  were  com- 
pelled to  flee.  Pakenham 
was  slain,  and  two  thousand 
of  his  men  were  killed, 
wounded,  or  taken  prison- 
ers. The  Americans  lost 
only  seven  killed  and  six 
wounded.”  This  was  the 
first  and  last  time  in  the 
world’s  history  that  the  su- 
preme battle  of  a war  was 
fought  after  peace  had  been 
negotiated. 

One  more  incident  of  this 
war  as  we  pass  on  to  the 
treaty  itself.  The  British, 
under  General  Ross,  took 
the  national  capital,  August 
24, 1814,  and  fired  the  pub- 
lic buildings.  He  had  the  same  day  defeated  an 
American  force  of  3,500  at  Blandensburg,  his 
own  army 
numbering 
5,000.  The 
American 
forces  were 
under  the 
command 
of  General 
Winder.  In 
his  history 
of  this  war 

Ingersoll  says  of  this  vandalism,  “ At  a small  beer- 


BATTLE  OP  NEW  ORLEANS. 


FT 


THE  YOUNG  REPUBLIC. 


house  opposite  to  the  Treasury,  fire  was  procured 
with  which  the  Treasury  and  then  the  President’s 
house  were  fired.  Before  setting  fire  to  the  latter 
building,  it  was  ransacked  for  booty,  especially  for 
objects  of  curiosity,  to  be  carried  off  as  spoils.  After 
incendiarism  had  done  its  worst,  both  at  the  Presi- 
dent’s house  and  the  Navy-Yard,  indiscriminate  pil- 
lage closed  the  scene.” 

The  treaty  of  peace  negotiated  by  John  Quincy 


with  England,  our  country,  then  more  than  now 
interested  in  the  carrying  trade  upon  the  high  seas, 
turned  its  attention  to  Algerine  piracy.  The  gal- 
lant Decatur  was  seut  to  the  Mediterranean  with  a 
naval  force  to  demand  of  the  Dey  of  Algiers  the  re- 
lease of  the  Americans  captured  and  held  for  ran- 
som. He  captured  two  large  Algerine  vessels  and 
then  secured  the  object  of  his  misson,  also  treaties 
of  a satisfactory  nature  from  the  neighboring  Bar- 


JACKSON  AT 

Adams,  Henry  Clay  and  their  associates,  was  abso- 
lutely silent  about  the  encroachments  upon  Ameri- 
can commerce  and  the  impressment  of  American 
seamen,  the  two  cardinal  issues  of  the  war.  But 
the  country  was  in  such  good  humor  over  the  battle 
of  New  Orleans,  and  so  eager  for  peace,  that  the 
treaty  was  ratified.  Everybody  felt  that  the  United 
States  had  amply  demonstrated  its  prowess  on  land 
and  sea,  that  henceforth  its  rights  would  be  respect- 
ed by  foreign  governments,  and  this  proved  to  be 
the  case.  Substantially,  then,  the  war  of  1812  com- 
pleted what  the  Tievolutionary  struggle  had  begun. 

After  the  second,  and  we  may  hope  the  last  war 


NEW  ORLEANS. 

bary  States,  Tunis  and  Tripoli, 
cial  nations  were  enthusiastic 
in  praise  of  the  American  navy. 
Earlier  in  the  century  Tripoli 
had  declared  war  against  the 
United  States  and  captured 
and  sold  into  slavery  the  crew 
of  the  frigate  Philadelphia. 
The  evil  of  Mediterranean  piracy 
was  effectually  cured  by  the 
dauntless  Decatur.  This  gal- 
lant sailor  fell,  mortally  wound- 
ed, in  a duel  with  Commodore 


limropean  eommer- 


LIEL'TEN  ANT  DEC  ATI' IL 


iL 


eiiniiuiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiHiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiuiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

— =3' 

THE  PERIOD  OF  COMPROMISE. 


^IIIIIIIIIUUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIUIIUIIIIIIUIIIIB 


CHAPTER  LXX  X . 

Non-Partisan  and  Non-Sectional  Slavery— The  Missouri  Compromise — The  Cotton  Gin — The 
Tariff  Question — Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun — John  Quincy  Adams— General  Jackson 
and  His  Policy— His  Protege  and  the  Panic  of  1837 — “Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  Too” — 
Annexation  of  Texas — The  Mexican  War— Taylor  and  Fillmore — The  Omnibus  Bill — 
Scott  and  Pierce — Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise — Seward,  Sumner  and  Douglas 
—Buchanan  and  Fremont — From  Compromise  to  Conflict. 


good  sense  to 


HE  war  of  1812  went  out  in 
sucli  a perfect  and  unex- 
pected blaze  of  glory  that 
when  the  excitement  had 
passed  by,  the  Federal  party 
was  missed.  It  has  never 
been  found  since.  Mr.  Mon- 
roe, an  amiable  gentleman 
of  fair  ability,  a protege  of  Jeffer- 
son, was  elected  to  the  presidency 
two  terms  in  succession.  He  was 
indeed  a Republican,  but  his  elec- 
tions were  not  party  victories.  Nei- 
ther were  they  the  result  of  a com- 
2 promise.  The  two  parties  had  come 
to  a final  struggle  over  war  with 
England,  and  the  one  which  had 
suffered  defeat  had  the  grace  and 
step  down  and  out,”  not  with  any 


blare  of  horns  or  waving  of  banners,  but  so  very 
quietly  that  “ no  man  knoweth  of  [its]  grave  to  this 
day.”  It  simply  faded  out. 

The  compromise  did,  indeed,  begin  during  the 
Monroe  administration,  but  it  related  to  the  future 
rather  than  the  past,  the  future  being  that  great 
question  of  slavery,  hitherto  in  no  sense  a political 


issue.  The  Northwest  Ordinance,  a very  important 
anti-slavery  measure,  was  neither  partisan  nor  sec- 
tional. The  slaveholding  state  of  Virginia  volunta- 
rily surrendered  to  the  general  government  all  claim 
to  the  territory  west  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  there  was 
hardly  any  objection  to  the  prohibition  of  slavery 
therein.  That  prohibition  fairly  represented  the 
opinion  prevailing  at  that  time  throughout  the  coun- 
try that  the  institution  of  involuntary  labor  was  an 
evil  to  be  gradually  removed  by  the  voluntary  action 
of  the  states  in  which  it  existed.  Originally  the  in- 
stitution existed,  to  a limited  extent,  over  nearly  the 
entire  North,  as  well  as  South. 

The  question  of  slavery  first  came  before  Congress 
in  a way  to  provoke  controversy  in  connection  with 
the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  1820. 
That  state  and  Maine,  the  latter  an  offshoot  from 
Massachusetts,  botli  applied  for  admission  into  the 
Union  the  same  year.  Previous  to  that  time  terri- 
tories had  been  admitted  to  the  Union  and  raised  to 
the  dignity  of  states  whenever  their  population  war- 
ranted it  and  admission  was  sought  in  due  form, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Ohio,  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
Indiana,  Illinois  and  Alabama  had  knocked  and 
been  admitted  without  controversy.  Maine  was  ad- 
mitted March  15,  twelve  days  after  the  passage  of 


THE  PERIOD  OF  COMPROMISE.  523 


the  Missouri  Compromise  Bill.  Missouri  itself  came 
into  the  Union  in  August  of  the  year  following,  un- 
der the  operation  of  the  compromise. 

The  raising  of  this  issue  was  very  largely  due  to 
the  cotton  gin,  a “ Yankee  notion,”  invented  by  Eli 
Whitney.  That  great  invention  dates  from  1792, 
but  its  revolutionary  effect  was  the  work  of  time. 
By  its  aid  one  man  could  gin,  or  free  from  seeds,  as 
much  cotton  as  five  hundred  men  could  without  it. 
Under  its  influence  labor  in  the  cotton  states  became 
highly  profitable,  and  the  institution  of  slavery 
(without  which,  it  was  thought  cotton  could  not  be 
raised  in  America  so  as  to 
compete  with  British  India) 
acquired  a hold  which  it 
had  not  before  possessed 
upon  the  people  of  the  cot- 
ton states. 

After  a great  deal  of  agi- 
tation it  was  agreed  that 
Missouri  should  come  in, 
but  that  slavery  should  not 
be  allowed  in  any  territory 
north  of  36°  30',  except  in 
the  case  of  Missouri,  a very 
small  part  of  which  was 
above  that  line.  This  corn-’ 
promise  was  supposed  to  be 
a final  settlement  of  the 
slavery  question  as  a nation- 
al issue.  The  compromise 
was  not  disturbed  until  the 
Nebraska  bill  of  1854  came 
up.  Sectionalism  did  not 
die  out,  but  was  in  abeyance  until  1828,  when  the 
tariff  question  revived  it. 

The  North  with  its  manufactures  demanded  pro- 
tection ; the  South  witli  its  great  staple  of  export,  cot- 
ton, demanded  free  trade.  Webster,  originally  op- 
posed to  the  tariff  system,  became  a champion  of  it, 
the  interest  of  his  state,  Massachusetts,  demanding  it. 
Henry  Clay  was  the  especial  champion  of  protection, 
which  he  called  “the  American  system.”  John  C. 
Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina,  was  the  leader  of  the 
uncompromising  Southern  element.  These  three 
names  will  be  forever  associated.  They  form  the 
great  triumvirate  of  the  compromise  period. 

Clay  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1777.  His  early 
education  was  meager.  Natural  eloquence  drew  him 


into  the  legal  profession,  and  as  early  as  1806  the 
legislature  of  Kentucky,  to  which  state  he  early 
removed,  sent  him  to  the  United  States  Senate.  He 
filled  many  places  of  honor,  being  in  the  public  ser- 
vice almost  constantly  until  his  death,  1852,  for  the 
most  part  serving  in  Congress.  He  was  speaker  of 
the  House  several  times,  ne  was  a candidate  for 
President  repeatedly,  being  the  father  and  favorite  of 
the  Whig  party.  Webster  was  born  in  New  Hamp- 
shire in  1782.  He  received  a collegiate  education. 
His  political  career  began  in  1812,  when  he  was 
elected  to  Congress.  That  was  in  his  native  state. 

From  1816  to  1822  he  prac- 
ticed his  profession  at  Bos- 
ton, acquiring  the  highest 
rank  as  a lawyer.  From 
that  time  until  his  death, 
1852,  he  was  almost  wholly 
devoted  to  public  affairs, 
most  of  the  time  in  the 
senate.  He  aspired  to  the 
presidency,  but  never  re- 
ceived the  nomination  of 
his  party,  the  Whig.  Cal- 
houn was  born  in  South 
Carolina  in  1782.  lie 
graduated  at  Yale  College. 
In  1808  his  public  life  be- 
gan, by  his  election  to  the 
legislature  of  his  native 
state.  He  then  served  six 
years  in  the  National  House 
of  Representatives.  His  next 
position  was  that  of  Secre- 
tary of  War,  followed  by  that  of  Vice-President. 
He  aspired  to  the  presidency,  but  was  not  a 
favorite  with  the  autocrat  of  his  party,  Andrew 
Jackson,  and  in  the  nullification  movement  in 
South  Carolina  he  rendered  himself  unpopular 
to  the  country  at  large.  He  was  the  idol  of  his  state, 
and  from  that  time  until  his  death  (1850)  he  was 
content  to  represent  that  commonwealth  in  the  sen- 
ate of  the  United  States.  For  about  a year,  how- 
ever, lie  served  as  Secretary  of  State  under  Presi- 
dent Tyler.  Calhoun  was  not  a compromiser.  lie 
believed  in  slavery  and  the  right  of  secession,  never 
hesitating  to  avow  his  sentiments  and  advocate 
them.  His  private  life  was  without  a stain.  Not 
as  persuasive  as  Clay  nor  as  sublime  as  Webster,  he 


I 

1 


THE  PERIOD  OF  COMPROMISE. 


was  in  many  respects  tlieir  intellectual  peer.  Ameri- 
can politics  reached  its  highest  point  of  personal 
ability  in  those  Titans. 

In  the  year  1824  occurred  the  presidential  elec- 
tion which  resulted  in  the  choice  of  John  Quincy 
Adams  for  President  and  John  C.  Calhoun  for  Vice- 
President,  a combination  peculiarly  incongruous  in 
the  light  of  subsequent  events.  The  electors  did 
not  elect,  and  the  matter  was  settled  by  Congress. 
Adams  had  for  his  Secretary  of  State  Henry  Clay. 
His  administration  was  a most  excellent  one.  Mr. 
Adams  was  a very  great  statesman,  but  he  was  not 
a politician,  and  he  failed  to  build  up  a political 


in, 

party.  The  opportunity  was  peculiarly  favorable 
for  so  doing,  but  he  lacked  the  qualifications  of  an 
organizer.  It  was  during  his  term  of  office  that  the 
Erie  canal  was  built,  and  the  construction  of  rail- 
ways began.  The  country  prospered  and  every  in- 
terest developed  rapidly. 

The  seventh  President  of  the  United  States,  An- 
drew J ackson,  was  one  of  the  most  strongly  individ- 
ual characters  in  American  annals.  The  hero  of 
New  Orleans,  his  hold  upon  the  popular  heart  was 
peculiarly  tenacious.  Ignorant,  rough,  and  often 
unreasonable,  he  never  faltered  in  what  he  con- 
ceived to  be  his  duty,  nor  did  he  hesitate  to  employ 
freely  the  power  of  his  office  to  build  up  a political 


party  with  himself  as  its  center.  A patriot,  but  not 
a statesman,  he  was  the  chief  of  politicians. 

. The  great  features  of  Jackson’s  administration 
were,  first,  his  unyielding  and  fatal  opposition  to  a 
renewal  of  the  charter  of  me  national  banks ; sec- 
ond, the  crushing  of  nullification  or  secession,  in 
South  Carolina ; third,  the  creation  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party ; fourth,  the  introduction  into  the  civil 
service  of  the  pernicious  practice  of  distributing  of- 
fices in  reward,  for  partisan  and  personal  services. 
He  did  not  originate  the  phrase,  “ to  the  victors  be- 
long the  spoils,”  but  he  did  establish  the  system. 


JOHN  C.  CALHOUN. 

and  that  so  firmly  that  it  has  survived  all  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  party. 

Of  all  the  many  important  events  of  Jackson’s 
memorable  career,  the  most  remarkable  was  the 
promptness  with  which  he  met  nullification  in  the 
Palmetto  State.  The  additional  duties  on  imports 
which  gave  such  grievous  offense  were  levied  in 
1832.  A state  convention  held  at  Charleston  soon 
after  declared  this  act  null  and  void,  and  prepared 
to  resist  its  enforcement.  The  state  legislature  made 
no  secret  of  a determination  to  secede  if  the  law  was 
executed.  A man-of-war,  with  General  Scott  and 
a few  soldiers  on  board,  quelled  the  storm  without 
the  shedding  of  blood.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Clay,  true 


IV 


THE  PERIOD  OF  COMPROMISE. 


to  his  instincts  as  a pacifier,  secured  the  passage  of 
a bill  providing  for  a scaling  down  of  duties. 

The  next  president,  Martin  Van  Buren,  of  New 
York,  was  a wily  politician,  the  convenient  and 
crafty  lieutenant  of  Jackson  in  all  his  political 
movements.  In  the  first  year  of  his  administration, 
1837,  the  country  was  whelmed  in  bankruptcy.  That 
panic  was  largely  due  to  the  refusal  of  Jackson  to 
sign  the  bill  for  renewing  the  charter  of  the  national 
banks.  His  pet  scheme  was  the  Independent  Treas- 
ury, or  Sub-Treasury  system,  by  which  the  govern- 
ment should  keep  in  its 
own  vaults  the  public 
money.  The  hard  times 
had  somewhat  abated 
when  the  next  presiden- 
tial election  occurred 
(1840),  but  the  memory 
of  the  panic  was  fresh, 
and  the  demand  for  a 
change  was  imperious. 

The  campaign  of  1840 
was  very  exciting.  The 
Whigs  dropped  their  reg- 
ular candidate,  Clay,  and 
took  up  General  Harri- 
son. He  had  rendered 
good  service  in  the  war 
of  1812,  but  better  still 
in  Indian  warfare.  He 
was  the  hero  of  the  bril- 
liant affair  at  Tippeca- 
noe, Indiana,  near  La- 
fayette, which  broke  up 
the  confederacy  of  Tecuuiseh 
prehension  of  an  Indian 


GENERAL  SAM  HOUSTON. 


and  ended  the  ap- 
war.  That  was  about 
thirty  years  before  ho  was  a candidate  for  President, 
but  it  served  the  purposes  of  the  campaign. 

His  death,  one  month  after  his  inauguration, 
brought  to  the  presidency  John  Tyler,  the  first  of 
the  Presidents  elected  by  the  Messenger  of  Death. 
He  proved  unfaithful  to  the  party  which  elected 
him,  and  covered  himself  with  reproach.  The  tariff 
question  was  a leading  issue  of  the  campaign, 
and  he  repudiated  the  protective  policy  which  was 
the  distinguishing  doctrine  of  the  Whigs.  The  only 
redeeming  feature  of  Tyler’s  administration  was  the 
retention  of  Daniel  Webster  as  Secretary  of  State, 
and  the  negotiation  by  him  of  a treaty  with  England 


which  fixed  amicably  the  boundaries  between  the 
United  States  and  British  America,  both  in  the 
northeast  and  the  northwest. 

The  bill  annexing  Texas  to  the  Union  was  passed 
three  days  before  the  Tyler  administration  closed, 
but  it  was  none  the  less  the  great  issue  in  the  presi- 
dential election  of  1844,  which  resulted  in  the  defeat 
of  Clay  and  the  election  of  James  K.  Polk,  of  Ten- 
nessee. Texas  was  originally  a part  of  Mexico.  It 
had  been  largely  settled  by  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  The  people  rebelled  and  seceded  from  Mex- 
ico, General  Sam  Hous- 
ton being  the  leader  in 
the  Texan  war  of  inde- 
pendence. The  battle 
of  San  Jacinto,  result- 
ing in  the  capture  of 
Santa  Anna,  then  Presi- 
dent of  Mexico,  Houston 
consented  to  release  him 
only  on  condition  that 
the  independence  of 
Texas  should  be  recog- 
nized. The  condition 
was  complied  with.  Not 
long  after  Texas  asked 
to  be  annexed  to  the 
United  States.  Nations 
usually  covet  territorial 
acquisition,  but  in  this 
case  the  North  opposed 
it  because  the  area  of 
slavery  would  be  extend- 
ed thereby.  The  elec- 
the  matter  affirmatively. 


tion  of  Polk  settled 
It  was  during 
the  admi  nistration 
of  Polk  that  the 
war  between  Mex- 
ico and  the  Uni- 
ted States  was 
waged,  growing 
out  of  the  annex- 
ation of  Texas, 
largely,  and  the 
desire  of  the  South 
for  an  enlarged 
area.  There  were 
thirteen  battles  during  that  war,  the  first  beingfought 


W1NKIKLD  SCOTT  IN  1805. 


i 


THE  PERIOD  OF  COMPROMISE. 


52<5 


at  Palo  Alto,  May  8, 1846,  and  the  last  at  Huamantla, 
October  9,  1847.  In  all  the  United  States  troops 
were  victorious.  General  Taylor  won  the  victories  of 
Palo  Alto,  Monterey,  Palma  and  Buena  Vista  ; Gen- 
eral Scott 
those  of  Ve- 
raCruz,Cer- 
ro  Gordo, 
Contreras, 
Cherubusco 
and  Chapul- 

tepec.  Many  of  the  names  rendered  famous  in  the 
civil  war  appear  among  the 
subordinate  officers  of 
that  campaign.  Among 
the  volunteer  generals  of 
that  war  was  Franklin 
Pierce,  afterwards  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

The  treaty  of  peace  was 
signed  February  2,  1848. 

By  its  terms  all  the  terri- 
tory north  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  including  New 
Mexico  and  California, 
should  thereafter  belong 
to  the  United  States.  In- 
stead of  exacting,  in  ad- 
dition to  this,  a sum  of 
money,  as  Germany  did 
of  France  a few  years  ago, 
the  victor  agreed  to  pay  the 
vanquished  $15,000,000 
and  assume  debts  amounting  to  about  $3,000,000. 
At  a later  period,  there  having  arisen  some  dispute 
as  to  the  boundary,  the  United  States  paid  Mexico 
$10,000,000  more  in  final  settlement  of  the  whole 
matter. 

The  Whigs  had  denounced  the  Mexican  war  in 
severest  terms,  but  no  sooner  was  it  over  than  they 
took  up  General  Taylor  as  their  candidate  for  the 
presidency,  to  the  great  chagrin  of  Clay  and  his  es- 
pecial friends.  “ Old  Rough  and  Ready,”  as  Taylor 
was  called,  had  for  his  opponent  General  Cass  of 
Michigan,  and,  on  the  Free-soil  or  Anti-slavery 
ticket,  ex-President  Van  Buren.  The  latter  hoped 
to  so  weaken  Cass,  whom  he  hated,  that  he  would 
be  defeated.  In  this  lie  was  successful,  Taylor  was 
elected,  and  with  him  Millard  Fillmore  of  New 


York.  The  new,  yet  old,  president  died  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1850.  His  administration  is  almost  a blank. 
Not  so  with  that  of  Fillmore,  during  whose  term  of 
office  the  policy  of  compromise  reached  its  cul- 
mination. 

The  ill-feeling  between  the  North  and  the  South 
on  slavery  and  the  questions  growing  out  of  it,  was 
such  as  to  seriously  threaten  the  Union.  Henry 
Clay,  true  to  his  life-work,  came  forward  in  1850 
with  what  was  known  as  his  “ Omnibus  Bill,”  pro- 
viding, first,  that  California  should  be  admitted  as  a 
free  state  ; second,  that  if  new  states  formed  by  the 

division  of  Texas  should 
knock  for  admission  they 
should  be  admitted ; third, 
Utah  and  Mexico  to  be 
organized  as  territories ; 
fourth,  the  claim  of  Texas 
to  New  Mexico  to  be  pur- 
chased by  the  general  gov- 
ernment for  $10,000,000 ; 
fifth,  the  slave  trade  to  be 
forbidden  in  the  District 
of  Columbia;  sixth,  slaves 
escaping  to  free  states  to 
be  arrested  and  restored  to 
their  masters.  Thi  meas- 
ure received  the  s iport 
of  both  of  the  twc  .reat 
parties.  But  it  fade  of 
the  desired  effect.  At  clie 
South  the  admission  of 
California  was  looked  up- 
on as  the  supreme  feature  of  the  bill,  and  the  North 
forgot  everything  else  in  fierce  indignation  over  the 
fugitive  slave  law.  The  two  sections  were  thus  all 
the  more  unlriendly.  Compromise  had  been  the 
ruling  policy  of  the  government  for  thirty  years, 
and  all  to  no  conciliatory  purpose. 

The  next  presidential  election  was  the  last  in 
which  the  Whig  party  was  ever  to  take  part.  Born 
of  compromise,  it  died  with  it.  In  1852  the  Whigs 
had  for  standard-bearer  General  Winfield  Scott,  the 
hero  of  two  wars,  but  he  was  utterly  routed  by  Gen- 
eral Pierce,  who  had  nothing  to  recommend  him 
to  the  people.  It  was  not  in  any  sense  a personal 
campaign.  The  country  was  dissatisfied  with  both 
parties,  but  of  the  two  evils  the  people  chose  the 
one  least  conspicuous  for  compromise.  That  was 


ROUTE  OF  THE  U.  S.  ARMY  FROM  VERA  CRUZ  TO  MEXICO. 


FT 


THE  PERIOD  OF  COMPROMISE. 


527 


the  last  national  election  ever  held  at  which  both  of 
the  leading  parties  attempted  to  win  the  favor  of 
both  sections  of  the  country 

There  had  long  been  a distinctively  anti-slavery 
party  at  the  North,  with  now  and  then  a represen- 
tative in  congress  ; but  its  strength  was  inconsidera- 
ble as  compared  with  the  other  two  parties.  In  1840, 
and  again  in  1844,  the  Abolitionists  had  cast  their 
votes  for  electors  pledged  to  support  James  G.  Bir- 
ney  for  president.  In  1848,  under  the  lead  of  V an 
Buren,  and  again  in  1852,  under  the  lead  of  John 
P.  Hale,  the  Free-Soil  party  had  secured  the  anti- 
slavery  vote,  gaining  a little  each  time,  but  not  much. 


WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD. 


The  election  of  Pierce  seemed  to  be  the  permanent 
triumph  of  the  pro-slavery  party. 

Early  in  1854  Senator  Douglas  of  Illinois,  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Territories,  introduced 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  which  was,  in  effect,  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  A fierce  con- 
flict arose.  The  Whig  party,  as  if  conscious  that 
its  mission  of  conciliation  was  over,  went  the  way 
of  the  Federal  party,  to  which  it  had  fallen  heir. 
It  died  of  inanition,  and  with  the  passage  of  the 
bill  introduced  by  Mr.  Douglas  (for  after  a hotly 
contested  struggle  in  Congress  it  became  a law)  there 
was  born  the  Republican  party  of  the  present  day. 
It  succeeded  to  the  estate  of  the  W big  organization 
without  assuming  its  liabilities. 

A new  set  of  great  men  came  to  the  front  about 
this  time  to  take  the  place  of  Clay,  Webster  and 


Calhoun.  This  triumvirate  consisted  of  Wm.  H. 
Seward  of  New  York,  Charles  Sumner  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Seward  was  a native  of  New  York,  born  in 
1801.  He  graduated  at  Union  College  and  settled 
as  a lawyer  in  Auburn,  New  York.  His  public  ca- 
reer began  in  1830,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  State 
Senate.  Subsequently  he  served  as  governor  of  the 
state.  He  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate 
as  a representative  of  the  anti-slavery  wing  of  the 
Whig  party,  entering  that  body  in  time  to  take  part 
against  the  compromise  of  1850.  ne  was  the  father, 


CHARLES  SUMNER. 


more  than  any  other  man,  of  the  Republican  party. 
In  1860  he  was  a prominent  candidate  before  the 
national  convention  of  his  party  for  the  presidency, 
but  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  Upon  the  elec- 
tion of  the  latter  Mr.  Seward  became  Secretary  of 
State,  a position  he  occupied  eight  years,  when  his 
public  career  closed.  Mr.  Seward  was  at  once  a 
great  statesman  and  a great  politician.  Mr.  Sum- 
ner was  the  former,  but  not  the  latter.  Happily,  his 
native  state,  Massachusetts,  required  no  wire-work- 
ing to  place  in  the  Senate  and  keep  there  her  great- 
est son,  for  such  Mr.  Sumner  was  for  many  years. 
Born  in  Boston  in  1811,  he  was  elected  to  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  United  States  at  the  age  of  forty,  his  first 
and  only  office.  He  remained  in  that  body  until 


THE  PERIOD  OF  COMPROMISE. 


Iris  death  in  1874.  During  those  twenty-three  years 
he  was  the  unfaltering  friend  of  the  black  man.  He 
was  the  most  learned  man  ever  identified  with 
American  politics.  His  eloquence  was  of  a lofty 
nature  and  his  character  singularly  free  from  taint. 

Douglas  was  a very 
different  man 
from  either  of  the 
other  two.  Uned- 
ucated, coarse  and 
unscrupulous,  he 
was  a master  of 
all  the  arts  of  pol- 
itics. Born  in 
Vermont  in  1813, 
he  entered  Con- 
gress at  the  age  of 
thirty  as  a Demo- 
cratic representa- 
tive from  the  state 
of  Illinois.  In  1847  he  entered  the  Senate,  and 
soon  became  the  leader  of  his  party  in  that  body, 
where  he  remained  until  his  death  in  1801.  In  the 
fall  of  1860  he  was  a candidate  for  the  presidency. 
When  the  civil  war  began  he  was  appointed  a Major- 
General  by  President  Lincoln.  He  was  a staunch 
friend  of  the  Union. 

Although  carried  by  the  current  of  these  three 
lives  quite  beyond  the  period  of  compromise,  there 
is  one  more  administration  belonging  to  it,  that  of 
James  Buchanan,  the  fifteenth  President  of  the 
United  States.  His  election  in  1856  over  the  Be- 
publican  nominee.  Col.  John  C.  Fremont,  by  a large 
majority,  showed  that  the  old  regime  was  still  poten- 
tial. At  that  election,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  the  republic,  a presidential  candidate  nominated 
on  the  anti-slavery  issue  received  Electoral  College 


votes,  and  a good  many  of  them,  too,  enough  cer- 
tainly to  foreshadow  plainly  the  result  in  1860.  The 
Buchanan  administration  was  characterized  by  an- 
tagonism between  the  Executive  and  Congress  on 


all  questions  at  issue  between  the  two  parties.  Mr. 
Buchanan  was  willing  to  carry  the  policy  of  conces- 
sion to  the  South  to  almost  any  length,  hi  the  hope 
of  thereby  averting  civil  war,  while  the  Republicans 
scoffed  at  the  threats  of  secession  and  braved  all 
peril  rather  than  consent  to  any  extension  of  the 
area  of  slavery.  Thus  in  that  period,  from  1857  to 
1861,  Compromise  exhausted  itself  and  developed  by 
a natural  process  into  Conflict. 


6 


Al 


Tiiipw>jii^  «'[,w  Ji'p*r.'^r,i^r.'|^r,i^(i.  «|^  »l{|W'i'{W  i ^ ■i'^^yw>'rywpr'ywr:'y^f-iiywr:^Mwi,n^<.rywr:-iy r-T***  IT; 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


MERRIMACK  AND  MONITOR. 


I 

'll 


CHAPTER  LXXXI . 


Political  Conflict — .John  Brown— I860 — Secession — War  Begun — Bull  Run— McClellan  on 
the  Potomac— Missouri — Close  of  1861 — 1862 — Fort  Donelson — Pea  Ridge— Merrimack  anii 
Monitor — Pittsburg  Landing— New  Orleans — On  the  Potomac  Again — Yorktown — 
Before  Richmond — Colored  Troops — Gen.  Pope — Antietam — Fredericksburg  and  Burn- 
side— Emancipation — Gettysburg — Vicksburg — Chattanooga — New  York  Riots — Ander- 
sonville — Grant  Supreme — Fort  Pillow — Battle  of  the  Wilderness — Spottstlvania — 
Atlanta — March  to  the  Sea — Thomas  and  Hood — Presidential  Election — Fall  of  Rich- 
mond. and  Surrender  of  Lee — Other  Surrenders  and  TnE  Capture  of  Davis— Assassin- 
ation of  Lincoln — Sinking  of  the  Alabama,  and  Other  Naval  Engagements— Personal 
Sketches  of  Union  Heroes— Andrew  Johnson — Reconstruction  Conflict — Impeachment 
of  Johnson — Election  of  Grant — Ku-Klux-Klan — Close  of  the  Great  Conflict. 


3* 


X an  important  sense  the 
great  political  conflict  in 
the  United  States  began 
with  the  organization  of 
the  Republican  party.  The 
Abolitionists,  such  as  Wil- 
liam Lloyd  Garrison, Wen- 
dell Phillips,  Birney,  Whit- 
tier and  Gerrit  Smith,  merely  formed 
a skirmish  line.  The  lirst  bloody  field 
was  the  territory  of  Kansas.  Beyond 
the  Missouri  border  was  really  fought 
the  first  campaign  of  the  terrible  war. 

That  Territory  would  have  been 
open  to  the  introduction  of  slavery  un- 
der the  Missouri  Compromise,  but  the 
South  demanded  more  than  that.  Slav- 
ery must  be  allowed  in  Nebraska  also. 
In  grasping  for  both,  it  lost  both.  No  sooner  was 
the  old  landmark  of  1820  removed  than  Northern 
immigration  poured  into  Kansas,  well  knowing  that 
if  the  southern  of  those  two  territories  was  saved  to 
free  labor  the  other  would  follow  as  a matter  of 
course.  The  South  was  no  match  for  the  North  in 


supplying  pioneers,  and  slave  labor  is  illy  adapted 
to  frontier  life.  But  the  adjacent  state  of  Missouri 
was  unfriendly  to  the  “ Northern  horde,”  and  that 
was  quite  an  advantage.  There  were  numerous  en- 
counters between  the  two  factions,  and  the  Territory 
fully  earned  the  designation  of  “ Bleeding  Kansas." 
It  was  not  until  the  general  appeal  to  the  sword  in 
18G1  that  it  ceased  to  be  the  especial  victim  of  con- 
flict, and  even  after  that  time  it  was  subject  to  des- 
olating raids. 

Among  those  who  flocked  to  Kansas  to  take  part 
in  the  struggle  there  was  “John  Brown  of  Ossawat- 
tornic,”  as  he  was  known  in  connection  with  that 
Territory.  lie  was  an  Abolitionist  of  the  intensest 
sort.  Having  remained  in  the  far  West  until  satis- 
fied how  the  issue  was  to  be  decided,  he  came  East 
and  undertook  to  organize  a slave  insurrection.  It 
was  late  in  the  fall  of  1859  when  he  put  his  plan  in 
execution.  Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia,  a wild  gorge  in 
the  mountains,  was  selected  as  his  rendezvous.  W ith 
him  were  associated  a few  kindred  spirits.  They 
suceeded  in  causing  a tremendous  excitement  and 
alarm,  but  cannot  be  said  to  have  struck  a respon- 
sive chord  in  the  negro  heart.  The  idea  that  the 


( 5 2 9) 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


530 


colored  people  were  ripe  for  insurrection  was  a mis- 
take. Brown  had  embarked  in  an  enterprise  which 
was  utterly  hopeless.  He  was  soon  taken  prisoner, 
tried,  convicted  and  hanged.  Many  at  the  North 
sympathized  with  him,  and  when  the  war  between 
the  states  came,  he  was  canonized  as  a martyr  to 
liberty.  The  most  popular  and  inspiring  of  all  the 
war  songs  of  the  period  was  a wild  chant  in  his 
honor. 

The  presidential  election  of  1860  was  conducted  on 
both  sides  of  Mason  and  Dixon’s  line  upon  the  theo- 
ry that  the  time 
for  compromise 
had  gone  by. 

Mr.  Douglas  was 
indeed  the  can- 
didate of  one 
wing  of  the  De- 
mocracy, a wing 
that  still  clung 
tothehopeofrec- 
onciliation,  and 
Mr.  Bell, of  Ken- 
tucky, was  the 
candidate  of  a 
movement  to 
galvanize  into 
life  the  dry 
hones  of  the  old 
Whig  party;  but 
the  favorite  can- 
didate of  the 
South  was  John  C.  Breckenridge ; of  the  North, 
Abraham  Lincoln ; and  they  represented,  each  in 
his  way,  what  Mr.  Seward  very  justly  called  “ the 
irrepressible  conflict.”  The  latter  received  no  votes 
at  the  South,  the  former  carried  no  Northern  state, 
and  consequently  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected. 

At  the  North  it  was  supposed  that  the  threats  of 
secession  would  not  be  executed ; at  the  South  that 
the  threats  of  coersion  would  not  be  carried  out. 
Neither  section  really  anticipated  what  was  impend- 
ing; still  the  spirit  of  hostility  was  so  fully  aroused 
that  no  considerations  of  prudence  could  have  had 
weight  and  force. 

The  first  state  to  pass  an  ordinance  of  secession  was 
South  Carolina.  Other  Southern  States  adopted 
the  same  measure  early  in  the  year  following,  and 
in  February  the  “ Confederate  States  of  America” 


was  formed,  with  Jefferson  Davis  as  President, 
and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  as  Vice-President.  Be- 
fore Mr.  Lincoln  became  President  the  national 
troops  had  withdrawn  from  Fort  Moultrie  to  Fort 
Sumter  in  Charleston  harbor.  Seven  states  had  se- 
ceded and  a government  in  opposition  to  the  United 
States  had  been  fully  organized  and  fairly  launched 
at  the  South,  President  Buchanan  doing  nothing  to 
arrest  the  progress  of  the  movement.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  obliged  to  pass  through  Baltimore  on  his  way  to 
the  capital  in  disguise.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  inau- 
gurated March 
4th,  and  on  the 
twelfth  of  the 
next  month  Fort 
Sumter,  Major 
Robert  Ander- 
son command- 
ant, was  fired 
upon.  That  was 
the  first  shot  of 
the  war.  The 
South  Carolini- 
ans were  impa- 
tient of  delay, 
and  wished  to 
fire  the  South- 
ern heart.  The 
same  result  fol- 
lowed in  both 
sections.  “ To 
arms !”  was  all 
the  cry.  Lincoln  called  for  75,000  volunteers  three 
days  after  the  first  shot  had  been  fired,  and  two 
days  later  Davis  issued 
letters  of  marque  and 
reprisal,  which  were 
at  once  followed  by 
the  blockade  of  South- 
ern ports  by  the  Uni- 
ted States  navy.  In 
less  than  a month  En- 
gland had  made  haste 
to  acknowledge  the 
Confederate  States  as 
belligerents,  and  not 
mere  insurgents  and  Robert  anderson. 

rebels.  France,  Spain  and  Portugal  soon  did  the 
same.  The  first  direct  personal  encounter  of  the  war 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


531 


was  m the  streets  of  Baltimore.  That  city  fully  sym- 
pathized with  the  South,  yet  lay  between  the  North 
and  the  national  capital.  It  was  on  the  nineteenth 
of  April  that  some  Massachusetts  volunteers  were 
fired  upon  as  they  passed  through  the  streets  of  that 
city.  The  effect  was  to  stimulate  the  patriotism  of 
the  North,  and  render  still  more  remote  all  hope  of 
reconciliation. 

June  3 occurred  a trivial  battle  at  Philippi,  which 
was  a Con- 
federate rout, 
and  a week 
later  the  Un- 
ion troops 
were  repuls- 
ed at  Big 
Bethel.  Thus 
did  the  for- 
tunes of  war 
alternate  for 
overamonth, 
the  Confed- 
erates routed 
at  Boones- 
ville,the  Fed- 
erals  at  Car- 
thage. In  the 
meanwhile 
Congress  had 
met,  July  4, 
in  extra  ses- 


sion, and  both  sides  were  eager  for  a battle  upon  a 
large  scale.  Each  seemed  to  think  that  one  great 

victory  and  all 
would  be  over. 
“ On  to  Rich- 
mond” was  the 
cry  of  the  North  ; 
“ On  to  Washing- 
ton” of  the  South. 
The  impatient 
public  had  not 
long  to  wait.  July 
5il  witnessed  the 
first  great  battle 
of  the  war,  the 
Irwin  m’dowbm..  first  Bull  Run,  or 

Manassas,  as  it  is  called  in  the  South.  A slight  skir- 
mish at  Centerville  three  days  before  had  occurred. 


The  Union  forces  were  under  the  command  of  Gen- 
eral McDowell ; the  Confederates  were  led  by  General 
Beauregard.  Both  armies  fought  desperately  for 
six  hours,  when  reinforcements  coming  to  the  aid 
of  Beauregard,  he  won  the  day.  The  defeat  was  a 
rout.  The  demoralized  volunteers,  when  once  put 
to  flight,  became  a frantic  mob.  But  the  victors 
were  too  much  exhausted  and  crippled  to  march 
upon  Washington,  and  no  substantial  and  per- 
manent ad- 
vantage was 
gained.  Gen- 
eral Winfield 
Scott,  who 
had  been  the 
master  spirit 
in  planning 
the  battle, 
and  McDow- 
ell, who  had 
executed  the 
plans,  both 
retired,  and 
General  Mc- 
Clellan, who 
had  achieved 
some  small 
success  in 
West  Virgin- 
ia, came  to 
the  fore  as 
Congress  called  for  500,000 


commander-in-chief, 
recruits,  and 
appropriated 
$500,000,000 to 
defray  the  ex- 
penses of  the 
war.  The  se- 
riousness of 
the  undertak- 
imr  now  for  f 
the  first  time 
dawned  upon 
the  public  mind 
of  the  North. 

At  the  South  | 
the  effect  was 
deceptive.  It 
was  supposed  that  secession  was  an  assured  fact,  and 


OEOIIUK  11.  M'CLEIXAN. 


, O' 


'V 


•sJ<2- 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


could  not  long  be  delayed  in  its  complete  triumph. 

All  the  sto- 
ries of  North- 
ern cowardice 
were  confirm- 
ed. Thus  vic- 
tory was  a 
great  injury 
to  the  South- 
ern cause, 
and  a bene- 
fit, indirect, 
but  very  real, 
to  the  North. 
It  is  claim- 
john  c.  fremont.  ed  by  the 

Southern  authorities  that  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Bun 
the  Federal  force  was  60,000,  the  Confederate,  30,- 
000.  “The  Confederate  loss,”  says  Derry,  “was 
nearly  three  thousand  killed  and  wounded,  while  the 
Federal  army  lost  nearly  five  thousand  killed, 
wounded  and  prisoners,  twenty-eight  cannon,  ten 
battle-flags,  five  thousand  muskets  and  five  hundred 
thousand  cartridges.”  The  Northern  estimate  of 
the  forces  engaged  places  the  number  at  about 
40,000  each,  and  the  losses  at  about  3,000  each. 
Nothing  important  was  done  during  the  remainder 
of  that  year  at  the  East.  Several  minor  battles 
were  fought  with  see-saw  results. 

The  only  other  military  events  of  much  import- 
ance during  1861  were  in  Missouri.  A very  deter- 
mined effort  was  made  to  prevent  that  state  from 
going  out  of  the  Union.  It  never  d'id  secede,  in  the 
regular  way.  An  ordinance  of  secession  was  passed 

by  a portion  of  the 
state  legislature  in 
November,  1861, 
but  it  was  not  bind- 
even  upon 
who  held 
state  fealty  above 
national  loyalty. 
In  holding  that 
part  of  the  country 
in  the  Union,  Gen- 
erals Fremont, 
Nathaniel  lyon.  Sigel,  Lyon  and 

Grant  bore  prominent  part,  also  the  gallant  Colonel 
Mulligan.  The  battle  of  Belmont  (November  7),  on 


mg, 

those 


the  Cumberland  Kiver,  opposite  Columbus,  Missouri, 
was  the  begin- 
ning of  Gen- 
eral Grant’s 
victories,  but 
it  was  a vic- 
tory so  far 
turned  into 
defeat  that  he 
was  finally 
glad  to  seek 
the  shelter  of 
his  gun-boats. 

The  battle 
of  Wilson’s 
Creek,  where  capt.  chables  wilkes. 

the  gallant  Lyon  fell,  had  occurred  August  10, 
and  was  the  most  destructive  engagement  of  the 
year,  except  Bull  Bun.  It  terminated  favorably  to 
the  South,  although  very  nearly  an  even  thing. 

The  year  1861  closed  with  the  South  in  possession 
of  several  points  of  advantage,  gained  during  the 
season.  On  that  side  was  an  army  of  350,000 ; on 
the  Northern,  a force  of  500,000.  Missouri  and 
Maryland  were  saved  from  seceding.  Both  could 
point  to  trophies,  but  neither  had  occasion  for  over- 
weening confidence  of  ability  to  achieve  final  victory. 

“ The  Trent  affair  ” was  the  capture  by  Captain 
Wilkes,  of  the  United  States  navy,  of  Mason  and 
Slidell,  representatives  of  the  Confederacy,  while  on 
board  the  British  steamer  the  Trent.  It  occurred 
November  8,  and  occasioned  tremendous  excitement 
in  this  country  and  in  England.  War  between  the 
two  nations  seemed  imminent.  But  Secretary  Sew- 
ard calmed  the  waters  by  releasing  the  prisoners, 
taking  care  in  so  doing  to  secure  from  England  a 
distinct  repudiation  of  the  right  of  search,  the  very 
issue  which  the  war  of  1812  involved  but  did  not 
settle.  American  diplomacy  won  a brilliant  victory, 
completing  what  the  treaty  of  Ghent  had  left  un- 
settled. 

The  first  battle  of  1862  was  between  a small  force 
under  Humphrey  Marshall  and  a brigade,  or  hardly 
that,  under  Colonel  James  A.  Garfield,  at  Preston- 
burg,  Kentucky.  Garfield  won  the  day,  and  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general  on  the 
strength  of  his  gallantry  on  that  occasion. 

With  this  year  began  formidable  naval  operations 
in  the  West. 


Commodore  Foote  had  a large  flotilla 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


under  his  command  which  had  been  fitted  out  at  St. 

Louis  for  ser- 
vice on  the 
Mississippi 
and  its  tribu- 
taries Febru- 
ary 6.  Fort 
Henry  was 
compelled  to 
surrender,  and 
ten  days  later 
Fort  Donel- 
son  was  at 
the  mercy  of 

HUMPHREY  MARSHALL.  Foote  aild 

Grant,  acting  in  concert.  Grant  being  in  command  of 
the  department  of  West  Tennessee.  Buckner  was 
in  command 


OF  FORT  HENRY. 


INTERIOR 


of  the  fort. 

He  opened 
negotiations 
for  capitula- 
tion, when 
Grant  made 
the  memor- 
able reply, 

“No  terms 
except  un- 
conditional 
and  immedi- 
ate surren- 
der can  be 

accepted.  I propose  to  move  immediately  on  your 

works.”  The 
terms  were  ac- 
cepted and 
fifteen  thousand 
prisoners  fell  in- 
to the  hands  of 
the  captors.  That 
capture,  the  re- 
sult largely  of 
Foote’s  gun- 
boats, was  the 
foundation  of 
Grant’s  popular- 
ity. It  placed  his 
name  in  the  head 
prediction  that  he 


raiiK  and  occasioned  many  a 


would  prove  the  supreme  hero  of  the  war.  Fort 
Donelson  sur- 
rendered Feb- 
ruary 16. 

The  next  im- 
portant event 
was  the  battle 
of  Pea  Ridge, 
or  Elkhorn, 

Missouri.  Both 
armies  coneen  - 
trated,  the  Con- 
federates under 
Van  Dorn,  the 
Federals  un- 
der Curtis.  The  EARL  VAN  DORN. 

battle  began  March  7,  and  was  not  terminated  uu- 

til  the  next 

morning.  The 
Confederates 
were  com- 
pletely beat- 
en, notwith- 
standing they 
fought  with 
great  brav- 
ery. The  shat- 
tered rem- 
nants fled  in- 
to Tennessee, 
joining  Beau- 
regard at 

Memphis.  Curtis  took  up  his  headquarters  at  Spring- 
field,  Mis- 
souri. The 
next  day  oc- 
curred the 
fierce  duel 
between  the 
Monitor  and 
the  Merri- 
iii  ack  in 
H a m pton 
Roads.  The 
former  was  a 
magnificent 
man-of-war, 
formerly  the 
pride  of  the 


JOHN  KRICBflON. 

American  navy ; the 


3 >> 

j > 


534 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


newly  devised  iron-clad  and  almost  ball-proof  gun- 
boat, the  invention  of  that  great  genius,  John  Erics- 
son. It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  success  of 
the  little  Monitor  on  that  occasion  revolutionized 
naval  architecture,  for 
it  signed  the  death 
warrant  of  modern 
vessels  of  war.  If  the 
Merrimack  had  not 
been  arrested  in  its 
course  it  would  have 
strewn  the  North  At- 
lantic seaboard  with 
desolation  and  havoc. 

The  result  of  that 
encounter  was  an  infi- 
nite relief  to  the  na- 
tional capital,  which 
had  been  in  great  apprehension 
by  water. 

The  battle  of  Shiloh,  or  Pittsburg  Landing,  oc- 
curred April  6 and  7.  Grant  had  over  30,000  men, 
and  Buell  was  advancing  from  Nashville  to  his  sup- 
port. The  Confederates  were  commanded  by  the 

brave  and  bril- 
liant Gen.  A. 
S.  Johnston. 
He  decided  to 
attack  Grant 
at  Pittsburg 
Landing  be- 
fore he  could 
be  joined  by 
Buell.  Early 
in  the  morn- 


THE  LEVEE  AT  NEW  ORLEANS. 


Davis  placed  the  very  highest  estimate  upon  the 
greatness  of  the  calamity. 

April  25  New  Orleans  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Federals.  It  was  well  fortified,  and  thought  to  be 

almost  impregnable. 
The  fleet  which  suc- 
ceeded in  forcing  the 
surrender  consisted  of 
eight  steamships,  six- 
teen gunboats  and 
twenty  - one  mortar- 
vessels.  This  large 
force  liad  for  co-oper- 
ative support  General 
Butler  at  Southwest 
Pass  with  9,000  troops. 
The  Confederate  de- 
fense consisted  of  sev- 


from an  assault 


mg 


the 


fight 


DON  CARLOS  BUELL. 


began,  and  at 
nightfall  the 
Eederals  had  been  pushed  very  nearly  into  the  river. 
It  looked  as  if  Grant  was  about  to  be  completely 
used  up.  That  night  Buell  arrived.  It  was  another 
instance  of  “ night  or  Blvlcher.”  There  were  no 
corresponding  recruits  for  the  attacking  army,  and 
the  next  morning  the  Confederates  were  compelled 
to  fall  back  on  Corinth.  The  losses  on  both  sides 
were  very  heavy.  Those  on  the  Federal  side  were 
about  13,000.  Among  the  Confederates  who  fell  was 
Gen.  A.  S.  Johnston  himself.  Alexander  II.  Ste- 
phens pronounced  the  loss  irreparable,  and  Jefferson 


eral  strong  fortifications  and  seventeen  vessels,  in- 
cluding several  rams.  The  forts  surrendered,  the  few 
vessels  of  the  defense  were  destroyed,  and  the  city 
was  at  the  mercy  of  the  assailants.  General  Butler 
took  possession  of  the  city.  His  administration 
of  affairs  in  New  Orleans  gave  great  satisfaction 
at  the  North 
and  aroused  still 
greater  indigna- 
tion at  the  South. 

He  was  accused 
of  robbing  the 
people  even  of 
their  spoons,  and  1 
of  playing  the, 
despot  generally.^ 

The  real  secret 
of  Butler’s  un- 
popularity was 
an  order  issued 
to  the  effect  that  any  woman  who  should  insult  the 
flag,  or  show  contempt  for  the  Union,  should  be  as- 
sumed to  be  a woman  of  the  town  plying  her  vocation. 

It  is  now  time  to  revisit  the  mud-bound  army  of  the 
Potomac.  The  pressure  of  Northern  public  opinion 
was  such  that  early  in  March  President  Lincoln  or- 
dered McClellan  to  move  on  Richmond.  An  abor- 
tive movement  was  made  on  the  10th  of  that  mouth. 
About  that  time  the  Burnside  expedition  was  sent 
to  capture  Newberg,  North  Carolina,  a port  on  the 
Neuse  river.  A fortnight  later  McClellen  changed 


BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER. 


) 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


his  base  of  operations  against  Richmond  to  Fortress 
Monroe.  The  Peninsula  campaign  may  be  said  to 
have  begun  with  the  evacuation  of  Yorktown, 
May  3.  The  Confederates  were  behind  “Quaker,”  or 
wooden  guns.  McClellan  was  deceived.  He  sup- 
posed the  army  then  there  under  Magruder  to  be 
very  large.  He  expected  a long  siege  and  a des- 
perate resist- 
ance. Instead 
of  that,  the 
Confederates 
withdrew  to 
William  s- 
burg  without 
firing  a shot. 

Two  days 
later  the  bat- 
tle of  Wil- 
liamsbu  rg 
was  fought. 

The  Feder- 
al army  of 
the  Potomac 
had  long 
been  impa- 
tient for  ac- 
tive service, 
and  pursued 
the  retreat- 
ing Confed- 
erates with 
the  utmost 

zeal,  led  by  Generals  Hooker,  Kearney  and  Stone- 

man.  Early  in  the 
morning  of  the  5th 
of  May  the  fight- 
ing began  The 
swollen  condition 
of  the  streams  im- 
peded reinforce- 
ments and  the  for- 
wardingof  supplies. 
Hooker’s  division 
bore  the  brunt  of 
the  battle  early  in 
the  day,  but  Kear- 

J.  BANKHEAD  MAUBUDEK.  nCy  CUH1C  to  the  TCS- 

cue  when  most  needed.  Hancock  ordered  a bayonet 
charge  that  was  promptly  made,  when  a complete  vic- 


FOKTRESS  MON  KO  I'.  IN  lSbl. 


tory  was  won,  and  McClellan  was  able  to  move  into 
Williamsburg.  Instead  of  following  up  his  advantage 
with  vigor,  he  allowed  J.  E.  Johnston  to  retire  in 
good  order  to  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Chickahom- 
iny.  On  both  sides  it  was  thought  that  the  decisive 
hour  had  come.  There  was  the  gravest  apprehen- 
sion at  Richmond,  the  wildest  exultation  at  Wash- 
ington. But 
J ohnstou 
was  equal  to 
the  emergen- 
cy. lie  or- 
dered Stone- 
wall Jack- 
son,  then  in 
the  Shenan- 
doah valley, 
to  make  a 
demonstra- 
tion upon 
Washington. 
This  diver- 
sion had  an 
importantef- 
fectincheck- 
ing the  fur- 
ther progress 
of  the  main 
army.  Banks 
and  his  army 
were  driven 
out  of  the 

valley  by  Jackson,  and  fell  back  to  the  Potomac. 
McClellan  was 
within  a few 
miles  of  Rich- 
mond. There 
was  a battle  at 
Hanover  Court 
House,  May  27. 

That,  however, 
was  hardly 
more  than  a 
skirmish  as 
compared  with 
the  battles 
which  were  to 
follow,  begin-  ramr  keai^st. 

ning  with  Fair  Oaks,  May  31,  and  closing  with  Mal- 


6 7 


"v 


\ <i_ 


A 


9 


536 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


vern  Hills,  July  1. 


That  was  a terrific  period.  Fair 
Oaks  came  very 
near  being  an 
overwhelming 
U nion  defeat. 
McClellan’s  ar- 
my was  on  both 
sides  of  the 
Ghickahominy, 
and  the  swamps 
were  flooded. 
Johnston’s  plan 
was  to  destroy 
the  portion  of 
the  army  on  the 
nathanikl  p.  banks.  Fair  Oaks  side 

of  the  river,  and  he  would  have  done  it  if  it  had  not 
been  for  Gen- 
eral Sumner 
and  the  re- 
cruits he 
brought  to- 
ward even- 
ing from  the 
opposite  side. 

The  loss  on 
either  side 
was  about 
7,000,  and 
J ohnston, 
then  the 

leading  sol- 
dier of  the 


Confederacy, 


was  seriously  wounded. 

That  wound 


brought  Gen- 


eral Lee  to  the 
front,  a posi- 
tion which  he 
kept  to  the 
very  last. 

Both  armies 
were  so  badly 
crippled  that 
ueither  felt 
like  taking 
the  initiative. 
The  North 
greatly  cen- 
sured McClellan  for  remaining  quietly  in  the  malarial 


EDWIN  V.  SUMNER. 


swamps  of  the  Chickahominy,  and  the  South  re- 
gained confidence.  This  confidence  showed  itself 
in  the  gallant  but  uneventful  dash  of  Confederate 
cavalry  under  General  Stuart  within  the  very 
lines  of  the  main  Federal  army.  The  battle  of  Oak 
Grove  was  fought  June  25.  It  was  a comparatively 
small  battle,  but  it  was  a victory  for  the  Confeder- 
ates, and  McClellen  then  gave  up  all  aggressive 
plans.  It  was  no  longer  “ On  to  Richmond,”  but 
the  problem  was  “ How  not  to  do  it.”  The  next  day 
Jackson  and  A.  P.  Hill  were  directed  by  Lee  to  at- 
tack the  Federal  right.  All  day  the  battle  raged, 
with  indecisive  results.  The  next  day  at  the  battle  of 
Games’  Mills.  Lee  had  hopes  of  capturing  McClel- 
lan, and  the  latter  sought  to  fall  back  upon  the 
James  river  in  good  order  and  with  his  supplies. 
During  the  27th  Porter  held  the  enemy  at  bay.  The 

next  day  Gen. 
Sumner  ren- 
dered sub- 
stantiallythe 
same  service 
at  the  battle 
of  Savage 
Station.  The 
third  day 
the  battle 
of  Frazier’s 
Farm  served 
the  same 
negative  pur- 
pose, and 

during  that  night  the  army  of  the  Potomac  was 
re-united  for  the  first  time  since  the  Chickahom- 
iny flowed  between  it.  And  now  came  the  climax 
of  the  campaign — the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill, 
July  1.  That  conflict  raged  until  nine  o’clock 
in  the  evening,  when  the  Confederates  aban- 
doned the  idea  of  capturing  the  Federals.  McClel- 
lan fell  back  upon  the  James,  Lee  to  the  entrench- 
ments at  Richmond,  both  sides  beaten,  with  losses 
on  either  side  variously  estimated  at  from  15,000  to 
25,000.  The  loss  by  sickness  during  the  heated  term 
was  tei*rible.  Of  the  splendid  army  of  100,000 
which  had  entered  the  Peninsula  only  a small  pro- 
portion could  be  mustered  as  “ present  and  fit  for 
service.”  The  public  sentiment  at  the  North  was 
so  strongly  against  General  McClellan  that  he  was 
relieved,  practically,  and  General  Pope  called  from 


G) 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


537 


the  West  to  take  his  place.  The  army  of  the  Poto- 
mac was  re-organized  late  in  July,  and  early  in 
August  Pope  assumed  the  aggressive.  “ On  to 
Richmond  ” was  once  more  the  cry.  The  battle 

of  Cedar 
Mountain  was 
fought  Au- 
gust 8,  in 
which  Jack- 
son  punished 
Bauksunmer- 
cifully.  Lee 
now  prepared 
to  attempt 
to  capture 
Pope’s  whole 
army,  and 
the  latter  took 
fitz  john  porter  alarm.  The 

swollen  condition  of  the  Rappahannock  baffled 
both  retreat  and  attack.  Pope  was  gradually  forced 
back  toward  Washington.  The  second  battle  of 
Bull  Run,  or  Manassas,  was  fought  August  30.  At 
one  time  it  looked  as  if 
the  Federals  were  about 
to  win  the  day,  but  Fitz 
John  Porter  failing  to 
co-operate  with  the 
main  army,  the  day  was 
lost  and  Pope  obliged 
to  fall  back  upon  Cen- 
terville. By  this  time 
Pope  was  ready  to  re- 
turn West,  a confessed 
failure  in  Virginia,  a 
failure  more  due,  how- 
ever, to  the  jealousy  of 
leading  subordinate  of- 
ficers than  to  any  lack 
of  soldierly  qualities. 

It  was  now  Lee’s  turn 
to  assume  a still  more 
decidedly  aggressive  attitude.  Not  content  with  push- 
ing the  enemy  to  the  wall,  he  moved  into  Maryland, 
intending  to  strike  Baltimore  and  Washington. 
Several  minor  battles  were  fought,  and  September 
17  came  the  great  battle  of  Antietam.  The  Con- 
federates under  Lee  numbered  60,000  ; the  Federals, 
under  McClellan,  who  was  given  one  more  oppor- 


SCEN'E  IN  FREDERICKSBURG,  DECEMBER  13,  1882. 


tuuity  to  fail,  numbered  00,000.  Three  days  before, 
Harper’s  Ferry  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Confederates  and  the  battles  of  South  Mountain  (in 
which  the  gallant  Reno  fell),  and  of  Crapton’sGap 
were  fought. 

But  both  ar- 
mies were 
eager  for  a 
decisive  vic- 
tory. “Fight- 
ing Joe” 

Hooker  be- 
gan the  firing 
at  daybreak, 
when  Stone- 
wall Jackson 
swept  his 
corps  from 

Off  the  field,  AMBROSE  e.  burnside. 

Hooker  himself  being  wounded.  All  day  the  firing 
was  kept  up.  Both  sides  claimed  a victory.  It  was 
a substantial  triumph  for  the  Federals,  for  Lee 

abandoned  for  a time  his  aggressive  policy  and  retired 
_ up  the  Shenandoah 

valley  to  Winchester. 

One  more  great  bat- 
tle was  fought  in  1862. 
It  was  before  the 

heights  of  Fredericks- 
burg,  Virginia.  Burn- 
side, who  had  now  been 
promoted  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  of 
the  Potomac,  attempted 
the  capture  of  that 
stronghold,  lie  sacri- 
ficed about  15,000  men 
in  the  unavailing  as- 
sault. He  took  com- 
mand November  5,  and 
the  battle  of  Freder- 
icksburg was 


fought 

December  13.  It  was  a fearful,  fruitless  and  un- 
necessary slaughter. 

In  the  Southwest  the  Federals  held  every  strong- 
hold except  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson,  but  those 
were  important  exceptions.  \\  bile  we  have  been  fal- 
lowing the  fortunes  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac  sev- 
eral important  events  were  occurring  in  the  Mississip- 


538 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


pi  Valley.  Bragg  invaded.  Kentucky  in  the  hope  of 
; aiding  that  state  to  the  Confederacy,  and  making 
Tennessee  solid  for  the  same  cause.  He  had  an 
army  of  60,000.  Buell  was  in  command  of  the  op- 
posing Federal  forces,  having  an  army  of  100,000. 
Brag's:  did  not  succeed  in  establishing  Confederate 
rule  in  that  region,  but  he  did  manage  to  capture 
and  carry  off  vast  stores  of  provisions  which  were 
greatly  needed  by  the  South. 

General  Grant  began  in  1862  his  movement  upon 
Vicksburg,  but  lie  accomplished  nothing.  He  found 
himself  checkmated.  His  supplies  at  Holly  Springs 
were  captured  by  the  enemy.  Corinth,  Iuka  and 
Murfreesboro  were  claimed  as  Federal  victories  in 
the  West,  but  Bragg  had  much  whereof  to  boast  and 
the  South  a 
happierNew 
Year  than 
the  North. 

The  year 
1862  saw  the 
peace  party 
at  the  Nor  th 
called  Cop- 
perheads at 
its  strongest. 

Many  doubt- 
ful Congres- 
sional dis- 
tricts were 

carried  by  them,  and  some  states,  notably  New  York. 

The  discon- 
tent was  gen- 
eral. Some 
wanted  more 
fighting,  and 
others  less, 
and  no  one 
seemed  to  be 
satisfied  with 
the  conduct 
of  the  war. 

The  proc- 
lamation of 
Emancipation, 

JOSEPH  HOOKER,  the  lllOSt  liot- 

able  American  document  since  the  Constitution,  was 
President  Lincoln’s  New  Year’s  greeting.  It  was 
issued  September  22,  1862,  to  take  effect  the  first 


day  of  January  following.  That  declaration  of 
freedom  was  confined  in  its  immediate  operation  to 
territory  not  then  within  the  actual  jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States,  while  careful  not  to  disturb  the 
institution  of  slavery  within  the  Federal  lines.  But 
everybody  understood  that  henceforth  the  real  poli- 
cy of  the  government  would  be  liberty  to  all.  From 
that  time  on,  both  sides  were  more  determined  than 
ever  before  to  win  the  day,  feeling  the  gravity  of  the 
stake  involved. 

The  first  day  of  the  year  1863  was  a day  of  vic- 
tory for  the  Confederates.  They  captured  the  im- 
portant city  of  Galveston,  the  key  to  communica- 
tion by  water  with  Texas.  The  next  day  the  Fed- 
erals  gained  a victory  at  Murfreesboro,  and  a few 

days  later 
they  captur- 
ed Arkansas 
Post.  But 
these  were 
not  mat- 
ters of  very 
much  im- 
portan  ce. 
On  both 
sides  the  Po- 
tomac was 
the  center 
of  attrac- 
tion. Burn- 
side asked  to  be  relieved,  and  was  succeeded  by 
“Fighting  Joe  Hooker,”  of  whom  much  was  ex- 
pected. He  crossed  the  Rappahannock  and  fought 
Lee  at  Chancellorsville  early  in  May.  The  result 
was  a victory  for  the  Confederates.  The  Union  loss 
was  over  11,000.  Hooker  recrossed  the  river. 

About  a month  later,  Lee  took  his  splendid  army 
of  100,000  men  northward  into  Maryland  and  Penn- 
sylvania, boldly  assuming  the  aggressive.  Now  for 
the  first  time  the  war  was  actually  transferred  in 
part  to  the  North.  On  the  28th  of  June  Hooker 
was  superseded  by  General  Geo.  G.  Meade,  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Presently  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  was 
fought.  That  was  probably  the  supreme  battle  of 
the  war.  Gettysburg  is  just  over  the  Maryland  line 
in  Pennsylvania.  The  battle  began  July  1,  and  did 
not  close  until  the  third  day.  The  decisive  moment 
was  when,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day,  Lee 
opened  on  Hancock’s  position  with  one  hundred  and 


IL 

(D 


K 


<o 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


541 


fifteen,  guns.  The  shock  did  not  break  the  line.  It 
is  estimated  that  about  fifty  thousand  men  were  lost 
in  that  desperate  encounter.  Lee  was  obliged  to  aban- 
don the  offensive  and  retire  to  the  Potomac.  The 
field  of  Gettysburg  is  now  a national  cemetery.  It 

is  estimated 
by  Derry 
that  in  the 
Pennsylva- 
nia cam- 
paign the 
Southern 
loss  was  a- 
bout  18,000 
killed  and 
w ouniled 
and  10,000 
prisoners. 
He  places 
the  North- 
ern losses  at  about  the  same  approximate  figures. 

Among  those  who  fell  at  Gettysburg  was  General 
John  F.  Reynolds,  of  Pennsylvania.  A rifle-ball 
struck  him  during  the  first  day  of  the  battle,  killing 
him  instantly,  while  in  active  command  of  the  First 
Corps.  lie  was  a very  popular,  brave  and  efficient 
officer.  General  Sickles,  of  New  York,  it  may  be 
added,  lost  a leg  at  Gettysburg. 

While  Lee  and  Meade  were  mowing  down  each 
other’s  soldiers  in  winrows  at  Gettysburg,  General 


men,  172  cannon,  and  no  less  than  15  generals. 
Four  days  later  Port  Hudson  surrendered  to  Banks, 
and  the  Mississippi  was  restored  to  the  Union. 
The  summer  of  Federal  prosperity  was  undisturbed 
by  any  serious  counter-disasters.  The  desperate 
Morgan  dashed 
into  Ohio  and 
Indiana  with 
four  thousand 
Confederate  cav- 
alry, but  no  sub- 
stantial advan- 
tage was  gained. 

On  the  contrary, 
the  state  militia 
of  Ohio  proved 
an  overmatch 
for  the  raiders. 

In  the  fall 

there  ivas  irn-  John  f.  REYNOLDS, 

portant  fighting  farther  south,  in  the  mountain- 
ous region  of  northern  Georgia  and  southern 
Tennessee.  Upon  the  banks  of  the  Tennessee  stood 
the  little  town  of  Chattanooga,  almost  at  the  very 
foot  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  near  Missionary 
Ridge.  These  are  names  conspicuous  in  the  military 
annals  of  the  country.  In  the  summer  General 
Rosecranshad  won  important  victories  in  Tennessee, 
but  in  September 
lie  was  defeated 
with  great  loss 
at  Chickamauga 
River.  He  was 
hemmed  in  and 
his  forces  near- 
ly starved  out  by 
Bragg.  General 
Thomas  grandly 
came  to  his  res- 
cue and  saved 
his  army  from 
overwhelm  ing 
disaster,  from  ir-  daniki.  e.  «i<  klks. 

retrievable  ruin.  General  Grant  was  sent  to  super- 
sede him,  and  given  ample  resources.  His  first 
care  was  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  army.  General 
Thomas,  who  had  prevented  the  defeat  of  Chicka- 
mauga  from  being  a rout,  was  in  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland.  General  Hooker  came 


GENERAL  MEADES  HEADQUARTERS  AT  GETTYSBURG. 

Grant  was  persistently  pushing  his  way  into  \ icks- 
burg.  The  siege  began  May  10  and  ended  almost 
simultaneously  with  the  retreat  of  Ijee.  I he  two 
events  formed  one  piece  of  intelligence.  General 
Pemberton  was  in  command  of  the  beleaguered 
force.  On  the  3d  of  July  he  proposed  to  surrender, 
and  the  next  day  the  surrender  was  made — 31,600 


A 


iL. 


542 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


WILLIAM  S.  ROSECRANS. 


down  from  Virginia  with  23,000  men,  and  Sherman 

was  at  the 
head  of  four 
divisions  of  the 
Army  of  the 
Tennessee.  In 
a month  from 
the  time  Grant 
arrived  every 
preparation 
had  been  made 
for  a general 
enga  go  m e nt. 
November  24. 
Hooker  charg- 
ed up  Lookout 
Mountain,  “ above  the  clouds,”  and  won  a brilliant 
victory.  The 
next  day  the 
great  battle 
of  Chatta- 
nooga was 
fought  and 
won,  mainly 
by  General 
Thomas  and 
the  gallant 
Army  of  the 
Cumberland. 

Burnside  had 
rendered  ef- 
fective ser- 
vice by  drawing  Longstreet  away  from  re-inforcing 
Bragg.  He  could  not  meet  him  on  the  open  field, 
but  he  could  prevent  him  putting  his  army  where  it 
would  do  the  most  good  for  the  Confederate  cause. 
When  Bragg  was  compelled  to  break  camp  and  flee 
northward,  Burnside,  then  at  Knoxville,  was  re-in- 
forced  and  Longstreet  marched  away. 

The  fighting  of  the  year  1863  was  now  at  an  end. 
It  only  remains  to  speak  of  two  features  of  the  year, 
the  riot  in  New  York  and  Andersonville.  The  gov- 
eminent  felt  compelled  to  draft  for  more  soldiers 
during  that  summer.  Nearly  everywhere  the  people 
submitted  graciously ; but  the  “ baser  sort  ” in  New 
York  City  rebelled  and  raised  a most  disgraceful 
riot.  The  mob  wreaked  its  vengeance  on  all  colored 
persons  found,  and  even  destroyed  an  asylum  for 
colored  orphans.  The  riot  began  July  13  and  raged 


three  days.  It  is  believed  that  a thousand  persons 
were  killed  or 
wounded.  The 
military  were 
obliged  to  inter- 
pose and  put  it 
down. 

The  Confeder- 
ate prison  pen  at 
Andersonville, 

Georgia,  dates 
from  Novem- 
ber 27,  1863. 

The  whole  num- 
ber of  prisoners 
registered  there 
was  49,485. 


WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN. 


The  full  number  of  deaths  recorded 
were  12,462. 
The  superin- 
tendent, one 
Henry  Wirz, 
wastried, con- 
victed and 
hanged,  after 
the  war,  for 
murderous 
cruelty. 

Duringthe 
months  of 
January  and 
February  no 
event  of  im- 
portance transpired.  On  the  fourth  of  March,  1864, 
Grant  was  made  Lieutenant-General,  and  placed  in 
command  of  all  the  forces  of  the  United  States. 
Then  for  the  first  time  the  army  was  so  unified  that 
it  could  be  handled  to  the  best  advantage.  Grant  was 
given  unlimited  scope,  and  leaving  Sherman,  Thomas 
and  others  of  less  note  in  the  West,  took  command 
in  person  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac.  He  placed 
General  Sheridan,  hitherto  in  obscurity,  at  the  head 
of  the  cavalry  service,  and  sent  him  to  scour  the 
Shenandoah  Valley.  He  rendered  brilliant  service, 
notably  in  winning  the  battle  of  Winchester,  im- 
mortalized bv  T.  Buchanan  Read’s  poem,  “ Sheridan’s 
Ride.” 

The  massacre  at  Fort  Pillow  occurred  April  13. 
That  was  the  most  cruel  episode  of  the  war.  There 
were  a great  many  colored  troops  at  the  fort  and  the 


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UNION  POlMv 


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MILIEDGEAV  l LLEjXx* 


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FTMcALIjfrt-K 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


PHILIP  H.  SHERIDAN . 


object  seems  to  have  been  to  intimidate  the  blacks 
and  deter  them  from  enlisting.  Generals  Forrest 
and  Chalmers  share  the  dishonor  of  that  massacre. 

The  battle  of  the  'Wilderness  was  fought  May  5 
and  6.  It  was  a part  of  Grant’s  comprehensive  plan 

for  crushing 
the  enemy. 
He  evident- 
ly thought 
that  the 
time  had 
come  to  put 
an  end  to 
the  war  by 


war 

one  great 
battle  before 
Richmond. 
In  this  he 
was  mistak- 
en. Sher- 
man was  ordered  to  advance  on  Atlanta  the  same 
day  that  Grant  crossed  the  Rapid  Anna  to  engage 
Lee.  For  two  days  the  battle  raged  and  the  slaughter 
was  terrible.  Grant  lost  20,000  men ; Lee  10,000. 
Neither  gained  any  advantage. 

But  Grant  was  not  disheartened  or  shaken  in  his 
purpose.  With  dogged  perseverance  he  followed  up 

that  battle 

with  another, 
the  battle  of 
Spottsylvania 
Court  House, 
fought  May 
10, 11  and  12. 

In  that  great 
battle  fell 
General  John 
Sedgwick  of 
New  York, 
commander  of 
the  Sixth 
Corps.  On  tbe 


things,  at  Cold  Harbor,  Petersburg,  and  elsewhere. 
His  losses  were  enormous  and  constant.  Before 
J uly,  Grant  had  lost,  it  is  estimated,  80,000,  and  Lee 
half  that  number. 

The  great  success  of  the  season  was  Sherman  s 
campaign 


Georgia. 


m 
He 

captured  At- 
lanta Septem- 
ber 1.  It  was 
in  this  battle 
that  General 
M’Pherson  fell 
wounded  mor- 
tally. Includ- 
ing the  several 
engagements 


which  culmin- 
ated in  the  siege  of 


lltli  inst.  General  Grant  sent  to  the  War  Department 
the  famous  dispatch,  “ I propose  to  fight  it  out  on 
this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer.”  In  those  words 
were  revealed  the  character  of  the  man  and  the  secret 
of  his  power.  “All  summer”  stretched  into  and 
through  the  next  winter,  and  it  was  not  “on  this 
line”  that  final  victory  was  won.  He  kept  pushing 


Spottsylvania  Court  House. 

j.  Atlanta,  Sherman  lost  ;U),0U() 
men  ; the  Confederates  under  Hood  and  J.  E.  John- 
ston, 40,000.  He  next  organized  and  executed  his 
famous  March  to  the  Sea,  which  was  intended  to 
cut  off  the  supplies  and  sever  the  railway  connections 
of  the  Confederacy.  The  plan  was  successfully  car- 
ried out.  The  march  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah 
was  practically  unimpeded. 

A presidential  election  occurred  at  the  North  dur- 
ing the  year 
1804.  On  the 
Rep  u blica  n 
side  President 
Lincoln  was 
the  candidate, 
witli  Andrew 
Johnson  on 
the  ticket  as 
V i c e-P  resi- 
dent. The  lat- 
ter was  put 
forward  as  a 
representative 
of  Southern 
Unionists.  On  the  Democratic  side  the  candidates 
were  General  McClellan  and  Geo.  II.  Pendleton  of 
Ohio.  At  the  time  McClellan  was  nominated  the 
Union  cause  was  under  a thick  cloud.  The  fall  of 
Atlanta  came  just  after  that.  The  platform  on  which 
the  Democratic  candidates  were  placed  pledged  them 
to  secure  peace  at  almost  anv  cost.  Of  course  the 


states  which  had  seceded  and  belonged  to  the  Con- 
federacy could  not  vote,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  received 
an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  votes  cast. 

Sherman’s  March  to  the  Sea  began  November  15, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  21st  of  December  he 
entered  Savannah.  It  was  during  that  period  that 
General  Thomas  outgeneraled  Hood  completely  in 
Tennessee,  and  almost  crushed  his  army.  Hood  as- 
sumed the  offensive  at  Franklin  November  30,  and 
was  rejmlsed.  He  planned  another  assault  on 
Thomas  at  Nash- 
ville, but  before  he 
could  put  it  into  exe- 
cution he  had  been 
attacked  (December 
15)  and  in  a battle 
which  raged  two 
days,  so  crippled  that 
he  had  to  flee  to  the 
mountains  of  Ala- 
bama. That  virtu- 
ally ended  the  war 
in  the  interior. 

The  war  was  not 
projected  far  into 
1865.  It  was  obvi- 
ous that  Richmond 
could  not  hold  out 
long.  The  only  ques- 
tion was  whether  to 
surrender  or  take  a change  of  base.  The  latter  was 
prevented  by  the  cutting  of  Lee’s  railway  commu- 
nication by 
Sheridan’s 
cavalry,  and 
the  gradual 
closing  in 
upon  the 
Southern  ar- 
my of  the 
Federal  for- 
ces. Causes 
not  known 
at  the  North, 
and  disclos- 
ed in  the 
george  h.  tuomas.  next  chap- 

ter, conspired  to  render  resistance  impossible. 

Grant  carried  Petersburg  by  assault,  and  there  be- 


ing no  other  alternative,  Lee  surrendered  April  9, 
1865,  at  Appomattox  Court  House.  The  war  was 
over ; the  occupancy  of  Richmond  had  already  oc- 
curred. Davis  and  his  cabinet  had  left  the  capital  a 
week  before.  Johnston  surrendered  the  Confederate 
forces  in  North  Carolina  to  Sherman,  who  had 
moved  northward  from  Savannah,  April  18.  Gen- 
eral Taylor,  commanding  in  Alabama,  surrendered 
to  General  Terry  May  4,  and  Kirby  Smith  in  Miss- 
issippi the  26th.  The  total  number  of  Confederates 

who  surrendered  was 
about  150,000. 

The  most  tragic 
event  of  the  war  was 
yet  to  come,  the  one 
which  caused  the 
profoundest  grief. 
That  was  the  assas- 
sination of  President 
Lincoln.  He  was 
shot  by  J.  Wilkes 
Booth  while  attend- 
ing a theatrical  en- 
tertainment given 
at  Ford’s  theater, 
Washington,  on  the 
evening  of  April  14. 
Before  morning  the 
wound  had  proved 
fatal.  Secretary  Sew- 
ard narrowly  escaped  being  killed  by  a conspirator. 
The  shock  was  terrible  and  the  loss  incomparable. 
A great  statesman,  one  who  could  have  harmonized 
the  nation,  and  restored  the  reign  of  law  at  the 
South  satisfactorily  to  both  sections,  gave  place  to 
a politician  singularly  unsuited  to  the  great  task  in 
hand.  The  passions  of  the  war  had  not  had  time  to 
cool  when  that  assassination  occurred,  but  it  was 
evident  that  the  South  sincerely  deprecated  the  great 
crime.  At  first  the  impression  prevailed  that  the 
assassin  was  the  agent  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  other 
Confederates,  but  there  was  no  good  ground  for  the 
suspicion,  and  it  soon  faded  from  the  public  mind. 

Nothing  in  all  the  history  of  the  Republic  was 
more  creditable  than  the  good  behavior  of  the  sol- 
diers after  disbandment.  More  than  a million  men, 
North  and  South,  were  at  once  released  from  mili- 
tary duty  and  remanded  to  the  walks  of  civil  life. 
Many  of  them  had  long  been  accustomed  to  camp 


£ 


546 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


FT 


& 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


5+9 


* 


HENRY  W.  BELLOWS,  D.l). 
Founder  IT.  S.  Sanitary  Commission. 


and  field,  but  they  took  up  the  duties  of  peace  in  a 
quiet,  orderly  manner,  resolved  into  the  general 
mass  of  the  population  without  any  of  the  horrors 
usually  experienced  in  such  cases  in  other  lands. 
The  immense  increase  in  the  productive  power  of  the 

nation  was  ab- 
solutely phe- 
nomenal. 

The  records 
of  the  army 
medical  de- 
partment give 
the  number 
treated  as  5,- 
825,000  includ- 
ing field  and 
hospital  both. 
Of  these  the 
fatal  cases  were 
1GG,623.  The 
wounded  were 
273,175;  deaths  among  them,  33,777.  Perhaps 
the  most  creditable  feature  of  the  entire  period 
of  conflict  was  the  provision  made  during  the  war 
for  the  comfort  of  the  sick  and  wounded.  The 
Sanitary  Commission  and  the  Christian  Commission, 
distinct  but  kindred  organizations,  raised  many 
millions  of  dollars  which  were  expended  in  amelior- 
ating the  condition  of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers. 

The  Sanitary 
Commission  dis- 
bursed $5,000,000 
and  supplies 
valued  at  about 
three  times  that 
amount,  and  the 
Christian  Com- 
mission is  believed 
to  have  cxjKmded 
not  less  than  $6,- 
000,000  in  the 
same  way,  the 
only  difference 

VINCENT  COLTER.  J 

Chairman  U.  S.  Christian  Commission.  being  that  the 

latter  Commission  looked  after  the  religious  and 
literary  wants  of  the  soldiers  as  well  as  their  phys- 
ical requirements. 

When  the  war  began,  the  navy  of  the  United 
States  numbered  less  than  8,000  men,  and  at  the 


® ■■■■ 

7 ® — » 


close  it  numbered  over  50,000.  The  idea  of  block- 
ading the  South  Atlantic  coast  was  ridiculed  by  the 
British,  and  it  certainly  was  the  most  memorable 
blockade  of  history. 


During  the  war  there  were  twenty  naval  engage- 
ments, counting 
those  sieges  and 
assaults  in  which 
land  forces  took 
the  chief  part, 
but  required  for 
success  naval  co- 
operation. 

The  independ- 
ent naval  battle 
was  the  success- 
ful attempt  of 
the  Confederate 
ram  Merrimac 

to  sink  the  Fed-  admiral  farraout. 

eral  frigates  Cumberland  and  Congress  in  Hampton 
Roads.  That  occurred  March  8,  1862.  It  caused 
great  consternation  at  the  North  and  rejoicing  at  the 
South.  The  very  next  day,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Fed- 
eral gunboat  Monitor  engaged  the  Merrimac  and 
disabled  her.  In  January  of  the  following  year  the 
Confederate  privateer,  the  Alabama,  sunk  the  "United 
States  steamer  Hatteras.  June  19,  1865,  the  Kmr- 
s mje  sunk  the  Alabama  off  Cherbourg,  France.  It 
may  be  added 
that  the  most 
brilliant  na- 
val operation 
was  the  cap- 
ture of  Mobile 
by  a fleet  un- 
der Admiral 
Farragut,  on 
August  5th, 

1864,  and  the 
most  impor- 
tant the  cap- 
ture of  Fort 

Fisher,  Janu-  commodore  porter. 

ary  15,  1865,  by  the  combined  land  forces  under  Gen- 
eral Terry  and  naval  forces  under  Commodore 
Porter.  Confederate  privateers  captured  no  less 
than  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  Federal  vessels, 
and  the  number  of  blockade-runners  and  privateers 


captured  by  the  Federal  navy  during  the  entire  war 
was  no  less  than  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty. 

Before  leaving  the  battlefields  and  following  the 
period  of  conflict  in  its  political  phases,  it  may  be 
well  to  add  a few  biographical  sketches. 

General  Robert  Anderson,  the  first  officer  on  the 
Union  side  to  attract  general  attention,  was  born 
in  Kentucky  in  1805,  and  died  in  France  in 
1871.  Hardly  had  he  become  prominent  by  virtue 
of  the  attack  on  Sumter,  before  he  sank  out  of 
sight,  owing  to  physical  inability  to  take  the  field. 

General  B.  F.  Butler  was  an  eminent  lawyer  and  ex- 
treme Democrat  when  the  war  began,  lie  promptly 
laid  aside  his  profession  and  his  prejudices  and  went 
to  the  front.  But  his  strictly  military  operations  were 
inglorious.  It  was  as  a radical  Republican  Con- 
gressman during  the  period  of  Reconstruction  that 
lie  rendered  the  main  service  of  his  life.  Of  late 
years  he  has  been  devoted  to  his  profession,  being 
out  of  sympathy  with  either  political  party.  He 
has  been  a candidate  for  governor  of  Massachusetts 
several  times. 

General  H.  W.  Halleck  was  at  one  time  the  su- 
preme officer  of  the  army,  virtually  commander-in 
chief.  He  was  a native  of  New  York.  He  was 
born  in  1815,  and  died  in  1872.  His  opportunities 
were  good  and  his  prospects  flattering  for  being  the 
greatest  hero  of  the  war,  but  he  was  a failure  as  a 
practical  soldier  on  a truly  national  scale. 

“Fighting  Joe  Hooker”  was  born  at  Hadley, 
Mass.,  in  1815.  He  was  a gallant  soldier  and  ren- 
dered truly  great  service  in  several  important  battles. 
He  was  not  quite  equal  to  the  demands  of  the  first 
rank,  but  as  a corps  commander  he  was  brilliant. 
Lookout  Mountain  and  the  battle  above  the  clouds 
will  always  be  associated  with  his  name.  He  died  in 
1872  after  a long  period  of  suffering. 

General  George  B.  Meade  first  attracted  conspic- 
uous attention  at  Gettysburg.  He  superseded 
Hooker  in  time  to  be  the  hero  of  that  memorable 
battle.  He  held  important  commands  and  acquitted 
himself  creditably  at  South  Mountain,  Antietam, 
Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville  and  elsewhere. 
General  Meade  was  a native  of  Cadiz,  Spain,  where 
he  was  born  in  1815,  but  he  was  a Pennsylvanian, 
and  died  in  Philadelphia  in  1872. 

General  Pope  was  born  at  Kaskaskia,  Illinois,  in 
1823.  His  career  in  the  Western  army  was  so  very 
successful  that  he  was  transferred  to  the  Potomac 


to  succeed  McClellan,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
was  very  unfortunate.  General  Pope  is  still  in  the 
service.  General  W.  S.  Rosecrans,  who  was  early 
conspicuous  hi  the  Southwest,  was  born  in  Ohio  in 
1819.  He  retired  from  the  army  in  1866.  In  1868 
President  Johnson  appointed  him  Minister  to  Mex- 
ico. He  shortly  afterwards  retired  to  private  life  in 
California.  In  1880  he  was  elected  to  Congress  as  a 
Democrat.  He  was  a warm  supporter  in  that  po- 
litical campaign  of  General  W.  S.  Hancock,  as 
against  his  former  chief  of  staff,  General  Garfield. 
General  Hancock  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1824. 
His  entire  life,  it  might  be  said,  lias  been  spent  in  the 
army.  From 
the  time  he 
entered  West 
Point  as  a 
cadet  until 
now  he  has 
been  devoted 
to  the  mili- 
tary. service. 

His  presiden- 
tial candidacy 
was  thrust 
upon  him, 
and  that 
mainly  for  general  Hancock. 

the  conservatism  of  liis  course  as  military  com- 
mander at  New  Orleans  during  the  period  of  recon- 
struction. Gettysburg  was  his  most  important 
battle. 

General  Geo.  H.  Thomas,  like  General  Lee,  was 
a native  of  Virginia,  but  to  him  national  loyalty 
was  paramount  to  state  fealty.  Born  in  1816,  he 
had  seen  service  in  the  Seminole  and  Mexican  wars, 
and  been  a professor  at  West  Point.  In  the  valley  of 
the  Shenandoah,  in  Kentucky,  Mississippi,  Tennessee 
and  Georgia  he  showed  himself  to  be  a grand  genius 
for  war.  Had  he  been  pushed  forward  by  influen- 
tial friends,  he  might  have  proved  the  supreme  hero 
of  the  war ; but  his  state  was  in  hostility  to  the 
cause  in  which  he  was  engaged,  and  that  was  a seri- 
ous hindrance  to  his  promotion.  He  died  a major- 
general  in  the  regular  army,  at  San  Francisco,  in 
1870. 

General  W.  T.  Sherman  was  born  in  Lancaster, 
Ohio,  in  1820.  He  is  a brother  of  John  Sherman. 
We  have  already  spoken  of  his  more  notable  ex- 


55° 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


9 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


553 


(0 


ploits.  When  General  Grant  was  elected  to  the 
presidency  General  Sherman  succeeded  him  at  the 
head  of  the  army,  the  position  which  he  still  main- 
tains. Next  to  him,  holding  since  1869  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-general,  is  Philip  H.  Sheridan.  Grant, 
Sherman  and  Sheridan  are  the  names  most  illustri- 
ous in  connection  with  the  Union  cause,  and  all 
three  were  born  in  Ohio,  Grant  in  1822,  Sherman  in 
1820  and  Sheridan  in  1831.  Sheridan  was  an  ob- 
scure cavalry  ollicer  until  Grant  was  placed  in  com- 
mand of  all  the  armies,  when  he  was  made  chief  of 
cavalry,  and  amply  justified  the  confidence  reposed 
in  him.  Especial  mention  should  also  be  made  of 
General  McPherson  who  was  killed  before  Atlanta 
in  1864.  He  too  was  a native  of  Ohio,  horn  in  1828. 
His  death  was  a great  loss  to  the  army.  He  had 
proved  himself  a great  soldier  in  many  a hard-fought 
battle,  from  Corinth  to  Kenesaw  and  Atlanta.  Gen- 
eral 0.  O.  Howard,  now  at  the  head  of  the  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point,  is  a native  of  Maine.  He 
was  equally  eminent  as  a soldier  and  a Christian. 
Pious  and  brave,  he  bore  a prominent  part  in  the 
battle  of  Fair  Oaks  where  he  lost  an  arm,  also  in  the 
battles  of  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  Chattanooga 
and  Atlanta.  He  was  at  the  head  of  the  Freedman’s 
Bureau,  after  the  war. 

The  administration  of  Andrew  Johnson  belongs 
to  the  period  of  conflict.  It  was  during  his  term  of 
office,  which  extended  from  April  15, 1865,  to  March 
4,  1869,  that  the  work  of  restoring  the  Union  was 
all  virtually  performed,  and  it  may  be  said  that 
when  that  task  had  been  accomplished  the  present 
period  of  the  United  States  began. 

In  a political  way  very  little  was  done  at  the  North 
after  the  war  had  closed  until  December,  1865,  when 
Congress  convened.  The  states  which  had  formed 
the  Confederacy  for  the  most  part  repealed  their 
several  ordinances  of  secession,  repudiated  their 
state  war  debts  and  formally  ratified  the  abolition 
of  slavery.  Mississippi  led  the  way,  August  22. 
Alabama  followed  her  example  September  10; 
South  Carolina,  September  13 ; North  Carolina, 
October  2 ; Florida  and  Georgia,  October  25.  The 
position  of  Virginia  was  anomalous.  As  early  as 
1863  a state  government,  loyal  to  the  Uniop,  was 
formed  in  counties  under  Federal  control,  and  Pres- 
ident Johnson  recognized  that  government  as  valid 
for  the  whole  state,  and  prohibited  the  meeting  of 
the  more  general  legislature  of  the  state,  called  for 


the  purpose  of  repealing  the  ordinance  of  secession 
and  abolishing  slavery.  As  early  as  February,  1864, 
the  legislature  which  Mr.  Johnson  recognized  as 
valid  for  the  whole  state  of  Virginia  had  abolished 
slavery. 

When  Congress  convened,  the  Southern  states 
presented  themselves  for  admission,  hut  their  repre- 
sentatives were  denied  admission,  with  the  exception 
of  Tennessee,  which  was  re-admitted  during  1866. 
The  position  of  the  Republican  party  was  that  the 
states  which  had  gone  out  of  the  Union  should  re- 
main out  until  the  necessary  safeguards  against  se- 
cession in  the  future  should  have  been  provided. 
Thaddeus  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania  was  the  virtual 
leader  of  the  party  at  that  time.  He  was  a member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.  President  Johnson 
insisted  that  the  seceded  states  should  be  restored  as 
soon  as  they  had  repealed  their  ordinances  of  seces- 
sion and  duly  elected  representatives  to  Congress.  In 
this  position  he  was  sustained  by  a few  Republicans 
and  all  the  Democrats.  But  he  was  utterly  power- 
less. The  Republican  majority  was  so  large  that 
any  party  measure  could  be  passed  over  his  veto  by 
a two-thirds  majority.  Instead  of  accepting  the 
situation  and  yielding  his  personal  views  to  the  inev- 
itable will  of  the  majority,  he  persisted  throughout 
his  entire  term  of  office  in  keeping  up  the  conflict. 
In  the  meanwhile  the  states  which  had  seceded  were 
under  provisional  government  and  their  restoration 
to  prosperity  seriously  impeded. 

The  Thirteenth  Constitutional  Amend ment  abol- 
ishing slavery,  was  the  first  important  step  toward 
reconstruction.  That  was  officially  declared  adopted 
December  18,  1865.  An  elaborate  Reconstruction 
Act  became  a law  March  2,  1867,  and  the  same  day 
Congress  passed  over  the  President’s  veto  the  Ten- 
ure-of-Office  bill,  which  greatly  restricted  the  re- 
moving power  of  the  Executive.  The  Fourteenth 
Amendment  to  the  Constitution,  which  was  an  elab- 
orate embodiment  of  the  principles  of  the  Republi- 
can party  on  reconstruction,  became  a part  of  the 
organic  law  of  the  Republic,  July  28,  1868.  It  was 
not  until  March  30, 1870,thattho  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ment, virtually  conferring  the  right  of  suffrage  upon 
the  negro,  was  adopted. 

The  longer  the  conflict  between  Congress  and  the 
President  was  continued,  the  more  radical  and  bold 
did  the  dominant  party  become.  During  all  this 
period  of  post-war  contest,  the  Southern  States  were 


£ 


554 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONFLICT. 


in  a condition  of  suspended  political  animation.  By 
July,  1870,  the  restoration  of  all  the  states  had  been 
effected,  and  the  period  of  conflict  may  be  said  to 
have  come  to  a close. 

In  the  meanwhile  had  occurred  the  impeachment, 
trial  and  acquittal  of  Andrew  Johnson,  and  the 
election  of  his  successor.  General  Grant.  That  im- 
peachment was  the  culmination  of  the  feud  between 
the  legislative  and  executive  departments  of  the 
general  government.  It  requires  a two-tliirds  ma- 
jority of  the  Senate,  sitting  as  a high  court  of  im- 
peachment, to  convict.  One  more  vote  against  him, 
and  President  Johnson  would  have  been  deposed. 
That  great  state  trial  occurred  in  the  spring  of  1868. 
Just  after  its  termination  the  National  Republican 
Convention  met  at  Chicago  and  nominated  General 
Grant  for  President  by  acclamation,  and  Schuyler 
Colfax  for  Vice-President.  Their  opponents  were 
Horatio  Seymour,  of  New  York,  who  as  Governor  of 
that  state  had  opposed  the  military  draft,  and  Gen- 
eral Francis  P.  Blair.  All  the  states  took  part  in 
tire  election  except  Virginia,  Georgia,  Mississippi 
and  Texas,  which  had  not  been  reconstructed  at  that 
time.  Grant  and  Colfax  received  214  electoral 
votes,  and  Seymour  and  Blair  71.  The  popular 


majority  of  the  Republican  party  was  nearly 
3,000,000.  That  election  settled  forever  the 
validity  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
adopted  subsequent  to  the  war,  including  universal 
suffrage. 

Early  in  1868  there  was  organized  at  the  South  a 
secret  order  known  as  the  Ku-Klux-Klan,  with  Gen- 
eral Forrest  at  its  head.  Its  object  was  to  thwart  by 
intimidation  the  enfranchisement  of  the  colored  peo- 
ple and  prevent  the  complete  triumph  at  the  South 
of  the  Northern  cause,  or,  as  the  members  would  ex- 
press it,  the  design  was  to  “ redeem  the  South.” 
That  was  the  last  flicker  of  the  flames  which  had 
reddened  the  whole  horizon  of  the  nation.  Many 
of  the  members  were  brought  to  trial,  convicted 
and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  their  acts  of 
violence.  After  the  excitement  had  died  away  and 
the  punishment  was  supposed  to  have  had  its  due 
effect  in  breaking  up  the  organization.  President 
Grant  pardoned  the  prisoners,  and  now  the  last  em- 
ber of  the  war,  kindled  in  1854,  seems  to  be  dead. 
Before  passing  on,  however,  to  the  present  United 
States  it  will  be  well  to  devote  a chapter  to  the  dis- 
tinctively Southern  features  of  the  period  which  has 
been  under  consideration  in  this  chapter. 


> v 


CHAPTER  L XXX 1 1 


The  Purpose  of  the  Chapter — Causes  of  the  Confederacy — The  Election  of  Lincoln— The 
Doctrine  of  State  Sovereignty — The  Right  of  Revolution— Ordinances  of  Secession 
— At  Montgomery — The  Confederate  Constitution — Virginia  and  the  Peace  Conven- 
tion— Sumter  and  the  First  Call  for  Troops— General  Lee— Semmes  and  the  “Ala- 
bama”— Population,  Black  and  White,  of  the  South— Results  at  the  Close  of  First, 
Second  and  Third  Years  of  the  War— Derry  on  the  Two  Armies— Stephens  on  Fort 
Fisher— Another  Comparison  of  the  Two  Armies— Causes  of  the  Failure  of  the  Con- 
federacy— Testimony  of  Davis— Davis  on  Southern  Finance— Exhaustion  of  the  South 
— Testimony  of  the  Confederate  Commissary  General— False  Hope— The  Cause  Lost — 
Penalties — Persons  and  States — The  End  of  the  War — Biographical  Sketches. 


century  is  too  near  the  present  to  be  treated  dispas- 
sionately by  the  historians  of  the  country.  In  this 
connection  those  whose  sympathies  were  with  the 
Southern  cause  will  be  allowed,  as  it  were,  to  tell 
their  own  story  without  interruption  or  contradic- 
tion, only  with  such  abbreviation  as  the  general 
scope  of  this  volume  may  require. 

Jefferson  Davis  in  his  elaborate  work,  “ The  Rise 
and  Fall  of  the  Confederate  Government,”  begins 
his  first  chapter  with  a discussion  of  “the  institu- 
tion of  negro  servitude.”  In  his  famous  first  speech 
in  defense  of  the  Confederacy,  Alexander  H.  Ste- 
phens declared  slavery  to  bo  the  corner-stone  of  the 
new  government.  We  thus  have  the  two  highest 
officers  under  that  govermexit,  the  President  and 
Vice-President,  uniting  on  this  point,  disagreeing  as 
they  did  and  do  on  many  others.  Beyond  a doubt 
secession  was  the  culmination  of  the  struggle  over 
slavery  and  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  upon  a 
platform  pledging  him  to  oppose  the  further  exten- 
sion of  the  institution  was  the  immediate  occasion 
of  it.  The  new  President  took  every  opportunity 
to  allay  apprehensions  as  to  his  policy,  but  the 
spirit  which  would  not  brook  the  Tariff  Act  of  the 


55) 


T is  customary  in  histories 
of  the  United  States, 
whether  brief  or  long,  to 
consider  the  Confederate 
States  only  so  far  as  they 
relate  to  the  great  conflict 
which  engaged  our  atten- 
tion in  the  chapter  im- 
mediately preceding  this  one.  It  is 
difficult  to  form  a distinct  conception  of 
the  subject  from  that  merely  side  view 
of  it.  The  purpose  of  the  chapter  now 
in  hand  is  to  set  forth  the  actual  apart 
from  the  argumentative  in  the  rise  and 
fall  of  that  stupendous  political  organ- 
ization which,  without  gaining  recogni- 
tion as  an  independent  government 
from  any  of  the  nations,  performed  all 
the  functions  of  a confederate  republic  for  about 
four  years,  and  must  ever  stand  in  history  as  one  of 
the  more  memorable  of  national  episodes. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  present  purpose  to  either  dis- 
cuss principles,  analyze  motives,  or  even  to  sift  evi- 
dence. The  first  half  of  the  sixth  decade  of  this 


(5 


si 


1 


{ 

e) 

7 


55 6 RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


Jacksonian  period  became  absolutely  irrepressible 
in  the  presence  of  a great  political  victory,  which  was 
the  first  in  the  history  of  the  Union  won  by  a party 
avowedly  hostile  to  slavery,  and  tolerant  of  it  only 
so  far  as  compelled  to  be  by  the  constitution. 

Still  another  cause,  the  one  which  was  in  point  of 
fact  the  corner-stone  of  the  movement,  was  the  doc- 
trine of  state  sovereignty.  That  issue  was  older  than 
the  constitution  and  entirely  independent  of  slavery 
in  its  origin,  if  not  in  its  development.  “ Govern- 
ments,” says  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  “de- 
rive their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed,”  but  the  government  of  the  United  States 
derived  its  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the 
states  which  in  the  dele- 
gation of  authority  re- 
served all  rights  not 
specifically  vested  in 
the  general  govern- 
ment. Even  before  its 
adoption  so  true  a pa- 
triot as  Patrick  Henry 
denounced  the  consti- 
tution as  an  infringe- 
ment upon  the  rights  of 
the  states.  The  issue 
thus  raised  was  not  sec- 
tional. And  in  later 
years  there  were  not 
wanting  those  at  the 
North  who  denounced 
the  Union  and  the  Constitution.  The  systematic 
inculcation  of  the  doctrine  that  states  were  sov- 
ereign and  the  Union  a partnership  liable  to  be 
changed  by  the  withdrawal  of  any  partner,  may 
be  fairly  attributed  to  John  C.  Calhoun.  But  as 
early  as  1798  a convention  was  held  in  Kentucky 
which  adopted  the  same  theory  of  the  Union. 
That  manifesto  was  the  formal  expression  of  the 
fundamental  political  principle  of  the  Confederate 
States. 

The  right  of  secession  was  also  defended  upon 
the  broad  ground  that  when  nearly  ten  millions  of 
people,  occupying  a correspondingly  large  area,  unite 
in  a political  movement,  however  revolutionary,  they 
have  a right  to  make  the  proposed  change.  In  oth- 
er words,  the  cause  was  based  on  the  doctrine 
of  popular  sovereignty,  or  the  right  of  revolution  in 


distinction  from  constitutional  limitations.  This 
position  was  maintained  in  the  debates  of  Congress 
and  in  the  various  discussions  of  the  day. 

Such  were  the  doctrines  of  the  Southern  cause. 
The  first  act,  however,  of  secession  was  the  passage 
by  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  of  the  ordi- 
nance of  separation,  December  20,  1860.  It  was 
passed  without  a dissenting  vote.  Five  other  states 
followed  the  same  course,  but  not  with  the  same 
unanimity,  during  the  month  following,  namely, 
Mississippi,  January  9,  1861;  Florida,  the  10th; 
Alabama,  the  11th;  Georgia,  the  19th,  and  Louisi- 
ana, the  26th.  Texas  delayed  only  until  the  first 

day  of  February. 

These  seven  states 
alone  constituted  the 
original  Confederacy. 
They  met  in  a repre- 
sentative and  collective 
body  at  Montgomery, 
Alabama,  February  4, 
and  organized  a new 
Union,  framed  a new 
constitution  and  pro- 
claimed a new  federa- 
tion, calling  it  “The 
Confederate  States  of 
America.”  From  that 
time  on,  such  was  the 
official  name  of  the 
Confederacy  then  and 
thus  formed.  This  con. 
stitution  was  modeled  closely  after  that  of  the 
United  States. 

In  the  appendix  to  the  first  volume  of  his  work, 
Mr.  Davis  prints  these  two  documents  in  parallel 
columns,  italicizing  the  passages  and  parts  peculiar 
to  the  later  of  the  two.  The  new  features  of  the 
Confederate  constitution  worthy  of  any  note  are 
these : First,  the  favor  and  guidance  of  Almighty 
God  were  invoked  ; second,  Congress  was  specifically 
authorized  to  grant  by  law  to  the  principal  officer  in 
each  of  the  executive  departments  a seat  upon  the 
floor  of  either  House,  with  the  privilege  of  discussing 
any  measure  appertaining  to  his  department ; third, 
the  President  might  approve  a part  of  an  appropria- 
tion bill  and  veto  a part ; fourth,  Congress  was  for- 
bidden to  grant  any  bounties  from  the  treasury  or 
levy  a tariff  except  for  revenue  only  ; fifth,  no  aj>- 


s 

» 


> 


Is 


c 


•**  <? 


St 


RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


propriations  could  be  made  for  internal  improve- 
ments ; sixth,  a bankruptcy  law  could  be  passed, 
but  not  to  apply  to  any  debt  contracted  prior 
to  its  passage  ; seventh,  the  expenses  of  the  postal 
service  must  not  exceed  the  revenue  derived  there- 
from ; eighth.  Congress  could  prohibit  the  introduc- 
tion of  slaves  from  any  state  not  a member  of  the 
Confederacy ; ninth,  no  law  could  be  passed  denying 
or  impairing  the  right  of  property  in  negro  slaves ; 
tenth,  a tariff  could  be  levied  upon  exports,  but  only 
by  a vote  of  two-thirds  of  both  houses;  eleventh, 
“ Congress  shall  appropriate  no  money  from  the 
treasury,  except  by  a vote  of  two-thirds  of  both 
houses,  taken  by  yeas  and  nays,  unless  it  be  asked 
and  estimated  for  by  some  one  of  the  heads  of  de- 
partments, and  submitted  to  Congress  ; or  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  its  own  expenses  and  contingen- 
cies ; or  for  the  payment  of  claims  against  the  Con- 
federate states,  the  justice  of  which  shall  have  been 
judicially  declared  by  a tribunal  for  the  investigation 
of  claims  against  the  government,  which  it  is  hereby 
the  duty  of  Congress  to  establish;”  twelfth,  “all 
bills  appropriating  money  shall  specify  in  Federal 
currency  the  exact  amount  of  each  appropriation, 
and  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  made  ; and  Congress 
shall  grant  no  extra  compensation  to  any  public 
contractor,  officer,  agent  or  servant  after  such  con- 
tract shall  have  been  made  or  such  service  rendered  ;” 
thirteenth,  “every  law,  or  resolution  having  the  force 
of  law,  shall  relate  to  but  one  subject,  and  that  shall 
be  expressed  in  the  title ; ” fourteenth,  in  the  im- 
provement of  rivers  and  harbors  the  states  might 
singly  or  in  concert  levy  taxes  for  that  purpose, 
any  surplus  raised  to  be  covered  into  the  general 
treasury;  fifteenth,  the  term  of  office  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President  to  be  six,  instead  of  four 
years,  tbe  President  being  ineligible  to  re-election ; 
sixteenth,  civil  officers,  except  cabinet  officers  and 
the  diplomatic  corps,  removable  during  their  term 
of  office  only  for  cause,  the  same  to  be  reported  to 
the  senate  in  all  cases  of  removal ; seventeenth,  the 
right  to  carry  slaves  from  one  state  to  another 
without  impairment  of  property  therein  fully 
guaranteed;  eighteenth,  new  states  could  be  admit- 
ted by  a two-thirds  vote  of  Congress  and  new  terri- 
tory acquired, but  in  all  cases andeverywhere  through- 
out the  Confederacy  tbe  right  of  property  in  slaves 
should  be  preserved  intact;  nineteenth,  upon  the 
ratification  of  the  constitution  by  five  states  it 


557 


should  be  binding,  a presidential  election  should  be 
held  and  the  provisional  government  at  Montgomery 
should  give  place  to  the  permanent  one  chosen  in 
accordance  with  constitutional  requirements. 

The  constitution  took  effect  February  22,  1862. 
Jefferson  Davis  continued  as  President  and  Alex- 
ander H.  Ste- 
phens as  Vice- 
President. 

Wemustnow 
go  back  a lit- 
tle. The  state 
of  Virginia  was 
reluctant  to  se- 
cede, and  made 
special  effort 
to  bring  about 
a reconcilia- 
tion. A Peace 
Convention  at 
the  instance  of 
that  state,  in  which  thirteen  Northern  and  seven 
Southern  states  were  represented,  ex-President 
Tyler  presiding,  accomplished  nothing.  Three 
commissioners  were  sent  from  Montgomery  to 
Washington  to  treat  for  an  amicable  division 
of  the  Union  and  settlement  of  all  claims  in- 
cident to  separation.  That  was  during  the  presi- 
dential term  of  Mr.  Buchanan.  He  received  them 
as  private  citizens,  refusing  to  entertain  any  prop- 
osition for  disunion.  A week  after  Mr.  Lincoln  be- 
came President  the  Confederate  commissioners  tried 
to  open  negotiations  through  the  Secretary  of  State, 
Mr.  Seward.  All  hope  of  success  in  that  direction 
was  abandoned  when  it  was  known  that  a squadron 
of  seven  ships  had  been  fitted  out  to  reinforce  Fort 
Sumter.  It  only  remained  then  to  abandon  the 
Confederate  movement  or  resort  to  arms.  1 1 there 
was  any  hesitation  as  to  which  course  to  pursue,  the 
firing  on  Sumter,  April  12,  put  an  end  to  it,  and 
its  fall  the  next  day  produced  the  wildest  enthusiam 
throughout  the  South.  The  call  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
for  75,000  volunteers,  issued  two  days  after  the  fall 
of  Sumter,  was  met  at  Montgomery  by  a call  lor 
volunteers  to  repel  oppression.  Two  days  later, 
April  17,  Virginia  held  a convention  and  withdrew 
from  the  Union.  Arkansas  followed  May  6,  North 
Carolina  May  20,  and  Tennessee  Juno  8.  The 
other  slave-holding  states  on  the  border,  Maryland 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 


■v 


Kentucky,  Missouri  and  Delaware,  never  formally 
withdrew  from  the  Union,  and  were  said  to  have 
contributed  their  quota  to  both  armies. 

An  election  for  President  and  Vice-President  of 
the  Confederacy  was  held  November  6,  1862,  with 

the  result  stated. 
The  choice  was 
unanimous.  At 
the  same  time 
General  Robert 
E.  Lee,  who  at 
first  hesitated  as 
to  which  side  to 
espouse,  was  ap- 
pointed to  take 
command  of 
the  Confederate 
forces  on  the 
coast  of  Georgia 

ROBERT  E.  LEE.  and  South  Car- 

olina. lie  was  a native  of  Virginia,  born  in 
1807.  He  was  a colonel  in  the  regular  army  at 
the  time  Virginia  seceded.  He  felt  that  the  state 
had  a higher  claim  upon  him  than  the  United 
States,  and  resigned  his  commission,  lie  was  a 
man  of  superb  physique,  high  moral  character 
and  great  ability.  He  was  early  second  in  impor- 
tance among  the  Confederate  army,  and  after  Gen- 
eral Joseph  E. 
Johnston  was 
wounded  and 
succeeded  by 
him  at  Fair 
Oaks  (May  31, 
1862)  he  was  the 
first.  When  Lee 
died, October  12, 
1870,  he  was  the 
most  popular 
man  in  the 
South. 

JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON.  Tile  firgt  year 

of  the  war  was  in  its  net  results  favorable  to  the 
Confederacy,  both  on  land  and  water.  The  Con- 
federate privateers  crippled  Northern  commerce 
very  seriously,  and  captured  merchandise  upon 
the  high  seas  to  the  value  of  many  millions  of 
dollars.  In  these  operations  one  name  stands 
out  conspicuous,  Raphael  Semmes  of  Alabama, 


who  began  his  privateering  in  command  of  the 
Sumter,  but  who  became  best  known  in  connec- 
tion with  the  famous  Alabama  which  he  commanded, 
and  which  was  built  for  privateering  by  260  English 
merchants.  The  second  year  of  the  war  was  still 
more  favorable  to 
the.  Confederate 
cause  than  the  first. 

There  is  wide  di- 
vergence of  opin- 
ion between  South- 
ern and  Northern 
writers  as  to  the 
number  of  men  on 
either  side  and  the 
result  of  many  of 
the  engagements  in 
which  no  very  de- 
cided advantage 
was  gained  by  eith-  Raphael  semmes. 

er  army ; but  there  is  agreement  as  to  the  general 
fact  that  the  first  and  second  years  of  the  war  made 
exhibits  in  their  balance  sheets  in  favor  of  the 
Confederacy. 

It  is  stated  that  there  were  about  3,000,000  slaves 
within  the  limits  of  the  Confederate  states  when 
the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  was  issued.  The 
white  population  was  about  5,000,000,  as  against 
22,000,000  whites  and  1,000,000  blacks  within  the 
Union.  From  the  beginning  of  1863  the  Confeder- 


ate army  dwindled  in  size  and  the  Union  army  aug- 
mented. It  is  agreed  on  all  sides  that  1863  was  a 
year  of  great  advantage  to  the  Federal  army.  Not- 
withstanding some  defeats,  the  United  States  had 
control  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  state  of 
Tennessee,  while  the  aggressive  movement  of  Lee 
upon  Pennsylvania  had  been  repulsed.  Derry  sets 


RISE  AND  FALL  OF 


THE  CONFEDERACY. 


RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


559 


the  number  of  the  Federal  armies  at  that  time  at 
1,000,000 ; of  the  Confederate  army  at  250,000. 
The  same  authority  claims  that  a year  later  the 
Federal  army  was  still  a million  strong  while  the 
Confederate  forces  had  been  reduced  to  150,000. 

The  capture 
of  Fort  Fisher 
at  the  entrance 
of  Cape  Fear 
River,  North 
Carolina,  by 
General  Terry, 

January  15, 

1865,  did  not 
attract  very 
much  atten- 
tion at  the 
North,  but 
speaking  of 
its  importance, 

Alexander  H. 

Stephens  says, 

“ the  closing  of 
the  port  of 
Wilmington 
[the  result  of 
that  capture] 
was  the  com- 
plete shutting 
out  of  the  Con- 
federate states 
from  all  inter- 
course by  sea 
with  foreign 
countries.  The 
respiratory 
functions  of 
external  trade, 
so  essential  to 
the  vitality  of 
all  communi- 
ties, had  been 
performed  for 
the  whole  Confederacy  mainly  for  nearly  three 
years  through  the  small  aperture  of  the  little  port, 
choked  to  wheezing  as  it  was  by  a cordon  ol 
armed  ships  drawn  around  its  neck.’ 

Another  Southern  authority,  Blackburn  and  Mc- 
Donald’s history  of  the  United  States,  places  the 


BOMBARDMENT  OF  FORT  FISHER. 


number  of  battles  fought  at  220  ; the  number  of  the 
Confederate  troops  surrendered  at  the  close  of  the 
war  at  174,223 ; and  the  Confederate  debt  at 
$2,000,000,000.  Derry  asserts  that  when  Lee  sur- 
rendered he  had  only  8,000  soldiers  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms,  con- 
fronting an 
army  of  180,- 
000.  Mr.  Ste- 
phens furnish- 
es the  follow- 
ing facts  in 
regard  to  the 
depreciation  of 
the  Confeder- 
ate currency, 
the  gold  dollar 
being  the  unit 
of  measure- 
ment and  the 
time  being  the 
first  of  each 
year : 1862, 

$1.20;  1863, 

$3.00 ; 1864, 

$21.00;  1865, 
$50.00.  By  the 
first  of  April, 
nine  days  be- 
fore the  sur- 
render of  Lee, 
$100  in  Con- 
federate cur- 
rency was  es- 
timated to  bo 
equivalent  to 
$1  in  coin. 

In  discuss- 
ing the  cause 
of  the  Con- 
federate fail- 
ures, Black- 
burn and  Mac- 
Donald allege  five  reasons,  first,  lack  of  una- 
nimity at  the  South ; second,  number  and  wealth 
of  the  Federals ; third,  mismanagement  of  tho 
finances;  fourth,  retention  of  inefticieut  officers; 
fifth,  endeavor  to  protect  too  many  points  at  once 
when  the  war  began.  As  thoir  history  soon 


■i: 


56° 


RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


reached  eleven  editions,  the  sale  almost  wholly  con- 
fined to  the  South,  this  verdict  may  be  presumed  to 
accord  with  that  of  the  court  of  popular  Southern 
opinion.  Jefferson  Davis  briefly  observes  that  the 
war  showed  the  right  of  secession  to  be  impracti- 
cable. It  is  universally  conceded  that  the  decision 
was  a finality,  and  even  Mr.  Davis,  the  most  persist- 
ent and  elaborate  defender  of  the  right  to  secede, 
closes  his  great  work  with  the  hope  that  there  may  be 
written  upon  the  arch  of  the  Union,  Esto  Perpetua. 

Jefferson  Davis  defends  the  financial  policy  of  the 
Confederate  government  as  the  best  possible  under 
the  circumstances.  The  government,  he  says,  entered 
upon  its  second  year  without  any  floating  debt,  and 
the  total  expenditures  were  $170,000,000  up  to  the 
time  that  the  permanent  government  came  into  oper- 
ation, February  1,  1862.  The  latest  official  statement 
of  the  public  debt  of  the  Confederacy  bears  date  of 
October  1,  1864.  Mr.  Davis  places  the  amount  at 
that  time  of  the  total  debt  at  $1,126,381,095.  Of  this 
amount  $541,340,000  consisted  of  funded  debt  and 
the  balance  unfunded  debt,  or  treasury  notes.  This 
statement  is  exclusive  of  the  foreign  debt,  which,  he 
adds,  amounted  to  £2,200,000,  provided  for  by  about 
250,000  bales  of  cotton  collected  by  the  government. 
To  this  statement  Mr.  Davis  adds  in  a foot-note, 
“ These  bales  were  the  security  for  the  foreign  cotton 
loan,  and  were  seized  by  the  United  States  govern- 
ment. Was  it  not  liable  to  the  bondholders?”  He 
also  makes  the  following  statement : “ The  earliest 
proposals  on  which  this  debt  was  contracted  were 
issued  in  London  and  Paris  in  March,  1863,  [as  the 
result  of  the  missions  of  Mason  and  Slidell.]  The 
bonds  bore  interest  at  seven  per  cent,  per  annum  in 
sterling,  payable  half-yearly.  They  were  exchange- 
able for  cotton  on  application,  at  the  option  of  the 
holder,  or  redeemable  at  par  in  sterling,  in  twenty 
years,  by  half-yearly  drawings,  commencing  March 
1,  1864.  The  special  security  of  these  bonds  was 
the  engagement  of  the  government  to  deliver  cotton 
to  the  holders.  Each  bond,  at  option  of  the  holder, 
was  convertible  at  its  nominal  amount  in  cotton  at 
the  rate  of  six-pence  sterling  for  each  pound  of  cot- 
ton, say  4,000  pounds  of  cotton  to  each  bond  of 
£100,  or  2,500  francs;  and  this  could  be  done  at 
any  time  not  later  than  six  months  after  the  ratifi- 
cation of  a treaty  of  peace  between  the  belligerents. 
An  annual  sinking  fund  of  five  per  cent,  was  pro- 
vided for,  whereby  two  and  a half  per  cent,  of  the 


bonds  unredeemed  by  cotton  should  be  drawn  by  lot 
half-yearly,  so  as  to  finally  extinguish  the  loan  in 
twenty  years  from  the  first  drawing.  The  bonds 
were  issued  at  ninety  per  cent.,  payable  in  install- 
ments. The  loan  soon  stood  hi  the  London  market 
at  five  per  cent,  premium.  The  amount  asked  for  was 
three  million  pounds.  The  amount  of  applications 
in  London  and  Paris  exceeded  £15,000,000.”  Such 
was  the  financial  system  of  the  Confederacy,  as  set 
forth  by  the  highest  Southern  authority. 

While  the  resources  of  the  North  were  such  that 
production  was  far  more  rapid  than  consumption 
all  through  the  war,  and  the  more  the  army  used  of 
every  necessary  of  life,  the  more  the  country  seemed 
to  have,  the  Southern  supplies  of  food  had  to  be  kept 
up  by  importation.  The  condition  of  the  Confeder- 
acy was  stated  to  the  Confederate  Congress,  Decem- 
ber 14,  1864,  by  the  commissary-general  of  subsist- 
ence to  be  as  follows : “ First,  there  was  not  meat 
enough  in  the  Southern  Confederacy  for  the  armies 
it  had  in  the  field ; second,  there  was  not  in  Virginia 
meat  or  bread  enough  for  the  armies  within  her  lim- 
its ; third,  the  bread  supply  from  other  places  de- 
pended absolutely  upon  the  keeping  open  of  the  rail- 
road connections  of  the  South ; fourth,  the  meat 
supply  must  be  obtained  from  abroad  through  a sea- 
port and  by  a different  system  from  that  which  pre- 
vailed ; fifth,  the  bread  could  not  be  had  by  impress- 
ment, but  must  be  paid  for  in  market  rates  ; sixth, 
the  payment  must  be  paid  in  cash  which,  so  far,  had 
not  been  furnished,  and  from  present  indications 
could  not  be,  and,  if  possible,  in  a better  medium  than 
at  present  circulating ; seventh,  that  the  transporta- 
tion was  not  adequate,  from  whatever  cause,  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  service;  eighth, the  supply  of  fresh 
meat  to  General  Lee’s  army  was  precarious,  and  if 
the  army  fell  back  from  Richmond  and  Petersburg, 
there  was  every  probability  that  it  would  cease  alto- 
gether.” 

Such  being  the  condition  of  the  Confederacy,  the 
surrender  of  Lee,  the  departure  of  Davis  with  the 
remnants  of  his  government  from  Richmond,  fol- 
lowed as  matters  of  course.  The  only  surprise  is 
that  it  was  delayed  so  long.  The  eighth  item  in  the 
foregoing  resume  explains  the  fact  that  no  attempt 
was  made  to  prolong  the  conflict  by  a change  of 
base.  Mr.  Davis  had  contemplated  resort  to  that 
expedient. 

At  the  very  last  moment  a deceptive  gleam  of 


-71 


17- 


RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


56* 


hope  illumined  the  darkness  at  Richmond.  On  the 
5th  of  April  Mr.  Davis,  then  at  Danville,  Rich- 
mond being  in  Federal  possession,  issued  an 
address  which  closed  with  the  words,  “ Let 
us,  then,  my  countrymen,  not  despond,  but  rely 
upon  God,  meet  the  foe  with  fresh  defiance 
and  with  unconquered  and  unconquerable  hearts.” 
The  very  next  day  commenced  the  correspondence 
between  Grant  and  Lee  which  culminated  in  the  sur- 
render at  Appomattox  Court  House,  April  9,  hi  ac- 
cordance witli  which  each  officer  and  man  was 
allowed  to  return  home,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  the 
United  States  authorities  so  long  as  he  observed 
his  parole  and  the  laws. 

Thus  the  great  war 
closed  with  no  one  so 
much  as  imprisoned  for 
bearing  arms  against  the 
victor.  President  Davis 
and  Vice-President  Ste- 
phens were  arrested.  The 
former  was  kept  in  For- 
tress Monroe  some  two 
years,  the  latter  in  Fort 
Warren  only  a short  time. 

Practically,  the  partici- 
pants in  the  Confeder- 
acy were  not  punished, 
except  in  so  far  as  the  for- 
tunes of  war  and  the  abolition  of  slavery  were 
calamitous.  The  great  mass  of  the  people  were 

allowed  to  vote  at 
once,  the  same  as 
if  the  relations  be- 
tween the  states 
had  always  been 
amicable  and  those 
who  were  disfran- 
chised nearly  all 
regained  the  right 
of  suffrage  in  a 
few  years.  Mr.  Ste- 
phens and  many 
others  high  in 
authority  under 
the  Confederacy,  were  long  ago  admitted  to  Con- 
gress as  members.  The  attempt  to  re-enfranchise 
Mr.  Davis,  however,  was  the  occasion  of  intense 
feelings  of  hostility,  and  ho  is  still  deprived  of  the 


CAPITOL  AT  RICHMOND. 


ALEXANDER  II  PTEPHKNf*. 


highest  privilege  of  citizenship.  The  states  which 
seceded  were  kept,  as  we  have  seen  in  a pre- 
vious chapter,  in  a provisional  condition  for 
several  years,  all  of  them,  except  Tennessee,  which 
re-entered  the  Union  the  next  summer.  During 
that  period  military  governors  were  in  command. 
And  when  the  states  were  restored,  so  many  of  the 
white  people  were  under  political  disability  that  the 
colored  people  aud  their  few  political  allies,  mostly 
from  the  North,  had  control  of  the  offices.  That 
condition  of  things  was  a part  of  the  results  of  the 
attempt  to  establish  an  independent  Southern  Con- 
federacy, but  the  war  itself  was  carried  to  such  an 

extreme  of  exhaustion 
that  when  once  over,  that 
was  the  end  of  it.  The 
little  battle,  if  such  it 
may  be  called,  of  Brazos, 
Texas,  May  13,  18G5,  in 
which  the  Confederates 
were  an  overmatch  for 
the  Federal  troops  op- 
posed, was  the  last  shot, 
as  Sumter  was  the  first, 
of  the  Confederacy. 

It  only  remains  now 
to  supplement  this  chap- 
ter with  a little  further 
biographical  information. 

The  first  military  commander  at  the  South  to  at- 
tract attention  was  General  1\  G.  T.  Beauregard. 
He  was  a native  of 
Louisiana,  where 
he  was  born  in 
1818.  He  was  ed- 
ucated at  West 
Point  and  served 
in  the  Mexican 
war.  He  resigned 
his  commission  in 
the  United  States 
army  to  enter  the 
Confederate  ser- 
vice at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war. 

He  commanded  at  the  firing  upon  Sumter,  also  in 
the  battle  of  Manassas,  or  Bull  Hun.  He  was  less 
prominent  after  that,  owing  in  part  to  poor  health. 
He  remained  in  the  service  until  the  war  closed. 


T.  BEAUREGARD. 


TTV  — 


3 


£- 


562 


RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


When  Gen.  A.  S.  Johnston  was  killed  he  took  the 
command  and  was  at  the  head  of  the  army  which 
Halleck  drove  out  of  Corinth  in  1862.  His  last  ser- 
vice was  the  command  of  the  division  of  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina.  He  was  among  the  officers  who 
surrendered  to  Sherman.  After  the  war  he  became 
a civil  engineer  at  the  South. 

General  John  C.  Breckenridge  took  a somewhat 
prominent  part  in  the  war.  He  was  a major-general. 

He  was  also  Secretary 
of  W ar  in  the  last  days 
of  the  Confederacy. 
But  his  prominence  was 
prior  to  the  war.  Born 
in  Kentucky  in  1821, 
he  became  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United 
States  in  1857.  He 
had  previously  seen 
service  in  the  Mexican 
war.  He  was  the  reg- 
john  C.  breckenridge.  ular  Democratic  can- 

didate for  the  presidency  hi  1860.  He  died  at  his 
home  in  Kentucky  in  1875. 

General  J.  T.  Jackson,  best  known  as  “ Stone- 
wall ” J ackson,  was 
one  of  the  most  bril- 
liant soldiers  of  the 
war.  A native  of 
Virginia,  and  edu- 
cated at  West  Point, 
he  received  his  prac- 
tical trainingin  Mex- 
ico. The  war  be- 
tween the  states 
found  him  a profes- 
sor in  a military 
school  in  his  own 
state.  He  entered 
the  service  at  the 
was  in  the  field  pre- 
cisely two  years,  falling  at  Chancellorsville  May  2, 
1868.  He  was  shot  by  a party  of  his  own  sol- 
diers, he  and  his  staff  being  mistaken  for  the 
advance-guard  of  Federal  cavalry.  He  was  the 
idol  of  the  army,  and  his  loss  was  mourned  as  a 
great  calamity.  He  was  brilliant  and  dashing,  know- 
ing neither  fear  nor  fatigue.  He  was  withal  a very 
devout  Christian. 


J.  T.  (Stonewall)  jackson. 

beginning  of  the  war,  and 


General  James  Longstreet,  born  in  South  Caro- 
lina in  1820, 
a West  Pointer 
and  a soldier 
in  the  Mexican 
war,  bore  a 
prominentpart 
in  the  Confed- 
erate a r m y, 
from  Bull  Run 
to  Appomat- 
tox. He  came 
very  near  shar- 
ing the  fate  of 
Jackson,  for 
he  was  severe-  james  longstreet. 

ly  wounded  by  the  blundering  of  his  own  men  in  one 
of  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness.  After  the  war, 
Longstreet  accepted  the  political  situation  and  be- 
came a Republican.  In  1880  he  was  appointed 
U.  S.  minister  at  the  Turkish  court. 

There  were  two  Johnstons  in  the  war  on  the  Con- 
federate side  who  rivaled  Lee  and  Jackson  in  pop- 
ularity, Albert  Sidney  and  Joseph  E.  The  war 
found  the  former  in  command  of  the  Federal  forces 
at  San  Francis- 
co. He  was  a 
native  of  Ken- 
tucky, born  in 
1803,  a gradu- 
ate of  West 
Point,  and  a 
Mexican  veteran. 

When  he  resign- 
ed to  join  the 
Confederacy  he 
was  a brigadier- 
general  in  the 
regular  army. 

He  Was  killed  in  albert  Sidney  Johnston. 

the  battle  of  Shiloh,  early  in  1862.  Jefferson  Davis 
and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  unite  hi  pronouncing 
his  death  a great  calamity  to  the  Southern  cause. 
General  J.  E.  Johnston  was  a native  of  Virginia, 
which  state  he  now  represents  in  Congress.  He  too 
was  a West  Point  graduate  and  Mexican  veteran. 


He  was  born  in  1807.  At  the  battle  of  Manassas  he 
was  the  ranking  officer,  but  waived  his  right  to 
command  in  favor  of  Beauregard.  He  won  more 


RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


credit,  however,  by  holding  Patterson  in  check  than 
Beauregard  did  by  winning  the  victory  thus  made 
possible.  In  the  Peninsula  campaign  he  was  the 
commander  of  the  Confederate  forces.  But  Mr. 
Davis  conceived  a dislike  for  him  which  culminated 
in  his  being  relieved  of  his  command  for  several 
months.  The  popular  pressure  for  his  restoration 
to  active  service  was  so  great  that  he  was  given 
another  command.  When  the  war  closed  he  was  in 
command  of  the  army  in  the  Carolinas  and  practi- 
cally second  only  to  General  Lee.  To  what  has 
already  been  said  of  the  latter  need  only  be  added 
that  the  last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  the  pres- 
idency of  W ashington  College,  Virginia.  One  of  the 
latest  utterances  of  Lee  were  these  words  addressed 
to  the  widow  of  a Confederate  soldier,  “ Madame, 
do  not  train  up  your  children  in  hostility  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States.” 

Wade  Hampton,  now  the  most  popular  man  in 
South  Carolina  and  a member  of  the  Senate  of  the 

United  States,  held  a 
command  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Bull  Run.  He 
was  wounded  during 
that  battle,  also  at 
Gettysburg  and  Seven 
Pines.  He  remained 
in  the  service  to  the 
end  of  the  war.  He 
has  been  more  promi- 
hampton.  nent  as  a Democratic 

politician  than  he  was  as  a soldier.  His  grand- 
father, the  first  Wade  Hampton,  served  under 
Sumter  and  Marion  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  He 
was  a man  of  immense  wealth,  owning  at  one  time 
3,000  slaves  and  a correspondingly  large  amount  of 
cotton  lands. 

General  Hardee,  author  of  Hardens  Tactics,  a 
Georgian,  was  commandant  at  West  Point  when  his 
state  seceded.  He  resigned  his  commission  and 
cast  his  fortunes  with  the  Confederacy.  He  rose  to 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-general,  but  in  the  field  did 
not  prove  specially  brilliant.  He  was  brave  and 
scientific,  but  not  fertile  in  invention. 

There  were  two  Hills  of  some  prominence,  A.  P. 
and  D.  H.  The  former  received  the  surrender  of 


Harper’s  Ferry,  and  then  rendered  his  side  most 
timely  aid  at  Antietam.  He  fell  just  as  Richmond 
was  surrendered.  D.  H.  Hill  was  born  in  South  Car- 
olina in  1822,  was  educated  at  West  Point,  and  ren- 
dered good  service  in  the  Mexican  war.  For  some- 
thing over  ten  years  thereafter  he  was  an  educator  and 
author  of  con- 
siderable note 
at  the  South. 

When  his  state 
seceded  he  ten- 
dered his  ser- 
vices to  the  Con- 
federacy. He 
held  important 
commands  at 
Big  Bethel,  York- 
town,  Mechan- 
icsville,  Cold 
Harbor,  Mal- 
vern Hill,  SeC-  W.  J.  HARDEE. 

oiul  Bull  Run,  South  Mountain,  Antietam  and 
Fredericksburg.  Since  the  war  he  has  been  devoted 
to  literary  pursuits. 

General  Hood  was  a native  of  Kentucky.  He 
served  cred 
itably, work- 
ing up  from 
first  lieuten- 
ant to  lieu- 
tenant-gen 
eral  in  the 
army  of 
Virginia. 

The  second 
Manassas, 

Antietam, 

Gettysburg, 
and  Chicka- 

maugaform  »•  ",,n». 

apart  of  his  record.  He  lost  a leg  in  the  latter 
battle.  Appointed  in  1804  to  succeed  General  John- 
ston in  the  West,  lie  failed  to  meet  the  demands 
of  the  position,  and  after  the  disasters  of  Franklin 
and  Nashville  he  was  sujiersedcd  by  General  Rich- 
ard Taylor,  a sou  of  President  Taylor. 


<311=3]  ony 


CHAPTER  L XXXI 1 1 . 


General  Grant  Becomes  President  Grant — Pacific  Railroad — “ Alabama'’  Claims — Chicago 
Fire — Grant  and  Greeley — The  Panic  of  1873 — The  Centennial — Hayes  and  Tilden — 
Southern  Policy  of  Hayes — His  Administration— Great  Railway  Strike — Presidential 
Campaign,  1880 — Garfield’s  Administration — Assassination — Arthur — Constitutional 
Amendments — Area  and  Public  Domain — Population — Geographical  Peculiarities. 


& 


uu 


i 


HE  last  hope  of  a Southern 
Confederacy  must  have 
been  dispelled  by  the  elec- 
tion to  the  presidency  of 
General  Grant,  the  chief 
representative  of  the  force 
which  maintained  the 
Union.  He  was  at  the  head  of 
the  government  from  March  4, 
1869,  to  March  4,  1877.  Those 
eight  years  witnessed  great  pros- 
perity followed  by  most  distress- 
ing depression  in  business. 

The  first  event  of  note  was  the 
completion  of  the  Pacific  Railroad, 
May,  1869.  The  work  of  con- 
struction was  in  progress  six  years. 
The  Central  Pacific  extends  from 
San  Francisco  to  Ogden,  in  Utah,  a distance  of  882 
miles,  where  it  meets  the  Union  Pacific,  which  ex- 
tends to  Omaha,  Nebraska,  a distance  of  1,032 
miles. 

The  next  year,  as  we  have  seen,  the  work  of  re- 
construction was  completed  by  the  readmission  to 
Congress  of  all  the  Southern  states,  and  the  adoption 
of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  to  the  constitution. 
Early  in  the  next  year  a joint  high  commission  met 


at  Washington  to  settle  the  claim  of  the  United 
States  against  Great  Britain,  growing  out  of  the 
depredations  of  the  Alabama  and  other  Confederate 
privateers  fitted  out  in  England.  The  result  was 
the  payment  of  an  indemnity  of  $15,000,000  to  this 
government  by  the  British  Government. 

Late  in  the  same  year,  October  9,  1871,  occurred 
the  most  memorable  conflagration  of  modern  times, 
the  Chicago  Fire.  The  entire  business  portion  of 
the  city  was  destroyed  and  a great  portion  of  the 
residence  part.  The  number  of  lives  lost  could 
never  be  ascertained  and  was  variously  estimated  at 
from  50  to  200.  Not  less  than  100,000  people  were 
rendered  homeless,  and  many  who  were  in  affluence 
were  rendered  penniless.  The  loss  of  property  was 
not  less  than  $200,000,000.  The  immediate  wants 
of  the  people  were  nobly  met  by  a charity  as  wide 
as  the  civilized  world  and  absolutely  prodigal  in  its 
generosity.  The  next  year  another  fire  of  vast,  if 
greatly  less  proportions,  visited  Chicago.  In  1872 
Boston,  too,  had  its  “burnt  district.”  It  may  be 
added  that  both  cities  long  since  rebuilt  fully  and 
upon  a grand  scale. 

In  the  year  1872  occurred  another  presidential 
election.  The  first  ticket  in  the  field  was  headed  by 
Horace  Greeley,  who  for  thirty  years  had  been  a 
leading  journalist  and  ardent  opponent  of  the  Dem- 


N 


(S64) 


THE  PRESENT  UNITED  STATES. 


ocratic  party.  He  was  nominated  by  the  Liberal 
Convention.  The  Democratic  National  Convention 
accepted  him  as  the  candidate  of  the  Democracy  in 
the  hope  that  he  would  draw  enough  Republican 
votes  to  elect  him,  and  he  did ; but  the  Democrats 
failed  to  fulfill  their  part  of  the  contract.  Many 
of  them  stayed  away  from  the  polls  altogether. 
Some  of  them  united  in  supporting  for  the  presi- 
dency that  eminent  Democratic  lawyer  of  New 


which  continued  until  after  resumption  in  1879, 
nearly  six  years.  Notwithstanding  good  crops,  hard 
times  continued  year  after  year.  The  general  de- 
pression of  business  gave  rise  to  a political  party 
which  demanded  a large  increase  in  the  volume  of 
the  currency,  and  deprecated  any  attempt  to  re- 
sume specie  payments.  T his  Greenback  party  was 
especially  hostile  to  the  national  bank  system. 

The  year  1876,  which  completed  the  first  century 


CHICAGO  IN  FLAMES. 


York,  Charles  O’Conor.  General  Grant  was  re- 
elected by  an  overwhelming  majority,  and  with  him 
Henry  W ilson  for  Vice-President.  Mr.  Greelej  made 
a very  remarkable  campaign  upon  the  policy  of 
reconciliation  and  good  feeling  between  the  sections. 
After  the  popular  election  and  before  the  meeting 
of  the  electoral  colleges  of  the  several  states,  lie 
died,  and  the  nation  was  once  more  in  mourning. 
No  American  was  better  known  or  more  profoundly 
respected  as  a pure  patriot  than  the  founder  of  the 
New  York  Tribum:,  well  called  our  second  Franklin. 

In  the  following  October  occurred  the  panic  of 
1873,  which  inaugurated  a period  of  hard  times, 


of  American  independence,  was  celebrated  by  a 
grand  exposition  at  Philadelphia,  at  which  were  rep- 
resented all  the  countries  of  the  world,  civilized  and 
uncivilized,  the  most  successful  affair  of  its  kind  ever 
projected. 

The  year  1876  was  also  the  year  of  another  presi- 
dential election.  Two  governors  were  the  standard- 
bearers  of  the  two  great  parties,  Rutherford  11. 
Hayes,  then  Governor  of  Ohio,  and  Samuel  Til- 
den,  then  Governor  of  New  York.  The  former  was 
nominated  as  a compromise  candidate  after  a con- 
vention of  memorable  excitement.  Many  wanted 
General  Grant  nominated  for  a third  term,  but  his 


'SI'V 


Q. 


THE  PRESENT  UNITED  STATES. 


name  was  not  presented  in  the  convention.  The 
strongest  candidate  in  the  field  was  J ames  G.  Blaine, 
at  that  time  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. It  was  to  defeat  him  that  the  friends  of  the 
rival  candidates  united,  a large 
majority  of  them,  upon  Mr. 

Hayes,  who  was  the  first  choice 
of  Ohio  only.  With  him  upon 
the  ticket  was  associated  Wil- 
liam A.  Wheeler,  of  New  York. 

The  Democratic  nominee,  Gov- 
ernor Tilden,  was  from  the  first 
the  leading  candidate  before 
that  convention,  and  the  Vice- 
Presidential  candidate,  Governor 
Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  was  his 
chief  competitor. 

The  campaign  was  so  very 
close  that  each  party  claimed  the 
victory.  Charges  and  counter- 
charges of  fraud  were  freely  and 
fiercely  made.  The  Republicans 
conceded  that 
Mr.  Tilden  had 
lacked  only 
one  electoral 
vote  of  a ma- 
jority. There 
was  very  seri- 
ous danger  of 
civil  war.  Both 
parties  seemed 
ripe  for  blood- 
shed, but  final- 
ly the  patriot- 
ism and  sa- 
gacity of  a few 
men  in  Con- 
gress, notably 
Senators  Ed- 
munds of  Ver- 
mont (Repub- 
lican) and  Thurman  of  Ohio  (Democrat),  secured 
the  passage  of  a law  creating  a commission  of  ar- 
bitration. That  extra-constitutional  and  national 
returning-board  decided  in  favor  of  Ilayes  and 
Wheeler,  who  were  duly  declared  elected  and  peace- 
ably installed  in  office. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  President  Hayes  was  to 


WILLIAM  A.  WHEELER. 


withdraw  the  Federal  troops  from  the  South,  which 
was,  in  effect,  turning  out  the  Republican  govern- 
ors of  Louisiana  and  South  Carolina  and  turning 
the  entire  South  over,  politically,  to  the  Democratic 
party.  There  was,  thenceforth, 
a “ Solid  South.” 

Mr.  Hayes  was  never  popular 
with  his  party,  nor  did  the  op- 
position cease  to  denounce  him 
as  a fraudulent  President.  He 
succeeded,  however,  in  so  con- 
ducting the  civil  service  as  to 
command  the  confidence  of  the 
country  and  greatly  strengthen 
the  Republican  party.  During 
his  term  of  office  prosperity  re- 
turned to  the  country. 

In  the  summer  of  1877  occur- 
red the  great  railway  strike. 
What  began  as  a protest  against 
an  unjust  reduction  of  wages  on 
one  particular  railroad  spread 
almost  instan- 
taneously in 
every  direc- 
tion, far  and 
near.  Trans- 
portation was 
very  nearly 
suspended  and 
the  country 
filled  with  the 
wildest  appre- 
hension of  a 
general  cru- 
sade of  labor 
against  capi- 
tal. Some  lives 
were  lost  and 
a areat  deal  of 
^ property  de- 
stroyed. But 

soon  all  was  quiet,  and  business  of  every  kind  re- 
sumed its  customary  channels  and  ways. 

The  spring  of  1880  inaugurated  another  presi- 
dential campaign.  The  first  convention  held  was 
the  Republican  gathering  at  Chicago.  Mr.  Blaine 
was  again  a leading  candidate,  with  General  Grant 
as  his  chief  competitor.  Day  after  day  the  conven- 


CENTENNIAL  BUILDING,  PHILADELPHIA. 


•vl<s 


k_ 


THF.  PRESENT  UNITED  STATES. 


569 


tiou  was  in  session,  and  after  numerous  ballots  it 
became  evident  that  neither  of  the  prominent  can- 
didates could  bear  off  the  prize.  There  were  several 
compromise  candidates  in  the  field,  in  the  hope  of 
being  what  was  called  “ the  dark  horse  ” in  the  race. 
But  the  convention  went  outside  of  them  all  and  took 
up  one  of  its  own  members,  James  A.  Garfield  of 
Ohio.  General  Garfield  had  been  the  recognized 
leader  of  the  anti-Grant  faction  in  the  convention 
without  being  the  champion  of  Mr.  Blaine.  His 
nomination  created  the  wildest  enthusiasm.  Asso- 
ciated with  him  upon  the  ticket  was  Chester  A.  Ar- 
thur of  New  York,  nominated  as  a representative 
of  the  Grant  wing  of  the  convention. 

The  Democrats  placed  in  the  field  General  Win- 
field S.  Hancock,  of  the  regular  army,  an  officer  of 
honorable  record,  who  had  rendered  specially  good 
service  at  Gettysburg.  With  him  was  nominated 
for  Vice-President,  Wm.  II.  English,  a capitalist  of 
Indiana.  For  two  or  three  months  the  indications 
were  that  the  Democrats  had  at  last  come  to  the 
turning  of  the  tide,  but  the  longer  the  campaign 
progressed  the  more  evident  did  it  become  that  a 
majority  of  the  people  were  for  continuing,  if  not 
perpetuating,  the  Republican  party  in  power.  The 
election  was  not  dubious  in  its  result.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  election  of  Garfield  and  Arthur  was 
promptly  and  frankly  conceded. 

General  Garfield  entered  upon  liis  office  under  pe- 
culiarly favorable  auspices.  All  the  signs  pointed  to 
a harmonious  and  prosperous  administration.  But 
hardly  had  he  begun  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
his  great  office  before  the  spirit  of  faction  showed 
itself.  So  trivial  a matter  as  the  appointment  of  a 
collector  of  customs  at  the  port  of  New  York  served 
to  kindle  the  flames  of  a most  senseless  war  of  fac- 
tions. The  press  of  the  country  entered  upon  it 
with  the  utmost  enthusiasm,  as  if  the  fate  of  the 
nation  depended  upon  the  personnel  of  that  office. 
The  two  United  States  Senators  from  New  York  re- 
signed their  seats  and  became  candidates  for  re-elec- 
tion. It  was  very  soon  apparent  that  the  legislature 
of  the  state,  then  in  session  at  Albany,  would  not 
re-elect  them,  and  that  served  as  oil  upon  the  fire. 
While  the  country  was  being  inflamed  by  such  irra- 
tional and  causeless  factiousness,  came  the  report  of 
a pistol.  It  was  fired  July  2,  by  Charles  J.  Guiteau, 
in  a railway  depot  at  Washington.  Hardly  had  the 
sound  died  away  before  the  terrible  news  was  flashed 


wherever  hi  this  land  or  any  other  electricity  is  a 
medium  of  intelligence  that  President  Garfield  had 
been  shot  by  an  assassin.  The  shock  was  even  greater 
than  when  Lincoln  fell  at  the  hands  of  Booth,  for 
the  passions  of  the  war  had  died  away  and  the  people 
were  not  accustomed,  as  in  1865,  to  the  flow  of  blood. 

Mr.  Garfield  lingered  in  great  agony  for  many 
days.  Day  after  day  and  week  after  week  the  pub- 
lic watched  with  the  agony  of  suspense  at  his  bed- 
side, and  when  at  last  death  brought  relief  to  the 
heroic  patient,  September  19,  all  sections  and  both 
parties  united  in  profound  grief.  If  there  were  any 
to  sympathize  with  the  assassin,  there  were  certainly 
none  ready  to  acknowledge  such  sympathy.  In  due 
time  the  assassin  was  brought  to  trial,  when  the  ques- 
tion raised  was  whether  he  was  sane  or  insane.  The 
verdict  of  the  jury  was  that  he  was  sane,  and  public 
sentiment  very  generally  commended  the  jury.  It 
was  felt  that  acquittal  on  the  plea  of  insanity  would 
be  contrary  to  public  policy.  It  may  be  remarked 
that  the  Guiteau  case  added  the  word  crank  to  the 
English  language,  to  designate  a person  of  naturally 
unsound  mind,  neither  sane  nor  insane,  strictly 
speaking. 

President  Arthur  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his 
office  September  22,  with  the  promise  to  carry  out 
the  policy  of  his  predecessor,  and  with  the  public 
hopeful  as  to  his  success.  It  is  too  early  now  to  set 
forth  what  has  been  done  by  his  administration.  No 
bill  of  any  importance  has  yet  been  presented  to  him 
for  signature,  except  the  Chinese  bill,  which  he 
vetoed,  and  the  mere  distribution  of  offices  bolongs 
to  the  trade  and  handicraft  of  the  politician,  and 
not  to  the  profession  and  lofty  art  of  the  statesman. 

It  is  now  time  to  dismiss  from  the  mind  the  po- 
litical aspects  of  the  country  and  devote  the  remain- 
der of  this  chapter  to  the  actual  condition  of  the 
United  States,  reserving  industry, literaturo  and  in- 
vention for  separate  consideration. 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States  has  been 
amended  fifteen  times,  the  last  three  amendments 
being  a part  of  reconstruction,  as  we  have  seen.  The 
first  ten  were  added  as  early  as  December,  1791,  and 
grew  out  of  the  discussion  of  the  constitution  as 
originally  submitted  to  the  states.  The  eleventh 
amendment,  which  in  effect  exempts  a state  from 
being  made  a defendant  in  a court  of  justice,  was  the 
result  of  a suit  brought  in  the  U nited  States  Court  to 
recover  a debt  due  an  individual  from  tlio  state  of 


<5" 


A e. 


-®  A 


57° 


THE  PRESENT  UNITED  STATES. 


Georgia.  That  pernicious  amendment  has  borne 
fruit  in  the  repeated  and  enormous  repudiation  of 
state  debts.  The  twelfth  amendment  provides  some 
changes  in  the  method  of  electing  presidents  and 
vice-presidents,  and  grew  out  of  the  Jefferson -Burr 
election.  This  amendment  was  adopted  September 
25,  1804. 

The  total  area  of  the  United  States  is  about  4,000,- 
000  square  miles,  inclusive  of  Alaska,  which  is  value- 
less for  all  purposes  of  agriculture.  Without  Alaska, 
the  area  is,  in  round  numbers,  3,000,000  square  miles. 
A writer  in  a recent  number  of  the  North  American 
Review  gives  the  following  analysis  of  the  public 
lands  of  the  country,  exclusive  of  Alaska : 

“ The  public  domain  of  the  United  States,  ac- 
quired by  cession  from  the  several  states  and  by 
treaty  from  France,  Spain,  and  Mexico,  Texas  and 
Russia,  amounts  to  2,894,235.91  square  miles,  or 
about  1,852,310,000  acres,  and  its  cost  was,  in  round 
numbers,  $322,000,000,  of  which  sum  the  Govern- 
ment has  received  back  about  $200,000,000  for  lands 
sold.  Down  to  July,  1880,  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  had  disposed  by  sale  of  about  110,- 
000,000  acres  ; by  act  of  donation,  3,000,000  acres  ; 
in  bounties  for  military  and  naval  service,  61,000,- 
000  acres ; for  internal  improvements,  1,000,000 
acres ; by  grants  of  saline  lands  to  states,  560,000 
acres ; for  town  sites  and  county  seats,  150,000  ; by 
patent  to  railway  companies,  45,000,000 ; canal 
grants,  4,000,000  ; for  military  reads,  1,300,000  ; by 
sale  of  mineral  lands  (since  1866),  148,000  ; home- 
steads, 55,000,000  ; scrip,  2,900,000  ; coal  lands,  10,- 
150  ; stone  and  timber  lands  (act  of  1818),  21,000  ; 
swamp  and  overflowed  lands  given  to  states,  69,000,- 
000;  for  educational  purposes,  18,000,000 ; under 
Timber-culture  Act,  9,350,000  ; Graduation  Act  of 
1854,  25,000,000.  Mineral  and  timber  lands  are 
now  our  most  valuable  assets.  The  pasturage  lands 
are  of  nominal  value  apart  from  the  mineral  under- 
lying them.  Our  remaining  public  lands,  exclusive 
of  Alaska,  were,  in  June,  1880,  estimated  as 
follows : Timber  lands,  85,000,000 ; coal  lands, 

defined,  5,530,000 ; precious  metal  bearing  lands, 
64,000,000 ; but  this  area  will  be  increased  as 
the  pasturage  andtimber  lands  are  explored ; 
lands  in  Southern  states,  agricultural,  timber  and 
mineral,  25,000,000 ; lands  irrigable  from  streams, 


30,000,000  ; pasturage,  desert,  including  certain  lands 
in  Indian  reservations  and  barrens,  556,000,000.” 

There  have  been  ten  censuses  of  the  United 
States,  the  first  having  been  taken  in  1190,  and  all 
at  regular  intervals  of  ten  years.  The  population 
when  first  ascertained  was  3,929,322,  and  ninety 
years  later  it  was  50,152,559.  No  other  country 
could  ever  make  such  an  exhibit  of  growth.  From 
the  time  the  War  of  the  Revolution  began  (1115) 
until  the  close  of  the  last  war  with  England  (1815), 
a period  of  forty  years,  the  increase  by  immigration 
was  very  small.  In  1816  and  1811  there  was  a fam- 
ine in  Europe,  and  a vast  number  of  people  crossed 
the  ocean  to  seek  homes  in  this  land  of  plenty.  All 
immigration  came  from  Europe  until  some  years 
after  the  discovery  of  the  gold-fields  of  California, 
since  which  time  a few  drops  from  the  great  ocean  of 
Chinese  population  have  fallen  upon  the  Pacific  coast. 
The  Chinaman  does  not  bring  his  family,  and  is  sure 
to  return  to  his  native  land.  Even  his  bones,  if  he 
dies,  are  taken  back  there.  The  permanent  popu- 
lation of  the  country  is  wholly  European  in  its  ori- 
gin, with  the  exception  of  the  African  and  the  abo- 
riginal Americans.  All  other  details  of  population 
and  area  are  given  in  tabular  form  later  on. 

The  United  States  is  often  divided  into  North 
and  South,  or  East  and  West,  but  the  really  natural 
divisions  are  three,  the  Atlantic  states,  extending 
westward  so  as  to  include  the  Appalachian,  or  Alle- 
ghany, Mountain  region ; the  Mississippi  Valley ; 
Pacific  Highlands  and  slope,  the  latter  including  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  the  Pacific  plateau,  Sierra  Ne- 
vada and  Cascade  ranges  and  the  Pacific  slope. 
The  Appalachian  range  extends  from  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence  to  Alabama.  Instead  of  a system  of 
mountains  for  its  main  feature,  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley has  the  great  twin  river,  Mississippi-Missouri, 
4,200  miles  long,  the  grandest  stream  in  all  the 
world,  not  excepting  the  broader  but  shorter  Ama- 
zon. The  Rocky  Mountains  are  vast  table-lands.  A 
little  gold  and  silver  may  be  found  in  the  Atlantic 
states,  none  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  but  an  abun- 
dance in  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  region 
between  that  plateau  and  the  Pacific  ocean. 
Further  details  on  these  points  will  appear  in 
connection  with  the  consideration  of  States  and 
Territories  of  the  United  States. 


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CHAPTER  L X X X I V . 

Federal  Relations — Constitutional  Limitations — Legislative  Branch  op  the  Government 
— The  President  and  the  Senate — Presidential  Qualifications  and  Functions — The 
Cabinet  and  Departments — Secretary  of  State  and  Foreign  Relations— The  Treasury 
Department  and  its  Bureaus — The  War  Department  Secretary  and  the  Army — The 
Navy;  Ericsson  and  the  Naval  Department — Secretary  of  the  Interior;  Public 
Lands,  Pensions,  Patents,  Census,  Education  and  Agriculture — Post-Offices  and  Post 
Routes — Franklin  and  Armstrong — Department  of  Justice— The  Judiciary  of  the 
United  States — Territorial  Government — Appointments  and  Confirmations — Right  of 
Suffrage — Mode  of  Electing  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents. 


HE  most  curious  feature 
and  intricate  problem  in 
American  government  is 
the  relation  of  the  United 
States  to  the  several  states. 
It  is  complicated  in  a way 
quite  foreign  to  the  usual 
experience  of  nations  and  out  of 
it,  no  less  than  the  institution  of 
slavery,  grew  the  war  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  It  is  not 
within  the  design  of  this  volume 
to  discuss  constitutional  law,  but 
simply  to  point  out  the  undisputed 
practical  facts  in  the  case. 

The  broad  ground  of  the  consti- 
tution in  restricting  the  general 
government  to  functions  specified 


in  the  organic  law  itself  covered  a great  deal  of  ter- 
ritory. It  follows  that  the  ordinary  purposes  of  gov- 
ernment, such  as  the  prevention  and  punishment  o I 
crimes,  the  enforcement  of  contracts  and  the  gen- 
eral relation  of  public  affairs,  belong,  as  a rule,  to 
the  state.  The  United  States  may  be  said  to  be 


supplemental  to  the  state,  designed  to  prevent  all 
clashing  and  injustice  between  the  people  of  differ- 
ent states  and  to  obviate  the  vexatious  restrictions 
upon  the  liberty  of  person  and  traffic  within  the 
country  which  would  be  inevitable  if  eacli  state  were 
absolutely  independent.  The  Federal  system  has 
the  further  advantage  of  the  removal  of  all  danger 
of  interstate  wars  which,  in  view  of  European  ex- 
perience, was  certainly  a wise  precaution  on  the  part 
of  the  constitutional  fathers. 

The  general  government  is  divided  into  tlireo 
branches,  legislative,  executive  and  judicial.  The 
legislative  has  three  subdivisions,  the  Senate,  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  the  President,  the 
first  two,  constituting  Congress,  having  the  power  by 
a two-thirds  majority  to  pass  a bill  over  the  Presi- 
dent’s veto.  The  third  branch  is  therefore  not  coe- 
qual with  the  other  two,  while  they  are  co-ordinate. 
The  signature  of  the  President  must  lie  attached  to 
a bill  before  it  can  become  an  act  of  Congress,  or  it 
must  receive,  subsequent  to  the  veto,  the  two-thirds 
majority  specified.  The  power  to  originate  bills  of 
taxation  belongs  to  the  House,  which  body  can  elect 
its  own  presiding  officer — speaker — while  the  Senate 


(571) 


I 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


is  presided  over  by  the  Vice-President,  unless  that 
officer  is  called  upon  to  act  as  President,  in  which 
case  the  Senate  elects  its  own  President,  pro  as 
he  is  called.  Otherwise  the  powers  of  the  two 
branches  of  Congress  are  equal. 

The  Senate  consists  of  two  members  from  each 
state,  the  term  being  six  years.  The  senators  are 
elected  by  their  respective  state  legislatures.  In  case 
of  a vacancy  during  the  adjournment  of  the  legis- 
lature the  governor  of  the  state  can  fill  the  vacancy 
until  the  legislature  convenes  and  elects  a successor 
to  fill  the  unexpired  term.  A senator  must  be  at 
least  thirty 
years  of  age 
and  a citi- 
zen of  the 
state  he  rep- 
resents. A 
member  of 
the  House 
must  be  at 
least  twen- 
ty-five years 
of  age  and 
a resident  of 
the  state. 

Congress  fix- 
es a basis  of 
representa- 
tion in  that 
body  upon 
a basis  of 
population, 

for  which  purpose  a census  is  taken  once  in  ten  years. 
Every  state  has  at  least  one  member  of  the  lower 
house.  The  territories  are  represented  therein  by 
delegates  empowered  to  speak  but  not  to  vote.  The 
term  of  a member  of  the  House  is  two  years.  Each 
senator,  representative  and  delegate  receives  a salary 
of  $5,000  a year,  the  speaker,  like  the  Vice-President, 
receiving  $8,000. 

The  Executive  Department  consists  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  executive  offices  under  him,  and  the 
Senate  when  in  executive  session.  Such  sessions  are 
held  in  secret.  Their  objects  are  to  ratify  or  reject 
treaties  with  other  nations  and  confirm  or  reject  ap- 
pointments to  federal  offices.  In  the  exercise  of  a 
veto  power  the  Senate  is  a part  of  the  executive. 
Some  appointments  are  regarded  as  too  trivial  to 


THE  CAPITOL  AT  WASHINGTON. 


come  before  the  Senate.  The  classification  is  fixed  by 
law  and  has  never  occasioned  difficulty  or  contro- 
versy. The  exercise,  however,  of  executive  func- 
tions by  the  Senate  has  often  given  rise  to  bitter 
controversy.  Such  conflicts  of  opinion  (for  that  is 
all  they  are  or  can  be)  have  always  been  temporary  in 
their  effect.  The  legislative  functions  of  the  Presi- 
dent are  trivial,  comparatively.  The  great  burden 
of  his  duty  is  to  administer  the  laws.  He  is  the 
chief  executive,  most  emphatically. 

To  be  President  of  the  United  States  or  Vice- 
President,  one  must  be  a native  citizen.  Naturalized 

citizens  are 
barred  from 
the  presi- 
dency, in- 
cluding the 
vice -presi- 
dential con- 
tingency, 
and  from  no 
other  politi- 
cal prefer- 
ment. The 
President 
must  be 
thirty-five 
years  of  age, 
or  over.  The 
term  is  four 
years,  be- 
ginning on 
March  4 

There  is  no  law  against  repeated  re-elections,  except 
the  unwritten  law  of  custom,  which  has  restricted 
every  President  so  far  to  two  terms,  at  the  most. 
The  salary  of  the  President  is  $50,000  a year.  It  was 
half  that  until  1873.  The  proper  title  of  the  Presi- 
dent in  addressing  him  is  “ Mr.  President.”  The 
Executive  Mansion,  familiarly  called  the  “ "White 
House,”  is  both  office  and  residence.  It  is  located 
one  mile  from  the  capitol  at  "Washington.  The 
President  is  provided  with  a small  corps  of  private 
secretaries  for  subordinate  routine  duties,  at  the  pub- 
lic  expense,  and  the  mansion  is  furnished  by  Ihe 
government. 

The  President  has  for  his  chief  assistants  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties  a body  of  advisers  and 
high  functionaries  called  a Cabinet.  That  body 


(*T 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


573 


consists  of  the  Secretaries  of  State,  Treasury,  War, 
the  Navy,  and  the  Interior,  together  with  the  Post- 
master-General and  the  Attorney-General.  The  de- 
partments over  which  they  respectively  preside  are 
indicated  by  their  titles.  Originally  the  idea  was 
that  the  Secretary  of  State  should  be  a premier,  in 
the  English  sense,  but  practically,  he  is  simply  the 
head  of  foreign  af- 
fairs, having  super- 
vision over  all  dip- 
lomatic and  con- 
sular matters.  Each 
cabinet  officer  re- 
ceives a salary  of 
$8,000  a year,  is 
appointed  by  the 
President,  the  Sen- 
ate consenting.  The 
cabinet  forms  an 
official  household, 
with  the  President 
as  its  head.  In 
many  of  the  details 
the  duties  of  the 
different  depart- 
ments vary  with 
the  enactments  of 
each  Congress ; but 
in  fundamental  du- 
ties and  divisions 
of  responsibility 
the  departments 
remain  unchanged. 

The  Cabinet  has 
grown  in  numbers 
with  the  growth  of 
the  nation  and  the 
necessities  of  the 
general  government.  Originally  there  were  but  three 
ministers — Secretary  of  State,  of  the  Treasury,  and 
of  War.  In  1798  the  portfolio  of  the  Navy  was 
added.  During  Jackson’s  administration  the 
Postmaster-General  was  made  a member  of  the 
cabinet,  and  during  Tyler’s  the  Attorney-General 
was  admitted  into  the  political  family  of  the  Presi- 
dent. Before  those  promotions  they  were  mere 
heads  of  bureaus.  In  1849  the  Department  of  the 
Interior  was  created,  since  which  time  there  have 
been  no  changes,  except  that  during  the  administra- 


tion of  President  Grant  the  functions  of  the  Attor- 
ney-General were  materially  enlarged  by  the  creation 
of  the  Department  of  Justice.  Prior  to  that  time 
the  Attorney-General  was  simply  the  legal  adviser  of 
the  President  and  the  Cabinet.  The  Constitution 
does  not  distinctly  recognize  the  Cabinet,  excepting 
by  the  nominal  distinction  of  “heads  of  departments.” 

The  Secretary  of 
State  was  designed 
originally  to  be  the 
head  secretary  of 
the  government, 
including  both 
Congress  and  the 
President.  To  him 
is  intrusted  the  duty 
of  promulgating 
the  laws.  In  his 
office  are  kept  the 
original  hills  and 
joint  resolutions, 
the  seal  of  the 
United  States,  and 
all  treaties,  postal 
conventions  and 
other  state  papers, 
properly  so  called. 
But  the  especial 
department  of  state 
is  Foreign  Affairs. 
All  communica- 
tions with  foreign 
frovernments,  di- 
rector  indirect, and 
all  diplomatic  and 
consular  matters, 
are  within  the  ju- 
risdiction of  this 
secretary.  Any  American  citizen  going  abroad  is 
entitled  to  a passport  issued  by  the  Secretary  of 
State,  which  document  will  servo  as  his  credential 
of  citizenship  in  case  ho  may  have  occasion  to  want 
the  protection  of  his  government.  rl  lie  Secretary 
of  State  is  supposed  to  ho  the  most  intimate  polit- 
ical friend  the  President  has — his  most  trusted 
advisor  on  all  points,  lie  makes  no  departmental 
report  to  Congress,  as  the  other  secretaries  and  the 
Postmaster-General  do.  Ho  is  frequently  called 
upon  to  make  special  reports,  and  the  voluminous 


<a 


diplomatic  correspondence  is  published. 
Department  also  is- 
sues monthly  con- 
sular reports,  giving 
commercial  and  in- 
dustrial information 
in  regard  to  the 
countries  and  cities 
with  which  this  gov- 
ernment sustains 
consular  relations. 

The  representa- 
tives of  the  United 
States  are  called  en- 
voys extraordinary 
and  ministers  plen- 
ipotentiary ; min- 
isters resident; 
charge  d’  affairs ; 
consul  generals,  con- 
suls and  consular 
agents,  according  to 
their  several  ranks 
and  duties.  The  im- 
portant ministers 
have  secretaries  of 
legation.  Treaties 
may  be  negotiated 
by  ministers,  by 
commissions  ap- 
pointed especially 


for  the  purpose  of  settling  some  specific  matter  of 
an  international 
nature,  or  by  the 
Secretary  of 
State  and  the 
representative  at 
W ashington  of 
the  other  high 
contracting  par- 
ty. Extradition 
treaties  are  the 
arrangements 
made  for  the 
surrender  of 
persons  accused 
of  crime  who 
have  fled  from 
one  country  to  the 


The  State  [ have  such  treaties  with  each  other.  The  Secretary 

of  the  Treasury  has 
charge  of  the  finan- 
cial affairs  of  the 
government,  under 
such  laws  as  Con- 
gress may  enact. 
He  receives  the 
money  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  makes 
its  disbursements. 
No  money  can  be 
paid  out  unless  there 
is  warrant  for  it  in 
an  appropriation  by 
Congress.  In  a 
Treasury,  or  fiscal, 
point  of  view,  July  1 
is  new  year’s  day. 
All  annual  reports 
and  estimates  of  the 
government  receipts 
or  disbursements 
are  for  the  year  end- 
ing June  31. 

This  Secretary  has 
under  him  several 
heads  of  bureaus 
and  two  associated 
secretaries.  The 
Com  ptroller.  Second 
lave  charge  of  disburse- 
ments; the  Com- 
missioner of  In- 
ternal Revenue 
and  the  Com- 
missioner of 
Customs  look 
after  the  collec- 
tions, although 
one  of  the  assist- 
ant secretaries 
is  virtually  chief 
of  customs.  The 
Treasurer  has 
the  control  of 
the  funds.  The 
Comptroller  of 
the  national  banks,  the 


HALL  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  WASHINGTON. 


Comptroller  and  five  auditors 


THE  WHITE  HOUSE 


>ther.  Nearly  all  civilized  nations  | the  Currency  supervises 


574 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


ht 


K 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


575 


Director  of  the  Mint  has  charge  of  the  coining  of 
money.  The  Independent  Treasury  is  the  term  ap- 
plied to  the  system  of  sub-treasuries  or  branch 
offices  of  the  Treasury  in  the  larger  cities  of  the 
country  at  which  the  actual  receipts  and  disburse- 
ments of  the  government  are  largely  transacted. 
The  head  of  a sub-treasury  is  called  Assistant  Treas- 
urer. The  Sub-Treasury  at  New  York  contains  very 
much  more  money 
than  the  Treasury  at 
Washington.  Minute 
daily  reports  must 
be  made  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treas- 
ury and  the  Treas- 
urer, and  the  varia- 
tion of  a penny  in 
the  account  would 
be  detected  at  head- 
quarters and  call  for 
an  explanation. 

During  the  late 
war  nearly  every 
conceivable  method 
of  taxation  was  re- 
sorted to.  Before 
that  time  the  receipts 
from  customs  or  the 
tariff  and  from  the 
sale  of  public  land 
amply  sufficed  to 
meet  the  demands  of 
the  government.  At 
one  period  the  rev- 
enue was  excessive 
and  Congress  was 
sorely  jmzzled  to 
know  what  to  do  with  the  surplus.  The  exigencies 
of  war  rendered  necessary  the  creation  of  the 
Bureau  of  Internal  Revenue.  Since  the  restor- 
ation of  peace  the  domestic  taxation  has  been  great- 
ly reduced  and  simplified,  until  now  it  is  almost 
wholly  confined  to  spirits,  distilled  and  brewed,  and 
to  tobacco.  The  tax  on  highwines  was  per  gal- 
lon for  several  years  and  the  temptation  to  defraud 
the  government  was  so  great  that  the  enormous 
combination  was  formed  known  as  the  Whisky 
Ring.  It  was  a case  of  spontaneous  production. 
The  evil  spread  and  seemed  to  be  incurable  until  il 


was  exposed,  prosecuted  and  crushed  during  the  two 
last  years  of  Grant’s  last  term  of  office.  The  most 
complicated  and  elaborate  feature  of  the  Treasury 
Department  is  the  one  having  to  do  with  the  col- 
lection of  duties  on  imports.  Nearly  every  Congress 
“ tinkers  ” the  tariff,  and  it  takes  a rare  expert  to  be 
master  of  the  subject  in  its  practical  workings.  The 
objects  of  these  levies  are  twofold,  the  raising  of 

revenue  and  the  fos- 
tering of  domestic 
interests,  productive 
and  manufacturing. 
Those  who  insist 
that  a tariff  should 
be  for  revenue  only 
are  called  free-trad- 
ers. As  a rule,  the 
protective  policy  has 
prevailed  in  this 
country.  The  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury 
has  no  voice  in  de- 
termining the  policy 
to  be  adopted ; but 
the  rules  and  regu- 
lations promulgated 
by  him  bear  to  the 
statutes  much  the 
same  relation  that 
the  decisions  of  the 
courts  do  to  law  in 
general.  This  re- 
mark applies,  only 
less  conspicuously, 
to  the  other  depart- 
ments. There  is  a 
tax  on  the  tonnage, 
or  carrying  capacity,  of  vessels,  and  out  of  the 
relations  of  the  Treasury  Department  to  t ransporta- 
tion by  water  grow  many  complications.  The  con- 
stitution contemplates  the  regulation  by  the  general 
government  of  commerce  between  the  states,  lint 
that  part  of  the  organic  law  has  thus  far  remained 
very  nearly  a dead  letter.  The  constitution  forbids 
the  imposition  of  duties  upon  exports,  also  upon 
trade  between  the  states,  and  therein  it  has  never 
been  violated. 

'[’he  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  forbidden  by 
law,  as  arc  his  subordinates,  to  be  in  any  way  inter- 


GOVERNMENT  OF 


ested  in  any  branch  of  business  which  might  come 
before  them  for  official  action. 

The  Secretary  of  War  became,  under  E.  M.  Stan- 
ton during  the  great  Conflict,  virtual  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  army,  a position  assigned  by  the  con- 
stitution to  the  President.  In  time  of  peace  the 
standing  army  is  so  small  that  this  department  in 
less  important  than  any  one  of  the  several  bureaus 
of  the  Treasury.  Small  as  is  the  army,  it  might 


THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Pierce,  and  a son  of  President  Lincoln  was  appoint- 
ed to  the  position  by  President  Garfield,  but  the  one 
great  reputation  made  in  the  Department  was  that 
of  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  who  sustained  that  great  bur- 
den from  1862  to  1868,  doing  as  much  to  preserve 
the  Union  as  any  one  man.  The  office  was  con- 
spicuously disgraced  by  Secretary  Belknap,  who  held 
it  from  1869  to  1876.  Besides  strictly  military  mat- 
ters, the  War  Department  has  charge  of  public  works 


~~~ 


THE  NEW  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE 


be  much  smaller  if  it  were  not  for  troubles  with 
the  Indians  of  the  far  west.  The  military  officers 
are : general,  lieutenant-general,  major-general,  brig- 
adier-general, colonel,  lieutenant-colonel,  major, 
captain,  first  lieutenant,  second  lieutenant.  These 
are  regularly  and  formally  commissioned,  and  for 
the  most  part  are  graduates  of  the  military  acade- 
my at  W est  Point,  New  York,  the  only  institution 
foi  instruction  in  the  science  of  war  maintained  by 
the  government.  The  Secretary  of  War  has  a super- 
\ isory  charge  of  that  academy,  also  of  depots  of 
wai  material,  arsenals,  military  hospitals  and  asy- 
lums. Jefferson  Davis  was  Secretary  of  War  under 


involving  civil  engineering.  The  erection  and  care 
of  United  States  buildings  belong  to  the  Treasury 
Department,  but  river  and  harbor  improvements 
are  made  through  the  Department  of  War. 

The  least  of  all  the  Departments  is  the  Navy. 
The  President  sustains  the  same  relation  to  the  navy 
that  he  does  to  the  army.  There  are,  besides  pay- 
masters, nine  grades  of  naval  officers,  correspond- 
ing in  rank  with  major-general  and  the  lower  grades 
in  the  army.  These  are:  rear-admirals,  vice-ad- 
mirals, commodores,  captains,  commanders,  lieuten- 
ant commanders,  lieutenants,  masters,  ensigns.  The 
government  has  one  naval  academy.  It  is  located  at 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


577 


Annapolis,  Maryland.  Like  the  military  academy 
at  West  Point,  this  naval  school  is  expected  to  have 
one  student  from  each  congressional  district  and  ten 
appointed  by  the  President,  without  regard  to  local- 
ity. The  course  of  study  in  both  covers  a period  of 
four  years  and  has  special  reference  to  the  profes- 
sion in  view.  The  students  are  educated  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  government,  and  must  give  at  least  four 
years  to  the  service  after  graduation,  unless  specially 
relieved  or  dismissed.  There  are  several  navy-yards 
and  one  naval  observatory,  the  latter  being  in  Wash- 
ington. All  coast  surveys  belong  to  the  Navy  De- 
partment, but  lighthouses,  buoys  and  beacons,  de- 
signed to  protect  the  shipping  interest,  and  marine 
hospitals  for  sick  or  disa- 
bled seamen,  are  attach- 
ed to  the  Treasury  De- 
partment. The  present 
navy  of  the  United  States 
is  almost  a nonentity. 

In  the  event  of  war  with 
any  foreign  power  laying 
the  slightest  claims  to 
naval  preparations,  it 
would  be  necessary  to 
make  vast  expenditures 
for  meu-of-war. 

No  splendid  reputation 
was  ever  made  in  the 
office  of  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  but  besides  the 
brilliant  achievements  of  Paul  Jones,  Perry,  Decatur, 
Foote  and  Porter,  this  country  can  boast  a citizen, 
John  Ericsson,  whose  genius  for  invention  revolution- 
ized naval  architecture,  and  rendered  obsolete  the 
navies  of  the  world. 

The  Interior  Department,  once  the  least  of  all  the 
portfolios,  has  steadily  risen  in  importance  until  it 
is  hardly  inferior  to  that  of  the  Treasury.  It  was 
designed  originally  as  a relief  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment. It  has  several  bureaus  of  great  responsibil- 
ity. Indian  Affairs  is  the  chief  of  these.  The 
agents,  inspectors  and  others  employed  in  this 
branch  of  the  sendee,  as  explained  in  the  chapter 
on  the  American  Indian,  are  under  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Indian  Affairs.  The  Pension  Bureau  is  in 
that  department,  and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  the  Army  and  the  Navy  Departments  com- 
bined are  not  in  time  of  peace  as  important  and  dif- 
ficult of  administration  as  this  one  bureau  has  been 


since  the  war  of  1861-65.  Only  sick  or  crippled 
soldiers  of  the  Federal  army  or  their  widowed  still 
unmarried,  or  those  actually  dependent  for  support 
upon  the  soldier  w ho  died  in  the  service,  are  entitled 
to  pensions,  but  the  disbursements  are  so  immense 
and  the  liabilities  to  fraud  so  very  great  that  the 
highest  order  of  executive  ability  is  required,  and 
even  then  enormous  frauds  are  inevitable.  No 
other  branch  of  the  service  is  so  open  to  abuse.  The 
actual  payments  are  made  by  local  pension  agents, 
who  handle  no  money,  but  have  credits  from  time 
to  time  at  a sub-treasury  and  check  against  it. 

The  public  lands  of  the  country,  an  elaborate 
statement  in  regard  to  which  will  be  found  in  the 

chapter  on  The  Present 
U nited  States,  are 
under  the  care  of  a 
bureau  of  the  Interior 
Department.  Besides 
the  commissioner  at 
Washington  there  are 
surveyors-general  and 
registers  and  receivers 
of  public  money  for 
lands.  The  former  di- 
vide  the  land  and  define 
boundaries,  so  that  the 
government  can  con- 
vey a title,  and  the  reg- 
isters and  receivers  attend  to  the  business  incident  to 
such  conveyance.  A section  is  the  unit  of  measure- 
ment. It  contains  640  acres,  or  a mile  square,  and 
thirty-six  sections  make  a township.  Even  since  the 
organization  of  the  first  territory,  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory,  the  government  has  set  aside  one  section  m 
each  township  for  the  support  of  public  schools. 

The  original  policy  of  the  government  was  to  sell 
the  public  land,  and  that  in  large  quantities  only. 
Later  it  adopted  the  plan  of  encouraging  pur- 
chases by  actual  settlers.  This  pioneer  policy  was 
supplemented  in  1862  by  the  homestead  act,  under 
which  the  actual  settler  can,  by  the  payment  of  fees 
hardly  adequate  to  pay  the  cost  to  the  government  of 
doing  the  business,  secure  a farm,  only  lie  must  re- 
side on  it  long  enough  to  give  assurance  of  good 
faith.  If  the  homesteader  served  in  the  Federal 
army  and  was  honorably  discharged,  the  time  spent 
in  the  sendee  will  reduce  that  much  the  time  re- 
| quired  to  perfect  a homestead  title.  The  period  re- 


al 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


quired  is  five  years,  and  the  amount  of  land  that 
can  be  taken  up  in  that  way  is  1G0  acres,  or  a quar- 
ter-section. Public  land  can  also  be  secured  by  pre- 
emption, or  purchase,  the  price  varying  from  $1.25 
to  $2.50  per  acre. 

All  letters  patent  designed  to  stimulate  invention 
and  secure  to  the  in- 
ventor his  right  of  prop- 
erty therein,  are  issued 
by  the  Patent  office, 
which  is  a bureau  of 
the  Interior  Depart- 
ment. Patents  are 
granted  for  seventeen 
years,  and  cannot  be 
renewed.  It  is  often 
difficult  to  determine 
whether  an  application 
for  a patent  should  be 
granted  or  denied,  and 


much  litigation  grows 
out  of  this  branch  of  the  government.  The  census  is 
taken  by  the  Interior  Department.  The  original 
idea  of  a census  was  simply  the  ascertainment  once 
in  ten  years  of  the  actual  population  of  the  country, 
with  the  details  of  locality,  with  a view  to  determin- 
ing the  apportionment  of  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  Each 
new  census  has  been 
more  elaborate  and 
varied  than  its  prede 
cessor,  and  under  Gen- 
eral F.  A.  Walker,  who 
tookthecensusesof  1870 
and  1880,  the  range  of 
statistical  information 
afforded  by  the  reports 
of  this  bureau  is  most 
exhaustive.  It  is  a 
marvel  of  complete- 
ness and  accuracy. 

The  bureau  of  railroads  has  been  created  to  ascer- 
tain and  conserve  the  interest  of  the  government  in 
the  railways  of  the  country  which  received  subsidies, 
land  or  bonds,  in  aid  of  their  construction.  The 
bureau  of  education  is  hardly  more  than  a bureau 
of  educational  information.  The  bureau  of  agricul- 
ture is  another  branch  of  the  Interior  Department 
which  has  a high-sounding  name  without  having  ac- 


I'ATENT OFFICE.  (South  Front.) 


The 


UNITED  STATES  POSTOFFICE. 


complished  much  real  good.  Congress  maintains  it 
at  considerable  expense.  It  should  be  a department 
on  a plane  of  equality  with  the  other  cabinet  offices. 
The  obligation  owed  it,  thus  far,  by  the  agricultural 
interest  of  the  country  is  infinitesimally  small. 

The  Postoffice  Department  is  devoted  to  one  line 

of  duty,  the  transmis- 
sion of  mail  matter 
from  one  place  and 
person  to  another  place 
and  person.  Distance 
is  not  taken  into  ac- 
count in  determining 
the  charge  for  this  ser- 
vice, but  there  are  sev- 
eral classes  of  mails, 
with  rates  accordin 
to  classification. 
Postmaster-General  has 
a great  army  of  assist- 
ants, superintendents, 
postmasters,  postal-clerks,  route  agents  and  others 
under  him.  The  real  paternity  of  the  postoffice 
of  this  country  belongs  lo  Benjamin  Franklin,  who 
organized  it  nearly  a generation  before  independence 
was  declared.  It  should  be  a strictly  business  in- 
stitution, as  much  so  as  an  express  company  or  a 

railroad  enterprise ; but 
as  a matter  of  fact  it 
has  long  combined  poli- 
tics with  postal  mat- 
ters. The  most  notable 
improvement  made  in 
this  branch  of  the  ser- 
vice was  not  due  to  any 
postmaster-general,  but 
to  a subordinate  officer, 
George  B.  Armstrong 
of  Chicago,  the  father 
of  the  railway  mail 
service,  which  was  es- 
tablished during  the  civil  war.  Other  improve- 
ments have  been  made  within  a comparatively 
short  time,  such  as  the  registration  of  impor- 
tant letters,  the  issuance  of  postal  money  orders, 
and  the  distribution  of  mail  in  large  cities  by 
carriers.  The  dead-letter  office  is  located  at  Wash- 
ington, and  is  designed  to  return  to  the  writer 
letters  which  have  for  anv  reason  failed  to  reach 


•v 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


579 


their  destination.  In  due  time  all  such  waifs  reach 
the  morgue  of  the  mail  and  the  sender  is  no- 
tified. It  is  exceedingly  difficult  in  many  cases  to 
arrive  at  the  proper  allowance  to  be  made  for  carry- 
ing the  mail,  especially  by  routes  off  the  line  of  rail- 
roads. All  such  routes  are  called  “ star  routes.”  For 
the  most  part  these  lines  of  mail,  are  on  the  frontier 
and  in  out-of-the-way  places  where  they  are  indis- 
pensable aids  to  settlement.  They  are  often  the 
veritable  harbingers  of  civilization  and  development. 

The  Attorney- General  is  the  head  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice,  and  as  such,  has  a general  supervis- 
ion over  the  attorneys  and  marshals  of  the  United 
States  in  the  several  judicial  districts.  He  is  often 
called  upon  to  render  an  opinion  upon  the  interpre- 
tation of  a statute  of  the  United  States.  The  gov- 
ernment has  in  him  its  “ senior  counsel.” 

Besides  these  two  branches  of  the  government, 
the  legislative  and  the  executive,  is  one  more,  the 
judiciary.  The  constitution  provides  for  one  Su- 
preme Court,  and  such  inferior  courts  as  Congress 
might  create.  In  addition  to  the  Supreme  Court 
with  one  chief  justice  at  a salary  of  $10,500,  and 
eight  associate  justices  with  a salary  of  $10,000, 
there  are  nine  circuits,  presided  over  sometimes  by 
a member  of  the  supreme  bench  and  sometimes  by 
the  judge  of  that  particular  circuit.  The  salary  of 
the  circuit  judge  is  $6,000  a year.  The  number  of 
the  district  judges  varies  from  time  to  time,  and 
their  compensation  is  not  uniform.  There  are  now 
60  districts.  All  these  judges  are  appointed  for  life 
or  good  behavior.  The  judges  appoint  their  own 
clerks,  and  generally  for  life.  The  United  States 
marshals  are  appointed  by  the  President  and  con- 
firmed by  the  Senate,  for  terms  of  four  years.  The 
same  is  true  of  district  attorneys. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the  territories,  from  a gov- 
ernmental point  of  view.  The  governor,  secretary, 
and  judge,  or  judges,  as  the  case  may  be,  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  President,  the  people  being  allowed 
to  elect  their  own  legislatures.  A territorial  gover- 
nor or  judge  receives  a salary  of  $2,600,  the  secre- 
tary $1,800.  Besides  the  regular  territories,  which 
are  prospective  states,  is  the  District  of  Columbia. 


Its  affairs  are  under  the  control,  in  the  main,  of 
three  commissioners,  appointed  by  the  President, 
and  entitled  to  a salary  of  $5,000  per  annum. 

It  may  be  added  in  this  connection  that  in 
almost  all  cases  appointments  are  for  four  years  in 
the  Presidential  offices,  as  those  are  called  which 
require  the  President  to  submit  the  name  to  the  Sen- 
ate, while  subordinate  positions  are  subject  to  the 
caprices  of  politics,  the  mutations  of  friendship  or 
the  freaks  of  personal  whim.  As  a matter  of  fact 
the  great  bulk  of  the  civil  service  is  performed  by 
officers,  clerks  and  employes  who  are  retained  on 
their  merits  by  their  respective  chiefs.  Since  1861 
women  have  been  freely  and  satisfactorily  employed 
in  the  public  service  of  the  United  States. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  it  may  be  well  to  define 
the  rights  of  suffrage  and  mode  of  election  in  this 
country.  No  one  can  be  debarred  from  this  right 
on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude.  The  details  on  this  subject  are  given  in 
tabular  form,  the  conditions  of  elective  franchise 
being  different  in  different  states. 

In  choosing  a President  and  Vice-President  the 
mode  required  is  for  each  state  to  elect  by  the  people 
or  appoint  by  the  legislature  (the  latter  is  now  no- 
where done)  as  many  electors  as  the  state  has  mem- 
bers of  both  houses  of  Congress.  Those  electors  are 
all  chosen  on  the  same  day,  the  first  Monday  in  the 
November  preceding  the  expiration  of  a presidential 
term.  The  electors  of  each  state  meet  on  the  first 
Wednesday  of  December  at  the  state  capital,  form- 
ing an  Electoral  College,  and  casting  their  ballots 
for  President  and  Vice-President,  and  send  the  re- 
turns to  the  President  of  the  Senate  the  first  Wednes- 
day in  January.  The  second  Wednesday  in  February 
both  houses  of  Congress  meet  as  one  body  and  the 
President  of  the  Senate  opens  and  declares  the  vote. 
If  no  candidate  has  received  a majority  of  all  the  votes 
cast,  the  House  proceeds  to  elect  a President,  the 
Senate  a Vice-President.  In  the  House  the  voting 
must  be  by  states,  and  only  the  candidates  having 
the  three  highest  Electoral  College  votes  are  eligible. 

Such  is  the  government  of  the  United  States  in 
the  more  important  of  its  many  ramifications. 


T is  proposed  in  this  chap- 
ter to  give  brief  biographies 
of  the  Presidents  of  the 
United  States  and  present 
specifically  the  several  pres- 
idential elections.  As  some 
of  our  Presidentswereelect- 
ed  twice  and  others  again 
were  only  elected  to  the  vice-presidency, it 
is  thought  best  to  keep  the  two  branches 
of  the  subject  distinct.  In  both  cases  the 
chronological  order  will  be  followed,  be- 
ginning with  the  Presidents  themselves 
and  closing  with  the  elections.  Care 
will  be  observed  not  to  repeat  what  has 
been  brought  out  in  previous  chapters, 
so  far  as  possible. 

George  Washington  was  born  in  Vir- 
ginia, February  22,  1732.  His  death  occurred  Decem- 
ber 14,1799.  He  was  a planter  with  some  knowledge 
of  surveying  and  experience  in  the  Virginia  House  of 
Rurgesses,  or  Legislature.  His  military  career  and 
presidential  service  belong  to  history  rather  than  to 
biography.  When  the  war  closed  he  retired  to  his 
plantation  at  Mount  Vernon  until  called  to  serve  as 
president  of  the  constitutional  convention,  and 
later,  of  the  United  States.  He  refused  a third 
term.  His  private  life  was  without  reproach.  The 


management  of  his  estate  was  more  to  his  taste 
than  the  cares  and  perplexities  of  office.  In  man- 
ner he  was  courtly.  He  never  fully  identified  him- 
self with  any  political  party,  but  leaned  strongly  to- 
ward Federalism. 

John  Adams  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  October 
19,  1735,  and  died  July  4,  1826.  He  was  a gradu- 
ate of  Harvard  College,  a lawyer  by  profession,  and 
by  temperament  an  imperious  partisan.  His  public 
career  may  be  said  to  date  from  the  passage  of  the 
Stamp  Act  by  Parliament.  He  early  and  eloquently 
advocated  the  union  and  independence  of  the  colo- 
nies. From  1778  until  1788  he  represented  the 
United  States  at  either  the  French  or  English  court. 
He  sympathized  with  the  aristocratic  tastes  of 
Washington  rather  than  the  democratic  ideas  of 
Jefferson.  He  attributed  his  defeat  for  re-election 
to  the  presidency  quite  as  much  to  Hamilton’s  luke- 
warmness as  to  republican  opposition,  and  retired  to 
private  life  embittered  and  unhappy.  He  lived  to 
witness  the  election  of  his  son  to  the  presidency. 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  born  in  Virginia,  April  13, 
1743,  and  died  July  4,  1826.  The  family  was  of 
Welsh  extraction.  Educated  at  William  and  Mary’s 
College,  he  adopted  the  profession  of  law.  Ilis  ser- 
vice in  the  Continental  Congress  was  brief.  The 
Revolution  fairly  inaugurated,  he  returned  to  Vir- 
ginia and  devoted  himself  to  the  establishment  of 


(58°) 


CHAPTER  LX  XXV. 


Tub  Presidents  op  the  United  States — Biographical  Sketch  op  Each  op  the  Twenty-one 
Presidents,  in  the  order  op  their  Respective  Terms  op  Office — Historical  Sketch  op 
Each  op  the  Twenty-podr  Presidential  Elections  in  Chronological  Order. 


^ARRISO'*' 


BUREA; 


jeffers^' 


Madison- 


®0CHAH*W' 


PIERCE 


S^SHIHGTO^ 


^ONRQt, 


i»V 


^OhnsO^' 


^CKSOR' 


UN  COL*' 


Wayes 


grant 


j-AQARFIELO 


c.a.arthub 


^'RB^/CRT: 

PAC  I, 


hL 


PRESIDENTS  AND  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS. 


583 


republican  institutions  in  that  state.  He  represented 
this  country  at  the  French  court  from  1784  to  1780. 
During  Washington’s  administration  lie  was  Secre- 
tary of  State.  After  he  retired  from  public  life,  at 
the  close  of  his  second  presidential  term,  Jefferson 
devoted  himself  to  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of 
education  and  the  interest  of  agriculture.  He  was 
a voluminous  writer,  and  his  works  constitute  a 
storehouse  of  political  wisdom. 

James  Madison,  also  of  Virginia,  was  born  March 
16,  17§1,  and  died  June  28,  1836.  He  was  a gradu- 
ate of  Princeton  College,  and  remarkable  for  his 
studious  habits.  He  had  no  gifts  of  oratory.  He 
first  distinguished  himself  as  an  advocate  of  relig- 
ious liberty  in  Virginia.  He  served  a short  time  in 
the  Continental  Congress,  but  not  conspicuously. 
His  supreme  service  was  in  the  convention  which 
framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  where 
his  profound  learning  and  thorough  republicanism 
made  him  greatly  useful.  He  was  a member  of  the 
first  four  Congresses.  He  might  have  been  a formid- 
able rival  of  Jefferson’s,  but  preferred  to  bide  his 
time.  Jefferson  made  him  his  Secretary  of  State 
and  secured  his  acceptance  by  the  Republican  party 
as  heir  to  the  presidency.  In  private  life  he  was 
hardly  less  useful  to  education  and  agriculture  than 
Jefferson.  His  life  was  serene  and  faultless. 

James  Monroe  was  born  in  Virginia,  April  28, 
1758,  and  died  in  New  York,  July  4,  1831.  He  was 
the  first  poor  man  in  the  presidential  office.  He  in- 
herited no  estate,  and  was  too  continuously  in  public 
life  to  accptire  wealth.  He  served  in  the  Continen- 
tal Congress  from  1783  to  1786  ; in  the  United  States 
Senate  from  1790  to  1794  ; as  governor  from  1799  to 
1802,  and  again  in  1811 ; as  minister  to  France, 
Spain  and  England  from  1802  tol808;as  Secretary 
of  State  from  1811  to  1817,  and  as  President  from 
1817  to  1825.  He  was  a justice  of  the  peace  in  Vir- 
ginia for  some  time  after  the  expiration  of  his  pres- 
idential term.  His  last  years  were  clouded  with  the 
perplexities  of  poverty.  His  ability  was  hardly  above 
mediocrity.  The  “machine”  set  up  by  Jefferson 
made  him  President. 

John  Quincy  Adams  was  born  in  Massachusetts, 
July  11,  1767,  and  died  at  the  national  capital  Feb- 
ruary 23,  1848.  Although  a graduate  of  Harvard 
College,  the  second  Adams  was  mainly  educated 
abroad.  He  was  a ripe  scholar,  a tireless  worker, 
and  a great  orator.  He  had  none  of  the  tact  of 


the  politician.  His  best  services  before  the  presi- 
dency were  diplomatic.  I11  the  Senate  from  1805 
to  1808  he  failed  to  give  satisfaction  to  his  constitu- 
ents. His  state  was  strongly  Federal,  but  he  joined 
the  Republican  party.  Monroe  made  him  his  Sec- 
retary of  State,  and  he  was  on  the  “ slate  ” for 
President.  He  won  the  prize,  but  it  was  a victory 
which  left  him  without  the  support  of  any  party.  His 
great  life-work  was  wrought  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives from  1830  to  1848,  where  his  advocacy  of 
freedom  won  him  the  appellation  of  “ The  Old  Man 
Eloquent.”  He  was  stricken  down  by  paralysis  in 
his  seat  in  Congress  and  died  two  days  thereafter. 

Andrew  Jackson  was  a native  of  North  Carolina, 
of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  born  March  15,  1767,  and 
died  in  Tennessee  June  8,  1845.  Jackson  was  the 
first  President  chosen  from  the  humblest  ranks  in 
life.  His  father  was  a poor  farm-laborer,  and  his 
education  was  sadly  neglected.  A lawyer  by  pro- 
fession, his  life  was  mainly  spent  in  war  and  poli- 
tics. In  both  he  was  a brilliant  success.  No  man 
ever  exerted  a deeper  and  more  enduring  influence 
upon  the  politics  of  this  country  than  he.  As  Jef- 
ferson was  the  father  of  the  first  Republican  party, 
so  Jackson  was  of  the  Democracy.  lie  was  rough, 
quarrelsome,  headstrong  and  outspoken.  Tlis  elec- 
tion to  the  presidency  was  the  triumph  of  the  com- 
mon jieople,  and  formed  an  era  in  politics.  To  him 
belongs  the  bad  pre-eminence  of  having  inaugu- 
rated the  policy  of  parceling  out  the  offices  as  the 
reward  of  political  service.  He  fought  several  duels, 
but  finally  died  in  the  odor  of  Presbyterianism. 

Martin  Van  Bureu,  a representative  of  the  Dutch 
of  New  York,  was  born  December  5,  1782,  and  died 
July  24,  1862.  lie  was  a politician  of  the  most  par- 
tisan character  and  a remarkable  adept  in  the  arts 
of  politics.  He  began  the  study  of  law  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  and  entered  the  legislature  of  his  state  in 
1812.  In  1821  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  He  served  later  as  Governor  of  New  York, 
Secretary  of  State  under  Jackson,  and  during  the 
second  term  of  the  latter  he  was  Vice-President. 
The  favor  of  Jackson  and  his  own  adroitness  made 
him  President.  He  did  not  abandon  the  hope  of  a 
second  term  when  beaten  by  Harrison  in  1840,  and 
was  the  choice  of  a majority  of  the  delegates  to  the 
National  Convention  of  1844,  but  failing  to  secure 
a two-thirds  majority,  ho  was  defeated.  That  closed 
his  public  career,  except  the  inglorious  episode  of 


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73 


(0 


1 


584 


PRESIDENTS  AND  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS. 


1848.  In  retirement  he  wrote  a history  of  political 
parties  in  the  United  States. 

William  Henry  Harrison  was  a citizen  of  Ohio 
when  elected  to  the  presidency,  but  a native  of  Vir- 
ginia. He  was  born  February  9,  1773,  and  died 
April  4, 1841.  He  was  the  first  President  to  die  in 
office.  Ilis  father  was  Governor  Benjamin  Harri- 
son, and  his  grandson  of  the  same  name  is  now  a 
senator  from  Indiana.  He  entered  the  army  in  1791 
and  was  stationed  at  Fort  Washington,  now  Cincin- 
nati. He  was  secretary  of  the  Northwest  Territory, 
a delegate  to  Congress, and  later  governor  of  Indi- 
ana. He  was  in  the  Ohio  State  Senate ; both 
houses  of  Congress;  minister  to  Colombia,  South 
America,  and  a county  clerk  during  the  twelve  years 
immediately  preceding  his  election  to  the  presidency. 
His  success  at  the  Indian  battle  of  Tippecanoe  really 
made  him  President.  Harrison  was  charged  by  the 
Democrats  with  living  in  a log  cabin  and  drinking 
hard  cider.  Ilis  political  friends  turned  the  accusa- 
tion into  an  element  of  enthusiastic  popularity. 

John  Tyler  was  born  in  Virginia  March  29,  1790, 
and  died  in  Richmond  January  17,  1862.  He  was 
educated  at  William  and  Mary’s  College  and  early 
entered  public  life.  His  career  was  such  as  to  make 
him  singularly  unpopular.  He  was  a member  of 
the  United  States  Senate  when  South  Carolina 
passed  the  nullification  act,  and  approved  its  pas- 
sage. He  was  an  intense  anti-Jackson  man,  and 
that  endeared  him  to  the  V higs,  who  nominated 
him  for  Vice-President  because  he  had  resigned  his 
seat  in  the  Senate  rather  than  obey  the  behests  of 
the  Democratic  legislature  of  Virginia.  He  was 
not  in  accord,  throughout,  with  any  party,  and  he 
went  out  of  office  the  most  unpopular  man  who  ever 
filled  that  position,  not  excepting  the  other  vice- 
presidential  Presidents  of  a later  date.  His  last  ap- 
pearance in  public  was  as  President  of  the  Peace 
Convention  of  1861.  He  aspired  to  the  presidency 
in  1844,  but  found  himself  a candidate  without  a 
party  or  a following. 

James  K.  Polk,  like  the  two  other  Presidents  of 
the  United  States  furnished  by  Tennessee,  Jackson 
and  Johnson,  was  a native  of  North  Carolina.  He 
was  born  November  2, 1795,  and  died  June  19, 1849. 
He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Nashville. 
Ilis  Congressional  life  began  in  1824.  He  served  as 
Speaker  of  the  House  two  terms,  and  governor  of 
his  state  one  term.  Polk  was  a staunch  supporter 


of  Jackson  and  all  his  measures.  Like  Abraham 
Lincoln,  he  had  aspired  to  the  vice-presidency  four 
years  before  his  election  to  the  presidency.  He  was 
not  a candidate  for  re-election  in  1848.  The  issue 
on  which  he  was  elected,  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
was  settled  by  Tyler  before  he  came  into  the  presi- 
dency, but  the  Mexican  war  which  followed  was  the 
natural  sequence  of  that  annexation.  Polk  was  a 
Presbyterian  in  religion,  and  his  life  was  consistent 
with  his  professions. 

Zachary  Taylor  was  born  hi  Virginia  September 
24,  1 784.  His  family  residence  when  elected  to  the 
presidency  was  in  Louisiana.  He  died  in  the  Exec- 
utive Mansion,  Washington,  July  9,  1850.  General 
Taylor  remained  upon  his  father’s  plantation  until 
1808,  when  he  was  appointed  an  officer  in  the  reg- 
ular army,  and  he  remained  in  the  service  until  his 
elevation  to  the  presidency  on  the  strength  of  his 
record  in  Mexico.  He  was  a slaveholder,  but  not  in 
sympathy  with  the  prevailing  Southern  eagerness 
for  more  slave  territory.  Some  suspicion  of  foul 
play  and  poison  lingers  about  his  death  which 
was  attributed  to  an  attack  of  bilious  fever.  He 
was  father-in-law  to  Jefferson  Davis  and  father  of 
General  Richard  Taylor  of  the  Confederate  army. 

Millard  Fillmore,  who  came  to  the  presidency  in 
consequence  of  the  death  of  General  Taylor,  was  a 
native  of  New  York,  born  January  7,  1800,  and  died 
at  Buffalo  March  8,  1874.  His  early  education  was 
meager,  but  being  of  a studious  disposition,  he  be- 
came a well-informed  man.  He  was  a lawyer  by 
profession.  Fillmore  entered  Congress  as  a Whig 
in  1833,  and  gradually  rose  in  influence  until  he  be- 
came chairman  of  the  committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  in  1842.  He  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  gov- 
ernor of  New  York  in  1844,  but  was  defeated.  When 
nominated  and  elected  for  the  vice-presidency  he 
was  comptroller  of  the  state.  He  aspired  to  the 
presidency  by  election,  but  the  Whig  party  may  be 
said  to  have  died  upon  his  hands.  His  last  years 
were  spent  in  the  practice  of  law  in  Buffalo.  He 
was  an  elegant  gentleman  and  an  honest  man. 

Franklin  Pierce  was  a native  of  New  Hampshire. 
He  was  born  November  23,  1804,  and  died  October 
8,  1869.  Ilis  father,  Benjamin  Pierce,  had  been 
governor  of  the  state.  Bowdoin  College  was  his 
alma  mater,  where  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  was  his 
classmate.  They  became  and  remained  warm 
friends.  Pierce  was  hi  the  lower  house  of  Congress 


PRESIDENTS  AND  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS. 


from  1833  to  1837,  and  in  the  Senate  from  1837  to 
1842.  Polk  offered  him  a seat  in  his  cabinet,  but 
he  preferred  to  accept  a brigadier-generalship  in  the 
army  during  the  war  with  Mexico.  lie  did  not  dis- 
tinguish himself,  but  acquired  availability,  as  it 
proved,  for  the  presidency  to  which  he  was  elected  in 
1852.  He  was  always  strongly  Southern  in  his  sym- 
pathies. After  his  retirement  from  the  presidency 
he  lived  quietly  at  Concord,  New  Hampshire.  He 
made  a feeble  effort  to  secure  a re-nomination  in 
1856. 

James  Buchanan  was  a native  of  Pennsylvania 
and  never  changed  his  residence.  He  was  born 
April  23,  1791,  and  died  June  1, 1868.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Dickinson  College.  He  began  his  long  po- 
litical career  as  a Federalist,  but  rallied  around  the 
standard  of  General  Jackson.  In  1828  he  was 
elected  to  Congress.  Three  years  later  he  was  ap- 
pointed minister  to  Russia.  Two  years  later  he  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  and  served  cred- 
itably in  that  body  twelve  years.  In  1853  he  was 
appointed  minister  to  England.  It  was  while  he 
was  holding  that  position  that  he  was  nominated 
for  the  presidency.  His  election  in  1856  was  the 
last  national  triumph  of  the  Democracy.  In  1866 
he  published  in  self-defense  a volume  entitled,  “ Mr. 
Buchanan’s  Administration.”  As  an  attempt  at 
vindication  it  was  a failure. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  born  in  Kentucky  Febru- 
ary 19,  1809,  and  died  at  the  hand  of  the  assassin, 
J.  Wilkes  Booth,  April  15,  1865.  Like  Jackson 
and  his  immediate  successor,  Johnson,  he  sprang 
from  the  very  humblest  rank.  His  education 
was  almost  wholly  self-procured.  His  early  life  was 
spent  upon  a pioneer  farm.  He  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  of  Illinois  in  1834  and  studied  law.  He 
removed  to  Springfield  and  gradually  rose  to  con- 
siderable eminence  in  his  profession  and  as  an  effect- 
ive political  speaker.  In  1846  he  was  elected  to 
Congress  as  a Whig  and  served  one  term.  When 
the  Republican  party  was  organized  he  was  its  recog- 
nized leader  in  Illinois.  He  received  110  votes  as 
candidate  for  the  vice-presidency  in  1856.  In  1858 
he  canvassed  Illinois  in  a joint  debate  with  Douglas, 
acquitting  himself  so  grandly  that  his  nomination 
for  and  election  to  the  presidency  was  his  reward. 
From  that  time  to  his  tragic  death  the  life  of  Lin- 
coln was  historical  rather  than  biographical. 

Andrew  Johnson  was  born  December  29, 1808,  and 


585 


died  July  31, 1875.  A tailor  by  trade,  he  was  taught 
to  read  and  write  by  his  wife.  His  first  office  was 
that  of  alderman.  He  drifted  into  politics  natur- 
ally, being  always  very  popular  with  the  industrial 
class.  He  entered  Congress  in  1843  as  a Democrat, 
where  he  remained  until  chosen  governor  of  Ten- 
nessee in  1853.  In  1857  he  was  elected  to  the  Sen- 
ate. When  secession  came  he  was  a staunch  sup- 
porter of  the  Union,  and  that  gave  him  a popularity 
at  the  North  which  secured  him  the  vice-presiden- 
tial nomination  in  1864,  and  ultimately  the  presi- 
dency. His  presidential  term  was  one  long  struggle 
against  the  party  which  elected  him.  He  made  two 
unsuccessful  attempts  to  get  back  into  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  finally,  in  1875,  his  wish  was  grat- 
ified, but  he  died  before  taking  his  seat. 

Ulysses  S.  Grant  was  born  in  Ohio,  April  27, 1822. 
His  father  was  a sagacious  business  man,  and  the 
son  was  educated  at  West  Point.  He  took  part  in 
the  Mexican  war  and  served  for  a time  upon  the 
frontier.  In  1854  he  resigned  his  position  in  the 
army  and  devoted  himself  to  business.  His  career 
from  1861  to  1877  forms  a consjiicuous  part  of 
American  history.  In  the  spring  of  1877  he  started 
on  a trip  around  the  world,  and  was  everywhere  re- 
ceived with  distinguished  honors.  He  returned  to 
America  in  the  fall  of  1879.  Tie  became  a promi- 
nent but  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the  Republican 
nomination  for  the  presidency  in  1880.  General 
Grant  now  resides  in  New  York  City. 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes  was  born  in  Ohio.  He  was 
educated  at  Kenyon  College  and  adopted  the  profes- 
sion of  law,  entering  upon  its  practice  in  Cincinnati. 
When  the  civil  war  came  he  entered  the  service  and 
was  a very  creditable  hut  not  very  conspicuous  Briga- 
dier-General. After  the  war  he  served  one  term  in 
Congress  and  was  elected  to  the  governorship  of  his 
state,  which  office  he  occupied  at  the  time  of  his  elec- 
tion to  the  presidency.  Since  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  office,  March  4,  1881,  he  has  lived  in  retire- 
ment at  his  home  in  Fremont,  Ohio. 

James  A.  Garfield  was  born  in  Ohio  November  19, 
1831,  and  died  at  the  hand  of  the  assassin  Guiteau 
September  19,  1881.  Young  as  he  was,  his  public 
life  had  been  long  and  eventful.  Ho  graduated  at 
Williams’  College  in  1856  and  adopted  teaching  as  a 
profession.  In  1859  lie  was  elected  to  the  State  Sen- 
ate of  Ohio.  He  studied  law  and  prepared  to  enter 
the  legal  profession.  When  the  war  came  ho  entered 


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586 


PRESIDENTS  AND  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS. 


the  military  service.  He  rose  to  the  rank  of  Major- 
General.  In  1862  he  was  elected  to  Congress.  He 
remained  in  that  body  until  elected  to  the  presidency 
in  1880.  In  the  previous  winter  he  had  been  chosen 
United  States  Senator  for  the  term  beginning  March 
4, 1881.  His  election  was  the  triumph  of  genius  and 
goodness  over  calumny,  and  he  entered  upon  the 
office  of  chief  magistrate  with  every  prospect  of  a 
great  future. 

Chester  A.  Arthur,  the  third  Vice-President  to 
reach  the  presidency,  was  born  in  Vermont.  He  is 
a graduate  of  Union  College.  Choosing  the  law  as 
his  profession,  he  made  New  York  City  his  home. 
His  first  public  effort  was  the  defense  of  a fugitive 
slave,  and  he  acquitted  himself  with  great  credit. 
During  the  gubernatorial  term  of  Governor  Morgan 
he  was  Adjutant-General  of  the  state  of  New  York, 
rendering  important  service  during  the  first  year 
and  a half  of  the  war  in  that  capacity.  Late  in  the 
second  term  of  President  Grant,  General  Arthur  was 
appointed  Collector  of  the  port  of  New  York.  He 
was  removed  by  President  Hayes,  but  not  upon  any 
charge  of  malfeasance.  His  removal  was  due  to  a 
difference  of  opinion  upon  the  political  features  of 
the  civil  service.  He  was  a member  of.  the  National 
Republican  Convention  of  1880,  in  which  body  he 
supported  General  Grant  for  a third  term. 

Having  finished  what  may  be  called  a key  to  the 
presidential  group  introductory  to  this  chapter,  we 
turn  to  the  elections  which  have  been  held.  The 
United  States  has  had  twenty-one  Presidents  and 
twenty-four  presidential  elections. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War  this  country  was 
without  an  executive  head  in  distinction  from  a leg- 
islative body,  the  Continental  Congress  exercising 
all  the  political  functions  of  a national  nature.  The 
President  of  that  body  was  its  presiding  officer  and 
nothing  more. 

The  first  presidential  election  occurred  the  first 
Wednesday  in  January,  1789.  It  was  held  by  order 
of  the  Continental  Congress.  The  electors  were 
chosen  that  day  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution 
which  had  been  duly  ratified  during  the  previous 
summer,  taking  the  place  of  the  Articles  of  Confed- 
eration. On  the  Wednesday  next  following,  the 
electors  met,  those  of  each  state  by  themselves,  in 
their  respective  state  capitols,  to  vote  for  President 
and  Vice-President.  So  perfectly  harmonious  and 
well  understood  was  the  whole  matter  that  the  elec- 


tions of  George  Washington  to  the  presidency  and 
John  Adams  to  the  vice-presidency  were  unanimous. 
The  same  law  of  the  Continental  Congress  which 
provided  for  the  presidential  election  also  provided 
that  a new  Congress  should  be  elected  when  the 
electors  were  chosen,  and  that  body  is  known  as  the 
First  Congress.  It  was  further  provided  that  both 
Congress  and  the  President  should  enter  upon  their 
official  duties  the  first  Wednesday  in  the  following 
March  (which  fell  upon  the  fourth  day  of  the 
month)  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Washington  and 
Adams  were  on  hand  in  time,  but  it  was  April  30  be- 
fore a quorum  of  Congress  convened  and  the  new  exe- 
cutive actually  came  into  power.  North  Carolina  and 
Rhode  Island  had  not  ratified  the  constitution  and 
took  no  part  in  the  first  election  of  a President.  The 
second  presidential  election  was  also  unanimous,  the 
President  and  Vice-President  being  re-elected  without 
opposition.  Fifteen  states  took  part  in  it,  Vermont 
and  Kentucky,  as  well  as  the  original  thirteen. 

Washington  refused  a third  term.  The  candidates 
balloted  for,  with  their  electoral  votes,  were  these : 
John  Adams,  Massachusetts,  71 ; Thomas  Jefferson, 
Virginia,  69 ; Thomas  Pinckney,  South  Carolina, 
59;  Aaron  Burr,  New  York,  38.  As  the  constitu- 
tion then  stood,  the  second  choice  of  the  people  for 
President  became  Vice-President.  Tennessee  was 
added  to  the  list  of  states  by  that  time,  1796,  and 
the  existence  of  two  well-defined  political  parties 
was  manifest.  Washington  was  not  a partisan,  but 
leaned  toward  Federalism,  or  a strong  central  gov- 
ernment. John  Adams,  Pinckney  and  Alexander 
Hamilton  were  the  leaders  of  the  Federalists; 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr  were  the  leaders 
of  the  Republicans,  or  State-rights  party. 

In  1804  the  same  candidates  were  in  the  field  as 
in  1796,  and  the  election  resulted,  Jefferson  and 
Burr  73  votes  each,  Adams  64  and  Pinckney  63. 
There  was  thus  a tie  and  a tangle  which  threatened 
very  serious  consequences.  The  election  was  thrown 
into  the  House.  After  balloting  seven  days  that 
body  chose  Jefferson  President  and  Burr  Vice-Presi- 
dent. Before  another  election  was  held,  the  con- 
stitution was  so  amended  that  the  electors  have  since 
voted  directly  for  presidents  and  vice-presidents. 
With  that  defeat  Adams  and  his  party  went  out  of 
power  forever.  It  continued  to  exist  and  vainly 
strive  for  the  ascendancy  until  after  the  war  of  1812, 
when,  with  the  election  of  Monroe,  it  ceased  to  exist. 


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PRESIDENTS  AND  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS. 


The  fifth  election  brought  another  member  of  the 
Pinckney  family,  Charles  C.,  to  the  front  as  the  can- 
didate of  the  Federalists,  with  Rufus  King  of  New 
York  as  candidate  for  Vice-President.  The  duel 
between  Burr  and  Hamilton,  resulting  in  the  latter’s 
death,  had  made  the  name  of  Burr  second  in  odium 
only  to  Arnold,  and  in  his  place  New  York  furnished, 
as  second  to  Jefferson,  George  Clinton.  It  may 
be  remarked  that  if  Virginia  is  the  Mother  of  Pres- 
idents, New  York  is  of  Vice-Presidents.  Jefferson 
and  Clinton  received  162  votes  ; their  opponents  only 
14.  Ohio  had  been  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1802. 

Following  the  example  of  Washington,  Jefferson 
retired  to  private  life  at  the  close  of  his  second  term. 
James  Madison  of  Virginia  came  to  the  front  as  the 
leader  of  the  Republican  forces,  with  Clinton  still 
second.  Pinckney  and  King  were  again  the  candi- 
dates of  the  Federalists.  'They  received  47  each,  to 
123  for  Madison  and  113  for  Clinton. 

Four  years  later  Madison  was  re-elected,  but  George 
Clinton  had  died  in  office,  and  Elbridge  Gerry  of 
Massachusetts  took  his  place  as  Vice-President.  The 
Federal  candidates  were  DeWitt  Clinton  (nephew  of 
George)  of  New  York  and  Jared  Ingersoll  of  Penn- 
sylvania. By  that  time  Louisiana  had  been  admitted 
to  the  Union.  The  Republican  candidates  received 
128  electoral  votes  each,  Clinton  89  and  Ingersoll  57. 
The  second  war  with  England  was  fought  during 
that  seventh  administration. 

The  election  in  1816  stood,  James  Monroe  of  Vir- 
ginia for  President  and  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  of  New 
York  for  Vice-President,  183  votes  each;  and  Rufus 
King  of  New  York  and  John  E.  Howard  of  Mary- 
land, 34  votes  each.  Indiana  took  part  in  that  elec- 
tion. The  Federalists  who  had  carried  the  second 
presidential  election,  and  struggled  vainly  for  the 
mastery  in  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  seventh  and 
eighth,  now  at  last  gave  up  the  contest,  accepting  the 
inevitable. 

The  condition  of  the  country  was  one  of  measure- 
less content.  Monroe  and  Tompkins  were  re-elected 
in  1820  without  opposition.  Four  new  states  had 
been  added  to  the  Union,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Maine, 
and  Mississippi.  The  Republicans  had  been  in 
power  twenty-four  years,  and  selected  the  President 
all  the  time  from  Virginia. 

Before  1824  the  contest  over  Missouri  had  been 
waged,  resulting  in  the  compromise  which  was  in 
reality  the  first  battle  of  the  war  between  the  states. 


589 


In  that,  the  tenth  election,  there  were  four  candi- 
dates for  President,  none  of  them  representing  a 
party.  The  persistence  of  the  Federalists  in  hold- 
ing together  had  been,  as  it  proved,  the  cohesive 
power  of  Republicanism.  The  four  candidates  in 
1824,  and  their  respective  votes,  were  as  follows : 
Andrew  Jackson,  99;  John  Quincy  Adams,  84; 
Wm.  H.  Crawford,  41;  Henry  Clay,  31.  The  num- 
ber necessary  to  a choice  was  131,  consequently  the 
election  of  a President  devolved  upon  the  House. 
The  result  was  the  selection  of  Adams  for  the  presi- 
dency. John  C.  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina  had 
received  182  electoral  votes  for  the  vice-presidency. 
Adams  and  Clay  combined  their  forces  against  the 
hero  of  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  Bein<r  a great 
statesman  but  no  politician,  Adams  failed  to  rally 
to  his  support  a party  organization,  and  the  time 
came  for  another  presidential  election.  Hitherto  no 
national  conventions  had  been  held.  The  candi- 
dates for  President  and  Vice-President  had  always 
been  selected  by  congressional  caucuses.  The  year 
1824  saw  the  last  of  “King  Caucus”  as  presidential 
dictator. 

The  eleventh  election,  1828,  was  a clear-cut,  bit- 
ter and  exciting  contest  between  President  Adams 
and  Richard  Rust  of  Pennsylvania  on  one  side  and 
Jackson  and  Calhoun  on  the  other.  It  was  culture 
and  the  Northeast  against  uncouth  vigor  and  the 
South  and  West.  The  result  was  that  out  of  261 
electoral  votes  Jackson  received  178,  Calhoun  171, 
and  Adams  and  Rush  83  each.  Jackson  was  not 
particularly  skilled  in  the  arts  of  the  politician,  but 
he  was  the  material  out  of  which  to  construct 
an  ideal  leader  in  those  times,  and  served  as  the 
nucleus  of  a new  party,  the  Democracy.  This  or- 
ganization really  dates  from  Jackson’s  accession  to 
power.  During  that  first  term  of  Jackson  the  abor- 
tive nullification  movement  in  South  Carolina  oc- 
curred. It  was  countenanced  by  Calhoun  and 
crushed  by  Jackson,  and  thus  was  the  former  ren- 
dered unavailable  as  a national  candidate  for  any 
office,  while  the  latter  was  immensely  strengthened 

by  it. 

In  1832  Jackson  was  re-elected,  receiving  219  out 
of  288  electoral  votes.  With  him  was  elected  to  the 
vice-presidency  Martin  Van  Buren  of  New  York. 
There  were  several  opposing  candidates.  Clay,  Wil- 
liam Wirt  and  John  Floyd,  but  “Old  Hickory,”  as 
his  friends  delighted  to  call  him,  was  invincible. 


q) 


59° 


PRESIDENTS  AND  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS. 


In  1836  Van  Buren  was  the  candidate  of  the 
Democratic  party,  with  Richard  M.  Johnson  of 
Kentucky  on  the  ticket  with  him  for  Vice-President. 
The  opposition  was  still  fragmentary.  William  H. 
Harrison  of  Ohio,  Daniel  Webster  of  Massachusetts, 
W.  P.  Mangum  of  North  Carolina,  and  Hugh  L. 
White  of  Tennessee,  were  all  in  the  field,  but  A"an  Bu- 
ren received  170  out  of  294  electoral  votes.  Johnson 
was  elected  Vice-President  by  the  Senate,  no  choice 
for  that  office  having  been  made  by  the  electors. 

The  importance  of  political  organization  was  now 
so  well  established  that  in  1840  the  opposition, 
which  had  gradually  come  to  be  known  as  Whigs, 
held  a national  convention.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
panic  and  hard  times  of  1837  had  occurred.  Van 
Buren  and  Johnson  were  the  nominees  of  the  De- 
mocracy. The  Whigs  chose  as  their  candidates  Gen- 
eral Harrison  and  John  Tyler  of  Virginia.  The 
campaign  was  very  exciting.  It  resulted  in  a bril- 
liant Whig  victory.  Out  of  294  votes  cast,  Harrison 
and  Tyler  received  224.  Harrison  died  almost  im- 
mediately, and  April  6 John  Tyler  became  acting 
President.  That  was  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  the  country  that  the  Angel  of  Death  elected  the 
President. 

In  1844  the  Democrats  nominated  James  K. 
Polk  of  Tennessee,  and  George  M.  Dallas  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  their  standard-bearers ; the  Whigs 
selected  Henry  Clay  and  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  of 
New  Jersey.  Out  of  275  votes  cast,  Polk  and  Dallas 
received  170.  The  Abolitionists  had  by  this  time 
become  something  of  a power  in  the  North,  just 
enough  to  draw  from  the  Whigs  sufficient  votes  to 
give  the  victory  to  the  Democracy. 

Before  the  next  or  sixteenth  election,  the  Mexican 
war  had  been  fought  and  gold  discovered  in  Cali- 
fornia. The  Whigs  chose  as  their  presidential  can- 
didate General  Zachary  Taylor,  nominally  of  Louis- 
iana, but  really  a soldier  with  no  civil  life.  He  had 
never  voted  in  his  life.  On  the  ticket  with  him  was 
Millard  Fillmore  of  New  York.  The  Democratic 
candidates  were  Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan  and  Win. 
0.  Butler  of  Kentucky.  “ Old  Rough  and  Ready  ” 
was  the  popular  name  for  Taylor,  and  he  swept  the 
country,  aided  by  the  fact  that  Martin  Van  Buren, 
out  of  hatred  for  Cass,  ran  as  Free-soil  candidate, 
drawing  off  votes  enough  to  give  Taylor  the  state  of 
New  York.  The  vote  stood : Taylor  and  Fillmore, 
163  ; Cass  and  Butler,  127. 


The  seventeenth  presidential  election  (1852) 
found  both  parties  eagerly  disavowing  anti-slavery 
sentiments  and  vying  in  subserviency  to  the  South. 
The  Democratic  candidates  were  Franklin  Pierce  of 
New  Hampshire  and  William  R.  King  of  Alabama. 
The  Whig  candidates  were  General  Winfield  Scott, 
of  military  renown,  and  William  A.  Graham  of 
North  Carolina.  The  disparity  in  the  popular  vote 
was  not  very  great,  but  in  the  electoral  vote  the 
Democratic  ticket  stood  254,  the  Whig  42.  There 
were,  by  that  time,  31  states,  the  latest  being  Cali- 
fornia. 

In  1856  the  slavery  question  became  more  promi- 
nent than  ever,  owing  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise.  The  Whig  party  died  with  the  defeat 
of  Scott.  The  modern  Republican  party  came  into 
existence,  as  a national  organization,  June  17,  1856, 
at  Philadelphia,  at  which  time  John  C.  Fremont  of 
California,  and  William  M.  Dayton  of  New  Jersey, 
were  nominated  for  President  and  Vice-President. 
Fifteen  days  before,  the  Democrats  had  put  in  the 
field  Janies  Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania,  and  John 
C.  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky.  The  “Know-Noth- 
ing,” or  American,  party  had  a ticket  in  the  field, 
headed  by  ex-President  Fillmore.  The  latter  had 
8 electoral  votes ; Fremont,  114;  Buchanan,  174. 
Fillmore’s  votes  came  from  Maryland,  Fremont’s 
from  the  North,  he  being  the  first  candidate  of  any 
prominence  to  furnish  the  occasion  of  sharply  de- 
fined sectionalism. 

In  1860  there  were  four  candidates,  if  we  include 
the  insignificant  candidacy  of  Bell  and  Everett 
(American  party).  The  Democrats  were  divided  in 
their  support  between  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and 
J olin  C.  Breckenridge.  The  Republicans  put  in  the 
field  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Illinois,  and  Hannibal 
Hamlin  of  Maine.  The  contest  was  fierce  and  close. 
The  popular  vote  of  the  two  wings  of  the  Democ- 
racy were  several  hundred  thousand  in  excess  of 
the  Republican  vote,  but  being  divided,  the  result 
was  that  Lincoln  had  180  votes ; Douglas,  12 ; 
Breckenridge,  72  and  Bell  39.  Douglas  had  sub- 
stantially the  same  popular  vote  as  Breckenridge 
and  Bell  combined. 

The  twentieth  election  occurred  during  the  civil 
war,  and  was  the  triumph  of  the  war  party  at  the 
North.  The  Republicans  re-nominated  Abraham 
Lincoln,  and  placed  Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee 
upon  the  ticket  with  him.  The  Democrats  ran 


General  George  B.  McClellan  on  his  military  record 
with  George  H.  Pendleton  of  Ohio  second  upon  the 
ticket.  The  vote  stood,  Lincoln,  212  ; McClellan, 
21.  In  little  over  a month  after  his  second  inaugu- 
ration Mr.  Lincoln  was  assassinated,  and  Andrew 
Johnson  came  to  the  presidency  in  his  place.  John- 
son became  so  very  unpopular  that  he  was  finally 
impeached,  and  only  by  one  vote  escaped  conviction. 
Had  he  been  convicted,  B.  F.  Wade  of  Ohio  would 
have  filled  out  the  balance  of  the  second  Lincoln  term. 

In  1868  occurred  the  twenty-first  national  elec- 
tion. The  candidates  were  Ulysses  S.  Grant  of  Illi- 
nois and  Schuyler  Colfax  of  Indiana,  on  the  Repub- 
lican side ; Horatio  Seymour  of  New  York  and 
Frank  P.  Blair  of  Missouri,  on  tiie  Democratic  side. 
Three  states,  Virginia,  Texas,  and  Mississippi,  had 
not  been  restored  to  the  Union,  and  took  no  part  in 
the  election.  Grant  received  214  votes  ; Seymour,  80. 
Grant’s  popular  majority  was  about  half  a million. 

By  1872  a great  deal  of  disaffection  had  developed 
within  the  Republican  party,  owing  to  long  contin- 
uance in  power.  This  discontent  found  expression 
in  the  assembling  of  the  National  Liberal  Conven- 
tion in  Cincinnati  which  nominated  Horace  Greeley 
of  New  York  for  the  presidency,  and  B.  Gratz 
Brown  of  Missouri  for  the  vice-presidency.  The 
Democrats  in  their  national  convention  put  the 
same  ticket  in  the  field.  The  Republicans  re-nom- 
inated General  Grant,  putting  Henry  Wilson  of 
Massachusetts  upon  the  ticket  with  him.  The  Re- 
publicans carried  286  electoral  votes,  the  opposition 
only  47.  Mr.  Greeley  died  between  the  popular 


election  and  the  meeting  of  the  electoral  colleges. 
Vice-President  Wilson  died  during  his  term  of  office. 
The  Liberal  movement  was  abandoned  and  the 
Democracy  returned  to  its  trenches  and  general  line 
of  battle. 

The  centennial,  or  twenty-third,  presidential  cam- 
paign was  peculiar  in  the  fact  that  it  was  continued 
almost  to  the  very  day  of  inauguration.  The  Re- 
publican candidates  were  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  of 
Ohio,  and  William  A.  Wheeler  of  New  York;  the 
Democratic  candidates  were  Samuel  J.  Tilden  of 
New  York,  and  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana, 
all,  except  Wheeler,  being  governors  of  their  respec- 
tive states.  No  other  candidates  received  any  elec- 
toral votes.  It  was  conceded  that  Tilden  had  184 
votes  out  of  a total  of  369.  The  votes  of  South 
Carolina,  Florida  and  Louisiana,  especially  the  lat- 
ter, were  stoutly  claimed  by  both  parties.  Finally, 
it  became  necessary  for  the  conservative  element  in 
both  parties  to  agree  upon  a plan  of  arbitration.  A 
bill  was  passed  which  created  an  Electoral  Commis- 
sion to  decide  the  matter  in  dispute.  The  result 
was  that  Hayes  received  185  votes  and  was  duly  de- 
clared elected. 

The  last  election  held  was  the  twenty-fourth,  in 
1880.  James  A.  Garfield  and  Chester  A.  Arthur 
were  the  nominees  of  the  Republican  party ; General 
Winfield  S.  Hancock,  of  the  regular  army,  and 
William  H.  English  of  Indiana,  were  the  nominees 
of  the  Democracy.  The  vote  stood,  Garfield,  214  ; 
Hancock,  155,  and  the  validity  of  the  election  was 
not  questioned. 


t V £ 

61 ' 


£ 


PRESIDENTS  AND  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONSo 


591 


l 


THE  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES 


UNITED  STATES 


HE  United  States  consists 
of  thirty-eight  states,  eight 
territories  and  two  dis- 
tricts, the  latter  being 
Alaska  and  the  District  of 
Columbia.  It  is  proposed 
in  this  connection  to  give 
the  more  important  and  interest- 
ing facts,  historical  and  actual, 
about  each  state  aud  territory, 
taking  them  up  in  their  alphabet- 
ical order,  omitting  such  informa- 
tion as  may  be  found  either  in 
preceding  chapters  or  in  subse- 
quent statistical  tables.  In  giving 
longitudes  and  latitudes  it  will  be 
unnecessary  to  add  “north”  to  one 
and  “ west  from  Greenwich  ” to 
the  other,  this  being  understood  as  a matter  of  course. 
The  seal  of  each  state  will  be  given.  The  states  are 
older  than  the  United  States.  There  is  no  limit 
fixed  to  the  number  of  states  which  may  be  admitted 
by  Congress.  No  provision  is  made  for  dividing  a 
state,  except  in  the  case  of  Texas,  which,  it  is  con- 
templated, may  eventually  be  several  states;  but 
any  instance  occurring  of  an  attempt  of  that  kind 
could  be  decided  upon  its  merits. 


ALABAMA. 

Alabama  was  the  twenty-fifth  state,  in  the  order 
of  its  admission  to  the  Union.  The  name  is  Creek 
(Indian)  for  “Here  we  rest.”  It  is  situated  between 
latitudes  30°  15'  and  35,  and  longitudes  84° 
56'  and  88°  48'.  It  is  336  miles  long  and  from  148 
to  200  miles  wide.  The  soil  is  easily  tilled  and  q uite 
productive.  Its  principal  rivers  are,  the  Tennessee, 
the  Mobile,  Tombigbee,  Alabama,  Coosa,  Black 
Warrior,  Perdido  and  Chattahoochee.  The  north- 
ern portion  of  the  state  is  somewhat  mountainous, 
and  the  farther  south  you  go  the  lower  is  the  aver, 
age  level.  It  is  a great  cotton-growing  state.  It 
has  one  good  seaport,  and  only  one,  Mobile.  The 
bay  of  that  name  is  about  30  miles  long  and  from 
three  to  four  miles  wide.  The  main  manufacturing 
industry  carried  on  there  has  iron  for  its  base;  but 
some  cotton  cloth  is  made.  For  a long  time  it 
raised  more  cotton  than  any  other  state  in  the 
Union.  With  the  exception  of  Mobile,  the  state  can 


(592) 


CHAPTER  LXXXVI. 

The  Scope  op  this  Chapter — The  States  and  Territories  in  their  Alphabetical  Order — 
The  Original  Thirteen  States,  from  the  Date  op  their  Emergence  from  Colonies 
into  Independent  Commonwealths — Productions,  Resources  and  other  Features  op 
each  State,  and  Territory,  Actual  and  Prospective. 


4s 


i 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


593 


hardly  be  said  to  have  a city,  and  its  prosperity  is 
almost  wholly  industrial  rather  than  commercial. 

In  1819  the  territory  of  Alabama  was  organized, 
and  two  years  later  the  state,  having  a population  of 
127,901,  was  admitted  into  the  Union.  It  was  at 
Montgomery,  the  capital  of  Alabama,  that  the 
Southern  Confederacy  was  organized.  It  remained 
the  Confederate  capital  until  the  July  following, 
about  six  months.  Several  battles  were  fought 
within  the  borders  of  that  state  during  the  civil 
war,  the  naval  action  in  Mobile  Bay,  August,  1864, 
being  the  chief.  The  land  engagements  were  com- 
paratively trivial.  After  the  close  of  the  war,  June, 
1865,  President  Johnson  appointed  a provisional 
governor.  The  state  rescinded  the  ordinance  of 
secession  in  September  following  and  sought  re- 
admission to  representation  in  Congress.  It  was  not 
reconstructed  until  1868.  It  was  Republican  in  poli- 
tics for  several  years,  but  with  nearly  all  political 
disabilities  removed,  it  reverted  to  the  Democracy. 
It  suffered  less  probably  from  the  ravages  of  war 
than  any  other  Confederate  state. 

ALASKA. 

Alaska  was  known  as  Russian -America  until  the 
United  States  purchased  it  from  Russia  in  1867. 
The  price  paid  was  $7,200,000.  Win.  11.  Seward 
was  Secretary  of  State  at  that  time,  and  was  very 
eager  for  the  acquisition.  Some  very  absurd  reports 
were  widely  circulated  representing  the  country  to 
have  some  agricultural  value.  It  may  possibly  have 
some  valuable  mines,  but  the  soil  isfrostbound  and 
sterile.  It  extends  north  as  far  as  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
between  latitudes  54°  40'  and  71°  23'.  Behring 
Strait  separates  it  from  Asia.  Its  only  intrinsic 
value  lies  in  its  seal  fisheries.  From  these  the  gov- 
ernment derives  some  revenue  and  the  world  some 
furs.  The  peninsula,  sometimes  known  as  Sitka, 
is  about  350  miles  long  and  25  miles  wide  on  an 
average.  It  is  a strip  of  land  between  British  Colum- 
bia and  the  main  body  of  Alaska,  having  Mt.  Saint 
Elias  on  the  north.  New  Archangel,  the  capital 
of  Alaska,  if  capital  it  may  be  said  to  have,  is 
on  an  island  which  virtually  forms  a part  of 
this  peninsula.  The  United  States  does  not  main- 
tain a regular  territorial  government  there.  The 
population  consists  mostly  of  Esquimaux.  It  forms 
a collection  district  for  the  protection  of  the  gov- 
ernment interest  in  the  seals.  Alaska  has  a vol- 


cano of  grand  proportions,  Mount  Saint  Elias.  It 
has  othexs  of  less  altitude.  St.  Elias  is  about  18,000 
feet  in  height. 


ARKANSAS. 

Arkansas  was  organized  as  a territory  in  1819. 
It  had  once  formed  a part  of  Louisiana.  Its  first 
settlement  was  by  the  French  in  1670,  at  or  near 
the  point  where  the  St.  Francis  River  empties  into 
the  Mississippi.  In  1812,  when  Louisiana  became  a 
state,  Arkansas  was  made  a part  of  Missouri.  It 
had  a long  territorial  existence,  not  having  been  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union  until  1836.  Its  growth  was 
slow  until  1850,  when  Southern  planters  began  to 
go  there  in  large  numbers,  attracted  by  its  rich  soil 
and  adaptability  to  cotton  raising.  It  was  in  full 
sympathy  with  secession  and  passed  the  ordinance, 
taking  itself  out  of  the  Union  on  the  very  day 
that  Lincoln  was  inaugurated.  As  early  as  January, 
1864,  steps  were  taken  in  the  direction  of  restoration 
to  the  Union,  but  it  was  not  until  the  summer  of 
1868  that  Congress  passed  the  bill  for  its  restoration 
to  representation,  and  it  was  not  until  1874  that 
the  state  had  rest  from  reconstruction. 

Arkansas  has  several  kinds  of  mineral  wealth. 
Its  zinc  ore  is  said  to  be  equal  to  that  of  Silesia. 
Copper,  manganese,  iron  and  coal  aie  abundant,  es- 
pecially the  latter.  The  most  remarkable  feature 
of  the  state  is  its  cluster  of  hot  springs,  widely 
famed  for  healing  properties.  Rheumatism  yields 
more  readily  to  those  waters  than  to  drugs.  Hot 
Springs,  the  town,  is  about  60  miles  southwest  of 
Little  Rock,  the  capital.  The  state  is  admirably 
adapted  to  grazing.  Its  hay  crop  is  important.  Its 
area  of  arable  land  is  very  large.  It  is  a fine  country 
for  fruit.  The  navigable  waters  of  the  state  exceed 
3,000  miles  in  length.  Its  principal  rivers  are  the 
Arkansas,  the  St.  Francis,  the  White  and  the  Oua- 
chita (pronounced  Washitaw).  In  the  order  of  its 
admission  Arkansas  is  the  twenty-fifth  state  in  the 
Union.  The  climate  is  fine.  The  mean  tempera- 
ture for  the  year  is  about  62°,  and  except  in  the 
malarial  marshes  the  state  is  remarkably  healthful. 


594 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


ARIZONA. 

Arizona  Territory  was  organized  from  New  Mex- 
ico early  in  1863.  Tucson  is  the  capital.  That  city 
is  the  center  of  quite  an  important  mining  region. 
This  territory  is  at  once  old  and  new,  having  a com- 
paratively remote  past,  and  yet  in  its  actual  devel- 
opment and  attitude  toward  civilization  it  is  almost 
entirely  prospective  rather  than  retrospective.  It 
is  highly  probable  that  New  S]>ain,  as  established  by 
Cortez,  took  in,  definitely,  the  most  of  Arizona. 
Certain  it  is  that  there  were  Jesuit  missionaries  and 
other  Spaniards  in  that  vicinity,  as  permanent  set- 


CALIFORNIA. 


California  may  be  called  the  reward  of  demerit. 
The  United  States  waged  a war  with  Mexico  which 
had  in  it  no  redeeming  feature.  It  was  a strong 
nation,  taking  mean  advantage  of  a weak  neighbor 


VIEW  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CALIFORNIA. 


tiers,  as  early  as  1600.  Imposing  and  interesting 
ruins  attest  the  zeal  of  those  propagandists  of  the 
faith.  There  are  many  mines  there  which  were 
worked  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  abandoned 
from  the  lack  of  machinery  requisite  to  deep  min- 
ing. There  is  not  much  tillage,  nor  hardly  any 
possible,  except  by  irrigation.  Other  minerals  be- 
sides gold  and  silver  are  found  there  in  great 
abundance.  High  mountains  and  deep  canons 
prevail.  It  has  immense  tracts  of  good  grazing  land 
which  are  largely  occupied  by  vast  herds  of  cattle. 

The  flourishing  mining  town  of  Tombstone,  so 
named  on  account  of  the  natural  aspect  of  the 
immediate  country,  is  in  this  territory.  That  por- 
tion of  the  mineral  belt  is  largely  peopled,  and 
developed  by  enterprise  from  the  Pacific  Slope. 


in  a cause  which  was  bad  in  itself.  But  the  result 
was  an  acquisition  of  incalculably  greater  value  to 
the  country  than  any  one  could  have  anticipated. 
California  was  the  chief,  but  by  no  means  the  sole, 
territorial  acquisition  of  the  United  States  from 
Mexico. 

As  eariy  as  the  sixteenth  century,  that  great 
English  navigator.  Sir  Francis  Drake,  coasted  along 
the  Pacific  Slope.  In  1578  he  landed  in  California 
and  took  possession  in  the  name  of  the  British  sover- 
eign, calling  the  land  New  Albion.  But  the  English 
never  attempted  to  establish  their  claim.  The  bay  of 
San  Francisco  was  discovered  in  1769.  A Jesuit  mis- 
sion was  founded  therein  1776.  For  fifty  years  quite 
extensive  missions  were  maintained  in  that  vicinity 
by  the  Franciscan  monks.  When  Mexico  became 


a - 


i 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


595 


independent  the  missions  declined,  and  in  1845  the 
government  confiscated  the  Franciscan  property. 
When  the  country  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  United 
States  it  was  almost  a virgin  wilderness,  for  practi- 
cal purposes. 

Except  that 
some  tracts  of 
land  are  held 
under  old  Mex- 
ican titles,  Cal- 
ifornia hardly 
has  a vital 
trace  of  Span- 
ish occupancy. 

It  can  hardly 
be  said  to  have 
had  a territori- 
al existence  at 
all.  There  were 
military  gover- 
nors, martial 
law,  lynch  law 
and  no  law  at 
all  in  those 
early  days,  but 
hardly  had  the 
tide  set  in 
when  Califor- 
nia found  it- 
self with  a pop- 
ulation amply 
entitling  it  to 
admission  into 
the  Union.  It 
was  admitted 
in  1850. 

California  is 
700  miles  long, 
and  has  an 
average  width 
of  200  miles. 

Beside  its  gold, 
it  is  a very  rich 
state  agriculturally.  The  corn  and  wheat,  the 
wool  and  fruit,  the  wine  and  cattle,  yield  more  real 
wealth  than  the  mines,  many  times  over.  Southern 
California  is  especially  favorable  to  grape  and  orange 
raising.  The  climate  is  delightful.  The  gold  prod- 
uct of  the  state  during  the  first  quarter-century 


of  its  development  was  $990,600,000.  The  most 
prolific  year  was  1853,  $65,000,000. 

San  Francisco  is,  and  always  has  been,  the  chief 
city  of  California.  There  are,  however,  several 

other  cities  of 
very  consider- 
able import- 
ance, Sacra- 
mento, the  cap- 
ital, Stockton, 
Los  Angeles, 
i Oakland,  San 
Diego,  Marys- 
ville and  San- 
ta Cruz.  The 
great  misfort- 
une of  the 
state  is  that  its 
great  proper- 
ties are  largely 
held  by  a 
few  monopo- 
lists who  spend 
their  money 
elsewhere.  An- 
other misfort- 
une is  the  class 
of  menial  la- 
borers,the  Chi- 
nese. From  the 
standpoint  of 
economy,  M on- 
golian  labor  is 
beneficent,  but 
the  very  gen- 
eral opinion  of 
the  people  is 
that  the  state 
would  have 
been  better  off 
if  no  Asiatic 
had  ever  cross- 
ed the  Pacific, 
natural  curiosities.  The 
most  remarkable  valley  in 
Lake  Tahoe  is  a marvel  of 
Nowhere  else  does  the 
There  are 
v trees 


THE  YOSEMITE  VALLEY. 


California  has  many 
Yosemite  Valley  is  the 
the  world  for  grandeur, 
purity  and  transparency, 
pine  reach  such  stupendous  proportions, 
several  .<rroves  in  which  may  be  found 


73 


■*> 


> 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


< 


over  100  feet  in  circumference.  The  most  notable 
wild  beast  of  that  region  is  the  bear — grizzly,  brown 
and  black. 


Colorado  receives  its  name  from  the  Rio  Colorado 
river  and  its  Grand  Canon  between  longtitudes  112° 
and  115°,  where  the 
river  flows  for  three 
hundred  miles  be- 
tween perpendicular 
walls  of  rock,  some- 
times 6,000  feethigh, 
forming  one  of  the 
greatest  natural  cu- 
riosities. The  state 
itself,  the  thirty- 
eighth  member  of 
the  Union,  lies  be- 
tween latitudes  378 
and  41°  and  longi 
tudes  102°  and  109°. 

Like  Arizona,  it  is 
one  mighty  treasure- 
house  of  gold  and 
silver,  with  no  a- 
daptation  to  agricul- 
ture, except  as  the 
land  is  irrigated.  The 
valleys  and  plateaus 
yield  nutritive  grass 
sparcely,  but  abund- 
antly for  the  encour- 
agement of  grazing 
as  an  industry.  The 
state  has  these  two 
industries  — mining 
and  herding- — which 
furnish  its  exports. 

It  is  comparatively 
easy  to  irrigate  the 
land  and  secure  bountiful  harvests,  but  the  state 
is  too  far  from  the  seaboard  to  raise  grain  for 


the  general  market.  Besides,  the  home  prices  are 
high,  making  the  profits  of  agriculture  satisfactory. 
The  discovery  of  gold  in  paying  quantities  was  made 
in  1858,  and  the  next  year  the  reports  of  rich  mines 
of  free  gold  near  Pike’s  Peak  created  a perfect  furor. 
Thousands  of  people  rushed  thither,  expecting  to 
find  a second  California.  A great  deal  of  suffering 
ensued  and  disappointment.  Still  the  report  had  a 
substantial  basis.  By  1861,  when  the  territory  was 
formed,  the  population  was  35,000.  It  was  admitted 
as  a state  in  1876.  Denver  is  the  capital  and  chief 
city.  Colorado  is  a great  resort  for  invalids, 
especially  those  affected  with  pulmonary  diseases 

and  throat  troubles. 
Leadville  sprang  up 
about  the  time  the 
territory  became  a 
state.  It  was  born 
of  anew-mining  dis- 
covery of  very  great 
richness.  It  is  far- 
ther south  and  high- 
er than  Denver.  The 
air  is  rarified  and 
light.  The  area  of 
mineral  development 
is  steadily  enlarging, 
and  the  business  now 
rests  upon  a legiti- 
mate basis.  TheGun- 
nison  country  and 
the  San  Juan  coun- 
try are  terms  used 
to  designate  distinct 
and  important  min- 
eral regions  in  the 
southern  portion  of 
the  state.  In  its 
yield  of  gold  and 
silver,  Colorado  is 
the  leading  state  in 
the  union.  It  has 
three  colleges,  all 
small,  but  fraught 
with  happy  omen 
for  the  future  of  the 
state.  The  mere  min- 
ing camp  of  territorial  days  is  fast  giving  place  to 
villages  and  cities  filled  with  families. 


>9 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


597 


CONNECTICUT. 

Connecticut  is  the  first  of  the  old  thirteen  colo- 
nies to  come  before  us  in  this  connection.  It  had 
won  some  renown  as  a colony,  by  its  preservation  of 
its  royal  charter  and  the  strictness  of  its  religious  ob- 
servances. In  the  Revolutionary  War  its  most  illus- 
trious soldier 
was  General  Is- 
rael Putnam. 

He  was  bom  in 
1718,  and  was 
rather  old  for 
the  service  when 
the  war  began, 
but  he  entered 
upon  it  with 
great  enthusiasm. 

Roger  Sherman 
was  the  most 
conspicuous  rep- 
resentative  of 
that  colony  in 
the  Continental 
Congress.  Gov- 
ernor J onathan  

Trumbull  was  a 

trusted  counselor  and  devoted  friend  of  General 
Washington,  who  was  accustomed  to  address  him 
as  “Uncle  Jonathan,”  since  then  the  typical  name 
for  the  American  people. 

The  war  of  1812  found  Connecticut  largely  en- 
gaged in  commerce,  much  more  so  than  it  is  at  the 
present  time.  That  war  was  a great  calamity  to  its 
commerce,  and  although  the  state  did  its  part  fully 
in  the  way  of  supplying  men  and  means,  the  pol- 
icy of  peace-at-any-price  had  a great  many  ardent 
advocates  there.  A convention  was  held  at  Hart- 
ford for  the  purpose  of  denouncing  the  war  just  be- 
fore the  news  of  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  was  re- 
ceived, which  became  historic  from  its  unpopularity, 
as  soon  as  the  good  news  came.  The  especial  pride 
of  Connecticut  is  Yale  College,  one  of  the  truly 


YALE  COLLEGE,  NEW  HAVEN,  CONNECTICUT 


great  universities  of  the  world.  It  was  founded  as 
early  as  1701.  It  is  located  at  New  Haven.  Orig- 
inally a college  only  in  the  restricted  sense  of  the 
term,  it  is  now  an  institution  fully  equipped  for  all 
higher  educational  purpose.  There  are  other  col- 
leges of  some  importance  in  the  state,  but  they  are 
not  to  be  compared  to  Yale. 

Insurance,  fire  and  life,  is  a very  prominent  feat- 
ure of  Connecticut  business.  In  no  other  state  is 
there  so  much  surplus  capital  devoted  to  underwrit- 
ing. New  Haven  and  Hartford  are  the  chief  cities 
of  the  state,  and  insurance  their  chief  business. 
There  are,  however,  a great  many  branches  of  man. 

ufacturing  car- 
ried on  exten- 
sively in  the 
state.  It  is  the 
native  soil  of- 
“ Yankee  no- 
tions.” Besides 
raising  the  farm 
products  com- 
montothenorth- 
ern  part  of  the 
country,  it  raises 
large  quantities 
of  excellent  to- 
bacco. The  low- 
er valley  of  the 
ConnecticutRiv- 
er  is  admirably 
adapted  to  this 
plant.  The  state 

had  two  capitals,  New  Haven  and  Hartford,  for 
a long  time,  but  now  Hartford  alone  has  that 
honor.  Connecticut  laid  claim  under  its  colonial 
charter  to  a tract  of  land  nearly  GO  miles  wide  and 
extending  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  After  the  Revolu- 
tion that  claim  wasquieted  and  disposed  of  by  grant- 
ing to  the  state  the  fee  simple  as  property  (but  not 
the  political  control)  of  a large  tract  of  land  in  the 
vicinity  of  Lake  Erie.  It  was  called  “ The  Western 
Reserve.”  Most  of  it  is  now  in  the  State  of  Ohio. 
The  proceeds  of  that  land  form  the  basis  of  the 
public  school  fund  of  Connecticut.  It  it  due  to  the 
good  name  of  this  state  to  add  that  its  reputation 
for  exceptional  austerity  is  unjust,  resting  upon  a lit- 
erary fraud  perpetrated  by  a clergyman  named  Peters, 
who  published  a bogus  volume  of  “ Blue  Laws.” 


k. 


598 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


DAKOTA  TERRITORY. 

Dakota  Territory  is  the  most  populous  of  all  the 
territories,  and  the  largest  in  area.  It  was  organized 
in  1861.  The  census  of  1880  showed  a population 
of  over  130,000,  and  later  enumerations  and  esti- 
mates jdace  the  population  in  1882  at  150,000.  The 
cities  of  Yankton  and  Sioux  Palls,  the  largest  in 
the  territory,  have  each  a population  nf  3,500.  The 
number  of  the  cattle  has  increased,  it  is  estimated, 
800  per  cent  during  the  last  two  years.  The  yield 
of  gold  bullion  for  1881  was  $4,500,000  ; of  silver, 
$2,000,000,  taken  from  the  famous  Black  Hills 
mines.  The  territory  is  also  rich  in  copper,  lead, 
mica,  coal  and  gypsum.  But  wheat  is  the  supreme 
source  of  wealth  in  Dakota.  It  may  be  called  a con- 
tinuation, in  this  regard,  of  Minnesota.  The  popu- 
lation is  largely  made  up  of  Swedes  and  Norwegians, 
with  a very  considerable  population  drawn  from  the 
native  population  of  the  North.  It  is  expected  that 
the  territory  will  be  divided,  and  the  southern  por- 
tion admitted  into  the  Union  as  the  State  of  Dako- 
ta, and  the  northern  portion  organized  as  a separate 
territory. 


DELAWARE. 


From  the  great  Territory  of  Dakota  to  the  little 
State  of  Delaware  there  is  a long  stride.  This  least 
important  of  all  the  states  is  one  of  the  original 
thirteen.  It  was  being  governed  as  a part  of  Penn- 
sylvania at  the  time  the  war  for  independence  was 
declared,  but  promptly  demanded  recognition  as  a 
“sovereign  ” state.  Pennsylvania  consented,  and  the 
“ three  lower  countries  on  the  Delaware  ” became  an 
independent  political  unity.'  In  the  war  then  in  prog- 
ress for  national  freedom  the  citizens  of  Delaware 
won  distinction  for  bravery,  and  on  account  of  the 
peculiar  Hag  of  the  state  were  known  as  “The  Blue 
Hen’s  Chickens.”  When  the  war  was  over  and  in 
the  progress  of  political  events  there  was  a tie  vote 
between  Jefferson  and  Burr,  it  was  Delaware  (a 
strongly  Federal  state)  which  decided  the  matter,  its 
leading  senator,  James  A.  Bayard,  preferring  Jeffer- 


son as  the  less  of  two  evils.  The  present  Senator 
Bayard  is  a grandson  of  the  elector  of  Jefferson. 
The  senatorship  seems  to  be  an  heirloom  in  that 
family.  James  A.  Bayard,  Jr.,  was  for  many  years 
a senator.  When  it  is  added  that  Delaware  is 
famous  for  its  peaches  and  its  garden  products,  in- 
cluding berries,  the  entire  record  of  interest  is  dis- 
closed. It  is  singularly  lacking  in  enterprise.  The 
people  do  not  push  westward  nor  establish  skilled 
industries  to  any  considerable  extent.  Dover, 
the  capital,  is  a sleepy  inland  village,  and  Wilming- 
ton, its  chief  seaport,  has  only  a very  small  com- 
merce. The  state  is  divided  into  three  counties, 
Kent,  New  Castle  and  Sussex.  Before  the  war  there 
were  a few  slaves  there.  A majority  of  the  people 
were  friendly  to  the  Union.  Delaware  furnished 
10,000  volunteers  to  the  Union  army. 


FLORIDA. 

The  chief  interest  of  Florida  belongs  to  its  colo- 
nial  history.  Apart  from  that,  it  presents  very  few 
points  of  attraction.  It  was  ceded  to  the  United 
States  by  Spain  in  1821.  The  first  census  taken  was 
in  1830,  and  at  that  time  the  population  was  only 
34,730.  By  the  census  of  1860  the  population  was 
140,424,  about  one-half  of  the  number  being  slaves. 
The  first  territorial  governor  was  General  Jackson. 
He  acquired  much  of  his  popularity,  especially  in 
the  South,  by  his  successful  warfare  upon’the  blood- 
thirsty Seminole  Indians,  who  were  finally  eradicated 
from  the  territory,  with  a few  exceptions,  and  trans- 
planted in  Indian  Territory.  Those  still  remaining 
are  peaceable.  Florida  was  admitted  as  a state  in 
in  1845.  It  seceded  in  January,  1861,  and  was  read- 
mitted in  June,  1868.  The  peninsula  portion  is 
nearly  400  miles  long.  The  soil  is  very  largely  either 
sandy  or  swampy.  Its  rivers  and  lakes  are  many 
and  well  supplied  with  a great  variety  of  fishes  and 
reptiles.  The  forests  abound  in  timber  which  would 
be  of  great  value  if  it  could  be  marketed.  The 
chief  attraction  of  Florida,  and  its  great  source  of 
wealth,  is  its  vast  extent  of  orange  orchards.  It  also 


7T 


IK* 


p 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


599 


produces  rice  and  a fine  quality  of  tobacco.  It  is 
a favorite  resort  in  winter  for  invalids  and  others 
from  the  North.  Jacksonville  is  the  largest  city. 
Tallahassee  is  the  capital.  Key  West,  on  the  island 
of  the  same  name,  is  strongly  fortified,  and  is  a 
United  States  naval  station.  St.  Augustine,  the 
oldest  city  in  the  United  States,  was  founded  by 
the  Spanish  freebooter  Menendez.  in  1565. 


GEORGIA. 

Georgia  is  well  called  the  Empire  State  of  the 
South.  It  was  one  of  the  original  thirteen  states. 
Its  colonial  history  is  indeed  brief,  but  it  is,  as  has 
been  seen,  exceptionally  creditable.  Its  extent  north 
and  south  is  320  miles,  and  its  extreme  breadth  east 
andwest  254  miles.  From  its  colonial  birth  to  the 
present  time  it  has  been  exceptionally  prosperous.  It 
did  suffer,  and  that  severely,  it  is  true,  from  British 
soldiers  during  the  Revolution,  and  from  Northern 
soldiers,  especially  those  under  General  Sherman,  in 
the  late  war  between  the  states,  but  it  has  shown 
great  recuperative  powers.  It  combines  in  its  soil 
and  climate  the  advantages  of  the  North  and  South, 
producing  with  equal  prodigality  cereals  and  cotton. 
It  is  also  rich  in  iron,  which  is  being  mined  on  a 
large  and  profitable  scale. 

Georgia  has  several  flourishing  cities.  Savannah 
was  long  the  chief  town  in  the  state.  Atlanta  is 
now  the  most  flourishing.  It  is  the  capital.  It  has 
been  called,  and  with  reason,  the  Chicago  of  the 
South.  Augusta,  Milledgeville,  Macon,  Columbus 
and  Athens  are  among  its  more  important  centers 
of  population  and  capital.  It  has  several  fairly 
good  institutions  of  learning. 

IDAHO  TERRITORY. 

Idaho  Territory  is  the  least  thrifty  of  all  the  ter- 
ritories of  the  United  States.  It  has  Wyoming  and 
Montana  on  the  east;  British  Columbia  on  the 
north;  Washington  Territory  and  Oregon  on  the 
west,  and  Nevada  and  Utah  on  the  south.  Gold  was 
first  found  there  in  any  considerable  quantities  in 


1860.  The  next  year  there  was  quite  a large  influx 
of  miners  from  both  the  East  and  the  West.  The 
placer-diggings,  or  free  gold,  yielded  richly.  The  ter- 
ritory was  organized  in  1863  and  re-organized  in 
1864.  In  a few  years  the  rich  gold-bearing  sand  had 
been  washed  and  the  population  fell  off.  The  diffi- 
culty of  reaching  the  quartz  mines  with  adequate 
machinery  has  delayed  the  development  of  those  re- 
sources. The  country  is  well  adapted  to  grazing, 
and  vast  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep  roam 
over  the  plains  and  valleys  of  the  territory.  It  lies 
between  the  42°.  and  the  49°  of  latitudes,  laying 
mainly  in  the  basin  of  the  Upper  Columbia  River. 
The  climate  is  delightful,  and  eventually  Idaho  will 
be  a prosperous  state. 


ILLINOIS. 

The  first  white  settlement  in  Illinois  dates  back  to 
the  seventeenth  century.  The  first  settlement  in 
distinction  from  Jesuit  missions,  was  made  by  the 
French  at  Kaskaskia  in  1700.  But  in  the  present 
development  of  Illinois  the  French  can  hardly  be 
said  to  have  taken  an  appreciable  part.  It  requires 
the  skill  and  patience  of  the  antiquary  to  discover 
even  the  faintest  trace  of  the  first  settlers.  The  ter- 
ritory of  Illinois  was  organized  in  1809,  when  a ter- 
ritory of  that  name  was  cut  off  from  Indiana.  The 
southern  part  of  the  state  was  settled  first,  the  course 
of  pioneer  enterprise  being  along  rivers,  especially 
down  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Mississippi.  Then,  too, 
the  Indians  of  the  north  were  particularly  trouble- 
some. A military  post  was  early  established  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Chicago  River  on  the  site  of  the  pres- 
ent city  of  that  name.  It  was  called  Fort  Dearborn. 
In  1812  the  fort  was  taken  by  the  Indians  and  the 
whites  cruelly  massacred.  This  massacre  led  to  the 
expulsion  of  the  Indians  from  the  vicinity,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  jiermanent  settlement  of 
the  northern  portion  of  the  territory. 

Illinois  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1818. 
The  population  at  that  time  was  35,220.  Nearly  all 
of  it  is  level  and  arable.  It  is  the  “ Prairie  State,” 


■v 


6oo 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


most  emphatically.  The  soil  is  rich  and  easily  tilled. 
The  coal  area  is  estimated  at  45,000  square  miles. 
This  inexhaustable  supply  of  fuel  is  bituminous. 
Illinois  can  boast  more  miles  of  railroad  than  any 
other  state  in  the  Union,  and  the  coal-fields  have 
had  much  to  do  with  the  development  of  this  in- 
terest. Illinois  has  several  large  cities,  the  chief 
being  Chicago,  with  a population  of  over  500,000, 
according  to  the  census  of  1880.  It  is  the  com- 
mercial capital  of  the  West,  or  Interior,  more  proper- 
ly speaking.  It  became  a city  in  1837.  Early  in 


A.  Douglas  was  the  first  Illinoisan  to  reach  eminence, 
and  Abraham  Lincoln,  General  Grant  and  Robert 
G.  Ingersoll  followed,  each  in  his  way  the  foremost 
man  of  the  nation — one  as  statesman,  one  as  soldier, 
and  one  as  orator.  The  state  adopted  in  1870  a 
new  constitution  containing  many  radical  changes, 
and  which  proved  to  be  a landmark  in  the  constitu- 
tional history  of  the  country,  many  states,  since 
then,  having  adopted  its  more  important  features, 
the  chief  being  the  restriction  of  the  power  of  muni- 
cipalities to  incur  debts,  and  of  railways  to  make  un- 


the  evening  of  October  8,  1871,  a fire  broke  out  in 
the  southwestern  part  of  the  city,  and  raged  with 
increasing  and  ungovernable  fury  that  night  and 
the  next  day,  sweeping  over  2,124  square  acres,  in- 
cluding the  heart  of  the  city,  and  leaving  only  shape- 
less ruins  in  its  track.  It  is  more  particularly  refer- 
red to  in  the  chapter  on  The  Present  United  States. 

Springfield  is  the  capital.  It  is  a thrifty  inland 
city,  ranking  next  to  Quincy  on  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  Peoria  on  the  Illinois  River,  in  size.  The  latter 
has  long  been  famous  for  its  higliwines,  being  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  corn  belt.  Cairo  became  somewhat 
famous  during  the  war.  The  state  has  more  occa- 
sion to  be  proud  of  its  men  than  its  cities.  Stephen 


just  transportation  charges.  It  was  a test  case  from 
Illinois  which  secured  from  the  supreme  court  of 
the  United  States  a decision  to  the  effect  that  a 
railway  is  a highway,  and  that  railroad  companies 
are  subject  to  all  the  limitations,  as  to  uniformity  of 
charges,  of  other  common  carriers. 

Illinois  contains  about  three  hundred  rivers  and 
creeks,  not  counting  the  mere  streams.  Drouths 
are  almost  unknown,  of  late  years,  in  nearly  the 
entire  state.  It  is  the  foremost  commonwealth  in 
the  Union  in  the  production  of  corn,  wheat,  rye 
and  oats,  also  in  the  number  of  its  horses,  the  man- 
ufacture of  higliwines  and  agricultural  machinery 
and  utensils. 


3 


1 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


601 


INDIANA. 

Indiana  is  surrounded  by  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Ohio 
and  Michigan.  Like  all  the  prairie  states,  it  has  no 


tional  scale.  The  state  was  greatly  depressed  by  the 
reaction,  and  cannot  be  said  to  have  recovered  from 
it  until  the  prosperity  of  the  war  period  brought  re- 
lief. The  capital,  Indianapolis,  is  the  principal  city 
in  the  state,  and  second  only  to  Chicago  as  a West- 
ern railway  center.  Evansville,  Terre  Haute,  Fort 
\\  ayne,  South  Bend,  New  Albany,  Jeffersonville  and 
Vincennes  are  all  prosperous  towns.  The  state 
furnished  the  third  Republican  Vice-President, 
Schuyler  Colfax,  and,  in  the  person  of  Senator  Mor- 


INDIANAPOLIS  FROM  THE  COURT  HOUSE. 


mountains  nor  any  under-ground  wealth  except  coal. 
It  has  a greater  variety  of  valuable  lumber  than  Illi- 
nois. It  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1810.  A 
French  settlement  had  been  effected  at  Vincennes 
as  early  as  1702,  which  flourished  and  withered  away, 
much  as  the  Kaskaskia  settlement  did.  Early  in 
the  third  decade  of  this  century  an  era  of  wild  spec- 
ulation was  inaugurated  in  Indiana,  culminating  in 
the  crash  of  1837.  No  other  state  in  the  Union  was 
so  deeply  affected  by  that  revulsion.  Railroads  and 
canals,  especially  the  latter,  were  projected  and  un- 
der process  of  construction  on  a grand  and  irra- 


ton,  the  greatest  parliamentary  leader  in  the  senate 
since  the  days  of  Douglas. 

INDIAN  TERRITORY. 

Indian  Territory  is  not  a territory  at  all,  in  the 
ordinary  sense  of  the  term.  It  is  not  dependent 
upon  the  national  government, but  is  a nation  with- 
in a nation.  It  has  been  considered  in  a previous 
chapter  in  connection  with  the  American  Indians, 
and  it  is  enough  to  add  in  this  connection  that  it 
dates  from  1832,  and  is  one  of  the  best  portions  of 
the  continent  for  grazing  and  grain-raising. 


■L 


602 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


IOWA. 

Iowa  lies  between  the  two  great  rivers,  the  Miss- 
issippi and  the  Missouri,  with  Minnesota  on  the 
north  and  Missouri  on  the  south,  extending  north 
and  south  about  200  miles,  and  east  and  west,  300 
miles.  There  is  hardly  a foot  of  waste  land  within 
its  border.  Its  agricultural  capacity  is  almost  incal- 
culable. It  has  no  important  river  or  lake.  Its 
cities  are  comparatively  small,  Chicago  being  the 
great  center  for  the  entire  state.  The  capital,  Des 
Moines,  is  a thrifty  inland  city,  and  so  is  Iowa  City- 
Several  river  towns  of  some  importance  are  found 
along  the  Mississippi,  Dubuque,  Muscatine,  Daven- 
port, Burlington  and  Keokuk,  also  Sioux  City  on 
the  Missouri.  Iowa  was  created  a territory  in  1838, 
and  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a state  in  1846.  Its 
growth  has  been  uninterrupted  and  prodigious,  but 
almost  exclusively  agricultural.  It  has  very  little 
timber,  a great  deal  of  coal,  and  some  lead  in  the 
vicinity  of  Dubuque,  as  Illinois  has  across  the  Miss- 
issippi near  Galena.  It  also  has  some  gypsum,  and 
is  beginning  to  manifest  manufacturing  enterprise 
to  a very  considerable  degree. 


KANSAS. 

Kansas  is  a striking  example  of  the  advantages  of 
advertising.  The  politics  of  the  country,  as  has  been 
seen,  served  to  make  the  public  familiar  with  the 
name  and  interested  in  the  settlement  of  Kansas. 
This  territory  and  Nebraska  were  organized  in  1854. 
Almost  immediately  the  North  and  South  started 
on  a race  for  the  ascendancy  in  Kansas.  It  was  not 
long  before  there  were  people  enough  to  justify  its 
admission  as  a state.  A majority  came  from  the 
North  and  wore  utterly  opposed  to  slavery,  and  re- 


peatedly framed  and  adopted  constitutions  prohibi- 
tory of  it.  The  Southern  influence  in  Congress  pre- 
vented its  admission.  A constitution  framed  by  a 
minority  convention  held  in  Lecompton  in  1857  pro- 
tected slavery.  It  received  only  2,000  votes.  Mr. 
Douglas  favored  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a free 
state,  that  being  the  practical  outcome  of  his  favorite 
doctrine  of  “ squatter  sovereignty,”  and  that  position 
made  him  obnoxious  to  a large  party  of  the  Democra- 
cy, and  caused  the  schism  in  favor  of  Breckenridge 
for  the  Presidency  in  I860.  It  was  in  January,  1861, 
that  Kansas  was  admitted.  In  the  period  from  1824 
to  1861  the  territory  had  amply  earned  the  title  of 
“ Bleeding  Kansas.”  During  the  four  years  of  war 
it  was  the  scene  of  much  bloodshed  and  destruction. 
Lawrence  was  twice  burned,  and  several  other  towns 
partially  destroyed  by  border  ruffians,  or  guerillas. 
After  the  war  the  influx  of  population  was  without 
parallel  in  pioneer  history,  and  that  notwithstand- 
ing drouth  and  grasshoppers  conspired  to  discourage 
immigration.  The  soil  is  rich,  and  the  people  pros- 
perous. Topeka  is  the  capital,  and  the  chief  city  of 
the  state.  Leavenworth  and  Lawrence  have  not 
fulfilled  the  promise  of  their  infancy.  Across  the 
state  line  in  Missouri  is  the  commercial  capital  of 
the  state,  Kansas  City,  which  is  almost  wholly  in- 
debted to  the  State  of  Kansas  for  its  great  prosper- 
ity. At  the  present  time  Kansas  has  the  most 
stringent  prohibitory  liquor  law  of  any  state  in  the 
Union.  The  coal  field  of  the  state  is  supposed  to 
have  an  area  of  over  22,000  square  miles.  It  is  the 
most  central  state  of  the  Union,  having  Missouri 
on  the  east,  Indian  Territory  on  the  south,  Colorado 
on  the  west  and  Nebraska  on  the  north.  It  has  no 
lakes  of  any  magnitude  nor  any  considerable  rivers. 
Its  railway  system  is  extensive,  secured  at  the  cost 
of  enormous  municipal  indebtedness.  The  princi- 
pal institution  of  learning  is  the  University  of  Kan- 
sas, at  Lawrence,  but  the  chief  educational  facilities 
afforded  are  an  admirable  system  of  public  schools 
for  elementary  instruction.  The  western  portion  of 
the  state  has  suffered  much  from  drouth,  but  every 
year  is  adding  to  the  volume  of  rainfall,  and  grad- 
ually the  “ desert,”  as  it  was  once  supposed  to  be, 
is  being  brought  into  subjugation  to  the  plow. 
Herding  is  carried  on  upon  a large  scale,  both 
cattle  and  sheep.  The  state  has  a great  variety  of 
vegetation,  not  less  than  twelve  hundred  species  of 
plants  being  indigenous  to  its  soil. 


FT- 


T 


(0 


G 

1 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF 


Kentucky  traces  its  origin  to  Daniel  Boone,  a 
famous  hunter  who  established  himself  at  what  is 
now  Boonesboro’  in  1769.  It  was  then  a part  of 
Virginia,  and  so  remained  until  1790,  when  it  was 
created  into  a separate  territory.  For  fourteen  years 
it  had  been  the  County  of  Kentucky.  In  1792  it 
was  admitted  as  a state,  having  a population  of 
75,000.  It  was  the  “ out  west  ” of  Virginia  for 
many  years.  It  formed  for  a long  time  the  extreme 
southwest  of  the  United  States,  boundaries  between 
French  and  Spanish  America  and  the  United  States 
being  vague.  It  was  supposed  that  Aaron  Burr 
contemplated  seizing  the  region  in  dispute  and  erect- 
ing there  a Southwest  Empire.  That  was  the  “ trea- 
son ” for  which  Burr  and  Blennerhasset  were  tried. 
The  evidence  of  guilt  was  strong  but  insufficient 
for  conviction.  Kentucky  suffered  seriously  from 
hostile  Indians  in  the  early  day,  and  the  people  have 
always  been  noted  for  their  martial  spirit.  From 
1861  to  1865  it  furnished,  as  has  been  aptly  said, 
its  quota  for  both  armies.  Politically  it  was  a 
stronghold  of  the  Whig  party  during  the  period  of 
that  organization.  Since  then  it  has  been  over- 
whelmingly Democratic.  It  is  noted  for  the  chivalry 
i of  its  men,  the  beauty  of  its  women,  the  excellence 
and  abundance  of  its  whisky  and  horses.  It 
has  only  one  city  of  any  considerable  magnitude — 
Louisville. 

Frankfort  is  the  capital.  The  eastern  portion  of 
the  state  is  mountainous,  the  western  a rich  table- 
land. The  soil  is  adapted  to  grain  and  tobacco.  Its 
famous  blue-grass  is  the  finest  of  pasturage.  There 
is  some  iron  and  a great  deal  of  coal  in  Kentucky. 
Of  its  mineral  wealth,  mostly  undeveloped  as  yet, 
Professor  Shaler  says : “ The  coal  resources  of  Ken- 
tucky are  only  exceeded  by  those  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  quantity  of  iron  ore  is  probably  not  exceeded 
by  any  American  state.”  The  state  contains  twelve 
colleges  and  universities,  none  of  which  are  heavily 
endowed.  The  chief  of  these  is  Kentucky  University, 
located  at  Lexington. 


_ — *t 

THE  UNITED  STATES.  603 


LOUISIANA. 

Louisiana  originally  included  not  only  the  present 
state  of  that  name,  but  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Iowa, 
Minnesota,  Dakota,  Nebraska,  the  greater  part  of 
Kansas,  Indian  Territory,  a small  part  of  Colorado, 
all  of  Montana,  Oregon  and  Idaho,  and  the  greater 
part  of  Wyoming.  That  vast  region  was  first 
penetrated  by  European  adventure  in  1541,  when 
De  Soto,  a Spaniard,  discovered  the  Mississippi 
River.  The  first  actual  settlement  was  made  by 
the  French  in  1699.  For  over  a century  it  was, 
in  effect,  a part  of  New  France.  In  1803,  the 
United  States,  through  President  Jefferson,  bought 
that  imperial  area  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  while 
lie  was  First  Consul  of  France,  for  815,000,000, 
including  what  are  known  as  “ French  Spoliation 
Claims.”  The  next  year  the  southern  portion  was 
organized  as  the  Territory  of  Orleans.  Original 
Louisiana  did  not  include,  however,  that  portion  of 
the  state  between  the  Mississippi,  Amite  and  Pearl 
Rivers.  That  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  in  1810 
by  Spain  in  exchange  for  undisputed  title  to  Florida. 
In  1812  Orleans  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a 
state  under  the  name  of  Louisiana.  The  local  customs 
and  state  laws  have  never  ceased  to  bear  the  marks 
of  France,  and  the  Code  Napoleon  may  almost  be 
said  to  form  the  common  law  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  state  seceded  in  December,  1860,  but  the  ordi- 
nance was  adopted  by  the  close  vote  of  117  to  113. 
Louisiana  was  restored  to  the  Union  in  the  summer 
of  1868.  The  great  staple  of  Louisiana  is  sugar. 
Cotton  is  also  raised  to  good  advantage.  About 
one-fifth  of  the  state  is  beneath  the  high-water  level 
of  the  Mississippi-  River,  and  has  to  be  protected  from 
inundation  by  levees,  maintained  at  great  cost  by 
the  state  government.  There  are  about  1,500  miles 
of  levees  within  its  border.  It  would  require  an 
annual  expenditure  upon  them  of  81,000,000  to 
afford  thorough  protection.  New  Orleans,  with 
a population  of  over  200,000,  is  the  one  city  of 
any  magnitude  in  the  state.  It  is  also  the  political 
capital. 


s 

1 


e 


Before  and  during  the  Revolutionary  War  the 
northern  boundary  of  Massachusetts  was  uncertain. 
By  the  treaty  of  peace  with  England  it  was  fixed  so 
as  to  include  the  State  of  Maine,  long  known  as  “the 
District  of  Maine.”  From  the  first  Maine  demanded 
independence,  but  it  remained  a “district”  until  1820. 
During  that  period  a great  deal  of  ill  feeling  existed 
between  Massachusetts  proper  and  Maine.  The 
treaty  of  1783  had  not,  as  it  proved,  settled  the 
boundary  question  with  precision,  and  it  remained 
an  occasion  of  diplomatic  controversy  until  1842, 
when,  by  the  terms  of  the  Ashburton  treaty,  the  St. 
Johns  and  St.  Francis  Rivers  were  agreed  upon  as 
the  northern  and  northeastern  boundaries  between 
the  Province  of  Quebec  and  the  State  of  Maine.  The 
state  is  largely  covered  with  pine-trees,  and  most  of 
the  soil  is  almost  worthless  for  cultivation.  A very 
considerable  revenue  is  derived  from  granite  quar- 
ries on  the  seaboard.  There  are  a good  many  Cana- 
dian French  in  the  State,  and  a colony  of  Scandi- 
navians occupy  a tract  by  themselves.  The  Indian 
population  has  not  wholly  disappeared.  The  woods 
still  abound  in  game,  and  many  of  the  streams  are 
still  well-stocked  with  fish.  Portland,  the  chief  city, 
is  an  important  seaport.  Augusta,  the  capital,  is 
little  more  than  a village.  The  state  has  reason  to  be 
proud  of  one  great  statesman  to  whom  it  gave  birth, 
Pitt  Fessenden,  and  a still  greater,  who  is  a native 
of  Pennsylvania,  but  for  many  years  a citizen  of 
Maine,  J ames  Gr.  Blaine,  the  fourth  great  parliamen- 
tary leader  the  United  States  has  produced,  Clay, 
Douglas  and  Thaddeus  Stevens  being  the  other 
members  of  the  quartet.  It  gave  birth  and  educa- 
tion to  America’s  laureate,  Henry  Wadsworth  Long- 
fellow. Bowdoin  College,  from  which  he  graduated, 
was  founded  in  1794,  and  has  long  ranked  among 
the  more  illustrious  higher  institutions  of  learning 
in  the  country.  It  is  in  the  forests  of  Maine  that 
the  moose  must  be  sought.  That  state  became  fa- 
mous in  1851  for  its  stringent  prohibitory  liquor  law, 
to  which  it  has  tenaciously  held  ever  since. 


The  early  history  of  Maryland  belongs  to  the  colo- 
nial period.  The  boundary  line  between  that  colo- 
ny and  Pennsylvania,  run  in  1750  by  the  two  com- 
missioners, Mason  and  Dixon,  settled  a long  and 
troublesome  dispute.  The  term  “ Mason  and  Dix- 
on’s line  ” came  afterwards  to  be  used  to  designate 
the  boundary  between  the  free  and  slave  terri- 
tory throughout  the  United  States.  In  the  war  for 
independence  the  “Maryland  line”  bore  conspicuous 
and  effective  part.  In  the  late  war  the  state  would 
doubtless  have  cast  in  its  lot  with  the  South  had  not  its 
chief  city,  Baltimore,  been  placed  under  military  su- 
pervision. Many  of  its  sons  joined  the  Confederate 
army.  The  great  battle  of  Antietam  was  fought  on 
the  soil  of  Maryland.  Slavery  was  abolished  by 
constitutional  law  in  1864.  Baltimore  is  a very  im- 
portant seaport,  not  only  for  this  state,  but  for  the 
South  and  West.  The  Baltimore  & Ohio  railroad, 
one  of  the  great  trunk  lines  of  the  country,  has  that 
city  for  its  eastern  terminus.  A little  more  than 
one-lialf  the  state  is  under  cultivation,  grain  and 
tobacco  being  the  chief  productions.  Bituminous 
coal  is  found  in  the  northwestern  portion  of  the 
state,  and  in  small  quantities  gold  and  silver.  The 
climate  is  delightfully  mild.  The  oysters  of  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  form  an  important  source  of  reve- 
nue. Annapolis  is  the  capital. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


Of  all  the  states  in  the  Union  none  has  had  greater 
prominence  in  American  history  than  Massachu- 
setts. The  early  American  chapters  were  largely 
occupied  with  its  establishment  and  growth.  From 
its  first  settlement  to  date  its  importance  has  been 
maintained.  Beginning  this  record  with  the  emer- 


<5" 


IN- 


STATES AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


gence  of  the  state  from  its  colonial  dependence  we 
find  that  its  first  governor  was  John  Hancock,  elect- 
ed in  1780.  From  1775  to  1780  the  executive  de- 
partment of  the  state  was  in  the  hands  of  The 
Council. 

That  small  yet  great  commonwealth  has  several 
important  rivers,  the  Connecticut,  Merrimack,  Hou- 
satonic  and  Iloosic  being  the  chief.  Along  its 
streams  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  form  water-pow- 


merce  and  wealth,  but  in  the  higher  ranges  of  activ- 
ity there  has  been  no  falling  back.  Among  the 
other  cities  of  the  state  may  be  named  Worcester, 
Lowell,  Cambridge,  Lawrence,  Lynn,  Springfield 
and  Fall  River.  Harvard  College  dates  back  to 
1636  ; Williams  College  to  1793  ; Amherst  to  1827; 
Andover  Theological  Seminary  to  1808,  and  Tuft’s 
College  to  1852.  It  has  a highly  creditable  list  of 
institutions  for  special  education,  such  as  schools  for 


er,  mills  of  almost  every  conceivable  kind  are  found, 
the  manufacturing  interest  being  largely  in  excess 
of  the  agricultural.  Its  great  achievement  in  en- 
gineering is  the  Iloosic  Tunnel,  begun  in  1855,  com- 
pleted in  1874,  at  a cost  of  19,000,000.  But  the 
proudest  achievements  of  the  state  have  been  in  the 
line  of  political  and  intellectual  superiority.  In  the 
cause  of  human  rights  and  mental  improvement  it 
has  always  been  foremost.  Its  list  of  statesmen,  from 
Winthrop  to  Sumner,  is  long,  and  of  its  authors  and 
inventors  is  still  longer  and  more  creditable.  Bos- 
ton lias  indeed  been  eclipsed  by  New  Y ork  in  com- 


TUE  CITY  AND  HARBOR  OF  BOSTON. 

deaf  mutes,  the  blind,  idiots  and  young  criminals. 

This  home  of  the  Puritans  is  gradually  becoming 
the  home  of  the  foreigner.  The  bleak  and  rocky 
farms  of  Massachusetts  are  being  deserted  by  the 
Yankees,  and  going  into  the  hands  of  Irishmen  and 
Canadians  to  an  almost  revolutionary  extent.  There 
are  a few  of  the  original  Indians  left  in  the  state — 
not  far  from  two  thousand,  including  ( lie  niuluttocs 
with  whom  they  have  intermarried.  “Shay’s  Rebell- 
ion” was  a Massachusetts  episode.  It  occurred  in 
1806.  It  was  a popular  uprising  against  the  “boss 
system”  in  state  politics. 


-3\f 


606 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Tlie  first  settlement 


MICHIGAN. 

The  name  of  Michigan  was  derived  from  the  Indian 
words  meaning  Lake  Region, 
was  a Jesuit  mis- 
sion at  the  falls 
of  the  St.  Mary, 

1641.  Detroit  was 
founded  by  the 
French  in  1701. 

The  silver  and 
copper  mines  were 
discovered  and 
worked  as  early  as 
1772.  Michigan 
was  regarded  as  a 

part  of  Canada  university 

during  the  Revolutionary  W ar.  Its  status  after  peace 
had  been  declared  was  uncertain  until  1796,  when 
England  ceded  it  to  the  United  States,  and  it 


held  that  position  and  was  also  military  command- 
er when,  early  in  the  war  of  1812,  the  British 
demanded  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  to  which  he 
yielded,  for  which  he  was  severely  censured,  and 
from  which  the  city  was  rescued  by  the  victory  of 
Lake  Erie  (Commodore  Perry),  in  1813.  General 
Lewis  Cass  was  soon  after  appointed  governor  of  the 
territory.  Michigan  was  admitted  into  the  U nion  in 
1837.  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw 
divide  the  state  into  two  peninsulas,  the  lower  and 

the  upper.  The 

latter  comprises 
about  one-third  of 
the  state,  and  is 
rich  in  copper, 
lead,  iron  and 
timber ; the  for- 
mer is  devoted 
to  agriculture. 
Michigan  is  not 
a prairie  state.  It 
was  made  arable 

of  Michigan.  by  the  same  hard 

process  as  the  Eastern  States.  Forests  had  to  be  felled 
and  roots  of  trees  grubbed  out.  The  farms  are  usual- 
ly small  and  carefully  tilled.  The  farmers  raise  a 


VIEW  OF  GRAND  RAPIDS 

formed  a part  of  the  Northwest  Territory  from 
that  time  until  1800,  when  it  was  included  in  In- 
diana. Michigan  Territory  was  organized  in  1805, 
and  General  Hull  appointed  first  governor.  He 


great  variety  of  products,  and  in  the  aggregate  real- 
ize handsome  returns  for  their  industry.  Lansing 
is  the  capital,  and  Detroit  and  Grand  Rapids  are  its 
chief  cities.  The  State  University,  at  Ann  Arbor, 


FT 


■i 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


ranks  with  Yale,  Harvard,  and  Cornell,  as  a really 
great  seat  of  learning.  It  lias  several  flourishing 
denominational  colleges  also.  It  has  furnished  one 
poet  of  very  considerable  reputation,  Will  M.  Carle- 

ton. 


MINNESOTA. 

Minnesota  is  very  largely  peopled  by  Scandina- 
vians, and  in  view  of  its  great  staple  might  well 


607 


in  1823.  A Swiss  settlement  was  effected  near  there 
a short  time  after.  The  territory  was  organized  by 
Congress  in  1849,  with  Alexander  Ramsey,  who  was 
Secretary  of  War  under  President  Hayes,  as  first 
governor.  It  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a state 
in  1858. 

In  1862  occurred  the  horrible  Sioux  massa- 
cre, in  which  not  less  than  1,000  whites,  mostly 
women  and  children,  were  killed.  The  Sioux  were 
removed  from  the  state,  aud  no  trouble  has  since 
been  experienced  from  the  aborigines.  There  are 
many  friendly  Chippewas  still  in  Minnesota.  St. 
Paul  and  Minneapolis,  only  a few  miles  apart,  are 
both  large  and  rapidly  growing  cities,  the  former 
being  more  commercial,  and  the  latter  more  devoted 


VIEW  OF  ST.  PAUL. 


Id 


r 


4 


have  been  called  Wheatland.  Its  name  was  bor- 
rowed from  that  of  one  of  the  rivers  which  drain 
the  southwest  portion  of  it.  Minnesota  has  a navi- 
gable water-line  of  about  15,000  miles.  It  abounds 
in  beautiful  lakes.  The  state  has  a length  from 
north  to  south  of  380  miles,  and  a width  of  337 
miles,  extending  from  Iowa  to  Canada  one  way,  and 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Missouri  the  other.  The 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  to  which  Minneapolis  with  its 
flouring  mills  and  saw  mills  is  indebted  for  its 
growth,  were  discovered  by  Hennepin,  a French 
Jesuit,  in  1680.  A fur-trading  post  was  established 
there,  but  the  traders  gradually  lapsed  into  the 
surrounding  barbarism.  The  first  steamboat  ascend- 
ed the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  Fallsof  St.  Anthony 


to  manufactures.  Duluth  has  great  expectations. 
St.  Paul  is  the  capital. 


MISSISSIPPI. 


That  part  of  Mississippi  now  known  as  the  Great 
Yazoo  Bottoms  was  visited  by  Do  Soto  in  1539. 

He  is  supposed  to  have  remained  there  about  a year. 

That  region  is  still  largely  undeveloped.  A territory  i 
bearing  the  name  of  Mississippi  was  organized  in 

I 1*> 




6o8 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


1798,  but  it  was  by  no  means  the  present  state  bear- 
ing that  name.  Its  boundaries  were  fixed  as  now  in 
1817,  when  it  was  admitted  as  a state.  It  was  one 
of  the  first  states  to  secede,  and  did  not  regain  state 
rights  until  1870.  Nearly  all  of  its  area  is  capable 
of  cultivation,  but  only  a small  part  is  actually  im- 
proved. It  is  densely  wooded.  Cotton  is  the  great 
staple.  The  state  is  well  adapted  to  general  farm 
products,  including  livestock.  Jackson  is  the  cap- 
ital and  Vicksburg  the  chief  city.  It  has  produced 


south,  stretches  the  great  State  of  Missouri.  Its 
chief  city,  St.  Louis,  grew  out  of  a fur-trading  post, 
and  as  early  as  1775  had  acquired  considerable  prom- 
inence. After  the  Louisiana  purchase  and  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Territory  of  Orleans  the  unorgan- 
ized portion  of  the  purchased  possession  was  known 
as  the  District  of  Louisiana,  and  in  1805  as  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Louisiana,  with  St.  Louis  as  its  capital. 
The  name  was  changed  to  Missouri  in  1812.  It  ap- 
plied for  admission  to  the  Union  as  early  as  1817. 


. e>. 

^7 


VTEW  OP 

only  one  man  of  great  note,  Jefferson  Davis,  the  first 
and  only  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


MISSOURI. 

With  Illinois  on  the  east,  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
on  the  west,  Iowa  on  the  north,  and  Arkansas  on  the 


ST.  LOUIS. 

The  contest  over  slavery  to  which  that  application 
led  is  already  known  to  the  reader.  Like  Kansas,  it 
occasioned  controversy  and  conflict,  but  unlike  its 
border  state,  it  was  not  the  actual  field  of  conflict. 
Immigration  came  in  accordance  with  the  nat- 
ural progress  of  events,  and  there  was  no  clashing 
between  the  representatives  of  different  sections. 
The  Southern  element  predominated  and  Missouri 
became  a slave  state,  without,  however,  being  wholly 
dependent  upon  slave-labor.  On  the  contrary,  the 
state  was  always  indebted  to  free  white  labor  for  its 
development.  TV  hen  the  civil  war  came,  the  people 
were  very  nearly  evenly  divided  in  sympathy.  It 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


never  seceded,  but  many  of  its  citizens  were  to  be 
found  in  both  armies.  For  the  most  part  Missouri 
is  very  rich  soil.  The  iron  deposits  are  of  incalcula- 
ble value.  Copper  is  found,  but  not  in  quantities  to 
compete  with  the  Lake  Superior  Region.  The  coal 
supply  is  abundant.  Lead  is  mined  in  immense 
quantities.  The  timber  of  the  state  is  excellent  and 
abundant.  The  products  of  the  state  embrace  the 
usual  cereals,  also  tobacco  and  grapes.  The  latter  are 
raised  in  large  quantities  and  the  wine  manufactured 


by  Wyoming  and  Idaho,  and  on  the  west  by  Idaho. 
It  is  well  named,  but  its  mountains  abound  in  nutri- 
tious grasses  and  rich  beds  of  gold  and  silver.  The  cli- 
mate is  milder  than  that  in  the  states  further  east 
and  on  the  same  lines  of  latitude.  The  placer-dig- 
gings have  yielded  richly,  and  the  quartz  mines  are 
now  being  developed  to  great  profit.  The  territory 
was  organized  in  18G4.  Virginia  City  is  the  capital, 
but  Helena  is  the  chief  city.  Fort  Benton,  the  head 
of  navigation  on  the  Missouri  River,  is  in  Montana. 


forms  a prominent  brand  in  the  market.  Jefferson 
City  is  the  capital.  Kansas  City  is  often  called  a 
second  Chicago.  It  is  greatly  prosperous.  Missouri 
has  a good  common  school  system,  but  gangs  of 
rough  outlaws  infest  the  western  part  of  the  state 
and  commit  train  robberies  with  impunity,  shel- 
tered by  the  dense  forests  and  the  barbarism  of 
the  sparse  settlers.  The  only  great  name  in  the  an- 
nals of  Missouri  is  that  of  Thomas  II.  Benton, 
thirty  years  senator  from  that  state. 


MONTANA  TERRITORY. 

Montana  Territory  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
British  America,  on  the  east  by  Dakota,  on  the  south 


In  its  sheltered  valleys  immense  herds  of  cattle  and 
flocks  of  sheep  are  grazed  the  year  round,  and  to 
much  profit.  What  was  formerly  a hunting-ground 
for  trappers  and  hunters  is  now  about  equally  di- 
vided between  mining  and  herding. 


NEBRASKA. 

By  the  terms  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  slavery 
could  have  been  extended  to  Kansas,  but  not  to 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


6lO 


Nebraska.  The  latter  was  therefore  the  bone  of 
contention  upon  the  original  reopening  of  the  ques- 
tion of  “squatter  sovereignty.”  In  the  progress  of 
events,  however,  it  was  almost  lost  sight  of,  and  has 
never  shared  in  the  benefits  derived  by  Kansas  from 
political  notoriety.  In  the  far  West  the  rainfall  is 
inadequate,  but  the  quantity  is  gradually  increasing. 
The  majestic  Platte  and  Niabrara  are  its  chief 
rivers,  and  there  are  numerous  streams.  The  live- 
stock of  Nebraska  is  the  main  reliance  of  the  far- 
mers for  income.  The  cost  of  marketing  grain  in  its 
natural  form  is  such  as  to  render  it  impracticable  to 
rely  upon  grain-raising  alone.  The  territory  was 
created  at  the  same  time  that  Kansas  was,  1854, 
but  it  was  not  admitted  into  the  Union  until  1867. 
Lincoln  is  the  capital,  and  Omaha  its  principal  city. 
There  are  several  Indian  reservations  in  the  State. 
There  is  some  coal  in  the  State,  but  the  strata  for 
the  most  part  are  too  thin  to  be  worked  with  profit. 


NEVADA. 


Nevada  is  an  offshot  from  California.  It  is  a 
rugged  mining  region  with  Oregon  and  Idaho  on 
the  north,  Utah  and  Arizona  on  the  east,  and  Cali- 
fornia on  the  west.  The  State  is  wedge-shaped^ 
running  to  a peak  in  the  south.  Of  all  the  states  in 
the  Union  Nevada  is  most  dependent  upon  its  gold 
and  silver  resources  for  wealth.  'I' he  re  is  a little  good 
agricultural  land  within  its  border,  but  not  much. 
The  silver  and  gold  are  found  together,  the  former 
in  great  abundance.  The  famous  Comstock  lode,  or 
vein,  is  in  Nevada.  From  it  was  taken  in  one  year  as 
high  as  $22,000,000.  The  Sutro  Tunnel  penetrates 
that  vein.  Virginia  City  and  Gold  Hill  are  mining 
camps  grown  into  cities  above  the  Comstock,  and 
in  consequence  of  it.  Nevada  was  organized  as  a 
territory  in  1861,  and  admitted  as  a state  in  1864. 
In  population  it  is  the  least  of  all  the  states.  Carson 
City  is  the  capital.  From  the  standpoints  of  church 
and  school,  Nevada  cannot  be  said  to  make  a favor- 
able exhibit.  From  the  standpoint  of  crime,  how- 
ever, the  exhibit  is  highly  favorable  to  the  miners. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

The  first  settlement  within  New  Hampshire  was 
made  at  Portsmouth  in  1623.  Its  growth  was  slow. 
In  1714  it  only  had  eight  towns,  and  they  were  very 
small.  Colonially  it  had  a varied  political  expe- 
rience. Much  of  the  time  it  was  a part  of  Massa- 
chusetts; later  it  belonged  to  New  York,  and  final- 
ly it  was  a separate  colony.  When  it  separated  from 
New  York  the  region  now  comprising  Vermont  was 
in  dispute  and  was  known  as  the  “ New  Hampshire 
Grants.”  Concord  was  made  the  capital  in  1807, 
and  so  remains.  Manchester  is  the  largest  city  in 
the  state  ; Portsmouth  its  only  seaboard.  Its  most 
notable  features  are  Mount  Washington,  or  the  White 
Mountains,  and  Dartmouth  College.  The  grand 
and  sublime  scenery  of  its  mountains  attract  sum- 
mer tourists  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and 
Dartmouth,  established  in  1770,  is  in  reality  a uni- 
versity,ample  in  all  its  educational  provisions.  The 
land  of  the  state  is  poor,  much  of  it  absolutely  worth- 
less. About  three-fifths  of  the  state  is  included  in 
farm  lands.  The  climate  is  very  cold.  Some  iron 
is  found  in  paying  quantities ; also  mica,  isinglass 
and  graphite.  Building  granite  is  an  important 
source  of  revenue.  There  are  several  thrifty  manu- 
facturing towns  in  New  Hampshire.  The  state  has 
given  birth  to  several  great  men,  the  most  famous 
of  her  sons  being  Daniel  Webster. 


NEW  JERSEY. 

New  Jersey  has  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  east  and 
the  States  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware 
on  its  north,  west  and  south.  In  the  southeast  are 
large  marshes,  and  so  there  are  on  the  Jersey  side 
of  the  Hudson  Kiver.  Three  mountain  ranges  traverse 
the  state.  But  there  is  a very  considerable  area  of  ex- 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


6l  I 


cellent  agricultural  land.  It  is  under  a high  state 
of  cultivation.  There  are  several  important  manu- 
facturing towns,  Newark,  Jersey  City,  and  Pater- 
son being  the  chief.  Trenton  is  the  capital.  The 
state  is  largely  a suburb  of  New  York  City.  Its 
early  history  as  New  Sweden  belongs  to  the  colonial 
period.  New  Jersey,  as  a distinct  colony  bearing 
that  name,  dates  from  1708.  Its  first  royal  gov- 
ernor was  Louis  Morris,  and  its  last,  William  Frank- 
lin, natural  son  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  a pro- 
nounced Tory.  He  was  appointed  in  1763.  A 
state  constitution  was  adopted  July  2,  1776,  under 
which  the  state  was 
governed  until  1844. 

Gov.  Franklin  was 
deposed  and  sentwitli- 
in  the  British  lines. 

During  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  New  Jer- 
sey suffered  severely, 
but  its  patriotism  nev- 
er faltered.  Female 
suffrage  prevailed 
there  until  1807.  The 
state  has  numerous 
higher  schools  of 
learning,  two  of  which 
were  founded  in  the 
eighteenth  century, 
namely,  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  at  Prince- 
ton, 1740,  and  Rutgers 
College,  New  Bruns- 
wick, 1770.  Both  are  now  universities,  and  the 
former  is  very  richly  endowed. 

NEW  MEXICO. 

New  Mexico  was  visited  by  the  devastating  Span- 
iards before  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It 
had  quite  an  advanced  native  civilization,  Aztec  or 
Toltec.  The  destroying  visitors  cared  only  for  gold 
and  silver,  and  that  region  abounds  in  both.  Aban- 
doned mines  attest  the  operations  of  long  ago. 
When  the  republic  of  Mexico  ceded  a large  part  of 
its  territory  to  the  United  States,  New  Mexico  was 
included.  It  had  been  conquered  by  Gen.  Kearney 
in  1848.  He  raised  the  American  llag  over  Santa 
Fe,  then  as  now  its  chief  town.  The  territory  was 
organized  in  1850.  Slavery  was  recognized  and 


protected  in  1859,  but  hi  1861  it  was  abolished,  and 
with  it  peonage,  a modified  system  of  slavery  which 
had  existed  there  for  two  and  a half  centuries.  The 
population  is  still  mainly  Indian  and  Mexican. 
The  language  employed  in  legislative  debate  is  the 
Spanish.  Gradually  the  influx  of  miners  and  cat- 
tle-men from  the  North  and  East  is  Americanizing 
the  territory.  The  herding  business  is  carried  on 
upon  a large  scale,  and  very  rich  mines  have  been 
so  far  developed  as  to  establish  their  high  grade. 
The  climate  varies  widely.  In  the  vicinity  of  Santa 
Fe  the  great  altitude  renders  the  winters  severe. 

Very  little  rain  falls 
in  that  region.  The 
Apache  Indians  hin- 
der development  by 
their  cruel  hostilities ; 
but  the  Pueblos  are  a 
peaceable  and  some- 
what civilized  people. 
Theymaintain  schools 
and  have  been  de- 
cided by  the  courts  to 
be  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  They 
are  not  disposed  to 
avail  themselves  of 
the  rights  of  citizens, 
preferring  to  adhere 
closely  to  their  tradi- 
tional tribal  or  village 
form  of  government. 
The  Puebjos  are  less 
in  the  way  of  civilization,  in  that  remote  region, 
than  are  the  Mexicans,  called  “Greasers.” 


NEW  YORK. 

New  York  is  the  Empire  State  of  the  Union,  first 
in  population  and  wealth,  but  it  is  not  much  over 
one-third  the  size  of  New  Mexico.  It  has  a small 
strip  of  Canada  on  the  north,  but  for  the  most  part 
its  north  and  west  boundaries  are  the  St.  Lawrence 
River  and  Lake  Ontario  with  Lake  Champlain,  and 


76 


6l2 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


the  States  of  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  and  Con- 
necticut along  the  east,  and  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania  along  the  south.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  John  Brown  tract  of  the  Adirondacks  the 
greater  part  of  the  state  is  capable  of  and  actually 
under  a high  state  of  cultivation.  In  the  northeast 
iron  ore  is  found  in  paying  quantities,  and  lumber- 
ing is  conducted  upon  a large  scale. 

It  is  a great  dairying  state.  It  has  two  col- 
leges dating  back  to  the  eighteenth  century, 
Columbia,  formerly  King’s  College,  New  York 
City,  1754,  and  Union  College,  Schenectady,  1795; 
but  it  was  not  until  Cornell  University  was  estab- 
lished, 1868,  that  the  state  could  boast  a really  great 


university.  The  great  name  in  the  history  of  New 
York  is  Clinton.  It  appears  among  the  list  of  roy- 
al governors  (1743-1753)  and  twice  among  the  state 
governors.  The  great  Clinton  was  De  Witt,  the 
father  of  the  Erie  Canal.  He  was  governor  of  the 
state  sixteen  years.  His  prescience  and  energy 
secured  for  New  York  City  a connection  with  the 
Northwest,  by  a canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hud- 
son River,  which  gave  it  a pre-eminence  over  Bos- 
ton, Philadelphia,  and  all  other  possible  rivals. 
Among  its  statesmen  of  renown  were  also  Hamilton, 
Jay,  Van  Buren,  Marcy  and  Seward,  the  least  of 
them  all,  Van  Buren,  being  the  only  one  to  realize 
the  great  goal  of  American  ambition. 

This  great  state  is  noted  for  its  prosperous  cities. 
Its  greatest  city  bearing  the  same  name  as  the  state, 
is  the  commercial  and  financial  capital  of  the  New 
World,  surely  destined  to  rival  London.  It  dates 


from  1614.  Its  first  name  was  New  Amsterdam. 
Originally  a sleepy  Dutch  town,  it  had  only  about 
60,000  inhabitants  when  this  century  began.  It  now 
has  more  Irish  than  Dublin  and  more  Yankees  than 
Boston.  It  has  a history  which  is,  in  the  main, 
highly  creditable.  But  in  1872  there  was  disclosed 
a condition  of  corruption  in  its  government  unpar- 
alleled in  municipal  politics  anywhere  or  at  any 
time.  That  was  known  as  the  “ Tweed  Ring.”  After 
years  of  persistent  effort  reform  was  effected,  the 
leader  of  the  ring  brought  to  justice,  and  a reign  of 
comparative  integrity  established. 

Brooklyn  is  the  second  city  in  size.  It  is  just 
across  the  river  from  New  York,  of  which  it  is  a 


suburb.  It  is  almost  entirely  composed  of  resi- 
dences, the  men  of  Brooklyn  being  occupied  in  New 
York  during  the  day.  It  is  sometimes  called  The 
City  of  Churches.  Its  most  popular  preacher  is 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  but  it  has  many  great  preach- 
ers and  large  and  well-filled  houses  of  worship.  Buff- 
alo, the  head  of  lake  navigation,  has  been  an  import- 
ant city  ever  since  the  Erie  Canal  was  constructed.  It 
is  opulent  and  beautiful.  Rochester  owes  its  existence 
to  inexhaustible  water-power,  the  richness  of  the  Gen- 
esee Valley,  and  the  Erie  Canal.  Of  late  years  it  has 
been  famous  for  the  excellence  of  its  adjacent  seed 
farms  and  nurseries.  The  soil  and  climate  of  that 
portion  of  New  York  are  admirably  adapted  to  both 
vegetable  raising  and  fruit  growing.  Syracuse  owes  its 
existence  and  prosperity  to  its  salt-works  which 
yield  at  least  7,000,000  bushels  yearly.  The  other 
manufactures  of  that  city  are  numerous  and  prosper- 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


ous.  Albany,  the  capital  of  the  state,  is  an  old  and 
populous  city,  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Hud- 
son River.  Five  miles  above  it  is  Troy,  which  is  a 
great  center  for  stove  manufactures  and  lumber. 
Utica,  Lockport,  Binghamton,  Elmira,  Auburn, 
Poughkeepsie,  Oswego,  Saratoga  Springs,  Ogdens- 
burg,  Yonkers,  Newburg,  Schenectady,  Rome,  East 
New  York,  Kingston,  Cohoes  and  Flushing  are 
thrifty  minor  cities.  But  with  all  its  urban  splendor, 
the  State  of  New  York  is  greatest  and  best  as 
the  home  of  a vast  and  highly  intelligent  agricult- 
ural population. 


NORTH  CAROLINA. 

North  Carolina  claims  to  have  sounded  the  key- 
note of  American  Independence,  and  the  claim  lias 
foundation.  The  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence dates  back  more  than  a year  prior  to  the 
declaration  adopted  by  the  Continental  Congress. 
It  was  hi  effect  a petition  to  Congress  in  favor  of 
nationality.  The  action  of  Congress  was  ratified 
by  North  Carolina  in  less  than  a month.  A state 
organization  was  effected  in  December  following. 
The  constitution  of  the  United  States  was  rejected 
by  North  Carolina  once,  but  later  it  concurred  in  its 
ratification.  The  secession  movement  found  the 
“ Old  North”  much  divided  in  sympathy,  and  it  re- 
quired several  efforts  to  secure  a vote  in  favor  of 
secession.  The  ordinance  was  passed  in  May,  1861. 
The  state  was  restored  to  the  Union  in  the  summer 
of  1868.  Its  principal  city  is  Wilmington  on  the 
seaboard.  Raleigh  is  the  capital.  Before  the  war 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  founded  at  Chapel 
Hill,  in  1793,  was  a flourishing  institution,  but  it 
has  been  feeble  ever  since.  It  was  closed  from  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  until  1875.  The  state  produces 
rice,  tobacco,  cotton,  peanuts,  tar  and  turpen- 
tine. Before  the  discovery  of  the  California  mines 
its  gold-mines  were  worked  to  a considerable  ex- 
tent. Coal  and  iron  are  abundant  in  some  por- 
tions of  the  state,  but  the  people  are  sadly  lacking 
in  energy. 


Oregon  is  the  most  remote  state  of  the  Union,  and 
the  least  frequented.  It  is  between  the  parallels  of 
42°  and  46°  18' of  latitude,  and  longitudes  116°  33' 
and  124°  25'.  The  voyage  from  San  Francisco  to 
Portland,  its  commercial  capital,  as  Salem  is  its  po- 
litical, is  long  and  dangerous.  The  state  has  three 
well-defined  divisions,  the  western,  middle  and  east- 
ern. The  western  or  coast  division  is  well  watered 
and  arable ; the  middle  division  is  arid  and  uninvit- 
ing, and  the  eastern  abounds  in  high  mountains  and 
fertile  valleys.  The  best  part  of  the  state  is  the  de- 
lightful Willamette  Valley.  Considerable  gold  has 
been  washed  from  the  sands  of  Oregon  and  some 
quartz-mining  carried  on.  It  is  an  excellent  coun- 
try for  wheat  and  livestock.  It  has  several  colleges, 
the  Pacific  being  the  oldest  and  the  Willamette  the 
largest.  The  Territory  of  Oregon  was  organized  in 
1849,  including  then  the  present  Territory  of  Wash- 
ington. Ten  years  later  it  was  admitted  as  a state. 
The  war  with  the  Modoc  Indians  in  1872  was  fought 
within  the  limits  of  Oregon. 


OHIO. 

Ohio  was  once  peopled  by  Indians  possessing  some 
civilization.  They  lived  by  bread,  rather  than  game, 
and  cultivated  the  soil  in  preference  to  following  the 
trail.  They  built  mounds  which  still  attest  theii 
skill  in  engineering  and  the  largeness  of  t heir  con- 
ceptions. But  by  the  time  the  region  began  to  bo 
settled  by  white  pioneers  the  inhabitants  were  sav- 
ages, with  only  faint  traces  of  civilization.  1 he  first 
settlement  was  made  at  Marietta  in  1 i8.s  by  a colony 
from  New  England.  Cincinnati  was  founded  later  m 
the  same  year.  Virginia,  Massachusetts,  New  ^ ork 
and  Connecticut  all  laid  claim  to  the  country,  the  for- 


6 14 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


mer  having  the  best  claim,  the  latter  the  least.  They 
all  surrendered  their  claims,  except  Connecticut, which 
held  on,  partially,  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Ohio, 
known  as  the  Western  Reserve.  The  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory was  organized  in  1788,  with  General  St.  Clair 
who  had  been  President  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  as  first  governor.  The  ordinance  es- 
tablishing the  Territory  forever  prohibited  slavery, 
and  set  apart  for  educational  purposes  a portion  of 
the  public  domain,  on  a policy  which  has  always  been 


dependence  of  the  people.  In  some  portions  of  the 
state  grapes  are  raised  in  immense  quantities,  espe- 
cially in  the  vicinity  of  lake  Erie.  There  is  a great 
deal  of  manufacturing  industry.  The  large  cities, 
Cincinnati  and  Cleveland  especially,  are  extensively 
engaged  in  all  sorts  of  manufactures  using  iron  and 
wood.  The  state  has  a very  large  number  of  col- 
leges, most  of  them  merely  academies,  Oberlin  and 
Antioch  being  best  known.  The  state  has  produced 
some  eminent  men,  Thomas  Corwin,  the  great  ora- 


VIEW  OP  CINCINNATI. 


adhered  to  in  the  organization  of  territories.  The 
state,  under  the  name  of  Ohio,  was  admitted  to  the 
Union  in  1803.  Prom  a geographical  point  of  view 
Kansas  is  the  central  state  of  the  Union,  but  in 
practical  matters  Ohio  is  really  the  central  state. 
It  is  rich  and  prosperous  in  a pre-eminent  degree. 
It  has  no  mountains,  neither  is  it  a prairie  state.  It 
is  a rolling  tableland,  admirably  adapted,  for  the 
most  part,  to  agriculture.  It  abounds  in  coal,  and 
in  the  southern  part  are  found  immense  deposits  of 
iron.  Petroleum  has  also  been  found  in  large  quan- 
tities. Wheat,  corn  and  livestock  are  the  main 


tor,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  statesman  and  jurist,  Joshua 
It.  Giddings,  statesman,  and  James  A.  Garfield,  sol- 
dier and  statesman.  It  is  also  the  home  of  Ex-Presi- 
dent Hayes  and  the  birthplace  of  the  three  great 
soldiers  of  the  Union,  Grant,  Sherman  and  Sheridan. 
Columbus  is  the  capital.  Politically  it  is  almost 
evenly  divided,  but  generally  goes  Republican.  The 
native  American  element  is  largely  composed  of 
New  Englanders,  or  descendants  of  the  Puritans. 
Between  this  part  of  the  population  and  the  large 
German  element  there  is  a sharp  antagonism  on 
sumptuary  and  Sabbatic  legislation. 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


In  importance,  historical  and  actual, the  great  State 
of  Pennsylvania  is  the  peer  of  Virginia,  Massachu- 
setts and  New  York.  It  has  a large  area  and  the  re- 
gions not  adapted  to  agriculture  abound  in  coal,plati- 


is  the  capital.  The  Wyoming  Valley  is  picturesque, 
fertile  and  populous.  Philadelphia  was,  for  the 
most  part,  the  capital  of  the  country  during  the 
period  of  struggle  with  England.  The  great  battle 
of  Gettysburg  was  fought  on  the  soil  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  state  is  more  famous  for  its  prominence 
in  public  affairs  and  for  its  wealth  than  for  its  influ- 
ence upon  the  intellectual  development  of  the  nation. 
In  the  domain,  however,  of  professional  treatises, 
legal  and  medical,  especially  the  latter,  it  has  excelled. 
Girard  College,  the  munificent  gift  of  Stephen  Gi- 
rard, is  the  most  notable  of  its  institutions.  It  has 


GIRARD  AVENUE  BRIDGE.  PHILADELPHIA. 


num  or  iron,  which  greatly  enhance  the  value  of  the 
surrounding  arable  land.  Nearly  70  per  cent,  of  the 
entire  land  area  of  the  state  is  under  cultivation, 
including  the  fenced  woodland.  Anthracite  coal  is 
a Pennsylvania  monopoly.  From  twenty-five  to 
thirty  millions  of  tons  are  consumed  every  year,  all 
from  a few  eastern  counties.  In  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania bituminous  coal  is  found  and  mined.  Petro- 
leum is  found  in  a few  places  in  Ohio,  and  a little 
in  New  York,  but  the  supply  nearly  all  comes  from 
Western  Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia,  once  the  most 
important  city  on  the  continent,  is  now  second  only 
to  New  York.  It  is  largely  devoted  to  manufactur- 
ing now.  Pittsburgh  in  the  western  portion  of  the 
state  is  the  iron  capital  of  the  country.  Harrisburg 


an  endowment,  including  the  cost  of  the  buildings, 
of  $2,000,000.  The  oldest  college  in  the  state  is 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  which  dates  from 
1749.  Like  Girard  College,  it  is  located  at  Phila- 
delphia. When  the  Revolutionary  War  began,  that 
city  was  an  important  center  of  scientific  research, 
David  Rittenhouse  being  hardly  less  famous  at  that 
time  for  his  astronomical  observations  and  calcula- 
tions than  Franklin  for  his  experiments  in  electricity. 
Political  and  military  exigencies  arrested  scientific 
progress.  There  are  sections  of  the  country  where 
the  inhabitants  speak  only  German,  although  their 
ancestors  came  to  this  country  several  generations 
ago.  They  are  called  Dunkers.  They  are  simple  in 
habits  and  singularly  free  from  vice  and  indigence. 


G) 


6 16  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Rhode  Island  is  the  smallest  state  in  the  Union, 
but  Narragansett  Bay  extends  in  such  a way  as  to 
give  the  state  a water  frontage  of  350  miles.  The 
soil  is  not  very  good.  About  one-fourth  of  it  is  still 
covered  with  forests.  The  state  is  largely  devoted 
to  manufactures,  more  especially  cotton,  woolen 
and  worsted  goods,  also  jewelry.  Providence  is  its 
leading  city.  Newport  is  famous  as  a summer  resort 
for  the  wealthy  of  New  York,  Boston  and  other  parts 
of  the  country.  Its  villas  are  noted  for  their  elegance 
and  luxury.  Newport  aspired,  a century  ago,  to  rivalry 
in  commercial  importance  with  Boston  and  New 
York.  The  commodore  appointed  by  the  Continental 
Congress  to  take  charge  of  the  American  navy  was 
Hopkins  of  Rhode  Island.  Paul  Jones  was  a Rhode 
Islander.  So  too  was  General  Greene,  one  of  the 
bravest  and  ablest  of  the  Revolutionary  generals. 
The  state  was  the  last  of  the  thirteen  to  accept  the 
national  constitution,  not  coming  into  the  Union 
until  May  29,  1790.  In  the  war  of  1812  a Rhode 
Islander  won  renown,  Commodore  Perry,  and  most 
of  his  men  were  from  the  same  state.  In  both  wars 
with  England  Rhode  Island  privateers  rendered  im- 
portant service.  The  constitution  of  the  state  re- 
stricts suffrage  to  property  holders  and  tax  payers  or 
those  who  may  have  performed  military  service  dur- 
ing the  year.  The  legislature  meets  twice  a year. 
Brown  University  is  the  only  college  in  the  state. 
It  dates  from  1765.  It  is  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Baptist  denomination,  and  is  liberally  endowed  mid 
largely  patronized. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

South  Carolina  is  triangular  in  shape,  lying  be- 
tween North  Carolina,  Georgia,  Tennessee  and  the 


Atlantic  Ocean.  It  has  an  area  of  34,000  square 
miles.  It  is  well  adapted  to  grain-raising  and  cot- 
ton-planting. The  islands  along  the  coast  are  nu- 
merous and  produce  peculiarly  good  cotton.  Rice 
is  raised  on  a very  large  scale  in  the  lowlands  of  the 
state.  The  palmetto,  a species  of  the  palm,  is  the 
distinguishing  tree  of  the  state.  There  are  three 
ports  of  entry  in  South  Carolina,  Charleston,  Beau- 
fort and  Georgetown.  The  former  was  once  a more 
important  city  than  Philadelphia  or  New  York, 
but  it  lost  its  pre-eminence  long  ago.  Columbia 
is  the  capital,  and  it  is  there  that  the  State 
University,  the  only  prosperous  higher  institution  of 
learning  in  the  state,  is  located.  South  Carolina 
was  effective  in  support  of  the  patriot  cause  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  prompt  to  ratify  the  constitu- 
tion and  join  in  cementing  the  Union,  but  it  was  the 
first  state  to  secede.  In  1833  it  attempted  to  break 
up  theUnionandon  the  very  day  that  President  Lin- 
coln was  elected  the  governor  of  the  state  issued  a 
call  for  a meeting  of  the  legislature  for  the  purpose 
of  seceding.  The  ordinance  of  secession  was  passed 
December  20,  1860,  and  in  June,  1868,  the  state  was 
restored  to  the  Union. 


TENNESSEE. 

Tennessee  first  conies  to  view  as  Washington 
County,  North  Carolina,  in  the  Revolutionary  period. 
In  1785  the  settlers  concluded  to  organize  as  a state 
under  the  name  of  Franklin.  North  Carolina  re- 
fused to  sauction  this  movement,  but  in  1789  it 
ceded  the  region  to  the  United  States,  and  the  next 
year  the  Territory  of  Tennessee  was  organized.  In 
1796  it  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a state. 
Knoxville  was  the  first  capital.  The  state  seceded 
in  May,  1861.  It  was  restored  to  the  Union  in 
1866.  The  state  is  well  supplied  with  coal,  iron 
and  marble.  The  latter  is  black,  gray,  red  and 
variegated,  very  beautiful  and  abundant,  but  diffi- 
cult of  access.  The  country  is  uneven,  often  mount- 
ainous, but  the  soil  is  usually  good  and  the  crops 
liberal.  Memphis,  on  the  Mississippi  River,  is  the 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


617 


largest  city  in  the  state,  and  Nashville,  the  capital, 
ranks  next.  The  principal  seat  of  learning  is  Van- 
derbilt University  at  Nashville,  founded  by  Corn- 


tried  to  prevent  the  secession  of  the  state,  but  failed. 
It  went  out  of  the  Union  in  18G1  and  did  not 
get  back  again  until  nine  years  later.  During  the 


modore  Vanderbilt  in  1875.  It  has  an  annual  in- 
come of  $42,000. 


TEXAS. 


From  1827  to  1829  Sam  Houston  was  governor 
of  Tennessee.  He  then  pushed  off  into  the  wilds  of 
the  Southwest  and  was  lost  sight  of.  But  in  183G 
he  came  to  the  front  as  President  of  the  Republic  of 
Texas.  The  year  before  he  had  been  appointed 
commander  of  the  little  army  raised  in  Texas  to 
achieve  independence  of  Mexico.  The  decisive  bat- 
tle was  fought  at  San  Jacinto  in  the  spring  of  183G, 
Santa  Anna  being  taken  prisoner.  He  purchased 
liberty  by  signing  a treaty  acknowledging  the  in- 
dependence of  the  revolting  republic.  The  Lone 
Star,  as  it  was  called,  remained  independent  until 
1846,  when  it  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a 
state,  with  the  privilege  of  forming  five  states.  It 
has  an  area  of  274,365  square  miles.  Gen.  Hous- 
ton represented  the  state  in  the  Senate  many  years, 
and  then  in  1859  was  elected  governor.  He  held 
the  office  when  the  confederacy  was  organized,  and 


last  decade  the  state  has  made  wonderful  progress 
in  population.  Texas  and  Kansas  may  fairly  claim 
unrivaled  pre-eminence  in  this  regard.  The  state 
is  especially  well  adapted  to  herding.  Austin  is  the 
capital  and  Galveston  the  chief  port  011  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  San  Antonio  is  a prosperous  town.  The 
state  has  an  immense  amount  of  land  at  its  dis- 
posal, and  recently  contracted  for  the  erection  of  a 
capitol,  to  be  paid  for  in  land. 


UTAH  TERRITORY. 


Utah  Territory  has  Arizona  on  its  south,  Col- 
orado on  the  east,  Nevada  on  the  west,  Idaho  and 
Wyoming  on  the  north,  lying  mainly  in  the  Wali- 
satoh  basin,  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the 
Sierra  Nevada.  It  lias  numerous  lakes,  none  of 
which  have  any  apparent  outlet,  although  fed  by 
very  considerable  rivers.  One  of  the  bodies  of  water 
contains  twenty-two  per  cent,  of  pure  salt,  and  is 
known  as  Salt  Lake.  No  fish  can  live  in  it.  It  is 
100  miles  long  and  fifty  miles  wide.  But  this  natural 
phenomenon  is  less  remarkable  than  the  ]>ooplc 


k- 


61 8 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


who  constitute  the  main  body  of  the  inhabitants. 
They  are  Mormons,  or  ‘‘Latter-day  Saints,”  be- 
lieving in  polygamy  as  a divine  institution  and 
Joseph  Smith,  a native  of  Vermont,  as  an  inspired 
guide.  They  have  a bible  which  they  received 
through  him.  He  attempted  to  establish  a commu- 
nity in  Nauvoo,  Illinois,  which  should  be  independent 
of  the  state.  He  was  killed  in  1844,  and  his  fol- 
lowers driven  out  of  the  state.  They  crossed  the 
Mississippi  and  pushed  westward  to  Council  Bluffs, 
opposite  Omaha,  intending  to  establish  themselves 
there,  remote  from  white  settlements.  But  after  de- 
liberation and  investigation  it  was  decided  to  leave 
the  United  States  and  found  a theocracy  in  the 
wilds  of  Northern  Mexico.  The  valley  about  Salt 
Lake  was  chosen  as  their  retreat,  and  in  1847  they 
took  up  their  residence  there.  Hardly  had  they 
done  so  before  the  region  became  a part  of  the 
United  States,  and  Congress  organized  the  Terri- 
tory of  Utah.  That 


great  tabernacle  of  the  Mormons,  with  a seating 
capacity  of  7,000  or  8,000.  Utah  is  very  rich  in 
precious  minerals,  but  the  Mormons  confine  their 
industry  to  agriculture.  The  land  has  to  be  irriga- 
ted. The  Mormons  are  very  anxious  to  be  admitted 
as  a state,  thus  escaping  from  Federal  control. 
Utah  has  applied  for  admission  as  Deserett.  Wo- 
men are  allowed  to  vote  in  that  territory. 


Brig- 


was  in  1850. 
ham  Young,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Smith,  was 
made  governor.  He 
held  the  office  four 
years.  Since  then  the 
government  has  ap- 
pointed “gentile”  gov- 
ernors and  there  has 
always  been  bitterness 
between  the  few  gen- 
tile inhabitants  and 
the  Mormons.  The 
latter  number  nearly 
100,000.  In  1857  oc- 
curred the  Mountain 
Meadow  massacre,  by 
which  a large  number 
of  pioneers  on  their 
way  to  California, 
men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, were  slain  by  the  Mormon  “Danites,”  and 
their  Indian  allies.  The  Government  lias  tried  to 
eradicate  polygamy  by  prohibitory  law,  but  without 
success,  and  recruits  are  being  gathered  all  the 
time  from  the  lower  classes  in  England,  Wales,  and 
the  Scandinavian  countries.  The  Territory  derives 
its  name  from  the  Ute  tribe  of  Indians.  Salt  Lake 
City,  the  capital,  is  a thrifty  city.  It  contains  the 


VERMONT. 

Vermont  deserved  to  be  one  of  the  original  thir- 
teen states,  but  was  not  admitted  to  the  Union  until 

March,  1791.  It  be- 
gan to  be  settled  im- 
mediately after  the 
French  war  of  1755 
-58,  by  pioneers  from 
New  Hampshire.  In 
a few  years  there  were 
settlements  from  New 
York,  also  from  Mas- 
sachusetts. From  1777 
until  admitted  to  the 
Union,  Vermont  may 
be  said  to  have  been 
entirely  independent. 
The  people  were  de- 
voted patriots.  Ethan 
Allen  and  Seth  War- 
ner with  their  “Green 
Mountain  Boys,”  dis- 
tinguished themselves 


SALT  LAKE  CITY — Mormon  Temple  on  the  Right 


at  Ticonderoga. 


The 

battle  of  Bennington 
also  attests  the  bravery  of  the  Vermonters.  The 
state  is  almost  wholly  given  to  agriculture ; man- 
ufacturing being  little  cultivated.  The  Green 
Mountains  constitute  its  backbone.  The  state 
has  two  colleges  of  some  standing  among  the  higher 
institutions  of  learning,  the  University  of  Vermont 
at  Burlington,  and  Middlebury  College,  Middlebury. 
Rutland,  St.  Albans  and  St.  Johusbury  are  the 


TT 


3 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


principal  towns  of  the  state,  and  Montpelier  the  cap- 
ital. It  has  the  honor  of  being  represented  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  by  Geo.  F.  Edmunds. 
It  was  the  birthplace  of  the  poet  Saxe. 


VIRGINIA. 

If  no  specific  mention  were  made  in  this  connec- 
tion of  Virginia,  or  the  “ Old  Dominion,”  it  would 


of  breaking  the  political  solidity  of  the  South.  When 
Richmond  ceased  to  be  the  capital  of  the  Confed- 
eracy, and  Lee  gave  up  his  sword,  Virginia  sub- 
sided. On  the  17th  of  April,  1861,  it  seceded,  and 
it  did  not  regain  its  foothold  in  the  Union  as  an  in- 
dependent, self-governing  state  until  January,  1870. 
Richmond  is  the  state  capital  and  the  chief  city  of 
the  state,  with  Norfolk  and  Petersburg  next.  As 
early  as  1693,  the  college  of  William  and  Mary  was 
founded;  Washington  and  Lee  University  in  1749; 
Hampden  Sidney  in  1775,  and  University  of  Vir- 
ginia in  1825.  The  state  has  always  taken  com- 
mendable interest  in  education.  The  plantations 
were  so  large  and  the  population  so  scattered  as  to 
render  impracticable  the  common  school  system 


UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA. 


still  fill  a large  place  in  the  American  department  of 
this  volume,  so  prominent  was  it  in  Colonial  and 
Revolutionary  days,  and  during  the  first  century  of 
the  Republic.  From  1607,  when  the  first  perma- 
nent English  settlement  was  made  on  American 
soil  upon  the  banks  of  the  James  River,  until  the 
close  of  the  war  between  the  North  and  the  South, 
nearly  two  hundred  and  sixty  years  later,  Virginia 
was  almost  constantly  at  the  front.  Since  that  time 
it  has  not  been  specially  prominent,  except  as  made 
conspicuous  in  politics  by  the  “Readjusters,”  led  by 
Senator  Mahone,  who  is  urged  forward  in  the  hope 


of  the  North,  but  as  the  land  is  being  divided,  and 
the  negroes  are  now  a part  of  “ the  people,”  public 
schools  are  beginning  to  flourish.  The  state  contains 
some  coal  and  iron.  The  soil  is  generally  good,  and 
the  climate  mild.  Tobacco  has  always  been  the 
leading  staple  of  the  state.  General  farming  can 
be  carried  on  to  advantage,  as  nearly  all  grains  and 
grasses  thrive  there.  Gold  has  been  discovered  in 
rich  quartz  within  the  limits  of  the  state ; but,  thus 
far,  the  mines  have  never  been  worked  to  advantage. 
Virginia  is  very  proud  of  its  record,  and  justly  so- 
It  is  familiarly  known  as  “The  Old  Dominion.” 


77 


° - 


620 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


WASHINGTON  TERRITORY. 

Washington  Territory  is  the  extreme  northwest 
(except  Alaska)  of  the  United  States,  having  Brit- 
ish Columbia  on  the  north,  Idaho  011  the  east,  Ore- 
0011  on  the  south  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  west. 

ft  t 

It  was  once  known  as  the  Puget  Sound  Kegion.  It 
was  visited  by  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1815.  The  Hud- 
son Bay  Company  tried  to  seize  and  appropriate  it 
in  1828.  The  territory  was  organized  in  1853.  Its 
present  boundaries  were  fixed  ten  years  later.  It 
contains  some  gold  and  a great  deal  of  coal,  but  its 
chief  attractions  are  its  fertile  wheat-lands  and  broad 
pastures.  The  climate  on  the  coast  is  softened  by 
warm  sea  breezes.  Olympia  is  the  capital.  With 
the  Northern  Pacific  railroad  completed,  it  is  ex- 
pected that  Washington  Territory,  thus  far  slow  to 
develop,  will  rapidly  fill  up  with  agriculturists. 


people  in  the  mountainous  northwest  portion  of  the 
state  remained  loyal  to  the  Union.  They  had  long 
wanted  to  escape  from  Virginia  and  form  a separate 
state,  and  the  opportunity  was  then  afforded  for  do- 
ing so.  In  June,  1861,  steps  were  taken  for  effect- 
ing a state  organization,  and  two  years  later  West 
Virginia  came  into  the  Union.  Nearly  two-thirds 
of  the  state  is  covered  witli  the  original  forest. 
Wheeling,  the  capital  and  chief  city,  is  a great  cen- 
ter for  iron  works.  The  state  is  largely  indebted  to 
its  iron  and  coal  for  its  prosperity.  The  state  of  Vir- 
ginia insists  that  West  Virginia  should  assume  its 
proportion  of  the  old  state  debt,  but  West  Virginia 
is  not  disposed  to  entertain  the  proposition,  and  there 
is  110  way  to  compel  the  state  to  pay  any  part  of  that 
obligation,  nor  is  there  the  slightest  prospect  of  any 
change  of  opinion  on  the  subject. 


WEST  VIRGINIA. 

West  Virginia  is  an  offshoot  from  Virginia.  When 
the  latter  joined  the  Confederacy  a majority  of  the 


WISCONSIN. 

As  early  as  1636  a white  settlement  was  made  at 
Green  Bay.  That  was  the  beginning  of  civilization 


bj*V 


Vis- 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


in  Wisconsin.  But  no  present  connection  can  be 
traced  between  the  French  missions  of  the  17tli 
century  and  the  modern  state.  The  territory  was 
organized  in  1836,  and  included  the  extreme  north- 
west, in  a somewhat  vague  way.  Two  years  later 
Wisconsin  was  admitted  to  the  Union  with  its  pres- 
ent boundaries.  It  has  Illinois  on  the  south,  Lake 
Michigan  and  the  State  of  Michigan  on  the  east. 
Lake  Superior  on  the  north,  and  Minnesota  and 
Iowa  on  the  west.  The  state  is  very  uneven  in  the 
character  of  its  soil,  having  much  good  farming 
land  and  some  barren  sand-fields.  The  lumber 
tracts  are  extensive  and  very  valuable.  Milwaukee, 
once  a rival  of  Chicago  and  still  an  important  city,  is 
the  principal  center  of  business  in  the  state.  Madi- 
son is  the  capital.  The  population,  originally,  was 
composed  of  pioneers  from  New  England  and  New 
York.  Of  late  years  a great  many  Scandinavians 
and  Germans  have  settled  in  the  state.  Lakes  of 
great  beauty  abound.  The  country  is  rolling.  The 
state  has  at  its  capital  a university  under  state  con- 
trol which  ranks  among  the  great  institutions  of 
learning.  Wisconsin  has  several  important  rivers, 
which  have  been  and  are  still  of  great  advantage 
for  milling  and  commercial  purposes.  The  chief  of 
these  are  the  Wisconsin,  the  Chippewa,  and  the 
Fox.  The  former  and  latter  are  connected  by  a 
canal.  Immense  quantities  of  pine  logs  are  floated 
down  these  rivers  and  manufactured  into  lumber 
upon  their  banks. 


621 


WYOMING  TERRITORY. 

Wyoming  Territory  is  at  the  foot  of  the  fist  of 
states  and  territories  in  every  respect.  With  an  area 
of  nearly  100,000  square  miles,  it  has  almost  no  laud 
at  all  adapted  to  agriculture.  The  sparse  bunch- 
grass  of  its  plains  affords  pasturage  for  cattle.  Chey- 
enne, its  capital,  is  the  only  town  within  its  limits  of 
any  considerable  magnitude.  It  is  a great  center 
for  the  cattle  trade  and  shipment  of  the  plains. 
The  territory  was  organized  in  1868.  There  is  some 
coal  along  and  near  the  Union  Pacific  railroad.  The 
National  Park  forms  the  extreme  northwest  corner 
of  Wyoming.  That  is  the  region  of  geysers  so 
wonderful  that  Congress  by  specific  legislation 
reserved  the  tract  as  a public  domain  forever.  It 
comprises  an  area  of  3,575  square  miles.  No 
other  equal  area  contains  so  many  natural  phenom- 
ena of  interest.  “ There  are  more  hot  springs  and 
geysers  in  this  area,”  says  Hayden,  “than  in  all  the 
remainder  of  the  world  besides.” 


Having  now  considered  alphabetically  the  several 
states  and  territories  of  the  United  [States,  it  only 
remains  to  add  that  the  combining  of  so  many  es- 
sentially independent  commonwealths  in  one  nation 
is  no  longer  an  experiment,  and  every  vestige  of  hos- 
tility to  the  union  of  the  states  has  disappeared,  be- 
longing exclusively  to  historical,  in  distinction  from 
actual  America. 


xxtt  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx* 


************************* ^** 

AMERICAN 


INVENTIONS  AND<* 


INVENTORS. 


, *****************  ************ / 


lt******** 


, V 

ryr 


CHAPTER  LXXXVII. 

The  Constitution  and  Patent  Rights— The  Patent  System  in  England — Colonial  Patents 
— Steamships  and  Robert  Fulton — The  Patent  Office — Whitney  and  the  Cotton  Gin — 
“Assembling”  and  the  American  Watch— Jethro  Wood  and  the  Plow — The  First 
Locomotive  and  Peter  Cooper — The  Lathe — Guns  and  Revolvers— Fire  Engines  and 
Alarm— Air-Brake— American  Presses — Scales  and  Safes — Electricity — The  Sewing 
Machine — Mowers  and  Reapers — Goodyear  and  India-Rubber— Anaesthetics — John 
Ericsson — Eads  and  the  St.  Louis  Bridge— The  Boot  Crimper— The  Steam  Hammer— 
The  Brass  Clock. 


' HE  constitution  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  provides  that  “the 
Congress  shall  have  power 
to  promote  the  progress  of 
science  and  useful  arts,  by 
securing,  for  limited  times, 
to  authors  and  inventors 
the  exclusive  right  to  their  respect- 
ive writings  and  discoveries.”  To 
that  recognition  of  the  right  of 
property  in  ideas  is  the  United 
States  very  largely  indebted  for  its 
present  pre-eminence  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 

Mr.  Charles  Reade  was  not  ro- 
mancing, but  stating  moderately  a 
great  fact,  when  he  said,  “ Europe 
teems  with  the  material  products 
of  American  genius.  American  patents  print  En- 
glish newspapers  and  sew  Englishmen’s  shirts.  A 
Briton  goes  to  his  work  by  American  clocks  and  is 
warmed  by  American  stoves.  In  a word,  America 
is  the  leading  nation  in  all  matters  of  material  in- 
vention and  construction,  and  no  other  nation  rivals 
or  approaches  it.”  The  reference  here  is  solely  to 
the  United  States,  and  the  same,  it  may  be  added, 


will  be  true  throughout  the  current  chapters. 
The  patent  system  is  very  old.  Faint  traces  of 
it  are  to  be  found  in  ancient  history,  but  so  very 
faint  as  to  be  almost  indistinguishable.  In  modern 
times  it  is  first  found  in  England.  Tne  common 
law  grants  to  the  sovereign  the  right  to  issue  letters 
patent  for  monopolies  in  inventions  and  other 
things.  What  is  called  in  the  written  law  of  En- 
gland the  “ Statute  of  Monopolies,”  designed  to 
check  abuses  of  a grievous  nature  in  the  exercise  of 
the  royal  prerogative  herein,  is  regarded  as  the  basis 
of  patent  law  in  this  country  also.  The  earliest 
recorded  patent  in  the  world  goes  back  to  the  times 
of  Edward  III.  That  king  granted  a patent  to 
“ two  friars  and  two  aldermen  ” for  a philosopher’s 
stone.  Thus  curiously  blended  are  the  absurd  con- 
ceits of  the  past  with  the  solid  acquisitions  of  the 
present. 

The  earliest  patent  in  America  was  issued  in  1641 
by  the  General  Court  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts. 
It  granted  to  Samuel  Winslow  the  exclusive  right 
for  ten  years  to  use  a certain  specified  process 
in  making  salt.  The  next  patent  was  eleven  years 
later.  One  John  Clark  was  allowed  a royalty  of  ten 
shillings  from  every  family  which  should  use  his 
method  of  “ saving  wood  and  warming  houses  at 


( 622) 


■— 


G> 


"7t 


AMERICAN  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS. 


623 


little  cost.”  Governor  Winthrop’s  son,  John,  took 
out  in  1656  a patent  for  a process  for  making  salt. 

Connecticut  has  a very  creditable  patent  record. 
In  1672  that  colony  passed  a law  that,  “ there  shall 
be  no  monopolies  granted  among  us  but  of  such 
new  inventions  as  shall  be  judged  profitable  and  for 
the  benefit  of  the  country,  and  for  such  time  as  the 
General  Court  shall  judge  meet.”  Under  this  law 
a monopoly  in  steel-making  was  granted  to  two  per- 
sons in  1728.  Very  little  attention  was  paid  to  pat- 
ents, however,  during  the  colonial  period,  and  the 
only  great  American  inventor  of 
that  period,  Franklin,  never 
sought  any  monopoly  on  his  light- 
ning rod. 

The  first  patent  of  the  United 
States,  under  the  first  law  based 
on  the  constitutional  provision 
quoted,  bears  date  of  July  31, 

1790,  the  same  year  in  which  the 
law  itself  was  enacted.  It  ran  to 
Samuel  Hopkins,  and  related  to 
making  pot  and  pearl  ashes. 

There  were  two  other  patents,  also 
of  trivial  importance,  granted 
that  year.  At  the  present  time 
the  issue  is  at  the  rate  of  more 
than  20,000  per  annum.  It  is 
in  1791,  that  we  are  afforded  a 
glimpse  of  the  great  future  in 
store  for  American  ingenuity. 

The  number  of  patents  granted 
rose  to  thirty-one,  and  included  six  patents  to 
James  Rumsay  and  one  to  John  Fitch  of  Philadel- 
phia, relative  to  steam-engines  and  steamships. 
From  that  point  dates,  properly,  America’s  entry 
upon  the  field  of  steam  utilization.  We  find  in  a 
reference  book  issued  by  the  Scientific  American  a 
brief  statement  of  the  history  of  the  steam-engine 
which  may  well  find  place  here.  It  is  as  follows: 

“ Papin,  of  France,  was  the  first  (in  1690)  to  oper- 
ate a piston  by  steam,  which  acted  only  on  one  side 
of  the  piston.  He  also  invented  the  safety-valve. 
He  was  bom  1650,  died  1710.  Savory,  1697,  first 
employed  steam  power  in  doing  useful  work.  Ilis 
piston,  like  Papin’s,  took  steam  on  one  side  only, 
the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  being  admitted  to 
the  other  side.  James  Watt  was  the  first  to  make 
the  complete  steam-engine,  or  the  existing  forms  in 


YOUNG  FRANKLIN 


which  steam  acts  on  both  sides  of  the  piston.  He 
also  made  the  steam-condenser,  the  governor,  the 
walking-beam,  applied  the  fly-wheel,  and  nearly  all 
the  parts  of  the  modern  engine.  He  was  born  1 736, 
died  1819.  He  made  a rotary  steam-engine  in  1782, 
and  patented  a locomotive  engine  in  1784.  In  1804. 
Trevithick  and  Vivian  operated  a locomotive  which 
traveled  five  miles  an  hour,  with  a load  of  ten  tons. 
Cook,  in  1808,  used  fixed  engines  with  ropes  to  draw 
railway-cars.  Blachett  and  Hedley,  in  1813,  discov- 
ered that  smooth  locomotive  wheels  might  be  used 
on  railways,  instead  of  toothed 
wheels  and  toothed  rails  before 
required.  George  Stevenson,  1825, 
made  railway  locomotion  success- 
ful by  adapting  the  locomotive  to 
variable  speeds  and  loads,  by 
means  of  his  blast-pipe,  and  by 
introducing  the  tubular  boiler, 
which  latter  was  suggested  to  him 
and  invented  by  Booth,  1829. 
October  6, 1829,  the  famous  com- 
petitive trial  of  locomotives  on 
the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
railway  took  place,  which  estab- 
lished the  superiority  of  Steven- 
son’s locomotives,  and  inaugu- 
rated the  art  of  railway  commu- 
nication. The  first  steamboat 
actually  employed  in  business  was 
a small  vessel  built  by  John  Fitch 
of  Pennsylvania,  1790,  worked 
on  the  Delaware ; speed,  7£  miles  per  hour.  Robert 
Fulton’s  steamboat,  the  Clermont,  made  her  first 
trip  from  New  York  to  Albany,  August,  1807 ; 
speed,  five  miles  per  hour.” 

The  first  steam -vessel  to  cross 
the  Atlantic  was  the  Savan- 
nah, in  1819,  from  Savannah  - 
to  Liverpool,  26  days.  Robert 
Fulton  was  the  first  to  dem- 
onstrate the  practicability 
of  the  idea.  He  was  the  introducer  rather  than  the 
inventor  of  steam  navigation.  Fulton  was  born  at 
Little  Britain,  Pennsylvania  in  1765, and  died  in  1825. 
His  early  life  was  spent  at  the  easel  and  the  brush. 
1 1 is  last  achievement  was  the  construction  of  the 
first  steam  war-vessel. 

In  those  primitive  days  of  the  republic  the  peti- 


FULTON’S  STEA1LBOAT. 


AMERICAN  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS. 


624 


tion  for  a patent  was  made  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  the  Secretary  of  War,  or  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, and  the  patent  could  be  issued  by  the  Presi- 
dent upon  the  recommendation  of  two  of  the  three 
officers  named.  The  State  Department  came  to  be 
the  patent  office  of  the  government,  in  effect,  until 
after  the  creation  of  the  Interior  Department,  when, 
in  1849,  Congress  transferred  the  Patent  Bureau  to 
the  new  department,  where  it  has  developed  from  a 
beginning  so  small  as  to  be  almost  beneath  notice 
into  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant branches  of  the  nation- 
al government  employing 
many  hundred  clerks,  who 
are,  or  must  become,  ex- 
perts in  mechanism  and 
chemistry,  for  patents  ex- 
tend to  medicines  and  other 
ingredients  which  involve 
chemical  science  no  less 
than  to  mechanism.  The 
models  on  file  in  the  Patent 
office  form  a very  interest- 
ing collection,  and  afford 
an  ample  field  for  study. 

The  first  great  American 
invention  in  mechanism  was 
Eli  Whitney’s  cotton  gin, 
which  dates  from  1794. 

Whitney  was  a Yankee 
schoolmaster  at  the  South. 

By  a simple  process,  the  use 
of  teeth  and  slats,  he  con- 
trived to  separate  the  seeds 
from  the  cotton,  which 
before  his  day  had  to  be 
done  by  hand.  He  trebled  the  value  of  all  cotton 
lands,  yet  realized  nothing  from  this  invention,  so 
easily  and  generally  was  his  right  infringed.  He 
afterwards  acquired  a fortune  in  the  manufacture 
of  improved  firearms.  Whitney  was  horn  in  West- 
borough,  Massachusetts,  December  8,  1765,  and  died 
in  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  December  8, 1825. 

Sir  Richard  Arkwright,  an  English  barber,  orig- 
inally, is  justly  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  fac- 
tory system,  if  not  the  inventor  of  the  spinning- 
jenny.  Others  had  invented  machinery  for  weaving, 
but  he  utilized  the  mule  spinner  and  the  various  ap- 
pliances for  converting  raw  cotton  into  cloth.  It 


was  not,  however,  until  the  cotton  mills  of  Waltham, 
Massachusetts,  were  set  up  (1813)  that  machines  for 
all  the  processes  which  convert  the  raw  cotton  into 
cloth  were  combined  in  one  establishment.  The 
mechanism  for  weaving,dyeing,and  the  like,  received 
a great  many  improvements  from  time  to  time  from 
American  artisans. 

What  is  called  the  system  of  “assembling”  is  a 
conspicuous  feature  of  American  ingenuity.  Knight 
defines  it  as  “ the  system  of  making  the  component 
parts  of  a machine  or  imple- 
ment in  distinct  pieces  of 
fixed  shape  and  dimensions, 
so  that  corresponding  parts 
are  interchangeable.”  The 
first  watch  made  in  this 
country  was  the  “American” 
of  Waltham,  Massachusetts, 
and  in  regard  to  it  Knight 
observes,  “ The  American 
system  of  watch-making,  by 
gathering  all  the  operations 
under  one  roof,  making  the 
parts  as  largely  as  possible 
by  machines,  each  part 
being  made  in  quantities  by 
gauge  and  pattern,  and 
pieces  afterwards  ‘ assem- 
bled,’ dates  back  to  1852.” 
A.  L.  Denison  is  the  name 
associated  with  the  pioneer 
operations  in  this  line. 

The  plow  early  engaged 
the  attention  of  American 
talent.  President  Jefferson 
devoted  a great  deal  of 
thought  to  its  construction,  and  so  did  Timothy 
Pickering,  another  leading  statesman  of  tire  re- 
public in  its  infancy.  But  the  inventor  of  the 
modern  plow  was  Jethro  WTood,  of  Scipio,  New 
York,  of  whom  Wm.  H.  Seward  once  wrote,  “No 
citizen  of  the  United  States  has  conferred  greater 
economical  benefits  on  his  country  than  Jethro 
Wood — none  of  her  benefactors  have  been  more 
inadequately  rewarded.”  Mr.  Wood’s  great  in- 
vention dates  from  1819.  It  was  the  beginning  of 
a new  era  in  husbandry.  This  great  benefactor  not 
only  realized  no  profit  from  his  invention,  but  lost  a 
fortune  in  trying  to  secure  his  rights.  His  only  re- 


AMERICAN  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS. 


62^ 


ward  was  the  consciousness  of  having  lightened  the 
toil  of  the  farmer  and  increased  the  productiveness 
of  the  soil  tilled.  Wood,  like  Whitney,  was  a native 
of  Massachusetts.  He  was  born  at  Dartmouth, 
March  16,  1774.  He  died  in  1834. 

The  first  locomotive  used  outside  of  England  was 
manufactured  in  that  country  for  use  in  this  coun- 
try in  1829.  It  was  not  suited  to  the  purpose,  and 
Mr.  Peter  Cooper,  the  venerable  philanthropist  of 
New  York  City,  then  a young  man,  devised  and 
constructed  an  engine  which  met  the  requirements 
of  the  case.  That  was  in  1829.  Mr.  Cooper  thus 
belongs  in  the  list  of  great 
inventors.  He  was  born 
in  1791.  This  noble  phil- 
anthropist must  rank 
among  the  best  products 
of  American  civilization. 

In  1876  he  was  the  Green- 
back candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, and  as  late  as  1880 
took  an  active  interest  in 
politics.  Cooper  Institute, 

New  York,  with  its  munif- 
icent endowment,  is  a mon- 
ument of  his  goodness. 

One  of  the  grand  and 
fundamental  improve- 
ments of  modern  times  is 
the  lathe,  the  invention  of 
Thomas  Blanchard.  He 
was  born  at  Sutton,  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  1788.  He 
survived  until  1864.  His  inventions  were  somewhat 
numerous,  the  first  being  a tack  machine  in  1806. 
It  was  in  1843  that  he  patented  the  lathe,  now  in 
almost  universal  use  the  world  over  for  turning 
every  sort  of  wooden  device,  from  an  axe-helve  to 
a gunstock. 

Although  this  country  lias  been  engaged  but  little 
in  war  during  the  century  since  independence  was 
achieved,  and  its  standing  army  is  trivial  in  the  ex- 
treme, it  has  excelled  in  firearms,  from  pocket- 
pieces  to  siege  guns.  The  pistol  is  old,  but  the  revol- 
ver is  American  and  modern.  Its  inventor  was  Sam- 
uel Colt,  born  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  July  19, 
1814.  The  principle  itself  was  not  wholly  unknown, 
but  its  application  and  introduction  are  attributable 
to  Colt.  Ho  made  an  immense  fortune  out  of  the 


manufacture  of  these  arms,  expending  on  his  works, 
including  cottages  for  the  workmen,  not  less  than 
$3,000,000.  He  died  January  10,  1862. 

Speaking  of  firearms  in  general,  an  eminent 
authority  remarks,  “ With  a single  exception,  the 
main  features  of  all  the  prominent  military  rifles 
originated  in  the  United  States.”  That  exception  is 
the  needle-gun.  Fire  engines,  both  water  and  chemi- 
cal, attest  the  superior  ingenuity  of  the  American 
mind.  The  system  of  fire-alarms  is  also  American. 

The  atmospheric  brake  for  railroad  cars  is  one  of 
the  great  American  inventions.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  the  numerous  de- 
vices in  that  line  is  the 
Westinghouse  air-brake, 
which  has  proved  im- 
mensely profitable  and  of 
incalculable  benefit  in 
lessening  the  perils  of 
travel  by  rail.  Air  is 
used  in  operating  the 
brake.  Knight  attempts 
to  make  the  brake  intelli- 
gible to  the  general  read- 
er by  the  following  de- 
scription : “Air  is  con- 
densed to  the  required 
extent  into  a reservoir  by 
a steam-pump  upon  the 
locomotive.  From  the 
reservoir  it  is  conducted 
back  beneath  the  cars  of 
the  train  by  pipes  con- 
nected beneath  the  train  by  flexible  tubes  and  valve- 
couplings.  Under  each  car  is  a cylinder  to  which 
the  compressed  air  is  admitted  forward  of  a piston, 
the  stem  of  which  is  connected  with  a bell-crank 
attached  to  the  brake  lovers  by  rods,  so  that  when 
air  is  admitted  by  the  engineer  to  the  pipes  connect- 
ed to  the  cylinders  under  each  car,  the  brakes  of 
each  aro  simultaneously  applied.”  This  explana- 
tion has  been  given  because  the  mere  observer  of 
this  brake  can  really  see  nothing,  while  an  inspection 
in  the  case  of  ordinary  inventions  is  to  some  extent 
instructive. 

In  the  art  of  printing,  especially  press-work,  this 
country  can  also  claim  pre-eminence.  Franklin 
made  some  improvements  in  presses,  but  tho  lloe, 
Adams,  l'ottcr,  Campbell,  and  several  other  recent. 


L. 


626 


AMERICAN  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS. 


I 


presses  in  use,  whereon  printing  is  done,  testify  most 
eloquently  to  the  skill  of 
America  in  devising 
and  executing  mechan- 
ical plans. 

The  substitution  of 
scales  for  steelyards  was 
the  invention  of  Thad- 
deus  Fairbanks.  From 
the  same  rural  town  of 
Brimfield,  Massachusetts, 
came  two  highly  impor- 
tant contributions  to 
modern  civilization,  Fair- 
banks’ scales  and  Her- 
ring’s safes.  The  Fair- 
banks brothers,  Tliad- 
deus  and  Erastus,  estab- 
lished their  factory,  how- 
ever, at  St.  Jolmsbury, 

Vermont.  Erastus  was 
governor  of  the  state 
at  two  widely  different 
times.  The  American 
safe  has  no  equal  any- 
where, and  the  American 
scales  no  competitors. 

In  electricity  this 
country  stands  unrivaled, 
lightning;  Morse  made  it 
our  errand-boy ; Gray,  Bell 
and  Edison  may  be  said  to 
have  imparted  to  it  the  pow- 
er of  speech.  The  lightning- 
rod  robbed  the  thunderbolt 
of  its  terrors  ; the  telegraph 
almost  annihilates  distance 
as  a barrier  to  communica- 
tion, and  the  telephone  trans- 
mits the  voice  itself.  With 
Franklin,  Morse,  Edison, 

Gray,  and  Bell  ranks  also 
Cyrus  W.  Field,  who,  if  he 
did  not  invent  submarine 
telegraphy,  achieved  that 
marvel  of  all  ages,  the  suc- 
cessful laying  of  a cable 
across  the  Atlantic  ocean. 

S.  F.  B.  Morse  was  bom  in  Charlestown,  Massachu 


PETER  COOPER. 


Franklin  tamed  the 


SAMUEL  COLT. 


setts,  April  20,  1791.  He  was  an  artist  and  a lec- 
turer on  the  literature 
of  art.  In  1832  he  de- 
vised and  put  into  prim- 
itive use  the  system 
of  telegraphy.  Eleven 
years  later  Congress 
made  an  appropriation 
for  an  experimental 
line  from  Washington 
to  Baltimore.  The  same 
year  he  suggested  a 
marine  cable.  He  re- 
alized a fortune  from 
his  invention,  and  sur- 
vived to  see  a bronze 
statue  of  himself  erect- 
ed in  Central  Park, 
New  York.  He  died 
in  1872. 

We  turn  now.  to  the 
sewing  machine.  That 
was  the  invention  of 
Elias  Howe.  Some  ap- 
proaches were  made  to 
the  discovery  of  the 
principle  of  this  won- 
derful  and  revolution- 
ary piece  of  mechanism  by  Thomas  Saint  of  En- 

gland  in  1790,  and  Themon- 

nier  of  Paris  in  1830,  Adams 
and  Dodge  of  Vermont  in 
1818,  Greenough  of  New 
York  in  1842,  and  Walter 
Hunt  in  1832-35,  contributed 
to  the  invention.  Howe  does 
not  appear  to  have  had  any 
acquaintance  with  these  ex- 
periments which  hovered 
upon  the  verge  of  success. 
He  was  born  in  Spencer, 
Massachusetts,  in  1819.  The 
use  of  two  threads,  a shuttle 
and  a curved  needle  with  the 
eye  near  the  point,  especially 
the  latter,  were  the  solution 
of  the  problem  over  which  he 
pondered  for  years.  He  took 
For  eight  years  he  suffered 


out  his  patent  in  1846. 


AMERICAN  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS. 


the  most  extreme  poverty,  being  engaged  in  trying 
to  introduce  his  machines  or 
defend  his  patent  rights.  A 
decision  of  the  court  in  1854 
established  Howe’s  claim  to 
priority,  and  from  that  time 
until  his  death,  1867,  he  was 
in  the  enjoyment  of  a prince- 
ly revenue  from  the  royalty 
on  his  patent.  Not  much  if 
any  less  than  3,000  sewing 
machine  patents  have  been 
taken  out  in  this  country,  but 
until  the  expiration  of  his 
monopoly  Howe  received  a 
royalty  on  every  machine 
made,  his  patent  being  funda- 
mental. He  was  an  ardent 
patriot,  and  in  1851  enlisted 
as  a common  soldier  in  de- 
fense of  the  Union. 

The  use  of  horse  power 
and  mechanism  in  mowing, 
harvesting  and  husbandry  generally  may  be  set  down 
as  an  American  idea.  The 
mowing  machine  exhibit- 
ed by  Cyrus  H.  McCor- 
mick of  Chicago  at  the 
World’s  Fair,  London,  in 
1851,  was  one  of  the  more 
attractive  features  of  that 
exposition.  It  brought  to 
the  attention  of  mankind 
a substitute  for  the  scythe 
and  snath,  and  marked  a 
new  era  in  farming.  Mr. 

McCormick  was  born  in 
Virginia  in  1809.  His  first 
machine  was  constructed 
as  early  as  1831.  Of  a 
kindred  nature  are  the 
harvesters  of  the  country, 
almost  endless  in  variety 
and  inestimable  in  value. 

The  plow  of  Jethro  Wood 
needed  to  be  supplement- 
ed by  machinery  for  put- 
ting in  and  taking  off  the 
crop, 


THADDEUS  FAIRBANKS. 


ery  for  separating  seed  from  straw,  and  American 
ingenuity  fully  supplied  the 
demands  of  the  case,  includ- 
ing elevators  for  storage. 
The  elevator  system  is  indis- 
pensable to  the  proper  hand- 
ling of  grain,  and  for  it  the 
world  is  indebted  to  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

In  1800  was  born  at  New 
Haven,  Connecticut,  Charles 
Goodyear  to  whom  mankind 
owes  the  vulcanization  of 
India  rubber  and  the  con- 
version of  that  material  into 
numberless  practical  uses. 
It  was  a discovery  by  accident 
rather  than  an  invention, 
properly  speaking,  but  the 
details  of  the  idea  were 
worked  out  only  by  long  and 
patient  toil.  For  six  years 
Goodyear  experimented  until 
at  last  he  ascertained  the  right  way  to  vulcanize 
rubber,  namely  by  mixing 
with  it  sulphur,  and  treat- 
ing them  properly.  The 
uses  of  this  material  are 
constantly  widening.  Mr. 
Goodyear  died  in  1860. 

The  use  of  ether  as  an 
anaesthetic  was  introduced 
by  two  Boston  physicians, 
Drs.  Jackson  and  Morton, 
in  1846.  Chloroform  was 
discovered  by  Dr.  Simp- 
son the  year  following. 
The  use  of  anaesthetics  in 
surgical  and  dental  opera- 
tions and  in  obstetrics 
has  lessened  the  volume 
of  human  agony  incalcu- 
lably. Mechanical  dentis- 
try, it  may  be  added,  is 
one  of  the  prominent  glo- 
ries of  American  skill. 
One  of  the  greatest  of 
s.  c.  iierrino.  inventors  is  John  Ericsson, 

There  was  also  need  of  horse  power  machin-  j a Swede  by  birth,  an  American  by  citizenship  and 


78 


628 


AMERICAN  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS. 


lung  residence 


s.  r.  B.  MORSE. 


He  was  born  in  181)3.  He  made 
many  improvements  in  steamers  and  railway  loco- 
motives, but  his  greatest 
achievements  were  naval. 
He  may  be  said  to  have  rev- 
olutionized the  navies  of 
the  world.  The  ironclads 
which  he  invented  and  built 
for  the  United  States  navy 
in  the  late  war  proved  the 
of  a radical 
naval  architect- 
ure. He  is  said  to  have 
recently  invented  a new  and 
almost  invulnerable  war  ship  which  is  likely  to  effect 

still  another  rev- 
olution 
navies 
world. 

The 

which  spans  the 
Mississippi  river 
at  St.  Louis  is 
pronounced  by 
competent  judg- 
es the  grandest 
structure  in  the 
world  of  a strict- 
ly practical  na- 
ture. It  was 
planned  and 
built  by  James 
B.  Eads,  who  was  born  in  1820,  and  who  had 
been  second  only  to  Ericsson  in  usefulness  to  the 


in 

of 


the 

the 


bridge 


ELIAS  HOWE. 


United  States  in  naval  construction  from  1861  to 
1865.  The  St.  Louis  bridge  has  three  spans,  one  is 
515,  and  the  other  two  497  feet,  each.  Its  middle 
arch  has  only  one  companion  piece  of  work,  the  one 
of  Kuilinburg,  Holland.  The  following  descrip- 
tion gives  some  faint  idea  of  the  work:  “Each 
span  consists  of  four  arches  having  two  members 
each,  an  upper 
and  a lower  one. 

Each  member  is 
of  two-paneled 
cast-steel  tubes 
nine  inches  in 
exterior  diame- 
ter set  closely 
together,  and 
each  made  in 
four  segments 
whose  junctions 
form  ribs.  The 
upper  and  lower 
members  are 
eight  feet  apart. 

The  whole  fab- 
ric is  stiffened  by 
systems  of  diagonal,  vertical  and  horizontal  braces.” 

The  boot  crimper,  invented  by  Moore  in  1812, 
proved  a great  help  in  the  manufacture  of  boots,  as 
did  the  pegging  machine  invented  by  Gallahue  in 
1858.  The  steam  hammer  dates  from  1838,  ten 
years  after  the  planing  machine  invented  by  Wood- 
worth.  The  first  brass  clock  was  invented  in  Amer- 
ica by  Chauncey  Jerome,  and  proved  a benefit  to 
the  entire  civilized  world. 


CYRUS  H.  M’CORMICK. 


RAILROAD  BRIDGE  ACROSS  TllE  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  AT  ST.  LOUIS. 


TT 


~7\ 


CHAPTER  LXXXVIII. 

General  Facts — Agriculture— Fisheries— Silk  Culture — Cotton,  Infant  and  King — Iron 
and  Steel — Wool  and  Woolens — Manufactures,  1880 — American  Cereals — Mineral  Pro- 
ductions— Beef,  Livestock  and  Provisions— Railroads  and  Shipping — Insurance— Ameri- 
can Monet;  Historical  and  Actual — American  Art  and  Artists. 


£ 


NVENTION  and  industry, 
if  not  absolutely  insepara- 
ble, are  certainly  greatly 
helpful  to  each  other.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  pre- 
sent, whether  in  detail  or 
in  a general  way,  American 
inventions  without  throw- 
ing much  light  upon  the  industrial  de- 
velopment of  the  country ; but  such 
incidental  information  serves  rather  to 
sharpen  than  to  satisfy  the  appetite, 
and  it  is  proposed  in  this  chapter  to 
set  forth  the  beginnings  of  the  1(  ad- 
ing  skilled  industries  of  America,  and 
the  present  condition  of  the  country 
from  the  standpoint  of  industry,  as 
shown  by  the  census  of  1880.  It  would 
be  tedious  to  follow  the  development  itself  step  by 
step,  for  each  footprint  is  a column  of  statistics,  and 
at  best  this  chapter  will  be  burdened  with  figures. 

Agriculture  is  the  great  industry  of  the  world, 
more  especially  of  America.  It  is  the  foundation  of 
all  prosperity,  and  it  is  the  employment  of  the  great 
bulk  of  the  population.  Lord  Beaconsfield  was  ac- 
customed to  insist  that  land  owning  was  the  only 
basis  of  a genuine  aristocracy,  and  he  might  have 
added  that  when  tillage  and  ownership  were  com- 


1' 


bined  the  highest  ideal  of  aggregate  life  was  real- 
ized. Herein  the  United  States  leads  the  world. 
This  country  has  no  peasant  class,  unless  it  be  the 
negroes  who  work  the  plantations  at  the  South. 
The  American  farmer  is  at  once  a laborer  and  in  its 
best  sense  an  aristocrat.  In  the  area  of  cereal  cul- 
tivation Russia  alone  can  equal  the  United  States, 
and  in  agriculture  as  a whole  America  has  no  rival. 

It  may  be  said  that  fishing  was  the  first  industry 
of  this  country.  Our  English  ancestors  made  a 
business  of  catching  cod  before  they  even  attempted 
to  settle  upon  the  continent.  The  cod  is  unknown 
in  the  Mediterranean  sea,  and  several  choice  varieties 
are  peculiar  to  the  American  coast.  The  English 
and  the  Dutch  found  the  cod-fisheries  near  Holland. 
Scotland,  Norway  and  Iceland  profitable  as  early  as 
the  fourteenth  century,  but  the  fisheries  off  New- 
foundland and  New  England  yielded  more  bounti- 
fully. Although  this  industry  has  greatly  declined, 
there  are  several  thousand  V3Fsels  engaged  in  the 
business  at  the  present  time,  and  to  Maine  and 
Massachusetts  this  is  still  a prominent  and  profita- 
ble industry.  The  American  population  supjiorted 
by  fishing  is  said  to  lie  about  1,000,000.  Whaling, 
which  was  once  a flourishing  business,  has  almost, 
disappeared. 

The  first  land  industry  contemplated,  not  count- 
ing tobacco-raising,  (the  prominence  of  which  was 


(629) 


63° 


AMERICAN  INDUSTRY  AND  ART. 


brought  out  iu  connection  with  colonial  history) 
was  silk  culture.  The  founders  of  Virginia 
thought  that  the  mulberry  and  the  silk-worm 
would  flourish  on  this  continent,  and  that  the 
great  staple  of  luxurious  clothing,  then  confined  as 
a production  to  the  far  East,  and  to  the  northern 
coast  of  the  Mediterranean  as  a manufacture,  could 
he  prodmted  in  America.  In  1623  the  legislature 
of  Virginia  jiassed  a statute  directing  all  settlers  to 
plant  mulberry  trees.  At  one  time  a mania  for  silk 


The  mania  referred  to  dates  from  1829  to  1840. 
During  that  period  the  feasibility  of  silk-raising  on 
this  continent  was  thoroughly  tested,  and  received 
fatal  discouragement.  Some  revival  of  the  interest 
in  this  industry  was  shown  in  1872,  but  in  its  manu- 
facture rather  than  its  cultivation.  The  domestic 
fabric,  at  first  quite  inferior,  is  now  an  excellent 
article,  and  the  manufacture  is  thrifty.  Paterson, 
New  Jersey,  is  the  great  center  of  this  industry. 

The  Indians  discovered  by  Columbus  were  clothed 


culture  took  possession  of  the  people.  It  may  be 
traced  as  far  south  as  Louisiana,  as  far  west  as  Illinois, 
and  as  far  north  as  Vermont.  Kepeated  failures  at- 
test perseverance.  The  first  export  of  raw  silk  to  Eu- 
rope was  a small  consignment  of  cocoons  raised  in 
Georgia  and  taken  to  England  by  Governor  Ogle- 
thorpe in  1734.  Thirteen  years  later  Governor  Law 
of  Connecticut  had  a suit  of  clothes  made  from  silk 
raised,  spun  and  woven  in  that  colony.  That  was  a 
year  before  the  first  bale  of  cotton  was  exported 
from  this  country.  In  1792  dress  silk  was  first  pro- 
duced in  this  country.  It  was  a strictly  domestic 
industry  for  several  years.  In  1810  machine-made 
silk  was  produced  in  Connecticut  on  a small  scale. 


sparsely  with  cotton  cloth  it  is  claimed,  but  the  cot- 
ton industry  may  be  traced  to  the  first  seed  sown  on 
the  soil  of  Virginia  in  1621,  although  the  first  ex- 
port was  in  1748,  and  as  late  as  1784  eight  bales  ex- 
ported to  England  were  confiscated  on  the  ground 
that  “ so  much  cotton  could  not  be  produced  in  the 
United  States.”  The  cotton-gin  of  the  previous 
chapter  may  be  said  to  have  given  this  industry  its 
real  start.  The  first  cotton-mill  of  the  country  was 
erected  at  Beverley,  Massachusetts,  in  1788.  The 
consumption  of  raw  cotton  in  the  United  States  in 
1880  was  911,000,000  pounds.  During  the  last  de- 
cade cotton  was  the  textile  industry  which  developed 
the  most  rapidly  iu  this  country. 


<9 


AMERICAN  INDUSTRY  AND  ART. 


Iron  is  an  industry  which  dates,  so  far  as  concerns 
America,  from  1620.  Bog  ir un-ore,  found  near 
Jamestown,  was  used.  In  1643  bog-iron  was  util- 
ized in  Massachusetts.  The  manufacture  of  iron 
received  quite  an  impetus  in  1652,  and  now  this 
country  makes  one-fourth  of  the  steel  and  one- 
fourth  of  the  iron  of  the  whole  world.  The  iron 
production  of  1880  in  this  country  was  3,220,000 
tons,  and  the  steel  800,000  tons.  The  United  States 
is  second  only  to  Great  Britain  in  this  great  branch 
of  industry.  Our  ore  beds  are  so  rich  that  bog  iron 
is  almost  as  obsolete  as  hand-made  cloth. 

Sheep  were  introduced  into  New  York  in  1625, 
and  into  Massachusetts  in  1633.  In  1777  the  mak- 
ing of  wool-card  teeth  by  machinery  instead  of  by 
hand,  was  invented  by  Oliver  Evans.  These  three 
beginnings  may  be  called  the  foundation  of  the 
woolen  interest  in  America.  The  clip  of  1879  in  the 
United  States  amounted  to  165,000,000  pounds,  and 
the  textile  production  of  1880  was  258,000,000 
pounds. 

The  foregoing  are  the  great  staples  of  manufac- 
ture. In  a discussion  of  the  balance-sheet  of  this 
country,  Mulhall  says,  “ It  would  be  impossible  to 
find  in  history  a parallel  to  the  progress  of  the  U ni- 
ted  States  in  the  last  ten  years,”  referring  to  the  de- 
cade from  1870  to  1880.  The  aggregate  of  indus- 
tries was  in  round  numbers  $10,020,000,000  during 
the  year  1880.  Of  this  amount  $4,440,000,000  must 
be  set  down  to  the  credit  of  manufactures,  while 
agriculture  can  claim  $2,625,000,000,  leaving  the 
remainder  to  be  divided  between  commerce,  mining, 
transportation,  banking  and  sundries. 

Of  agriculture  Mulhall  observes  that  it  has  not 
kept  pace  with  population,  as  regards  value,  but  in 
amount  of  production  it  has  increased  more  rapidly 
than  population.  The  grain  of  1880  was  2,390,000,- 
000  bushels  ; the  hay,  24,150,000,000,000  tons ; the 
cotton,  2,773,000,000  pounds.  The  census  of  that 
year  gave  the  number  of  farming  stock  thus : 
horses,  12,550,000  ; cows,  33,600,000  ; sheep,  38,000,- 
000;  hogs,  35,000,000,  making  a grand  total  of 

119.150.000  head,  or  2.39  head  per  inhabitant.  This 
is  surely  a very  satisfactory  showing. 

The  mineral  production  makes  a very  favorable 
showing  for  the  same  year,  namely : iron  ore, 

9.500.000  tons  ; copper,  20,300  tons ; coal,  55,000,- 
000  tons ; petroleum,  860,000,000  gallons.  As  for 
gold  and  silver,  one-half  of  the  world’s  supply  came 


from  this  country.  Of  all  the  mining  industries  of 
the  world,  this  country  represents  thirty -six  per  cent. 
Great  Britain  comes  next  and  represents  thirty-three 
per  cent.  During  the  ten  years  ending  with  1880 
the  United  States  coined  nearly  one-fourth  of  the 
gold  and  one-sixth  of  the  silver  turned  out  by  all 
the  mints  of  the  world. 

The  shipment  of  American  fresh  beef  to  England 
began  in  1875,  and  has  become  a great  branch  of 
commerce  ; but  for  the  most  part,  American  meats 
are  exported  cured  or  cooked.  Pork  is  salted  and 
the  hams  smoked,  but  the  beef  is  cooked  and  then 
canned.  This  industry  has  its  chief  center  in  Chi- 
cago, the  central  point  for  cattle  shipments  from 
the  whole  West.  In  1880  the  meat  supply  of  the 
country  was  reported  thus : cattle  slaughtered, 
5,600,000 ; sheep  slaughtered,  12,666,000 ; hogs, 
14,480,000,  making  the  following  tons  of  meat: 
beef,  2,100,000  ; mutton.  424,100  ; pork,  1,291,560. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  American  people,  who  are 
the  best  fed  of  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  consume 
on  an  average  125  pounds  of  meat  per  inhabitant 
a year.  The  total  production  is  3,815,660  ; the  total 
home  consumption  is  2,740,000  tons,  leaving  1,070,- 
000  tons  for  export. 

Turning  now  to  railroads,  it  may  be  observed,  upon 
the  threshold,  that  the  first  railroad  charter  was 
given  in  this  country  to  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson 
River  Company,  the  parent  of  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral trunk  line  of  the  Vanderbilt  combination  and 
monopoly.  The  first  railroad  in  the  land  was 
built  to  transport  from  Quincy  the  granite  used  in 
the  erection  of  Bunker  Ilill  monument.  That 
was  in  1827.  It  was  a horse  railroad,  originally. 
The  first  spadeful  of  dirt  in  the  grading  of  the  Bal- 
timore and  Ohio  railroad  was  thrown  up,  with  great 
ceremony,  July  4,  1824,  by  Charles  Carroll  of  Car- 
rollton, who  proved  to  bo  the  last  survivor  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The 
mileage  of  railroads  in  the  country  is  constantly  in- 
creasing, and  is  now  about  110,000  miles.  The  increase 
during  the  last  decade  was  41,883  miles,  or  more 
than  that  of  all  Europe  combined,  and  an  average  of 
twelve  miles  a day.  It  is  a moderate  estimate  to 
say  that  during  the  first  two  years  of  the  current 
decade  the  increase  was  10,000.  During  the  last 
decade  many  railroads  became  bankrupt,  the  total 
number  being  128,  and  their  aggregate  mileage,  13,- 
120,  representing  a cost  of  about  $1,150,000,000. 


Ll 


633 


<5" 


3 


AMERICAN  INDUSTRY  AND  ART. 


-A. 


.1 


► 


Since  the  more  prosperous  times  which  followed  the 
resumption  of  specie  payments  (1879)  the  stock 
and  bonds  of  these  roads  have  greatly  increased  in 
value.  The  total  cost  of  the  railroads  built  up  to 
1880  were  $5,000,000,000.  Many  of  the  roads  built 
have  penetrated  the  prairies  in  adyance  of  home- 
seeking  enterprises,  and  the  locomotive  has  been 
“ the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness.”  The 
shipping  interest  has  steadily  declined  ever  since 
1860,  except  as  regards  shipping  on  the  lakes  and 
great  rivers,  and  even  there,  especially  on  the  rivers, 
rail  competition  has  been  de- 
pressing, and  often  absolute- 
ly destructive.  The  total 
traffic  of  the  country  for  1880 
was  3 10,000,000  tons,  of 
which  210,000,000  went  by 
railways,  80,000,000  by  in- 
land water ; 34,000,000  tons 
by  coast  traffic,  and  the  re- 
mainder, 16,000,000,  is  set 
down  as  “entirely  by  sea.” 

An  important  branch  of 
business,  one  interwoven  with 
every  industry  and  all  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  is  insur- 
ance. The  first  American 
insurance  was  marine.  It 
was  inaugurated  at  Philadel- 
phia by  John  Copson  in  1721. 

Fire  insurance  dates  from 
1752.  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  the  President  of  the  first 
company.  Its  headquarters 
were  Philadelphia.  That  cor- 
poration was  organized  on  the  mutual  plan  and  is 
still  in  existence.  Marine  insurance  did  not  really 
flourish  until  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. Philadelphia  also  took  the  lead  in  life  insur- 
ance. Franklin  was  prominent  in  its  promotion. 
It  began  business  in  1769.  That  was  confined  to 
Episcopal  clergymen.  The  first  general  life  insur- 
ance company  was  the  Philadelphia  of  1812.  For 
a long  time  there  was  a superstitious  prejudice 
against  all  insurance,  as  resistance  to  the  will  of 
Providence.  Insurance  against  accident  dates  from 
1864,  and  was  started  at  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
then  and  now  specially  devoted  to  insurance. 

The  banking  system  of  the  United  States  rests 


upon  a solid  foundation,  and  no  country  can  boast 
so  convenient  and  complete  a medium  of  exchange 
as  this  country.  The  history  and  present  condition 
of  American  money  will  serve  to  conclude  this  in- 
dustrial survey  of  America. 

Alexander  Hamilton  has  many  claims  to  the  per- 
petual gratitude  of  the  American  people,  but  his 
chief  claim  is  the  service  he  rendered  in  organizing 
the  national  treasury  and  establishing  American 
finances  upon  a substantial  basis.  The  present 
monetary  system  of  this  country  is,  in  its  funda- 
mental principle,  whatever 
may  be  said  of  its  details, 
Hamiltonian. 

The  year  1690  witnessed 
the  establishment  of  the  first 
American  newspaper,  the 
first  paper-mill  and  the  issue 
of  the  first  paper  money. 
The  colony  of  Massachusetts 
issued  bills  of  credit  to  the 
amount  of  £40,000  in  pay- 
ment for  an  expedition  to 
Quebec.  Pennsylvania  issued 
£45,000  of  paper  money  in 
1722,  and  Maryland  followed 
the  same  example  in  1773, 
greatly  to  its  disadvantage 
Paper  money  is  so  easily 
made  that  it  is  very  difficult 
to  prevent  an  over-issue.  In 
the  Revolutionary  War  the 
Continental  Congress  put  so 
much  paper  money  in  circu- 
lation that  it  depreciated  and 
finally  became  worthless.  During  the  latter  part 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  system  of  banks 
and  bank  notes  was  inaugurated.  The  first  ex- 
periment was  tried  in  Philadelphia  under  Con- 
gressional auspices.  The  Bank  of  Pennsylvania 
was  chartered  early  iu  1780,  the  Bank  of  North 
America,  also  a Philadelphia  institution,  was  started 
early  in  1782,  and  proved  of  great  usefulness. 
It  is  still  iu  existence,  changed  into  a national 
bank.  Others  followed  and  gradually  filled  the 
land  with  bank-notes.  Every  considerable  town 
had  its  bank  with  its  bills  redeemable  in  coin  on  de- 
mand. For  the  greater  part  of  its  existence  this 
republic  has  done  business  upon  a bank-note  basis. 


PITTSBURGH.  THE  CHIEF  SEAT  OF  THE  IRON  MANUFACTURES. 


AMERICAN  INDUSTRY  AND  ART. 


6 37 


o 


no  other  medium  of  exchange  being  much  em- 
ployed. The  system  was  very  objectionable,  for  the 
reason  that  many  bills  were  never  redeemed  at  all, 
and  entailed  loss  upon  the  holder.  But  no  substi- 
tute was  devised  until  military  necessity,  during  the 
late  civil  war,  compelled  the  government  to  issue 
notes  of  its  own,  a legal  tender  for  all  payments 
except  duties  on  imports  and  intei’est  on  the  public 
debt.  These  greenbacks,  as  they  came  to  be  called, 
were  supplemented  by  a system  of  national  banks, 
under  which  the  holder  of  bank-notes  is  absolutely 
protected  from  loss,  even  if  the  bank  itself  should 
fail,  and  so  for  about  twenty  years  the  industries  of 
this  country  ha\e  had  as  a medium  of  exchange  the 
best  system  of  paper 
money  the  world  has 
everseen.  Since  1879 
all  this  paper  money 
has  been  equal  in  pur- 
chasing power  to  its 
face  in  coin.  Industri- 
al stability  and  pros- 
perity demands  mon- 
etary stability  and  a 
convenient  medium  of 
exchange. 

The  outlook  for  the 
material  thrift  of 
America,  from  what- 
ever point  viewed,  is 
most  encouraging. 

The  record  of  American  art  is  brief.  In  the  long 
list  of  famous  painters  the  first  American  name  is 
John  S.  Copley,  a historical  painter,  born  in  Boston 
in  1737.  Ilis  work  attracted  attention  in  England 
as  early  as  1760.  The  greater  part  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  London,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seven- 
ty-eight. Benjamin  West,  a Pennsylvania  Quaker, 
is  better  known.  lie  was  born  in  1738,  and  studied 
his  profession  in  Rome,  the  first  American  painter 
enrolled  as  a student  in  the  Italian  school.  In  1792 
he  was  elected  to  succeed  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  as 
president  of  the  Royal  Academy, London.  I n his  life- 
time West  was  ranked  among  the  foremost  artists  of 
all  time,  but  his  posthumous  reputation  is  somewhat 
less  conspicuous.  Gilbert  C.  Stuart,  a native  of 
Rhode  Island,  born  in  1756,  was  a great  portrait 
painter.  He  painted  three  portraits  of  Washington, 


and  the  standard  portraits  of  many  of  the  eminent 
men  of  that  period  have  came  down  to  us  from  his 
easel.  Stuart  died  in  Boston  in  1828. 

John  Trumbull  of  Connecticut,  was  born  in  1756. 
lie  was  the  son  of  Governor  Trumbull,  “ Uncle 
Jonathan.”  Many  of  his  paintings  are  commemo- 
rative of  American  independence  and  the  strug- 
gle through  which  it  was  achieved.  Trumbull  did 
much  for  art  in  connection  with  his  alma  mater,  Yale 
College.  He  died  in  1843.  In  1777  Edward  G. 
Mai  bone  first  saw  the  light  of  day.  This  famous 
miniature  painter  was  a native  of  Newport,  Rhode 
Island.  As  a colorist  he  was  especially  excellent. 
He  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty.  Another  name 

is  conspicuous  in  the 
annals  of  American 
art,  Washington  All- 
ston,  a native  of  South 
Carolina,  where  he 
was  born  in  1779. 
Allston  was  a charm- 
ing poet  and  a bril- 
liant artist.  He  was 
most  at  home  in  delin- 
eating biblical  scenes. 
Allston  died  in  1843. 
He  deserves  special 
consideration  as  a 
happy  blending  of  art 
and  literature.  Ilis 
manhood  home  was 
m Cambridge,  and  he  was  a conspicuous  illustra- 
tion of  “ Boston  culture.”  Among  modern  paint- 
ers of  fame  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  may 
be  mentioned  Church,  Beard,  Hart,  Ilealy,  Bier- 
stadt,  Shirlaw,  Dyer,  Hope. 

In  sculpture,  Hiram  Powers  and  W.  W.  Story, 
both  New  Englanders  long  resident  In  Rome,  are 
unsurpassed  in  the  use  of  the  chisel.  Powers  was 
born  in  Vermont  in  1805.  His“  Greek  Slave,”  fin- 
ished at  Rome  in  1843,  secured  for  the  sculptor  a 
rank  among  the  master  workers  in  marble.  Storey, 
a son  of  the  great  American  jurist,  Justice  Story  of 
the  Supreme  Bench,  was  born  in  Boston  in  1819. 
He  early  took  up  his  residence  in  Rome,  where  lie 
did  not  fail  to  acquire  recognition  not  only  as  a 
poet,  but  as  an  artist  of  rare  accomplishments 
and  power. 


No  4 


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SIX  SPANISH  MILLLD 
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Value  there  of  in  Cold 

Or  SILVER-  accord  inf  to 
a Resolution  of  CO A£ 
GRESS  pull, <Uat  Phi ■ 
taJelpiiV.  Nov-2.- '7/6 • 


SIX  DOLLARS 

'Vs-hviC!  XI 


A BILL  OP  CREDIT,  OR  CONTINENTAL  MONEY. 


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CHAPTER  LXXXIX. 


English  Literature  and  America — First  American  Author — Eliot  and  His  Indian  Bible — 
First  Authoress  in  America — John  Woolman — Jonathan  Edwards — Cotton  Mather — 
Benjamin  Franklin  and  Poor  Richard — Revolutionary  Literature — Common  Sense  and 
the  Crisis — Poetry  of  the  Period — The  Federalist — Madison  State  Papers — A Sterile 
Age— Minor  Poems— Poe  and  Dana— Cooper  and  his  Novels— N.  P,  Willis  and  G.  P. 
Morris — “Fanny  Forrester,”  Mrs.  Sigourney  and  Mrs.  Willard — Washington  Irving — 
Jared  Sparks — Margaret  Fuller  and  R.  W.  Emerson — Kent  and  Story — Webster 
and  Worcester— Theological  Controversy— Great  American  Historians — The  Scientists 
— The  Journalists — The  Great  Poets — American  Humor — Hawthorne  and  Others — The 
Noted  Writers  now  at  their  Desks — Pulpit  Literature. 


~ 

NGLISH  literature,  in  the 
broad  sense  of  the  term,  is 
something  more  than  the 
literature  of  England,  and 
includes  the  literary  pro- 
duction of  all  the  English- 
speaking  peoples ; hut  the 
writings  of  American  authors  form  so 
important  a branch  of  this  greatest  of 
all  literatures  that  it  may  well  be  hon- 
ored with  a distinct  classification. 

The  first  literary  effort  in  the  En- 
glish language  in  the  new  world,  apart 
from  mere  reports,  was  a translation  of 
Ovid’s  Metamorphosis  by  George  San- 
dys,  in  1621.  Prvden  was  greatly 
pleased  witli  the  versification.  Sandys  was  treasurer 
of  the  Virginia  colony.  Several  publications  de- 
signed to  stimulate  emigration  from  England  to 
America  appeared  about  that  time,  penned  by  colo- 
nists, but  they  had  no  special  merits.  The  first 
printing  press  in  the  colonies  was  set  up  in  the  house 
of  the  president  of  Harvard  College  in  1639,  and  the 
first  book  printed  in  this  country  was  the  “Bay 


Psalm  Book”  (1640)  prepared  for  use  in  Puritan 
churches  by  John  Eliot  and  others. 

The  first  really  great  literary  work  in  America 
was  performed  by  Eliot  in  reducing  the  language 
spoken  by  the  Indians  of  Massachusetts  to  writing. 
He  not  only  made  a translation  of  the  Bible  in  the 
language  of  the  Mohegans,  but  a grammar,  besides 
translating  several  religious  books  of  high  repute  in 
that  day.  Eliot’s  Bible  was  printed  on  the  Har- 
vard press  in  1658-63,  and  was  the  first  Bible  printed 
in  America. 

The  first  strictly  American  authoress  was  Mrs. 
Anne  Bradstreet,  wife  of  Governor  Bradstreet, 
of  Massachusetts.  She  was  born  in  1612  and  died  in 
1672.  “ The  Tenth  Muse  ” was  an  appellation  be- 
stowed upon  her.  From  her  the  Danas,  to  be  men- 
tioned later,  were  descended.  The  most  illustrious 
name  in  the  literary  annals  of  America  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century  was  Mather,  father,  son,  grandson 
and  great  grandson,  the  third,  Cotton  Mather,  being 
the  chief.  He  was  a man  of  many  wonderful  gifts. 
His  Magnalia  Christi  Americana  was  a historical  and 
biographical  memorial  of  primitive  New  England, 
a book  showing  fine  powers  of  characterization.  But 


to 


7 


(638) 


<3\  ' 


< 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


he  was  greater  as  a man  and  a preacher  than  he  was 
as  an  author.  His  account  of  witchcraft  in  Salem 
and  Boston  has  proved  a monument  to  his  own  dis- 
honor, giving  him  more  prominence  in  that  disrep- 
utable episode  of  colonial  history  than  he  actually 
deserves. 

The  first  American  book  of  real  genius  came  from 


the  pen  of  a native  of  New  Jersey  and  a member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  to  whom  Charles  Lamb  paid 
this  high  tribute,  “ Get  the  writiugs  of  John  Wool- 
man  by  heart,  and  learn  to  love  the  early  Quaker.” 
The  best  of  his  writings  is  his  Journal.  Wool- 

man  was  born 
in  Burlington 
County,  New 
Jersey,  1720, 
and  died  of 
the  small-pox, 
in  York,  En- 
gland, whither 
he  had  gone  to 
attend  a quar- 
terly meeting, 
in  1772.  Con- 
temporaneous 
with  Woolman, 
equally  relig- 
ious, but  other- 
wise widely  dif- 
ferent from 
him,  was  Jona- 

•JONATHAN  EDWARDS.  til  all  EdwaiJs, 

who  was  born  in  East  Windsor,  Connecticut,  1703, 
and  died,  also  of  small-pox,  at  Princeton,  New 
Jersey,  1758.  Edwards  was  at  the  time  of  his 
death  president  of  Princeton  College.  He  was 
a metaphysician  of  wondrous  powers  of  logic. 
Accepting  the  dogmas  of  Calvinism,  he  carried 
them  to  their  logical  conclusions  with  a clear- 
ness and  thoroughness  baffling  refutation,  if  only 
his  premises  are  conceded.  II  is  treatise  on  the 
Will  and  the  History  of  Redemption  are  still  standard 
text-books  of  orthodoxy.  “The  English  Calvinists,” 
wrote  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  “ have  written  noth- 
ing to  be  put  in  competition  with  it”  [the  treatise 
on  the  Will]  Jonathan  Edwards  is  the  only  colo- 
nial author  to  achieve  and  maintain  a place  among 
the  great  authors  of  the  world. 

The  next  name  of  note  in  American  literature  is 


Benjamin  Franklin.  He  too  attracted  attention 
upon  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  was  ac- 
corded rank  among  the  best  intellects  of  the  period. 
But  his  fame  rested  upon  his  discoveries  in  science 
rather  than  upon  his  merits  as  a writer.  Ilis  pen 
was  plodding  and  commonplace.  He  wrote  much 
and  wisely,  with  good  taste,  but  not  brilliantly. 
Born  at  Boston  in  1706,  his  manhood  home  was  in 
Philadelphia,  where  he  died  in  1790.  He  was  a man 
of  science  and  politics,  writing  with  a view  to  practi- 
cal results.  With  theology  he  never  meddled. 
Without  any  polemical  disposition,  he  was  purely 
and  uniformly  secular.  Many  of  his  wise  sayings 
have  passed  into  proverbs.  For  many  years 
he  publish- 
ed “ Poor 
Richard’s 
Almanac,” 
an  annual 
so  full  of 
homely  wis- 
dom as  to 
acquire  a 
great  hold 
upon  the 
public.  For 
a long  time 
he  publish- 
ed and  edit- 
edthe  Penn- 
sylvania Ga- 
zette, the  t ™OMA8  PAINE 

most  influential  journal  in  all  the  colonies.  He  did 
more  by  his  pen  for  the  promotion  of  colonial  union 
and  resistance  to  English  despotism  than  any  other 
man.  His  Autobiography  is  the  best  of  his  literary 
remains,  and  will  always  be  valued  as  a storehouse  of 
history  and  sage  observations.  Mirabeau  paid  this 
deserved  tribute  to  Franklin:  “Antiquity  would 
have  raised  altars  to  this  mighty  genius,  who,  to  t he 
advantage  of  mankind, compassing  in  his  mind  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  was  able  to  restrain  alike 
thunderbolts  and  tyrants.” 

Franklin’s  great  reputation  made  him  especially 
available  as  a representative  of  the  colonies  at  the 
British  court.  If  the  authorities  were  contemptuous 
of  the  colonies  as  such,  they  would  surely  listen  to 
the  great  Dr.  Franklin  on  any  subject.  For  this 
reason  lie  was  much  abroad,  both  in  England  before 




V 


*k. 


640 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


Ql 

"71 


the  conflict  actually  begun,  and  in  France  during 
the  progress  of  the  war.  While  in  England  he 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  Thomas  Paine,  the  son 
of  a Quaker,  a corset-maker,  a sailor  and  a reve- 
nue official  in  a small  way.  The  quick  eye  of  Frank- 
lin saw  the  genius  of  the  man,  and  advised  him  to 
cast  his  fortunes  witli  the  American  colonies.  He 
emigrated  to  this  country  in  1774,  in  the  forty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  had  shown  facility  with 
the  pen  in  a pamphlet  criticising  the  service  with 
which  he  was  connected.  That  pamphlet  cost  him 
his  office  and  served  to  introduce  him  to  Franklin. 
In  this  country  lie  wrote  several  publications  of  some 
merit.  His  claim  to  recognition  in  this  connec- 
tion rests  upon  the  series  of  short  papers  issued 
at  irregular  intervals  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  entitled  Common  Sense  and  the  Crisis.  The 
appeals  of  the  former  series  for  union  and  republi- 
canism produced  a great  effect  upon  the  thought 
and  purpose  of  the  people.  The  Crisis  served  to 
stimulate  the  patriotism  of  the  country,  and  was 
almost  universally  read,  both  by  the  fireside  and  in 
the  camp.  They  were  issued  as  the  cause  of  inde- 
pendence required.  Two  subsequent  works  from 
the  same  pen,  llie  Rights  of  Man,  and  the  Age  of 
Reason,  can  hardly  be  classed  as  a part  of  American 
literature.  Paine  died  at  Rochelle,  New  York,  in 
1809. 

Thomas  Jefferson  wrote  much,  as  the  posthumous 
publication  of  his  writings  attest,  and  wrote  admir- 
ably well,  but  his  life  was  one  of  activity,  and  apart 
from  state  papers  (including  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence) he  never  contributed  much  to  the  cur- 
rent thought  of  his  day.  The  Revolutionary  period 
may  be  said  to  have  had  its  laureate,  Philip  Freneau, 
a thorough  Frenchman  in  style  and  temperament, 
having  that  honor.  He  was  born  in  New  \Tork, 
1752,  and  perished  in  a New  Jersey  snowstorm  at 
the  age  of  eighty -two.  Joel  Barlow,  of  Connecticut, 
attempted  to  be  a poet,  and  for  a time  passed  for 
one,  but  he  was  long  since  pronounced  a failure. 

The  Federalist,  which  was  for  the  most  part  the 
joint  product  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  John  Jay  and 
James  Mad  ison,  consists  of  a series  of  essays  in  advo- 
cacy of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  It 
did  much  to  secure  its  adoption,  and  will  always  be 
of  value  in  its  interpretation  to  statesmen  and  jurists. 
Madison  also  rendered  the  country  highly  impor- 
tant literary  service  by  making  extended  reports  of 


the  debates  in  the  convention  which  framed  the 
constitution.  Those  reports,  known  as  the  Madi- 
son State  Papers,”  were  not  made  public  until  after 
the  distinguished  reporter’s  death. 

There  was  a long  period  of  barrenness  in  Ameri- 
can literature.  A few  theologians  rose  to  eminence 
as  writers  on  subjects  connected  with  their  profes- 
sion, notably  Samuel  Hopkins,  Dr.  Emmons,  Dr. 
Bellamy  and  Moses  Stuart,  but  none  of  them  could 
at  all  compare  with  J onathan  Edwards,  or  be  said  to 
have  contributed  any  really  new  element  to  theolog- 
ical thought.  Their  published  works  are  merely  elab- 
orately drawn  out  doctrinal  sermons.  They  never 
passed  beyond  the  range  of  professional  text-books. 

Edgar  A.  Poe  was  really  the  pioneer  poet  of 
America,  and  Washington  Irving  the  pioneer  of 
American  prose,  as  a recognized  feature  of  the  helle 
lettres  literature  of  theEnglish  language.  Before  their 
day  were  composed  a few  stray  bits  of  poetry  which 
are  justly  treasured  and  widely  read.  -These  are 
“ The  Star  Spangled  Banner,”  by  Francis  S.  Key ; 
“ The  Old  Oaken  Bucket,”  by  Samuel  Woodworth ; 
and  “ The  Culprit  Fay,”  by  Joseph  Rodman  Drake. 
The  “ Thanatopsis  ” of  Bryant  belonged  to  that  peri- 
od, but  the  subsequent  poetry  of  the  same  writer  gives 
him  rank  with  the  later  poets.  During  this  period 
of  comparative  sterility,  one  branch  of  knowledge 
received  exception- 
al attention,  orni 
thology.  Alexander 
Wilson,  a native  of 
Scotland,  and  John 
James  Audubon,  a 
Louisianian  (1780- 
1851)  made  a thor- 
ough study  of  A- 
merican  birds,  and 
duly  recorded  their 
observations.  Poe 
was  born  in  1811( 
and  died  in  1849. 

His  was  an  unhap- 
py lot,  a life-strug- 
gle against  poverty  and  all  the  ills  attendant  upon  in- 
temperance. The  less  said  of  his  private  life  the 
better  for  him.  Ilis  “ Bells,”  “ Raven,”  and  other 
poems  are  familiar.  He  is  one  of  the  household 
poets,  open  to  criticism,  but  attractive  to  the  great 
bodv  of  readers. 


EDGAR  A.  POE. 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


Contemporaneous  with  Poe  may  be  classed  Fitz 
Greene  Halleck,  who  was  born  in  Guilford,  Connect- 
icut in  1795,  and  died  there  in  1867.  His  life  was 
a pleasant  episode.  He  was  admired  and  courted  for 

his  person- 
al charms 
m>  less  than 
for  his  ex- 
quisite ge- 
nius. He 
was  not  a 
voluminous 
writer.  An- 
other con- 
temporary 
was  R.  H. 
Dana,  the 
elder,  born 
in  1787  and 
living  until 
1879.  Mr. 

FITZ  GREENE  HALLECK.  DailU  b0- 

longed  to  the  aristocracy  of  Boston,  and  wrote  with  el- 
egance not  only  poetry  but  short  stories  and  critiques. 
He,  even  more  than  Poe,  might  be  called  the  shadow 


RICHARD  II.  DANA. 


cast  before  by  coming  American  literature.  His 
Paul  Fulton  is  a powerful  romance,  and  his  lectures 
on  Shakspcare  are  in  refreshing  contrast  with  the 
inane  lectures  on  the  same  subject  by  John  Quincy 


Adams,  delivered  when  that  great  statesman  was  a 
college  professor.  Dana  lived  to  see  the  bud  of  his 
own  promise  blossom  in  others. 

James  Fenimore  Cooper  was  the  first  great  nov- 
elist of  America  and  the  first  American  writer  after 
Franklin  and 
Edwards,  to 
gain  Euro- 
pean recog- 
nition. He 
was  a truly 
national  nov- 
elist, for  he 
wrote  of  life 
on  the  fron- 
tier, of  In- 
d ians,  trap- 
pers and  the 
sea.  He  cast 
a halo  about 
the  Indian 
characterand  JAME<  fenimore  coofkr. 

American  scenery.  Cooper  lived  in  Cooperstown, 

New  York.  He  was  born  in  1789  and  survived 
until  1851.  On  much  the  same  plane  stands  Miss 
Sedgwick  (1789-1867),  a novelist  who  enjoyed  a wide 
popularity  in  her  day.  Neither  are  much  read  at 
the  present  time. 

In  his  day  N. 

P.  Willis  was  a 
noted  member  of 
the  literary  guild. 

He  was  a journal- 
ist and  poet  of 
the  more  esthet- 
ic character.  He 
was  born  in  1806, 
and  died  in  1867. 

1 hiring  his  early 
manhood  he  was 
a great  pet  with 
a large  class  o 
readers.  His  best  "•  r W,LL"'- 

work  was  done  on  the  New  York:  Mirror  and  the 
Home  Journal,  two  fireside  weeklies  of  large  circula- 
tion. He  wrote  nothing  which  deserves  to  lie  men- 
tioned specifically.  Ilis  friend,  George  P.  Morris, 
wrote,  less  and  generally  not  as  well ; but  his  “ Wood- 
man, Spare  that  Tree,”  is  a gem  of  rare  beauty. 


A 

6 


J 

T 


Q (V. 


642  AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


Mrs.  Sigourney  also  stood  very  high  as  a poetess  in 
her  time.  She  was  a prolific  writer  of  verse,  being 
often  called  upon  to  grace  special  occasions.  She 
was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1791  and  died  in  1865. 

Washington  Irving  is  the  supreme  landmark  in 
American  prose.  He  was  horn  in  New  York  in  1783 
and  died  in  1859.  He  begun  his  literary  career  as 
the  anonymous  writer  of  a comic  history  of  New 
York  under  the  primitive  Dutch.  It  was  a very 
brilliant  success.  That  was  in  1809,  when  he  was 
young  and  rich.  He  wrote  simply  as  a recreation. 


WASHINGTON  IRVING. 


But  about  ten  years  later  his  fortune  disappeared, 
and  he  took  up  literature  as  his  life-work.  Others 
had  made  it  a trade:  he  took  it  up  as  a profession. 
He  was  not  a literary  artisan,  hut  an  artist.  His 
sketches  and  tales  attracted  the  attention  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott  and  others  in  the  old  world.  It  was 
then  admitted  by  the  British  critics  that  perhaps 
some  good  tiling  could  come  out  of  republican 
America.  He  wrote  several  elaborate  histories,  his 
Columbus  being  the  first  and  his  Washington  the 
last.  His  fine  style  could  invest  any  subject  with 
interest.  Irving  was  a very  fortunate  man  in  his 
temperament.  For  many  years  he  was  the  most 
popular  man  in  the  country,  always  praised  and 
never  dazed  by  adulation. 

As  a historian  Irving  lacked  the  critical  faculty 
which  is  necessary  to  the  very  highest  merit  in  that 


department  of  literature.  But  America  can  justly 
boast  of  her  contributions  to  historical  literature. 
Several  names  present  themselves  in  this  connection. 
Jared  Sparks  (1794-1866)  did  a great  work  in  bring- 
ing out  twenty-five  volumes  of  American  biography. 
Several  of  the  volumes  were  from  his  own  pen  and 
all  were  under  his  editorial  supervision.  Sparks 
was  followed  by  John  G.  Palfrey  and  several  minor 
historians.  But  it  was  not  until  a later  period  that 
the  great  galaxy  of  American  historians  appeared 
in  the  heavens. 

Two  other  names  come  to  the  front  at  this  point 
of  our  sketch, 

Margaret  Ful- 
ler and  Ralph 
Waldo  Emer- 
son. The  for- 
mer was  born 
in  1810  and 
was  lost  at  sea 
in  1850,  while 
the  latter,  born 
in  1803,  died 
in  1882.  In  life 
they  were  warm 
friends.  Mar- 
garet Fuller 
(for  the  Mar- 
chioness D’Os- 
soli  is  best 

RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON. 

known  by  her 

maiden  name)  was  a brilliant  critic.  Her  young 
life  had  in  it  the  promise  of  a great  future.  She 
is  remembered  more  for  what  she  was  than  for 
what  she  had  already  accomplished.  Emerson 
combines  the  philosopher,  poet  and  critic.  Edu- 
cated for  the  ministry,  he  was  adapted  rather  to 
the  life  of  a student  untrammeled  by  any  pro- 
fessional obligations.  He  did  a very  great  work  in 
elevating  the  general  tone  of  American  literature. 
Writers  and  readers  were  alike  lifted  by  his  genius 
into  higher  ranges  of  thought.  Without  ridiculing 
or  condemning  the  vapid  productions  which  held 
the  field  in  his  younger  days,  he  set  about  the  culti- 
vation of  better  ideals  and  tastes.  Therein  was  his 
chief  work.  Emerson  may  be  said  to  have  not  only 
introduced  Thomas  Carlyle  to  America,  but  to  his 
own  countrymen.  He  long  ago  won  recognition  the 
world  over  as  one  of  the  great  thinkers  of  our  age- 


i 


l£) 


C> 


pr 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


Chancellor  Kent  of,  New  York  (1763-1847),  de- 
serves prominent  mention  for  his  great  legal  work 
on  American  law.  He  is  the  Blackstone  of  the 
United  States.  His  commentaries  have  been  a text 
book  with  law  students  for  fifty  years  and  have  lost 

none  of  their 
value.  Judge 
Story,  of  the 
Supremebench 
of  the  United 
States  (1779- 
1845), produced 
a work  on 
the  constitu- 
tion which  is 
an  indispensa- 
ble manual  for 
every  states- 
man in  this  re- 
public. A good 
many  valuable 
noah  webster.  legal  treatises 

have  been  produced  in  this  country,  but  Kent  and 
Story  are  the  only  really  great  and  immortal  names 
in  the  annals  of  American  law  literature.  The 
name  of  Abbott  deserves  honorable  mention.  There 
were  two  brothers  of  note,  Jacob,  the  author  of  the 
“ Rollo  Books”  and  a long  list  of  works  designed  to 
instruct  and  entertain  the  young,  and  John  S.  C. 

Abbott,  two  years  younger, 
whose  histories  of  Napoleon 
and  other  famous  characters 
were  received  with  favor. 

1 n lexicography  America 
has  two  great  names,  Noah 
Webster  (1758-1843)  and 
Joseph  E.  Worcester  ( 1 784- 
1865).  Either  is  good  au- 
thority on  both  spelling  and 
pronunciation,  and  that  not 
only  in  America,  but  wher- 
j.  e.  Worcester.  ever  the  English  language  is 
spoken.  Webster  began  as  the  mere  maker  of  a 
spelling-book  for  the  school-room.  He  was  a grad- 
uate of  Yale  College,  and  so,  too,  was  A\  orcester. 
They  were  independent  workers  in  the  great 
field  of  lexicography,  but  not  rivals  in  any  in- 
vidious sense.  Webster’s  great  work  first  appear- 
ed in  1828,  Worcester’s  in  1860.  Each  has  passed 


through  numerous  editions,  and  been  improved 
and  enlarged  many  times.  America  has  brought 
the  art  of  preparing  text-books  for  the  school-room 
to  a degree  of  perfection  unknown  in  the  old  world, 
and  in  that  line  Noali  Webster  was  the  pioneer. 
He  maytbe  called 
thefather  of  Amer- 
ican school  books. 

In  the  first  half 
of  this  century 
there  arose  a tem- 
pestuous contro- 
versy in  Massachu- 
setts over  the  doc- 
trine of  the  trinity. 

On  one  side  were 
Prof.  Moses  Stuart 
and  his  compeers 
of  Andover  The- 
ological Seminary, 
and  the  orthodox 

ministers  of  the  GEORGE  BANCROFT. 

Congregational  church  generally,  and  on  the  other 
side  were  Dr.  Channing  (1870-1842)  and  the  M ares, 
Henry  and  William,  with  their  Unitarian  sympa- 
thizers. This  controversy  was  mainly  carried  on 
in  the  pulpit  and 
through  the  jour- 
nalistic press,  but 
some  of  the  litera- 
ture forms  a part  of 
a great  intellectual 
contest.  The  most 
illustrious  product 
of  it,  however,  was 
Theodore  Parker, 
who  was  so  very 
liberal  that  even 
Unitarians  could 
not  tolerate  him. 

Parker’s  works  are 
not  widely  read, 
but  they  have  been 
merits. 

The  historians  of  America  besides  those  already 
named,  and  who  are  really  second  to  none  in  any 
land  or  time,  are  Prescott,  Hildreth,  Bancroft,  Mot- 
ley and  Parkman,  all  natives  of  Massachusetts  and 
graduates  of  Harvard  College. 


JOHN  LOTII KOI*  MOTLKY. 

uglily  praised  for  their  literary 


Wn:.  II.  Prescott 


A 


i 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


O44 


was  born  in  1796  and  died  in  1850.  He  wrote  the 
history  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  also  of  the  con- 
quests of  Mexico  and  Peru.  They  were  at  once  rec- 
ognized as  the  productions  of  a genius.  Richard 
Hildreth  (1807-1865)  was  the  author  of  an  elaborate 
history  of  the  United  States,  which  has  only  one 
rival,  and  that  is  the  great  work  of  George  Bancroft. 
Mr.  Bancroft  was  born  m 1800  and  still  survives. 
He  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  1845,  and  he  held 
several  other  high  positions  under  the  government. 
Fifty  years  ago  he  began  his  history  of  the  United 
States,  and  a new  volume  has  been  hailed  from  time 
to  time  as  an  event.  His  style,  however,  is  heavy 
and  his  volumes  dull.  John  Lothrop  Motley  was 

born  in  1814  and  died 
in  1877.  He  devoted 
his  life  to  the  Rise  and 
Fall  of  the  Dutch  Re- 
public, and  in  that  field 
never  had  a peer.  His 
style  is  elegant  and 
fascinating.  Mr.  Mot- 
ley wrote  several  dis- 
tinct yet  kindred  vol- 
umes. He  represented 
1 lie  United  States  at  the 
Austrian  court  under 
Mr.  Lincoln,  and  at  the 
English  court  under  a 
part  of  General  Grant’s 
first  term.  I11  diplomacy  lie  was  not  a success,  but 
in  history  he  won  the  admiration  of  Europe  and 
America.  Francis  Parkman  was  born  1823.  The 
field  which  he  has  cultivated  with  a success  which 
gives  him  rank  with  Prescott  and  Motley,  is  New 
France  and  the  early  settlement  of  the  West. 

I11  scientific  literature  this  country  can  boast  sev- 
eral names  of  note,  Silliman,  Hitchcock,  Agassiz, 
Dana,  Winchell,  Gray,  Baclie,  Maury  and  Draper, 
besides  those  early  lights  of  America.  Dr.  Franklin 
and  Count  Rumford  (1753-1814).  The  latter  was  a 
great  natural  philosopher  who  did  much  good  work 
in  his  department  of  thought,  but  being  a Tory  in 
the  Revolutionary  period,  he  had  to  leave  the  coun- 
try and  was  almost  lost  sight  of.  Of  these  latter- 
day  scientists,  Benjamin  Silliman  (1779-1864)  is 
best  known  as  the  founder  of  Silliman’s  Journal  of 
Science  and  Art.  He  was  professor  of  chemistry, 
mineralogy  and  geology  in  Yale  College  from  1804 


to  1855.  Edward  Hitchcock  was  born  in  1793  and 
died  in  1864.  He  was  professor  of  geology  hi  Am- 
herst College  for  many  years,  and  later  President  of 
that  institution.  He  was  among  the  greatest  geol- 
ogists of  his  day.  Louis  Agassiz  was  a native  of 
Switzerland,  born  in  1807.  He  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  his  early  manhood  and  became  connected  with 
Harvard  College.  Zoology  was  the  branch  of  sci- 
ence to  which  his  life  was  devoted.  He  died  in 
1873.  Janies  D.  Dana,  born  in  1813,  ranks  very 
high  as  a geologist  and  mineralogist.  His  writings 
gave  him  a high  reputation  among  scientists.  Prof. 
Alexander  Winchell,  born  in  1824.  may  be  said  to 
have  brought  geol- 
ogy  down  to  date. 

The  venerable  Pro- 
fessor Asa  Gray,  of 
Harvard  College, 
has  long  ranked  as 
the  foremost  botan- 
ist in  America.  He 
has  written  much 
ujion  the  flora  of 
this  country.  He 
was  born  in  1810. 

Alexander  D.  Baclie, 
who  was  born  in 
1806  and  died  in 
1867,  was  a grand- 
son of  Benjamin  DR- J-  w-  draper. 

Franklin.  His  great  achievement  was  the  super- 
intendence of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey, 
which  position  he  held  for  nearly  a quarter  of 
a century.  His  annual  reports  on  the  Coast'  Sur- 
vey constitute  a treasury  of  scientific  information. 
Commodore  Maury,  who  was  born  in  Virginia  in 
1806,  was  an  eminent  physicist.  He  is  known  the 
world  over  by  his  “Wind  and  Current  Charts,”  and 
his  “ Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea.”  Dr.  J.  W. 
Draper  (1811-1881)  is  equally  famous  as  a scientist 
and  a historian.  He  was  master  of  a remarkably  ele- 
gant style  of  composition  and  profoundly  learned  in 
natural  history.  He  was  a native  of  England,  but 
was  educated  in  this  country.  For  many  years 
Dr.  Draper  was  professor  of  chemistry  in  the  LTni- 
versity  of  New  York. 

I11  the  department  of  journalism  America  can 
boast  some  great  names  besides  Franklin.  The  high- 
est rank  is  now  generally  given  to  Horace  Greeley, 


k 

> 


i 


<5" 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


645 


3 


the  founder  of  the  New  York  Tribune. 
was  a native  of  New 
Hampshire,  born  in 
1811.  His  ideal  of  a 
newspaper  was  one 
which  should  exert  a 
great  and  wholesome 
influence.  The  more 
typical  journalist  of 
his  time  was  James 
Gordon  Bennett  (1800- 
1872)  whose  only  am- 
bition was  to  furnish 
the  latest  and  fullest 
news.  Herein  his  jour- 
nal, the  New  York 
Herald,  became  the 
model  of  journalistic 
enterprise.  The  Amer- 
ican press,  as  a whole, 
is  more  enterprising 
and  versatile  than  that 
of  any  other  country, 
and  the  American 
people  devote  more 
attention  to  newspa- 
per reading  than  do 
any  other  people.  The 
absolute  freedom  of  the  American  press  has  favored 
the  enlargement  of  its  sphere. 

Closely  allied  to  the  newspaper 
press,  yet  not  by  any  means 
confined  to  it,  was  Bayard  Tay- 
lor. This  remarkable  man  be- 
gan his  career  of  eminence  as  a 
traveler.  He  went  from  land  to 
land,  contributing  his  observa- 
tions to  the  New  York  Tribune 
and  diffusing  knowledge  among 
the  people,  becoming  one  of  the 
best  known  of  our  countrymen. 

Later  he  achieved  success  as  a 
novelist,  and  latest  as  a poet. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  he 
was  the  representative  of  the 
United  States  at  the  German 
capital.  Born  in  1825,  he  died 
in  1878.  His  translation  of 
Fans/  is  the  most  enduring  monument  of  liis  genius. 


American  literature  has  a galaxy  of  poets  worthy 

to  be  classed  among 
the  classics  of  the 
world,  Longfellow, 
Bryant,  Whittier,  Low- 
ell and  Holmes.  The 
first  and  second  have 
ceased  from  their  la- 
bors, and  the  three 
others  cannot  long 
survive.  Mr.  Long- 
fellow, born  in  1807, 
died  early  in  1882, 
and  was  mourned  by 
the  nation  as  the  lau- 
reate of  the  people. 
Descended  from  an 
old  New  England 
family,  nurtured  in 
luxury,  and  cultured 
to  the  last  degree,  he 
seemed  the  veryimper- 
sonation  of  all  which 
is  tender,  beautiful 
and  pure.  There  was 
in  his  genius  no  sug- 
gestion of  the  organ, 
but  rather  of  the 
piano.  The  merest  touch  brought  a melodious  re- 
sponse. Mr.  Bryant,  who  was 
born  in  1794  and  died  in  1878, 
retained  his  mental  faculties  to 
the  last,  and  did  some  of  his 
best  work  in  the  winter  of 
his  days.  But  his  masterpiece, 
Thanalopsis , was  written  when 
ho  was  only  eighteen  years  of 
age.  William  Cullen  Bryant 
was  the  poet  of  nature  in  her 
more  tranquil  moods.  John  G. 
Whittier,  born  in  1807,  spent 
his  early  days  on  a farm,  amid 
the  calm  of  a Quaker  house- 
hold, with  no  encouragements 
to  the  cultivation  of  poetry. 
They  belt  ng,  however,  to  much 
the  same  school  of  poets,  being 
exquisitely  refined  and  artistic 
in  every  touch  and  tone.  Whittier  wrote  much  in 


Air.  Greeley 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


the  interest  of  the  anti-slavery  cause,  but  he  is 
none  the  less  a notable  example  of  the  highest 


HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW. 


ican  humor  ever  received  such  high  praise  in  En- 


WILLIAM  CULLEN  BRYANT. 


art  in  poetry. 


James  It.  Lowell,  now  American 
minister  at 
the  English 
court,  be- 
came first 
known  as 
a writer 
of  grotesque 
and  humor- 
ous poetry 
in  the  Yan- 
kee dialect. 
That  was 
at  the  time 
of  the  Mex- 
icanwar.  lie 
signed  him- 
self as  “Ho- 
sea  Biglow.” 
Those  pa- 
pers were 

strongly  anti-slavery  in  sentiment  and  gave  the 
author  great  reputation  as  a humorist.  No  Amer- 


J.  G.  WHITTIER. 


gland  as  the  “ Biglow  Papers.”  But  Lowell  is  some- 
thing more 
than  a humor- 
ist. His  poet- 
ry is  beautiful 
and  pathetic. 

In  prose  he 
excels  as  a 
critic.  His  es- 
says, published 
originally  in 
the  North  A- 
meric  an  Review, 
on  literary  top- 
ics, attracted 
wide  and  ad- 
miring atten- 
tion in  En- 
gland. As  an 
essayist  he  has 
only  one  equal  james  russell  lowell. 

in  the  country,  E.  P.  Whipple,  of  Boston.  Dr. 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  combines  prose  and  poetry 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


AVhile  Longfellow  and  Whittier  never  venture  out- 
side of  verse,  and  Lowell  only  entered  the  smaller 
field  of  criticism,  Dr.  Holmes  boldly  launched  out 
upon  the  broad  ocean  of 
romance  and  the  exceed- 
ingly perilous  gulf  of  pro- 
fessional wit.  His  Elsie 
Vennor  is  an  admirable 
story,  and  his  Autocrat  of 
the  Breakfast  Table  is  a 
well  of  wit  untainted  by 
any  coarseness.  Holmes 
has  the  greatest  versatil- 
ity of  genius  of  any  Amer- 
ican author.  This  prince 
of  magazinists  was  born 
in  1809.  What  Goethe 
and  Schiller  and  their 
compeers  were  to  the  court 
of  Weimar,  are  Longfel- 
low, Whittier,  Lowell  and 
Holmes  to  the  literary 
capital  of  America,  Bos- 
ton, and  its  immediate 
vicinity.  There  are  bril- 
liant and  somewhat  illustrious  representatives  of 
the  younger  and  more  active  school,  or  set  of  mag- 
azinists, but  their  glory  fades  and  pales  in  compar- 
ison with  the 
poets  who  have 
lifted  American 
literature  from 
the  dust  of  con- 
tempt and  made 
this  country  the 
companion  in 
literary  renown 
of  Greece,  En- 
gland, Germany 
and  France. 

On  a recent 
occasion  an  En- 
glish lecturer  in 
this  country  in- 
charles  p.  browne.  quired,  “ Whydo 

all  American  journalists  try  to  be  humorists?  As 
compared  with  any  other  country  American  writers 
with  reputations  to  make  are  especially  given  to 
humor.  Some  attempts  in  this  line  have  met  with 


signal  success.  The  Mrs.  Partington  and  her  son  Ike, 
of  Benjamin  P.  Shillaber,  dates  from  1847.  Now 
and  then  a new  joke  would  come  out  and  gain  wide 
circulation  until  at  length 
“ Mrs.  Partington  ” has 
come  to  have  a distinct 
place  in  the  thought  of 
the  reading  public.  John 
G.  Saxe,  a poet  of  rare 
gifts,  was  so  very  humor- 
ously inclined  that  his 
verse  sparkles  with  laugh- 
ter-provoking wit.  C.  F. 
Browne,  as  “ Artemus 
Ward,”  may  be  set  down 
as  the  first  of  our  native 
humorists  who  aimed  sole- 
ly at  the  ludicrous.  He 
has  no  underlying  pur- 
pose. His  preposterous 
spelling  and  grotesque  con- 
ceits were  more  highly  ap- 
preciated after  his  death 
(1867)  than  during  his 
life.  “Mark  Twain,”  Mr. 
Clemens,  began  as  a journalist  upon  the  Pacific 
Coast.  But  ever  since  his  “ Innocents  Abroad  ” 
(1868)  he  has  been  a resident  of  the  East,  and 
has  been 
recognized 
as  the 
greatest  of 
American 
humorists. 

Under  his 
cap  and 
bells  may 
begeneral- 
lv  discern- 
ed an  ear- 
nest and 
commend- 
able pur- 
pose. He 
has  been 

sharply  criticised  by  English  critics,  but  others 
again  do  not  scruple  to  place  him  at  the  head 
of  contemporaneous  humor  not  only,  but  to  claim 
for  him  rank  among  the  immortal  wits. 


HAMUKI.  R.  CRKMKN8. 


'v 


\ GL. 


648 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


recognition 
great  genius. 


NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE. 


If  Cooper  was  the  first  American  novelist  to  at- 
tract attention  abroad,  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  was 

the  first  to  gain 
as  a 
Born 

in  1804,  he  was  not 
swift  to  make  his 
mark  upon  litera- 
ture. His  Twice- 
told  Tales  were  well 
received,  but  it  was 
between  the  years 
of  1846  and  1852 
that  he  achieved 
greatness.  H is  Scar- 
let Letter  and  other 
long  stories  are 
among  the  few  novels  destined  to  be  read  and  ad- 
mired by  future  generations.  Mr.  Hawthorne  died 
in  1864.  His  son,  Julian,  has  written  some  good 
but  not  great  novels. 

Of  a very  different  type  is  J.  T.  Headley,  who  was 
born  in  1814.  He  was  educated  for  the  ministry,  but 
his  taste  took  him  to  literature  as  a profession.  In 
word-painting  he  has  a most  admirable  facility.  Na- 
poleon and  His  Marshals,  published  in  1840,  was  an 
exceedingly  popular  book,  and  so  too,  was  Washington 
and  His  Generals.  Both  continue  to  be  in  considerable 
demand,  especially  the  former.  Mr.  Headley  met  a 
popular  demand  very  creditably.  His  younger 
brother,  P.  C.  Headley,  is  the  author  of  several 
hardly  less  well  received  publications. 

George  William  Curtis  (1824)  is  a rare  combina- 
tion of  high  talent.  During  the  first  half  of  the 
fifth  decade  of  this  century,  he  published  several 
books  which  excited  high  hopes  of  a brilliant  future. 
The  best  of  these  was  his  Potiphar  Papers.  But  he 
abandoned  the  field  of  book-making  and  devoted 
himself  to  the  writing  ol  brief  essays  on  current 
subjects  and  to  lecturing.  He  is  a fascinating 
speaker  and  a charming  writer.  Through  the 
Easy  Chair  of  Harper’s  Monthly  and  the  Editorial 
department  of  Harper’s  Weekly  he  has  wrought  a 
great  work  in  educating  the  public  mind  on  polit- 
ical, social  and  other  subjects.  Mr.  Curtis  has  been 
and  is  a great  lever  for  the  elevation  of  public  sen- 
timent. 

J.  G.  Holland,  whose  sudden  death  in  the  fall  of 
1881  was  felt  to  be  a national  calamity,  was  one  of 


G.  HOLLAND. 


the  few  writers  who  steadily  grew  in  power  and  favor. 
Born  in  1819, 
he  first  won 
renown  as 
the  author  of 
the  immense- 
ly popular 
Timothy  Tit- 
comb  Letters. 

A few  years 
later  the  mor- 
alizer  devel- 
oped into  a 
poet  ( Bitter 
Sweet).  Still 
a few  years 
later,  and  Dr. 

Holland  entered  the  list  as  a novelist,  and  won  dis- 
tinction. His  Arthur  Bonnicastle  was  well  received 
by  the  most  critical  readers  and  very  popular  with 
the  many. 

Walt  Whitman  is  one  of  America’s  most  remark- 
able men  of  letters.  The  Edinburgh  Peview  and 
a very  considerable  class  of  British  critics,  pro- 
nounce him  our  greatest  poet.  Many  fail  to  see  any 
poetry  and  much  indecency  in  his  Leaves  of  Grass. 
He  is  as  defiant  of  rules  as  Carlyle.  Many  of  his 
leaves  should  have  been  left  out,  while  some  of  them 
are  very  tender  and  will  always  be  green.  Whitman 
was  born  in  1819. 

The  most  widely  read  book  ever  produced  in 
America  is  Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin,  by  Mrs.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe.  It  was  accepted  as  a faithful  pen 
picture  of  African  slavery  in  America,  and  as  such, 
read  with  the  utmost  avidity.  It  was  published  in 
1852,  and  had  a success  absolutely  unparalleled  in 
all  the  annals  of  literature.  Millions  of  copies  were 
sold  in  America  and  England  alone,  and  translations 
speedily  made  of  it  into  every  language  of  the  world 
which  might  be  said  to  possess  a popular  literature. 
Mrs.  Stowe  is  the  daughter  of  the  great  preacher, 
Lyman  Beecher,  and  sister  of  the  still  greater  pulpit 
orator,  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  She  has  written  sev- 
eral other  stories  of  considerable  merit,  but  her  first 
stands  upon  an  elevation  of  its  own. 

There  are  several  American  authors  of  great 
promise  now  in  the  midst  of  their  career,  BretHarte 
and  Joaquin  Miller  in  poetry,  J.  D.  Howells  and 
Henry  James,  Jr.,  in  romance,  who  have  done  much 


rr~ 


AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 


and  have  in  them  the  promise  of  many  years  of 
usefulness. 

Mr.  Ilarte  combines  humor  and  pathos.  He  can 
strike  with  deft  fingers  the  chords  of  sentiment,  or 
he  can  make  the  waters  dance  with  ripples  of  laugh- 
ter. His  tribute  to  Dickens  and  his  “Heathen  Chi- 
nee ” are  conspicuous  examples  of  his  splendid  pow- 
ers. Joaquin  Miller  is  nearly  always  the  same, 
whether  he  writes  prose  or  poetry,  cuts  an  intaglio 
or  rears  a monument,  his  mood  and  attitude  is  ever 
that  of  a pre-Raphaelite,  more  plaintive  than  joy- 
ous. Miller  was  never  popular  in  America,  but 
attained  an  enviable  reputation  in  England.  Mr. 
Howells  has  written  several  stories  of  great  fascina- 
tion, and  he  is  still  in  the  midst  of  his  labors.  He 
shares  with  Henry  James,  Jr.,  the  honor  of  being 
the  most  conspicuous  representative  of  the  latest 
mode  in  romance.  They  are  exquisitely  esthetic 
and  are  doing  much  to  cultivate  in  the  public  mind 
a taste  for  the  purely  artistic  in  literature. 

In  no  other  part  of  Christendom  is  the  pulpit  so 
important  a factor  and  potent  an  influence  as  in 
America,  for  here  sermons,  rather  than  rites,  are  the 
main  reliance  of  the  clergy  for  the  accomplishment 
of  religious  purposes.  The  success  of  a discourse 
cannot  be  measured  by  a distinctively  literary  stand- 
ard, and  without  implying  any  comparative  dispar- 
agement of  others,  it  is  proper  in  this  connection  to 
refer  specifically  to  the  three  American  preachers 
whose  every  sermon,  as  soon  as  preached,  becomes  a 
part  of  current  literature.  These  three  pulpiteers 
are — Henry  Ward  Beecher,  T.  De  Witt  Talmage, 
and  David  Swing. 

Mr.  Beecher  was  born  in  1813,  and  is  one  of  sev- 
eral brothers  who  have  attained  eminence  in  the 
clerical  profession.  His  collegiate  career  gave  no 
promise  of  a great  future.  His  first  pastorate  was 
in  a rural  town  in  Indiana.  He  soon  removed  to 
the  capital  of  that  state,  where  he  built  up  a flour- 
ishing church  and  delivered  a course  of  lectures  to 
the  young  which  were  published  and  attained  a 
wide  circulation.  Over  thirty  years  ago  a small 
church  of  anti-slavery  proclivities  was  organized  in 
Brooklyn  as  an  offshoot  from  the  Church  of  the 
Pilgrims,  Rev.  Dr.  Storrs  pastor,  and  to  that  new 
church,  called  Plymouth,  Mr.  Beecher  was  called- 
He  accepted  the  call,  and  soon  found  himself  the 
most  popular  preacher  on  the  continent.  The  his- 


' —4 

649 


tory  of  Plymouth  Church  is  a prominent  chapter  in 
the  history  of  this  country,  more  especially  of  the 
anti-slavery  movement.  For  many  years  his  ser- 
mons have  been  reported  in  full  and  published  regu- 
larly. He  has  written  several  books,  including  a 
novel  of  some  small  merit,  but  his  fame  rests  upon 
his  pulpit  efforts.  He  is  still  in  full  vigor,  his  dis- 
courses betraying  no  senility. 

Mr.  Talmage  was  born  in  1832.  His  first  settle- 
ment was  in  Belleville,  New  Jersey,  thence  to  Svra- 
cuse,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  finally  to  Brook- 
lyn, where  he  became  and  remains  pastor  of  the 
Brooklyn  Tabernacle.  He  has  immense  audiences 
always,  and  his  sermons  are  at  once  published  in  no 
less  thau  twenty-three  newspapers,  exclusive  of  the 
daily  press.  These  papers  may  be  said  to  gird  the 
globe,  issued  as  they  are  in  New  York,  London, 
Melbourne,  San  Francisco,  and  other  great  cities  of 
the  English-speaking  world. 

The  last  name  to  be  mentioned  in  this  list  is  David 
Swing,  a native  of  Ohio,  but  for  many  years  a resi- 
dent of  Chicago.  For  fen  years  and  more  all  of  his 
sermons  have  been  published  in  full,  and  his  regu- 
lar audience  upon  the  Sabbath,  large  as  it  always 
is,  is  yet  a mere  handful  as  compared  with  the  mul- 
titudes to  whom  he  preaches  through  the  Monday 
morning  press.  He  is  a poet  who  very  rarely  writes 
poetry,  but  whose  every  prose  effort  is  melodious. 
The  profound  grief  of  the  American  people  over  the 
loss  of  President  Garfield  found  its  best  expression 
in  a dirge  from  the  pen  of  this  eminent  preacher, 
and  this  chapter  could  have  no  more  fitting  close 
than  these  tender  lines: 

Now  all  ye  flowers  make  room : 

Hither  we  come  in  gloom 
To  make  a mighty  tomb. 

Sighing  and  weeping. 

Grand  was  the  life  he  led ; 

Wise  was  each  word  he  said , 

But  with  the  noble  dead 
We  leave  him  sleeping. 

Sofi  may  his  body  rest 
As  on  his  mother’s  breast, 

Whose  love  stands  all  confessed 
'Mid  blinding  tears; 

But  may  his  soul  so  white 
Rise  in  triumphant  flight, 

And  in  God’s  land  of  light 
Spend  endless  years. 


—A 


_© 


REFERENCE  TABLES. 


Embracing  Miscellaneous  Tables,  Showing  Contemporaneous  History  and  Literature  from  B.  C.  1500  to  A.  D.  1880; 
The  Industries,  Manufactures,  Railroads,  Food  Supply,  Gold  and  Silver  Production,  Capital,  Wealth,  Earnings  and 
Legislatures,  of  the  Countries  of  the  World;  The  Financial,  Political,  Military  and  Naval  History  of  the  United  States, 
from  1789  to  the  Present  Time,  inclusive.  Also  other  Tables,  forming  an  inexhaustible  mine  of  Important  Facts. 


TATISTICS  present  facts  in 
their  most  condensed,  exact 
and  convenient  form. 

It  is  neither  exaggeration 
nor  boasting  to  say  that  in  the 
Keference  Tables  given  here- 
with may  be  found  the  very 
quintessence  of  knowledge. 
Such  is  the  nature  of  all  tabular 
matter.  The  aim  in  this  connection 
1 has  been  to  group  together  such  sta- 
tistics as  the  broad  title  of  the  book 
itself  called  for,  gleaned  from  many 
sources.  Some  good  tables  are  as 
common  as  wise  proverbs,  while  others 
again  are  covered  by  copyright.  There 
are  both  classes  in  the  following 
pages.  Without  going  into  useless 
details  it  is  sufficient  to  say  on  this  point  that 
for  its  statistics  The  World,  Historical  and 
Actual,  is  under  great  obligation  to  “Haskell’s 
Compendium  of  Forms”  and  the  three  great  statis- 
ticians, Michael  G.  Mulhall,  F.  S.  S.,  John  Niehol, 
LL.l).,  and  General  Francis  A.  Walker. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  historical  and  the  ac- 
tual are  accorded  about  equal  space,  including  in 
the  latter  the  tables  of  events  so  recent  as  to  be- 
long really  to  the  present.  The  several  tables  are  a 
panoramic  view  of  the  past.  Beginning  with  Egypt 
when  it  emerges  from  the  sands  of  obscurity,  the 
Hebrews  when  they  were  transformed  from  slaves 
to  citizens  of  a nation  having  Jehovah  for  its  kiug, 
and  Greece  with  the  founding  of  Thebes  by  Cad- 
mus, all  in  the  fifteenth  century  before  the  Christian 
era,  the  panorama  moves  on  until  the  year  1880  is 
reached.  In  this  broad  field  of  nearly  twelity-f our 
hundred  years,  embracing  all  lands,  it  is  believed 
that  no  great  historical  event,  person  or  work  has 
escaped  attention.  Each  may  be  found,  and  be  held 


in  correlation  to  other  events,  persons  or  works. 
Literature  has  been  given  more  prominence  than 
war  or  any  other  feature  for  the  reason  that  it  alone 
is  both  historical  and  actual.  A good  book  is  in- 
stinct with  a life  which  takes  no  note  of  time.  Lit- 
erature deserves  the  prominence  given  it,  and  so 
does  America  deserve  the  prominence  given  it  in  the 
series  of  modern  tables,  for,  although  not  so  much 
as  known  until  the  evening  of  the  fifteenth  century 
it  is  the  heir  of  all  Europe,  rich  in  the  inheritance 
of  its  best  estate,  divested,  for  the  most  part,  of  the 
incumberances  of  ancient  wrongs  and  immemorial 
blunders. 

Having  taken  a historical  survey  of  the  globe  its 
present  condition  is  presented  in  tables  which  are 
distinct  and  each  complete  in  itself,  but  which  form 
a grand  unity.  The  whole  world  as  it  is  passes  be- 
fore us,  and  of  each  country  we  may  note  its 
population,  area,  religion,  government,  capital, 
debt,  standing  army  and  navy,  railways,  commerce, 
manufactures,  mining,  agriculture,  banking  and 
money.  Then  follows  a survey  of  the  world  from  a 
somewhat  different  standpoint,  with  a view  to  ascer- 
taining the  industries,  productions,  manufactures, 
commerce,  etc.,  of  the  world,  each  by  itself.  In  one 
set  of  tables  the  country  is  foremost;  in  the  other,  the 
topic  is  given  the  preference.  It  is  only  by  shifting 
the  camera  and  taking  several  views  that  a complete 
photograph  of  an  object  can  be  obtained. 

In  the  later  part  of  the  tables  much  space  is  de- 
voted to  American  statistics,  for  which,  certainly, 
no  apology  is  needed.  The  recent  completion  of 
the  tenth  census  renders  the  present  a favorable 
time  for  the  issuance  of  tabular  information  relat- 
ing to  the  United  States.  The  more  important 
features  of  the  census  are  herewith  presented  to  the 
public.  It  will  be  nearly  ten  years  before  these  ta- 
bles will  be  superseded  and  moved  from  the  ground 
lloor  of  the  actual  to  the  attic  of  the  historical. 


~7] 


(65°) 


•i 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  LITERATURE  AND  HISTORY. 


65X 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  LITERATURE  AND  HISTORY. 

Table  I.  B.  C.  1500  to  B.  C.  750.  The  World  Before  Rome.  By  Centuries. 

Note. — The  following  dates  have  been  assigned  to  important  events  or  traditions  previous  to  b.  c.  1500:— 

I.  BIBLICAL The  Deluge,  2348  b.  c.  Birth  of  Abram,  1996;  of  Esau  and  Jacob,  1837.  Joseph  in  Egypt,  1729-1635.  Birth  of 

Moses,  1571. 

II.  ASSYRIA  AND  EGYPT. ..Babel.  Nimrod.  Asshur,  2230.  Babylon,  2200.  Nineveh.  Ninus.  Semiramis,  2180.  Menes,  first  Egyptian 

King,  2700.  Egyptian  Thebes  founded,  2280.  Hyksos  in  Egypt,  1802-1600. 

III.  GREECE Foundation  of  Sicyon,  2088;  of  Argus  (Inachus),  1856;  of  Athens  (Cecrops),  1556;  of  Sparta  (Lelex),  1516. 

Deucalion,  1503. 

IV.  PHCENICIA Foundation  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  2750. 


1300 


Egypt  and  Many'  Lands. 


Rameses  III.,  Sesostris,  or 
Ammon,  19th  Egyptian 
Dynasty 1485 


Pharaohs  powerful, 


Eglon,  King  of  Moab. 


Assyria  and  Babylonia 
united 1250-772 

Conquest  of  Babylon  by  the 

Assyrians 1250 

Latinus  in  Italy 1240 


Proteus  in  Egypt. 

A3neas  in  Italy. 

Alba  Longa  Founded 1 152 


Palestine. 


The  Exodus 1491 


Deaths  of  Moses,  Aaron  and  Miriam, 


Joshua  divides  Canaan --1445 


First  Judge  in  Israel  (Othniel) 1402 


Ehud,  second  Judge 1394-1354 


Wars  with  Amalekites,  Jebusites, 
Moabites. 


Ruth 1320 


Literature. 


The  Vedas. 


Book  of  Job.  (Ewald.) 


Sanchuniathon. 


Wars  with  Philistines. 

Barak  and  Deborah1 1296-1256 

Jael  and  Sisera - 1296 

War  with  Midianites. 

Gideon — 1249-1209 

Abimelech* ....1209-1206 


Eli,  High  Priest 1171-1165 

War  with  Ammonites 1 161-1143 

Shibboleth  of  Gilead. 

Jephthah ,I43-,,37 

Wars  with  Philistines. 

Samson .ii4o-,,*o 

SAMUEL 1141-1x12 


Mythical  Ilymnology 
(Linus) 1280 


Early  Minstrelsy  (Orpheus), 
1260 


Greece. 


Foundation  of  Thebes  (Cadmus), 

N93 

Dardanus J 1480 

Danaus  in  Argos 1460 


Foundation  of  Ilium 1425 


Eleusinian  Mysteries. 1383 


War  of  Erectheus  and  Eumolpus. 


Foundation  of  Myceme 1344 


Perseus.  Cyclopes. 


Dawn  of  Religious  Epic 
(Muslims)  ”80 


Pelops ,..1283 

Calydonian  Chase  (Atalanta). 
Hercules. 

Minos  in  Crete 1256 

Argonautic  Expedition,  1260-1240 

Theseus  in  Athens 1234 

Seven  against  Thebes 1220-1210 

Agamemnon.  Menelaus. 


The  Trojan  War 1192-1183 

Returns  of  the  Chiefs 1183-1170 

Orestes  In  Argos 1176 

Lydians  on  the  sea... ....  1169 

TKolinn  Migration 1124 

Thessaly  settled ...1124 

Dorian  Migration.  Return  or 
IIkhaclid.e ..1104 

Mclunthus  in  Athens 1104 


8l 


652 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  LITERATURE  AND  HISTORY. 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  LITERATURE  AND  HISTORY.— Continued. 
Table  I.  B.  C.  1500  to  B.  C.  750.  The  World  Before  Rome.  By  Centuries. 


750 


Egypt  and  Many"  Lands. 

Sidon  and'Tyre 1095 

Cheops  (Gt.  Pyramid)...  1082 

Mycerinus  (Egypt). 

Sidon  subdued  by  the 
Philistines 1050 

Hiram  of  Tyre 1014 

Queen  of  Sheba. 

Tyre  great -1000-586 

Shishak  (Egypt)  invades 
Judea 972 

Tartessus  founded  by  Tyre. 

Benhadad  I.  (Damascus)  al- 
lied with  Asa. 

Benhadad  II. 

“ besieges  Samaria, 
901-892 

Jezabel  of  Sidon  marries 
Ahab. 


Palestine. 


CARTHAGE  founded  by  the 
Tyrians 878 

Sardanapalus 875  ? 

Revolt  of  Arbaces  the  Mede. 

Hazael  att  icks  Israel 860 

Phoenicia  under  Benhaded 
III 840 

Syria  tributary  to  Israel. 


Egyptians  on  the  sea,  787-751 

Pul  of  Assyria  in vades  Israel, 
770 


Etruscans  in  Campania.. 760 

Foundation  of  ROME... 753 
Ethiopia  independent 750 


SAUL  (1st  King) — 1095-1055 


DAVID  (kingdom  greatly  enlarged), 

1055-1015 


SOLOMON  (greatest  extent  of  the  Jewish 
kingdom) 1015-975 


Building  of  Temple 1012-1005 

Revolt  of  Ten  Tribes 975 


JUDAH. 

Rehoboam,  975-958 

Abijah 958“955 

Asa 955-914 

Jehosaphat.  914-889 


Jehoram  ...889-885 

Ahaziah 885-884 

Athaliah  ...884-878 

Jehoash 878-839 

Amaziah  ...839-810 


Uzziah  (or  Azariah) 
810-758 


Jotham 758-742 


ISRAEL. 

Jeroboam  I.,  975-954 

Nadab 954-953 

Baasha 953“93° 

Elah 930-929 

Zimri 929 

Omri 929-918 

Ahab 918-897 


Elijah 910-896 

Ahaziah 897-896 

Jehoram 896-884 

Elisha 896-838 

Jehu 884-856 

Jehoahaz 856-839 

Joash 839-826 

Jeroboam  II.  825-784 


Interregnum. 

Zechariah — -773 

Shallum 772 

Menahem 772-761 

Pekahiah 761-759 

Pekah 759-739 


Literature. 


Greece. 


Psalms  of  David. 


Proverbs  of  Solomon. 

Song  of  Solomon. 

HOMER fl.  962-927 

Iliad  and  Odyssey  ...940-927 

Creophylus  (Samos). 


Jonah  (I.) c.  862 

Hesiod  (Ascra) 850 

Joel  (J.) .............. 800 

Amos  (I.) c.  787 

Hosea  (I.) ...c.  785 

Agias  of  Troezen 776 

Stasinus  (Cyprus). 

Arctinus  (Miletus). ..775-740 

Cinaethon  (Lacedaemon), 

fl.  765 

Eumelus  (Corinth)... 760-730 


Pelasgi  on  the  sea... ...1077 

Aletes  in  Corinth ...1074 

Colony  from  Chalcis  to  CuMAe,  1050 

Codrus  in  Athens 1045 

Ionic  Migration 1044 

Settlement  of  Poloponnesus, 

War  between  Chalcis  and  Eretria. 

Thracians  on  the  sea 992 


Alexas  in  Thessaly. 


Rhodians  on  the  sea 913 

Phrygians  on  the  sea 890 

Olympic  Games 884 

Lycurgus  in  Sparta 884 

Settlement  of  Lacedaemon ..  884-776 

Cyprians  on  the  sea 865 

Phcenicians  on  the  sea 832 

Foundation  of  Rhegium 812 

^Eolian  colonies 800 

Ionian  colonies 794 

Victory  of  Coriebus 776 

Argos  heads  a Confederacy 774 

Pandosia  and  Metapontum 
founded 774 

Pheidon  of  Argos 780-740 

Miletus  powerful.  Colonies. .750 

Decennial  Archons  at  Athens.. 753 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


653 


TABLES  OF 

Table  II.  B.  C.  750  to  B.  C.  500. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 

From  Foundation  of  Rome  to  Beginning  of  Roman  Republic.  By  Periods  of  Twenty- 
Five  Years. 


675 


650 


Palestine,  Asia  and  Egypt. 

Nabonassar  (Babylon  independ- 
ent)   747 

Persians  besiege  Nineveh 747 

Pekaand  Rezon  of  Syria  besiege 

Jerusalem 742 

Ahaz,  of  Judah 742-726 

Tilgath  Pileser  destroys  Syria, 
and  carries  2%  tribes  captive, 

740 

Interregnum  in  Israel. 

Hoshea,  of  Israel 730-721 

Shalmaneser  (Assyria)  invades 

Israel 7s8 

Hezekiah,  of  Judah  726-698 

CAPTIVITY  OF  ISRAEL. ...721 

Gyges  in  Lydia 716-679 

Sennacherib  invades  Judah 713 

“ destroyed 710 

Deioces  in  Media 709-657 

Manasseh -..697-642 


Babylon  subject  to  Assyria 680 

Idolatry  in  Judah 
Esarhaddon  colonizes  Samaria, 

677 


Psammeticus  (Egypt) 671-617 

Colony  of  Naucratis 665 

Phraortes  (Media) ...656-635 

War  of  Holof ernes  (Palestine)  656  ? 
Judith? 

Persian  Monarchy  founded 650 

Amon 642-640 

Cyrene  founded 641 

JCBIAH 640-609 

Cyaxares 634-595 

Scythians  in  Asia 634-607 

Nineveh  taken  by  the  Modes.  ..625 

Assyrian  Empire  ends 625 

Eclipse  in  reign  of  Alyattes 

(Lydia) 625 

Josiaii  repairs  the  Temple 624 


Greece. 

Rise  of  Corinth 

745 

First  Messenian  War  ... 

-..743-723 

Chalcis  founds  Naxos... 

735 

Corinthian  Colonies — Corcyra . . 734 

Philolaus  of  Thebes.. 

Achaeans  found  Sybaris. 

721 

War  between  Sparta  and  Argos, 

7.8 

Aclueans  found  Croton  . 

Annual  ARCHONS  at  Athens.  .683 

Second  Messenian  War. 

...685-668 

Rise  of  Megara 

Sea-fight,  Corinth  and  Corcyra,  665 

Byzantium  founded 

657 

Orthagoras  in  Sicyon ... 

657 

Cypselus  at  Corinth 

655 

Bacchiadae  expelled 

655 

Voyages  of  Coloeus  and  Corobius. 

Colony  of  Battus  to  Cyrene 641 

Sinope  founded ..640 

Periandek  ut  Corinth 625-585 


Italy  and  Sicily. 


Romulus 753-716 

War  with  Sabines 750 

Union  “ 747 

Romulus  and  Acron,  1st  Spolia 
Opima. 

Syracuse  founded*  734 

Leontium  and  Catana  founded, 


Numa  Pompilius 716-673 

Religious  Laws. 


Tarentum  founded  (Phalanthus), 
708 


Tullus  Hostilius 673-640 

Destruction  of  Alba 665 

Messana  founded 660 

Zaleucus  in  Locri <60 


Ancus  Martius 640-616 

Ostia  founded 640 


Literature  and  Art. 


Micah  (J.) c.  750-710 


ISAIAH ... fl.  747-698 


Nahum C.  720-69 


Leeches  (Lesbos) 710 

Archilochus  (Paros) 708 


Simonides  (Amorgus).. 693-662 

Tyrtaeus  (Sparta) 685 

Callinus 678 

Terpander  (Lesbos)  crowned 
at  Musical  Contest 676 


Aleman  (Sparta) 670 

Thalctas  (Pyltrric  songs)... 670 

Kucheir  and  Eugrammus . . .660 
Temple  of  Zeus  at  Elis 660 

BUDDHA  ? 


Zepiiamah  fl.  640-609 

JEREMIAH fl.  628-586 

Thales 644-548 

Mlmnermus  (Smyrna) 079 


654 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 

Table  II.  B.  C.  750  to  B.  C.500.  From  Foundation  of  Rome  to  Beginning  of  Roman  Republic.  By  Periods  of  Twenty- 

Five  Years. 


Palestine,  Asia  and  Egypt. 

Greece. 

Italy  and  Sicily. 

Literature  and  Art. 

Hilkiah  finds  the  book  of  the  Law, 
624 

Passover.  Ark  restored 623 

Pharaoh  Necho  circumnavi- 
gates Africa -..615? 

Pharaoh  Necho  invades  Judah,  610 
War  between  the  Medes  and 

Lydians 610 

Jehoahaz 609 

Jehoiakim 609-597 

CAPTIVITY  OF  JUDAH, 

seventy  years 606-536 

Pharaoh  defeated  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar  605 

Draco  gives  laws  to  Athens 624 

Cylon  at  Athens 620 

Pittacus  at  Mitylene 611 

Cleisthenes  at  Sicyon 600-560 

Tarquinius  Priscus 616-578 

Massilia  founded 600 

Era  of  Seven  Sages — 

[Thales,  Bias,  Pittacus,  So- 
lon, Cleobulus,  Periander 
Chilon.] 

Arion 625-610 

Stesichorus  (Himera) 612 

SAPPHO  (Lesbos) 610 

Habakkuk fl.  612-598 

Jechoniah 597 

Nebuchadnezzar  sacks  Tyre.. -586 
“ takes  Jerusalem. .606-598 

Sardanapalus? 

Zedekiaii ‘97-586 

Pharaoh  Hophra  (or  Apries), 

595-570 

Astyages  or  Ahasucrus 595-560 

Siege  of  Sidon. 

First  Sacred  War 595-585 

Solon  at  Athens 594 

Alcams  exiled 590 

Gypselid  dynasty  ends 581 

Servius  Tullius 578-534 

Census.  Comitia  Centuriata  at 

Rome. 

Epimenides  in  Athens 597 

AlCjEus  (Lesbos) 684 

Anaximander 611-547 

Anacharsis  in  Athens 592 

DANIEL fl.  606-534 

Oeadiah fl.  588-583 

Susarion fl.  578 

Later  Psalms. 

Civil  War  in  Egypt. 

Periplus  of  Hanno 570? 

Voyage  of  Himilco 570? 

Crcesus  in  Lydia 568-546 

Phrygia  conquered  by  the  Lydians. 

CYRUS  King  of  Persia 559-529 

“ defeats  Astyages 558 

Medes  and  Persians  united 558 

Cyrus  conquers  Lydia 554 

Amasis  (Egypt) 570-526 

Elis  subdues  Pisa 572 

Peisistratus  at  Athens. ..560-527 

Nile  opened  to  Greeks 

Phalaris  of  Agrigentum 570-554 

EZEKIEL fl.  595-536 

The  Daedalidae 570 

Chersiphron fl.  560 

CONFUCIUS.  ZOROASTER? 

dEsop fl.  560 

Eugamon  (Cyrene) 560 

Anacreon  (Teos) 560 

Pherecydes  and  Phocylides. 
Anaximenes fl.  548 

Belshazzar  or  Labynetus.  Baby- 
lon taken  by  Cyrus 538 

Restoration  of  the  Jews  by  Cyrus, 
536 

Zerubbabel,  Governor  Judea... 536 
Mago.  Carthaginian  Colonies. 

Second  Temple  built 534-516 

Cambyses  (Ahasuerus) 529-522 

Cambyses’  Conquest  of  Egypt..  525 
Psammeticus  (Egypt) 525 

Polycrates  at  Samos 532-522 

Pythagoras  at  Croton 540-510 

Tarquinius  Suiereus 534-509 

Roman  Kingdom  extended  over 
Latium. 

Theognis  (Megara) 541 

Xenophanes  (Colophon) 538 

Ibycus  (Rhegium) 540 

PYTHAGORAS fl.  531 

Thespis  (Attica) 535 

Haggai fl.  520-518 

Zechariah fl.  520-518 

Smerdi8,  Persia,  a usurper 522 

Darius  I.  deposes  Smerdis 522 

“ Hystaspes 522-486 

Periplus  of  Scylax. 

Carthage  a Republic. 

Sea-fight  with  Phocica. 

Siege  of  Naxos  by  Aristagoras,  501 
Ionian  Revolt  in  Asia  Minor.. .501 

Insurrectional  Athens;  Hippar- 
chus slain 514 

Hippias  rules 514 

Expulsion  op  Peisistratidjs, 

510 

Hippias  expelled  from  Athens. 510 

Cleisthenes  at  Athens 510 

Cleomenes  at  Sparta 519-490 

Embassy  of  Aristagoras 500 

Wars  of  Syracuse  and  Gela. 

Croton  destroys  Sybaris 510 

Tarquinus  expelled;  Era  of  the 
Republic 509 

Porsena  at  Rome 509 

Commercial  Treaty  with 
Carthage 508 

ist  Valerian  Laws 508 

Phrynichus fl.  412 

PARMENIDES fl.  505 

Heraclitus  (Ephesus). .fl.  505 

Corinna  (Tanagra) 500 

Myrtis 500 

TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


655 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 

Table  III.  B.  C.  500  to  B.  C.  325.  From  Foundation  of  Roman  Republic  to  Death  of  Alexander.  By  Periods  of 

Twenty-Five  Years. 


Greece. 


War  between  Athens  and  .Egina  ..491 


Sicily,  Asia,  Africa. 


Siege  of  Naxos 501 


475 


Heralds  from  Darius 491 

Persian  Fleet  wrecked  off  Athos..-49 

Miltiades,  Gr fl.  515-489 

“ at  Athens ...493-489 

Battle  of  Marathon,  Gr 490 


Aristides,  Gr.. fl.  489-483  and  479-468 
THEMISTOCLES,  Gr.  (514-4471, 

fl.  480-471 

Athenian  Fleet  built,  481;  Walls.  .478 
Leonidas  at  Thermopylae,  S.  Gr  480 

Artemisium,  Salamis,  Gr 480 

Pi.at.ea,  S.  Gr.,  and  Mycale,  Cr..479 
Pausanias,  S.  Gr fl.  479-471 

Growth  of  Athenian  Empire,  Gr., 

478-445 


Persia  recovers  Cyprus,  Per 49S 

Histiaeus  sent  to  the  Coast 496 

Ionian  Revolt  subdued 495 

Battle  of  Lade.  Miletus  taken, 

Per 494 

Mardonius  subdues  Macedonia, 

Per 492 

Carthaginians  in  Sicily,  P.  C. 

Xerxes  I.  reigns.  Per 485-465 

Egyptian  Revolt 486-484 

Gelon  at  Syracuse,  S.  Gr.. 485-477 

Battle  of  Himera,  S.  Gr 480 

Therou  at  Agrigentum 488-472 

Hiero  I.  at  Syracuse,  S.Gr.,  478-475 
Pausanias  at  Byzantium —477 


Ostracism  of  Themistocles. . 

471 

Death  of  Pausanius 

471 

Argives  takes  Mycenae 

468 

Athenians  at  Naxos 

4*6 

Battle  of  Eurymedon  

Revolt  of  Thasos 

...465-463 

Revolt  of  the  Helots 

464 

Third  Messenian  War,  S. 

Gr., 

464-455 


Itliome  taken 455 

Cimon,  Gr fl.  466-461  and  454-449 

Laws  of  Pericles  and  Ephialtes  — 461 

Long  Walls  built ...457-456 

Athenian  Victory  at  (Enophyta 456 

Tolmides  sails  round  Malea 455 

Five  Years’  Truce 45° 


Victories  of  Cimon,  Gr 476 

Naval  Victory  of  Hiero,  S.  Gr., 
over  Tuscans 474 

Syracuse  free,  S.  Gr 466-405 


Artaxerxes  I.,  Per.  (Ahasuerus), 


465-425 

Story  of  Esther 461-451 

Themistocl^p  in  Persia 465-447 

Egyptian  War  with  Persia,  Per., 

460-455 

Athenians  in  Egypt ..462 


Agrigentum  powerful,  S.  Gr., 

470-405 

Ezra,  Governor  in  Judea.  .458-449 


Literature  and  Art. 

JE  3CHYLUS 524-456 

Ageladus  (Argos),  S.  A.,  fl.  500 

Hecataeus fl.  500 

Epicharmus  (Sicily) fl.  490 

Simonides  (Ceos) fl.  490 

Pherecydes  (historian). .fl.  480 

PINDAR 522-442 

Hegesias  and  Hegias,  S.  A. 
Leucippus— Atomic  Theory. 


Hellanicus  (Mitylene).  .496-411 

Anaxagoras 500-428 

Diogenes  of  Apollonia-.fl.  468 

Zeno  of  Elea 11.  464 

SOPHOCLES 495-406 


“ Tragic  Victory. .468 

Polygnotus  (Stoa  Poicile),  PI.. 

11.  460 

Ion  of  Chios 11.  451 

Baccbylides  fl.  450 

Archelnus  (Physicus) fl.  450 

Phormio fl.  450 

Crates,  Cratinus,  Eupolis. 

11.  450 

Phrynis,  M fl.  456 

Democritus  (Abdera)  . fl.  450 


Rome. 

Consular  Government  at 
Rome,  Rom 508-60 

Battle  of  Lake  Regillus 498 

1st  Secession  to  Mons  Sacer, 

494 

Tribunes  of  the  Pkbs,  Rom., 
494 

Spurius  Cassius 494-483 

Latin  League 493 

Volscian  War  (Coriolanus), 
Rom ---489 

Ilernican  League 488 

Agrarian  Law  of  Cassius. .486 

Wars  with  Veil 481-475 

Expedition  of  the  Fabii,  Rom., 
477 


Fabii  destroyed  at  Cremera,  475 

1st  Publilian  Laws 471 

Antium  taken 470 

Suicide  of  Appius  Claudius,  470 

Tercntilian  Bill 462 

.Equian  War  (Cinciunatus), 
Rom ---458 

Icilian  Law... 454 

Commissioners  to  Greece.. -453 

The  Decemvirate,  Rom., 

45'-449 

The  Twelve  Tables 450 


PERICLES,  Cir (499-429) 

“ in  power 469-429 

Second  Sacred  War... 448 

Athenian  defeat  at  Coronea 447 

Thirty  Years’  Truce 443 

Revolt  of  Euboea  and  Megara 445 

Decline  of  Athenian  Empire  ...443-404 

War  of  Corinth  and  Corcyra 435 

Congress  of  Lacedaemon --433 

Peloponnesian  War 43i-4°5 

Invasion  of  iVttica  by  Archidamus.  .431 

Plague  at  Athens 430-429 

Death  of  Pericles 429 

Siege  of  Platica 429-427 

Naval  Victories  of  Phormio... 429 

Corcyrman  Massacre 427 

Demosthenes  in  A3tolia 426 

Sphactcria  taken - 425 


Athenian  Victory  at  Salamis  in 
Cyprus,  Gr 449 

Syracuse  subdues  Agrigentum,  446 

“ defeats  Etruscans 446 

Athenian  Colony  lo  Thurii 444 

Carthaginian  Voyages. 


Nehemiaii,  Governor  in  Judea, 


445-420 

The  Samian  War,  Gr 440-439 

Carthaginians  in  Sicily,  /'.  6'. ..431 

Revolt  of  Lesbos 4>8 

Fall  of  Mitylene 427 


41  Ships  from  Athens  to  Sicily,  426 


Phidias  (Parthenon),  S.  A., 

fl.  448-440 


roiyc  iuiiuf?  aim  .uyiun,  .i., 

i>  440 

HERODOTUS 484-408 

EURIPIDES 480-406 

Melissus  (Samos) II.  444 

EMPED0CLEs(Agrigentum),444 

Alcamenes,  S.  A... fl.  44° 

Meton  (astronomer) 11.  433 

Era  of  the  Sophists. 

Protagoras 11.  444 

Prodicus  ...  fl.  444 

Gorgias fl.  430 

Mai. Arm.  Judicn  .11. 436-420 
Erechtheiiim  rebuilt,  S.  A., 

432-393 

Diagoras  (atfsof) 11  425 

Cinesias,  M. 1).  425 


Appius  Claudius  (Virginia), 


Rom.  (Dentatus) 449 

2d  Secession  to  Mons  Sacer,  448 

Valerian  anil  lloratian  Laws, 
Rom 448 

3d  Secession  to  Mods  Sneer,  44s 

Cunuleiaii  Laws 445 

Consular  Tribunes,  Rom., 

444 

Censors  at  Rome 443 

Famine  at  Romo 440 

Death  of  Spurius  Mirlius..-439 

Cornelius  fossils  mid  I.ars 
Tolitinnius,  2d  Spolia 
Opima 437 

Des traction  of  Fidenm 426 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 


Table  III.  B.  C.  500  to  B.  C.  325.  From  Foundation  of  Roman  Republic  to  Death  of  Alexander.  By  Periods  of 

Twenty-Five  Years. 


B.  C. 

Greece. 

Sicily,  Asia,  Africa. 

Literature  and  Art. 

Rome. 

425 

Cleon,  Gr fl.  425-422 

Alcibiades,  Gr.,  fl.  424-413  and  411-404 
Nicias  takes  Cythera  and  Thyrea  .424 

Revolution  at  Megara 424 

Battle  of  Delinm . 424 

Brasidas,  S.  Gr.,  at  Amphipolis..  422 

Peace  of  Nicias  42 1-4 15 

Battle  of  Mantinea 418 

Alcibiades  at  Argos 416 

Affair  of  Melos. 416 

Agis  occupies  Decelea 413 

Fleet  destroyed  at  Syracuse 413 

The  400  at  Athens  411 

Caliicratidas.  S.  Gr.,  defeated  at 
Arginusse  Gr.  Generals  executed,  406 

Battle  of  vEgospotami,  Gr 405 

Lysander,  S.  Gr.,  enters  Athens. .404 
Critias  and  Thirty  Tyrants 404 

Darius  11..  Per.,  Nothus  ..424-405 
Congress  of  Sicilians  at  Gela  .424 

Athenians  at  Delos 422 

Alcibiades  and  Nicias  off  Sicily, 

Gr 415 

Fleet  winters  at  Naxos  and 

C a tan  a 415 

Syracusan  Expedition. .415-413 
Gyi.ippus  arrives  at  Syracuse, 

S.  Gr 413 

Athenian  Allies  revolt  ...  412-41 1 
Persian  Treaties  with  Pelo- 
ponnesus   .412-411 

Revolt  at  Samos.  Alcibiades, 

412-411 

Thrasybulus  with  Athenian 

Fleet,  Gr -.411 

Battle  of  Cynossema,  Gr 41 1 

Artaxeiixes  II.,  Per 405-359 

Expedition  of  Cyrus  the 
Younger 401 

Antiphon 480-4 1 1 

Philolaus? 

THUCYDIDES  -...471-402 

Zeuxis,  Pt 450-400 

SOCRATES 468-399 

Lysias  459-380 

ARISTOPHANES  ....  444-3S0 

“The  Clouds” 423 

Andocides 440-390 

Agathon 11.  415 

HIPPOCRATES 460-357 

Callimachus.  S.  A fl.  412 

XENOPHON 444-362 

Parrhasius,  Pt  fl.  400 

Melanippides,  M fl.  400 

Twenty  Years  Truce  with 

Veii,  Pom 425 

Capua  taken  by  the  Samnites, 
423 

Four  Quaestors  in  Rome. .421 
zEquian  Wars 419-409 

Colonies — Bola,  Lavici,  Fe- 
rentinum,  Anxur. 

Victories  over  Volscians, 

409-406 

Plebeian  Quaestors 409 

Pay  in  Army  406 

Siege  of  Veii  (Camillus),  Pom,, 
405-396 

400 

375 

Democracy  restored  (Thrasybulus),  403 

Socrates  condemned 399 

Coalition  against  Sparta _ 395 

Lysander  slain 395 

Corinthian  War 394-392 

2d  Battle  of  Coronea,  S.  Gr 394 

Long  Walls  restored  by  Conon,  Gr. . 394 

Battle  of  Lechieum 383 

Agesilaus  in  Acarnania,  S.  Gr 391 

Olyntiiian  War 383-379 

Height  of  Spartan  Power,  S.  Gr. 

Victories  of  Pelopidas 378-364 

Athenians  allied  with  Thebes 378 

EPAMINONDAS,  Gr 371-362 

Return  of  the  10,000  Greeks, 

S.  Gv 400 

Dionysius  I.  of  Syracuse,  S. 

Gr 405-368 

Agesilaus  in  Asia,  S.  Gr... 396-395 

Conon  at  Cnidus,  Gr 394 

Victory  of  Dionysius  at  Helorus,389 

Peace  of  Antalcidas,  Per 387 

Cyprian  War 385-375 

Defeat  of  Evagoras,  Per 385 

Wars  of  Syracuse  and  Car- 
thage, P.  C 410-340 

Ilamilcar  and  Mago,  P.  C. 

Bithy'nian  Kingdom 378-75 

Carthaginians  in  Italy,  P.  C 379 

Timotheus  in  Asia,  Gr 372 

Euclid  of  Megara __fl.  400 

Antisthenes 426-371 

Aristippus 400-365 

PLATO 429-347 

Isocrates 436-338 

Timanthes,  Pt.. fl.  385 

Timotheus,  M. 446-357 

Scopas,  S.  A c.  395-350 

Isaeus 420-350 

Diogenes  the  Cynic 419-324 

Xenocrates 396-314 

Speusippus d.  319 

Embassy  to  Delphi  398 

Battle  of  the  Allia 390 

ROME  BURNT  by  the  Gauls 
vBreunus; 390 

M.  F.  Camillus,  Dictator, 
Rom 390 

Rome  Rebuilt,  Rom 389 

Execution  of  M.  Manlius. . .384 

Recovery  of  Revolted  Towns  . 
— Tusculum,  Pnencste.An- 
tium,  etc 383-377 

Licinian  Laws,  Pom.. 377-367 

Battle  of  Leuctra,  Gr 371 

Supremacy  of  Thebes,  Gr. 

Agesilaus  in  Arcadia 370 

Alexander  of  Pherie  in  Thessaly --.370 

Theban  Invasions  of  Laconia, 

369,  368,  362 

Pelopidas  in  Thessaly 368 

The  Tearless  Victory 367 

Battle  of  Mantinea,  Gr 362 

PHILIP  II.  of  Macedon,  Mac.. 359-336 

Social  War 357-355 

1st  Sacred  or  Phocian  War. ..355-346 
Siege  of  Methone 353 

Plato  in  Sicily 370 

Embassy  of  Pelopidas,  Gr.,  to 
Persia 367 

Dionysius  II.,  S.  Gr.,  of  Syracuse, 
368-343 

Joshua  slain  by  High  Priest 366 

Plato's  id  Visit  to  Sicily 361 

Samaritans  build  Temple  at 

Gerizim 360 

Kingdom  of  Pontus 360-66 

Artaxerxes  III.,  Per.,  Ochus, 

359-338 

Revolt  of  Artabazus 354 

Dion  at  Syracuse,  S.  Gr... 357-354 
Sidon  destroyed,  Per 351 

Archytas  (Tarentum) d.  370 

Eudoxus  (mathematician), 

fl.  360 

Phocion 402-317 

“Ludi  Sccnici”  at  Rome. -365 

Praxitiles,  S.  A fl.  360 

Pamphilus,  Pt.. fl.  360 

^Eschines 389-314 

DEMOSTHENES . .382-322 

yEneas  Tacticus 11.  360 

ARISTOTLE 384-322 

Pu.-f.tors  and  Curule  yEdiles 
at  Rome 366 

1st  Plebeian  Consul 366 

Plague  at  Rome.  Death  of 
Camillus 365 

Legend  of  M.  Curtius 365 

Wars  with  Gauls,  Etruscans 
and  Ilernicans 362-346 

Legends  of  Manlius  Torqua- 
tus  and  Valerius  Corvus. 

Laws  of  Debt 357,  352,  347 

C.  Marcius  Rutilus,  1st  Ple- 
beian Dictator 356 

C.  Marcius  Rutilus,  1st  Ple- 
beian Censor.  . 351 

350 

325 

Olynthus  taken  by  Philip,  Mac 348 

Philip  of  Macedon  in  Thrace 341 

2d  Sacred  or  Locrian  War 339 

Battle  of  Ch^ronea,  Mac 338 

ALEXANDER  III.,  Mac 336-323 

Destruction  of  Thebes 335 

Macedonian  Empire,  Mac 334-143 

Battle  of  Granicus 334 

“ Issus 333 

“ Arbela,  Mac 331 

Exile  of  Demosthenes 324 

Death  of  Alexander 323 

Timolkon  at  Syracuse,  S.  Gr., 

345-337 

II  anno  in  Carthage,  P.  C 340 

Darius  III.,  Per 336-330 

Fall  of  Tyre,  Mac 332 

Foundation  of  Alexandria,  Mac., 
332 

Babylon  taken  by  Alexander, 

Mac 331 

Persepolis  burnt  by  Alexander.. 331 
Judsea  subject  to  Alexander... 330 

Darius  slain  by  Bessus 330 

Alexander  at  the  Hvphasis,  Mac., 
3*7 

Alexander  at  Susa 325 

Voyage  of  Nearchus 324-323 

Cleomenes,  S.  A fl.  350" 

Plirotogenes  (Rhodes),  Pt., 

360-300 

Lycurgus  (Athens) fl.  340 

Lysippus,  S.-A fl.  335 

Apelles  (Cos),  Pt 350-308 

Pyrrho .fl.  350 

Hypereidcs fl.  346 

Demades fl.  330 

Deinarchus fl.  324 

Theopompus  (historian), 

378-305 

Diphilus  and  Philemon.  .11.  330 
MENANDER 342-291 

Treaty  with  Carthage 348 

1st  Samnite  War. 343-341 

Battle  of  Mt.  Gaums,  Pom . - 343 

Mutiny  at  Lautula; 542 

Genucian  Laws.. 342 

Latin  War 340-338 

Battle  of  Mt. Vesuvius,  Rom. 
(Devotion  of  P.  Decius 

Mus.  I.) 340 

2d  Publilian  Laws 339 

1 st  Plebeian  PnEtor 337 

Settlement  of  Latium,  Pom., 

338-328 

Servitude  for  Debt  abolished, 

326 

TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


657 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.-Continued. 


Table  IV.  B.  C.  323  to  B.  C.  146. 


From  Death  of  Alexander  to  End  of  Third  Punic  War.  By  Periods  of 
Twenty-Five  Years. 


Rome  and  Carthage. 


300 


2d  Samnite  War 326-304 

Caudine  Forks  321 

C.  Pontius  of  Telesia ..fl.  321-292 

Battle  of  Lautulse 315 

Roman  Victory  at  Cinna 314 

Etruscan  War 311-309 

L.  Papirius  Cursor  Dictator 310 

Q.  Fabius  crosses  Ciminian  Hills;  de- 
feats Tuscans  at  Vadimon,  Rom. 

Bomilcar  at  Carthage,  P.  C 308 

April's  Claudius  Censor,  Rom... 312-308 

Bovianum  taken 303 

Ogulnian  Law.. 300 

3d  Samnite  War  (Samnites,  Etrus- 
cans, Umbrians,  Gauls) 298-290 

Gellius  Egnatius,  Samnite  Leader. 

Battle  of  Sentinum,  Rom.  (D.  Mus.  II.), 

295 

Execution  of  C.  Pontius 292 

Last  Secession  (Janiculum) 286 

Hortensian  Law 286 

Renewed  Etruscan  and  Gallic  War 283 

2d  Battle  of  Lake  Vadimon 283 

War  with  Tarentum 281 

Pyrrhus,  Gr.,  invades  Italy 281-273 

Battle  of  Heraclea 280 

Battle  of  Aseui.um,  Gr.  (D.  Mus.  III.),  279 
Rome  and  Carthage  allied,  P.  C 279 

Battle  of  Beneventum,  Rom 275 

Tarentum  taken 272 

SouTn  Italy  subdued,  Rom 270-266 

1st  PUNIC  WAR 264-241 

Hiero  of  Syracuse  joins  Rome,  S.  Gr...  263 

Agrigentum  taken,  S.  Gr 262 

Romans  build  a Fleet 261 

Victory  of  Duilius  at  Mykc.  Rom 260 

Roman  Naval  Victory  at  Ecnomus 256 

Regulus,  Rom.,  invades  Africa 256 

“ defeated  by  Xanthippus,  P.  C . 255 
Carthalo,  P.  C.,  recovers  Agrigen  turn..  254 
Roman  Victory  at  Panormus 250 

Carthaginian  Victory  at  Drepana 249 

Sieges  of  Lilybseum  and  Drepana. .250-246 
IIamilcar  Barcas,  P.  C.,  in  Sicily  248-241 
Victory  of  thevEAGTES  (Catulus),  Rom.  241 
War  of  Carthaginians  and  Mercenaries, 

P.  C. 241-238 

Sardinia  and  Corsica  seized 238 

Temple  of  Janus  closed  235 

Agrarian  Law  of  Flaminius 232 

Illyrian  War  (Queen  Teutal  ..  229 

IIasdkubal,  P.C.,  founds  Carthagena  .229 
Gallic  invasion  (Boii  and  Insubrcs). 

Battle  of  Telamon,  Rom- 225-223 

Clastidium.  Viridomarus  and  Marcellus 
3d  Spolia  Opima 222 


Literature  and  Art. 


EUCLID  (Alexandria). .fl.  325 
Manetho,  Egyptian  Histo- 
rian  fl. 320? 

Pytheas,  navigator? 

Philippides fl.  320 

Chares  (Lindus),  S.  A... fl.  320 

Euhemerus fl.  300 

Polemo,  Crates,  Crantor,  fl.  315 
Tim.ecs  (Tauromenium),  .)/., 
252-357 

Diodes,  Roman  Historian 
(Peparethas)  ? 

Appian  Way  and  Aque- 
duct, A .1 312 

Demetrius  Phalereus.  . 345-283 
Eudemus fl.  300 


Theophrastus ...374-287 

Capitoline  Wolf,  S.  A 296 

ZENO,  the  Stoic  (Cittium), 

366-264 

EPICURUS 341-270 

Appius  Claudius  Caecus,  1st 
Roman  Orator fl.  280 

Zoilus  and  Zenodotus...fl.  280 

Ilegesias  (Cyrene). fl.  280 

THEOCRITUS fl.  280 

Bion  and  Moschus fl.  270 

Aristarchus  (Astronomer), 

11.  280-264 

SEPTUAGINT 277 


Greece. 


P5  Perdiccas  Regent  ..323-321 
g Antipater,  Mac.,  in  Mace- 

0 donia 323-3*8 

2 Lysimachus,  Mac.,  in 

^ Tiirace 323-381 

tg  Cassander,  Mac. , In  Greece, 
gj  317-296 

The  Lamian  War  (Leosthenes), 
323-322 

Death  of  Demosthenes 322 

Cassander  takes  Athens 317 

Philip  III.  (Arrhkheus) 

killed 317 

Olympias  killed  by  Cassander. 

316 

Roxana  and  Son  killed 311 

Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  at 
Athens,  G*?’.. 308-304  a-  295-290 
Demetrius  Poliorcetes  at 
Thebes 393'30* 

Philip  IV.  of  Macedon,  Mac., 
297-296 

Demetrius  Poliorcetes  in 

Macedon 294-287 

Pyrrhus,  Gr.,  of  Epirus, 

318-272 

“ reigned 306-272 

“ in  Macedon,  287-286 

“ in  Italy  and  Sicily, 

281-275 

Death  of  Demetrius  Polior- 
cetes  283 

Gauls  in  Greece.. 280,  279,278 

Brennus  at  Delphi 278 

HStolian  League,  S.Gr., 

284-167 


Lycophron c.  285-247 

Aratus  (Astronomer) fl.  270 

Hieronymus  (Cardia)  ...fl.  270 

Arcesilaus  (New  Academy), 
300-241 

Callimachus  (Alexandria) 

fl.  260 

Columna  Rostrata,  S.A...  260 

Monumenta  Scipionum,  8.A., 
260 

Cleanthes 30C-220 


ARCHIMEDES,  8.  A. .287-212 

Eratosthenes 276-196 

Chrysippus 280-207 

Livius  Andronicus,  fl.  240-214 
1st  Tragedies  at  Rome..  240-235 
CM  N1KVIU8 fl.  235-202 


Sosilus  and  Silanus 


Ach-ean  League,  Gr.. 280-146 


Antigonus  Gonatus,  Mac. , 
recovers  Macedon ...272 

Antigonus  Gonatas  takes 
Athens 268 

Aratus,  Gr (271-213) 

“ at  Sicyon 251 

Aratus,  General  of  Achaian 
League 245 

“ at  Corinth  and  Megara, 
*43 

Agis  IV.  killed  at  Sparta  . 241 

Antigonus  Doson  in  Macedon, 
233-221 

Athens  joins  Achaian  League. 
Gr 219 

Roman  Embassy  to  Greece,  248 

War  between  Clcomenes 
of  Sparta  and  Achaian 
League  .... .... 227-222 

Reforms  of  Clcomenes,  8. 

Gr 226-215 


Sicily,  Asia,  Egypt,  etc. 

Ptolemy,  Mac.,  in  Egypt, 
g 322-285 

35  Antigonus,  Mac.,  in  Syria, 
m 323-3°* 

g Eumenes,  Mac. , (Cappa- 

U docia -323-315 

U Sek-ucus,  Mac.,  al  Babylon, 

321  & 312-280 

Ptolemies  in  Egypt,  Mac., 

322-30 

Ptolemy  I.  (Soter)  takes 

.Jerusalem 320 

War  of  Antigonus  and  Eu- 

menes 320-315 

Agathocles,  8.  Gr.,  at 

Syracuse 317-289 

Agathocles  defeated  at  Hi- 

mera 310 

Naval  War  at  Cyprus  and 

Rhodes ...307-305 

Battle  of  Irsus 301 

SEi-EUCiDyE  in  Syria,  Mac.. 

312-64 

Sandracottus'  Indian  Empire, 
312-160 

Rhodes  powerful.  -S'.  ftp., 

300-200 

Kingdom  of  Pergamus,  283-133 

Lysimachus  defeated  and 
slain  by  Seleucus  at  Coru- 
peuion ....281 

Ptolemy  II.  (Philadelphus), 

Mac 285-247 

Gauls  settled  in  Galatia 277 

Great  Wall  op  China? 


Extension  of  Alexandrian 
Commerce. 

Egyptian  Embassy  to  Rome, 


Hiero  II.,  8.  Gr.,ot  Syracuse. 

2119-219 

Rise  of  Partiiia. 

The  Arsacida;..256  to  a.d.  226 
Kingdom  of  Bactria. .254-12' 


Dynasty  of  Tsin  in  Chinn, 

250-206 

Ptolemy  III.  (Euergetes), 
Mac 247-222 


Attalus  I.  (Pegnmus)... 241-197 
“ defeats  Galatians. .341 
Sicily  1st  Roman  Province. .341 


Gallia  Cisalpinn  a Roman 
Province 222 


k- 


658 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.-Continued. 

Table  IV.  B.  C.  323  to  B.  C.  146.  From  Death  of  Alexander  to  End  of  Third  Punic  War.  By  Periods  of 

Twenty-Five  Years. 


>75 


Rome  and  Carthage. 


HANNIBAL,  P.  C. (247-183) 

Siege  of  Saguntum 219 

2d  Illyrian  War 219 

2d  PUNIC  WAR.' .218-202 

Hannibal  crosses  the  Alps 218 

Ticinus  and  Trebia 218 

Battle  of  Trasimene 217 

Battle  of  Cann-e,  P.  C -216 

Revolt  of  Capua  216-211 

Fabius  and  Marcellus,  Bom.  Noia 215 

Scipios  defeated  by  Hasdrubal,  P.  C .. 212 

Hannibal  before  Rome 211 

B ittle  of  Metaurus.  Nero.  Bom 208 

P.  Cornelius  Scipio  in  Africa,  Bom.. 204 

Syphax  and  Massinissa 204 

Hannibal  leaves  Italy. 203 

Battle  of  Zama,  Bom 202 


1st  Macedonian  W ar 200-197 

T.  Quintius  Flaminius,  Bom fl.  197 

Hannibal  with  Antiochus,  P.  C 196 

Ligurian  Wars 200,  193, 181,  etc. 

War  with  Antiochus 191-190 

H2tolian  War 191-190 

Deaths  of  Hannibal  and  Scipio  183 

Encroachments  of  Massinissa 182-174 

Villian  Law 181 

M.  Porcius  Cato,  Bom (234-149) 

T.  Sempronius  Gracchus  in  Spain,  Bom., 

179 


Eumenes  II.  comes  to  Rome 172 

2d  Macedonian  War 171-168 

1,000  Achaeans  in  prison  at  Rome  .167-151 

L.  oEmilius  Paulus,  Bom fl.  168 

Romans  intervene  in  Egypt... 161 

Embassy  of  Carneades,  Diogenes  and 
Critolaus --155 

War  in  Spain 153-152 

War  with  Andriscus 148 

3d  PUNIC  AVAR 149-146 

ACHiAN  WAH 147-146 

P.  Cornelius  Scipio  Minor,  Bom fl.  146 

DESTRUCTION  OF  CARTHAGE, 
Bom.,  P.  C ...146 


Literature  and  Art. 


Q.  Fabius  Pictor.. 
Cincius  Alimentus. 


fl.  220 


Apollonius  Rhodius 238-188 

PLAUTUS 253-184 

Greek  Works  of  Art.  S.  A., 
brought  to  Rome 212 

ENNIUS 239-169 

CjEcilius  Statius d.  168 

Rise  of  Pharisees  and 

Sadducees. 

Hermippus  (Smyrna)? 

Philinus  of  Agrigentum..fl.  200 


Rosetta  Stone,  S'.  A 197 

Pacuvius 220-130 

Afrantus fl.  175 

Titinius.  Trabea.  Atilius. 

Cato fl.  170 

Carneades  (Cyrene) . .213-129 
POLYBIUS - ..207-122 


TERENTIUS  Afer  (Carthage), 
I95-159 

Zeno  (Historian) fl.  160 

HIPPARCHUS fl.  160 

Cnlpurnius  Piso fl.  160 

Sempronius  Tuditanus..fl.  160 

Cassius  Hemina fl.  160 

Cn.  Gellius fl.  160 

Aristarchus  (Grammarian),  156 
Apollodorus  (Grammarian),  146 


Greece. 


Battle  of  Sellasia,  Mac 221 

Aratus  and  Antigonus  take 
Sparta 221 

Philip  V.,  Macedon,  Mac., 

221-179 

Philip  and  Achaeans  against 
yEtolians 221-217 

Philip  allied  with  Hannibal, 
Mac 216 

Rome  allied  with  yEtolians,  211 

Philopcemen,  Gr.,  General 
of  Achajan  League. ..208-183 

Peace  with  yEtolians  and 
Rome 205 

Philip’s  War  with  Rome, 

200-197 


Battle  of  CynoscephaLjE 
Bom  197 

Flaminius  proclaims  free- 
dom of  Greece  at  the 
Isthmian  Games 196 

Philopoemen  defeats  Nabis 
of  Sparta 192 

Sparta  joins  Achaean  League, 
192 

Antiochus  in  Greece 192 

Philopoemen  abrogates  Laws 
of  Lycurgus,  Gr ...188 

Lycortas  General  of  Achae- 
an League 183 

Embassy  of  Callicrates 179 

Perseus  of  Macedon,  Mac., 

179-168 


War  of  Perseus  and  Rome, 

171-168 

Battle  of  Pydna,  Bom.,  Mac., 
168 

Athenians  attack  Oropus. 

“ fined  by  Rome..  155 

Andriscus  in  Macedonia 149 

Achaean  War  with  Rome, 

147-146 

Diaeus  defeated  at  Leucopetra. 

146 

Destruction  of  Corinth, 
Bom.  (Mummius),  Gr 146 

Greece  constituted  a Roman 
Province  (Achaia)  Bom.. 

146-145 


Sicily,  Asia,  Egypt,  etc. 


Antiochus  the  Great  (Syria), 
Mac.. 224-187 

Ptolemy  IV.  (Philopater), 

Mac 222-205 

Hasdrubal  assassinated  in 
Spain,  P.  C ...220 

First  Commercial  War — 
Byzantium  and  Rhodes. .214 

Siege  of  Syracuse,  Bom., 

214-212 

Battle  of  Anitorgis,  P.  C... 212 
“ Elinga,  Bom 208 

Ptolemy  V.  , Mac 205-181 

Attalus  and  Rhodians  war 
with  Philip 203 

Antiochus  conquers  Palestine, 
203 


Prusias  of  Bithynia 200-180 

Eumenes  II.,  Pergamus,  197-158 

Dynasty  of  Han  in  China. 

Battle  of  Magnesia,  Bom..  190 

Hannibal  at  Court  of  Pru- 
sias, P.  C —.183 

Ptolemy  VI.,  Mac 181-146 

Pharnaces  of  Pontus  cedes 
Paphlagonia  to  Rome 179 


Antiochus  Epiphanes,  Mac., 

176-165 


War  of  Antiochus  and  Egypt, 
172-168 

Revolt  of  Jews  under  Mat 
tathias 168 

Asmon^eans  in  Judaea...  168-37 

Cyrene  and  Libya  separate 
from  Egypt 164 

Judas  Maccabeus 166-161 

“ allies  with  Rome,  Bom., 

161 

Bactrians  in  India 160 

Jonathan  Maccabeus,  161-143 

Demetrius  Soter  and  Alex- 
ander Balas. 

Judaea  free  with  tribute  to 
Syria. 


S' 


“3 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


6 59 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LI TERATURE.— Continued. 

Table  V.  B.  C.  146  to  B.  C.  0.  From  Destruction  of  Carthage  to  Christian  Era.  By  Periods  of  Twenty-Five  years. 


i5o 


Rome. 


Lusitanian  War 150-138 

Death  of  Viriathus 140 

Scipio  Africanus  (Minor)  Censor. .142 

Numantine  War... >43-133 

Scipio  takes  and  destroys  Numantia, 
>33 

Tiberius  Gracchus (164-133) 

Servile  War  in  Sicily 134-132 

Sempronian  Laws... .133-123 

Gaius  Gracchus  (154-121) 


Latin  Literature. 


C.  Ladius  (phil.) 186 


A.  Postumius  Albinus  (hist.), 

ft.  150 


P.  Sempronius  Asellio  (hist.), 

fl.  >3° 


Attins  (dramatist) 170-76 

The  Gracchi  (orators). 


L.  Cadi  us  Antipater  (jurist), 

11.  125 


M.  .'Kmilius  Scaurus  (orator) 

163-90 


Lucilius 148-103 


Fulvius  Flaccus  and  L.  Drusus, 

popular  leaders 125 

Death  of  C.  Gracchus 121 

Q.  Metellus.  leader  of  Senate. 
Sumptuary  Laws. 

Cimbrian  War 113-101 

Jugurthine  War m-106 

Jugurtha  captured ...i°6 

2nd  Servile  War 103-101 

Marius  conquers  Teutons,  Aquae 
Sextiae - 102 

Marius  conquers  Cimbri,  Vercellae..  101 
C.  MARIUS  (157-86),  6th  Consulship, 


L.  App.  Saturninus  Tribune ioo 

Glancia  Prator ioo 

Laws  of  Drusus.  His  death 91 

Social  or  Marsic  War  90-88 

L.  CORNELIUS  SULLA (138-78) 

“ expels  Marius 88 

First  Civil  War 88-86 

First  Mithridatic  War 88-84 

China  at  Rome 87-84 

Return  of  Marins,  87;  his  death.  . 86 

“ Sulla 83 

Second  Civil  War.  Battle  of  Colline 

Gate 82 

Second  Mithridatic  War 83-81 

Sulla  Dictator.  Proscriptions.  ..81-79 
Cornelian  Laws. 

War  with  Sertorius 78-72 


Other  Nations. 


Other  Literature  and  Art. 


Polybius  legislates  for  the 
Acbaian  Cities 145 

Demetrius  Nicator  (Syria).  145-141 

Simon  Maccabeus 143-136 

Jud.ha  independent. 

Macedon  formally  absorbed  by 
Rome. 

Hyrcanus  governs  Judasa..  136-106 
in  Parthia 131 

Demetrius  Nicator  restored.  130-126 

Attalus  m.  leaves  Pergamus  to 
Rome 130 

Hyrcanus  subdues  Idumea  and 
Samaria,  and  destroys  Tem- 
ple at  Gcrizim 129 


Antipater  of  Tarsus  (Stoic). 


Panaetius d.  hi 

Olycon  (sculptor). 


Blossius  of  Cum®  (philoso- 
pher). 

Risk  of  the  Essenes. 


Antonius  (orator) 143-7° 

Crassus  (orator) 140-91 


P.  Rutilius  Rufus  (historian), 

fl.  ICO 


Q.  Claudius  Quadrigarius 
(hist.),  fl 100 


Roman  Province  In  Transal- 
pine Gaul. 

1 ‘ Colony  sent  to  Cartilage, 

123 

Parthians  subdue  Bactria. 120 

Ptolemy  Lathyrus  and  Alexander, 

1 17-81 

First  Northern  Migrations. 

Pharisees  and  Sadducecs  politi- 
cal factions,  civil  contests  in 
J udauu 

MITHRIDATES  (Pontus).. . 120-63 
“ conquests  on  Black 

112-110 


Artemidorus  (Ephesus),  11. 100 


C.  Licinius  Macer  (historian) 

fl.  80 


Valerius  Antias  (historian), 

fl.  80-70 


L,  Cornelius  Sisenna  (hist.) 

1 18-67 


Q.  Roscius  (actor) d.  62 

M.  TERENTJLTUS  V ARRO.l  16  28 
Hortcnsius  (onitor).  .. .111-50 

LUCRETIUS 99-55 


Sea . 


takes  Galatia 102 


Ptolemy  Apion  leaves  Cyrene  to 
Rome - 96 


Sulla  011  the  Euphrates 92 


Revolt  and  Siege  of  Egyptian 
Thebes - 86 


Sulla,  til  course  of  ist  Mitliri- 
dutic  War,  tukes  Athens  ...  ...86 


Tic  ranks  (Armenia) 95-60 

“ at  War  with  Rome,  85-66 
Pompey  in  Africa 81 


Archins  (poet) fl.  >02 

Hlerodes  (fabulist) fl.  103 


Antipater  of  Sidon  (epigram- 
matlst). 


Asclcpiades  (physician). 
Library  of  Apclllcon  to  Romo. 


Dionysius  Thrax  (gramma- 
rian   A-  80 


Diotimus  tlio  Stoic... fl-  80 

Ciceroni  Alliens 79 


r 


■w & 


82 


66o 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 

Table  V.  B.  C.  156  to  B.C.  0.  From  Destruction  of  Carthage  to  Christian  Era.  By  Periods  of  Twenty-Five  Years. 


Rome. 


Latin  Literature. 


Other  Nations. 


Other  Literature  and  Art. 


POM  PE  Y (106-48) 

War  with  Spartacus 73-71 

Third  Mithridatic  War 74-63 

1st  Consulship  of  Pompey  and 

Crassus 70 

Pompey  defeats  the  Pirates 67 

Catiline's  Conspiracies 65-63 

Cicero  Consul 63 

M.  Porcius  Cato (95-46) 

Pompey’s  Great  Triumph 61 

Caesar  in  Spain 60 

Coalition  of  Pompey,  Caesar,  Cras- 
sus (First  Triumvirate) 60 

1st  Consulship  of  Ciesar ,.59 

Caesar  in  Gaul 58-51 

“ in  Britain 55-54 

2d  Consulship  of  Pompey  and 
Crassus 55 

C.  JULIUS  C-333AR (100-44) 

MARCUS  ANTONIUS (83-30 

Civil  War 49-48 

Battle  of  Pharsalia 48 

“ Thapsus 46 

“ Munda.. 45 

Assassination  of  Caesar ---44 

Second  Triumvirate  — Lepidus, 
Antony,  Octavianus 43 

War  with  Brutus  and  Cassius. 

Battle  of  Philippi 42 

War  of  Perusia 41-40 

Lepidus  expelled  from  Triumvirate-36 
War  of  Octavianus  and  Antony.  33-31 

Battle  of  Actium 31 

Gateway  of  Janus  closed 29-25 

OCTAVIANUS  (AUGUSTUS), 

(63-A.  D.  14) 
*•  Emperor. .. 27-A.  D.  14 

Cantabrian  Wars 25,  19,  13 

Augustus  invested  with  Tribunicia 
potestas 23 

Death  of  Marcellus 23 

Embassy  from  India 20 

Parthians  restore  standards 20 

German  War.  Roman  defeat  under 
Lollius 16 

Tiberius  and  Drusus  defeat  the 
Rhseti  and  Vindelici 15 

Deaths  of  Agrippa  and  Lepidus 12 

Augustus  Pontifex  Maximus 12 

Drusus  in  Germany 12-9 

Death  of  Drusus ) 9 

Tiberius  defeats  Germans.. 8-6 


Atticus 109-32 

Laberius  (mimes) 107-43 

CICERO ...106-43 

‘ 1 against  V erres 70 

Lucullus  founds  Library 
at  Rome 63 

Metellus  (orator),  Consul 60 

CATULLUS 87  (or  84P54 

P.  Ter.  Varro  (poet) b.  82 

Calvus  (poet) 82-47 

C.ESAR IOO-44 

Sallust 86-34 

Vitruvius  (architect) 80-n 

C.  Asinius  Pollio  (orator 
and  poet) 76-4 

Gallus  (poet) 66-26 

First  Year  of  Julian  Calendar. 

45 

\ IRGIL 70-19 

Cornelius  Nepos d.  14 

Criticism  of  the  best  Attic 
Literature  at  Rome 30 

M.ecenas (b.  74-64)  d.  8 

HORACE 65-8 

Mess  ala 64-A.  d.  9 

Tibullus 54-18 

Propertius 51-irt 

M.  A.  Seneca  (rhetorician), 

60-A.  D.  30 

Labeo  (jurist) fl.  18 

LIVY 59-A.  d.  17 

OVID ..... 43-A.  D.  17 


Nicomedes  III.  leaves  Bithyni a 

to  Rome 75 

Victories  of  Lucullus  in  Asia, 

74-66 

Scythians  expelled  from  India. 
Hyrcanus  II.  and  Aristobulus 
at  War. 

Rome  interferes  in  Palestine 

(Antipater)  69 

Antiochus  Asiaticus  dethroned 
by  Pompey. 

Syria  a Roman  Province 65 

Pompey  subdues  Phcenici  a and 

takes  Jerusalem 63 

Jud.ea  tributary  to  Rome 63 

Cyprus  a Roman  Province 57 

End  of  the  Seleucidse... 57 

Conquest  of  Gaul — 

Helvetii  and  Ariovistus  de- 
feated   58 

TheBelgae  and  Nervii  defeated  57 

Treviri  defeated ---54 

Caesar  crosses  the  Rhine... 55-53 
Vercingetorix  and  Alesia 

taken. 52 

Gaul  a Roman  Province 50 

Battle  of  Carrhie,  in  Parthia; 
Crassus  killed 53 

Caesar  in  Pontus  conquers 
Pharnaces 47 

Caesar  in  Africa 47 

Cleopatra (69-30) 

End  of  the  Lagidae 43 

Antony  and  Cleopatra  on  Cydnus, 
42 

Herod  the  Great  in  Judaea.  37-4 

Agrippa  crosses  the  Rhine  37 

Antony  fails  in  Parthia 36 

“ invades  Armenia 34 

Egypt  a Roman  Province 30 


Poseidonius  (phil.) 86-62 

Jinesidemus  (phil.) fl.  80-50 

Themison  (physician)  ..123-43 

Dioscorides  (Mosaics). 


Indian  Drama  flourishes. 


Timagenes  the  Syrian  (hist.) 


Tiridates  seeks  Roman  Court  ..25 

Romans  fail  in  Arabia 24 

Spain  finally  subdued. 


Agrippa  in  Asia 17 

Cappadocia  Roman 17 

British  Commerce  with  Italy 
and  Gaul. 


NATIVITY- Jesus 4 


Quintus  Sextius  (stoic). 


Cratippus  (phil.) 


Library  of  Pergamus  to 
Alexandria 40 


Pantheon  dedicated  by 
Agrippa 27 


Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus, 
d.  18 

Babrius  (poet). 


Diodorus  Siculus  (hist.) 

fl.  B.C.  8 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE 


66 1 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 
Table  VI.  A.  D.  I to  A.  D.  200.  By  Periods  of  Twenty  Years. 


do 


Rome. 


Other  Nations. 


Tiberius  commands  on  the  Rhine .....4 

Destruction  of  Army  under  Varus  by  t tie* Germans.. -9 

Death  of  Augustus .14 

Tiberius  C.esar 14-37 

Germanicus  in  Germany 14-16 

“ in  the  East 17 

“ Death . 19 


M.  JSlius  Sejanus  dominant 20-31 

Praetorian  Camp  at  Rome 23 

Tiberius  retires  to  Capreae 26-37 

Fall  of  Sejanus 31 

Macro  Prefect  of  Praetorians... 3I-37 

Agrippina  I.  banished,  30;  died 33 

Caligula .-.37-41 

“ Expedition  to  Gaul 39 

“ Assassinated 4' 


Claudius,  Emperor 4I_54 

Conquest  of  Mauretania 42 

Claudius  invades  Britain,  43,  War 43-51 

Execution  of  Messalina 48 

Claudius  marries  Agrippina  II.  and  adopts  Nero 50 

“ poisoned  by  “ 54 

Nero,  Emperor 54-68 

Britannicus  poisoned.  Parthian  and  Armenian 
Wars.  Agripp.na  murdered 59 


Insurrection  in  Britain  subdued 61 

Rome  Burnt.  Christians  persecuted 64 

Conspiracy  of  Piso.  Deaths  of  Lucan  and  Seneca.. 65 

Nero  at  Olympic  Games,  67;  Death 68 

Galba,  68;  murdered  in  the  Forum 69 

Othd.  Vitellius 69 

Civil  War.  Otho  kills  himself.  Vitellius  killed. 

Vespasian 70-78 

Batavian,  69-70;  British,  61-84 ; Jewish  Wars 65-70 

Gates  of  Janus  closed;  Philosophes  expelled ...71 

Reform  of  Treasury. 

Titus,  Emperor - 79-81 

Herculaneum  and  Pompeii  destroyed 79 


Judsea  a Roman  Province  under  Syria 6 

Pannonia,  Dalmatia,  '.Rluetia  and  Noricum 
Roman. 

Chcrusci  under  Abminius  defeat  Romans 9 

Artabanus  (Parthia). 14-44 

Germanicus  in  Parthia S...17 

War  between  Arminius  and  Marbod  .... 19 

Pontius  Pilate  in  Judaia ..25 

CRUCIFIXION,  according  to  Eusebius 
Lactantius.. 30 


Literature  and  Art. 


Lycia  a Roman  Province 43 

Judaea  and  Samaria  directly  Roman 44 

Thrace  “ “ 47 

London  founded  by  the  Romans 47 

Frisians  subdued 47 

Colonia  Agrippina -5° 

Caractacus  Prisoner 50 

South  Britain  a Roman  Province 51 

Corbulo  in  Parthia 56-64 


Ovid  banished 9 

PH.EDRUS fl.  14 

Celsus  (physician) 17 

Velleius  Paterculus  (historian), 

b.c.  19-31 

Strabo  (geographer) b.c,  66-22 


Cicsius  Bassus  (poet) d.  79 

Philo  Jud.eus.. c.  B.c.  20-  ? 

Valerius  Maximus  (hist.)? 

Petronius  Arbiter d.  66 

Apollonius  of  Tyana b.  b.c.  4- 

Josepbus 37-97 

Philo,  Senior  Ambassador  to 
Rome 40 


SENECA 3-65 

Lucan 39-65 

Plinv  Major 23-79 

Annaeus  Cornutus fl.  55 

A.  1’ersius  Flaccus 34-62 

Columella  (husbandry) “ 50 

Pamphila  (female  historian). .“  55 


St.  Paul  at  Malta 

60? 

Boadicea  in  Britain 

61 

Revolt  of  the  Jews 

Josephus  governor  of  Galilee 

66 

Titus  destroys  Jerusalem 

Civilis  leads  Batavian  revolt 

Agricola  subdues  Britain 

78-85 

Domitian 81-96 

War  against  the  Chatti 82 

Agricola  recalled  to  Rome  — - 85 

Unsuccessful  Wars  with  Gcta;,  Quadi  and  Marcomanni. 

Insurrection  of  Antonins  repressed 91 

Persecution  of  Jews  and  Christians.... — ..... 95 

Domitian  killed 96 

Nerva,  Emperor 96-98 

Relief  of  Taxes.  Distribution  of  Lands. 


Galoacus  at  Mons  Grampius 84 

Dercebal,  King  ol  Geta:,  defeats  Romans.  .86-90 


Silius  Italicus  (poet) 25-100 

Colosseum  built 70-80 

Papinius  Statius  (poet) 61-96 

Snleiu8  Bassus  (poet) fl.  75 

Stoics  banished  by  Vespasian. 

The  Lnocoon. 


Amphitheatre  of  Vcronu. 

Dcmonax  the  Cynic fl.  80 

Paris  (Pantomime),  killed 83 

Valerius  Flaccus  (poet)  fl.  88 

JUVENAL 47-130! 

Martial 43lo4 

Quintilian 42  118 

TACITUS T 35->'7 

Punt  Minor 61-105 


662 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


TABLES  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 
Table  VI.  A.  D.  I to  A.  D.  200.  By  Periods  of  Twenty  Years. 


160 


180 


Rome. 


TRAJAN,  Emperor 98-116 

Free  Constitution.  Judicia  Majestatis  abolished. 
Elective  Power  lo  Comitia.  Free  Speech  in  Senate. 

Trajan  conquers  the  Daci 101-103,  103 

Parthian  War 114-116 

Trajan  takes  Ctesiphon  and  sails  down  Tigris 116 

3d  Persecution  of  Christians. 

Hadrian 117-138 

Surrender  of  Eastern  Conquests 117 

4th  Persecution  of  Christians...  118 

Hadrian  visits  Gaul  aud  Britain... 120,  125,  130 

Extension  of  Commerce  throughout  the  Empire.  • 

Quadratics  and  Aristides  at  Athens  present  1st 
Apology  for  the  Christians 125 

ANTONIUS  PIUS,  Emperor 138-160 

Faustina  I fl.  138-141 

Development  of  the  Civil  Law. 

Establishment  of  Schools  in  Provinces. 

Insurrections  in  Provinces  quelled. 

Christianity  tolerated. 


Dacia  a Roman  Province 106 

Armenia,  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  Roman 
Provinces 114 

Greatest  Extent  of  Roman  Empire. 

Earthquake  at  Antioch 115 

Piets  invade  Britain 117 

Euphrates  eastern  boundary  of  the  Empire.117 


MARCUS  AURELIUS  sole  Emperor..  169-180 

L.  Vcrus  associated  in  the  Government 161-169 

Faustina  II fl.  145-175 

Pestilence  and  Famines  at  Rome  161-166 

Wars  with  Parthians 162-166 

War  with  Marcomanni,  Quadi,  etc 167-174,  178-180 

Greek  Philosophers  patronized. 

Rebellion  in  Syria  quelled i7S 

Christians  in  Gaul  persecuted 17  , 


Other  Nations. 


Hadrian’s  Walls — Newcastle  to  Carlisle 121 

“ “ Rhine  to  Danube 121 

Hadrian  rebuilds  Jerusalem 130 

Revolt  of  the  Jews  under  Barcochab 132 

Dispersion  of  the  Jews 135 

Prosperity  in  Britain  under  Hadrian. 

Wall  of  Antoninus  138 


Vallum  Am  onini  in  Britain  140 


Rome  applied  to  as  an  Arbiter  by  various 
nations, 


Verus  in  Armenia  and  Syria... 161-165 

Seleucia  demolished 165 

Death  of  Verus 169 


Advance  of  the  Goths.  Attacks  on  Dacia. 


Commodus,  Emperor 180-192 

Commodus  takes  the  name  of  Britannicus 184 

Perennis  Prefect  of  Praetorians 180-186 

Oleander  “ “ 186-189 

Commodus  as  Gladiator.  Killed.  ...  

Pertinax  killed 

Didias  Julianus  buys  Empire.  Killed i93 

Septimus  Severus 194-210 

Defeat  and -Death  of  Niger 

Battle  of  Lyons.  Death  of  Albinus 


Severus  invades  Britain,  208-209;  dies  at  York 211 


Successes  of  Marcellus  in  Britain 183 

Byzantium  taken  by  Severus 196 

Parthians  defeated  by  Romans... 198 

End  of  Arsacidie 1 

> 226 

Beginning  of  Sassanidae  (Persians)..  1 


Literature  and  Art. 


Forum  Ulpianum;  Column  of 
Trajan 103 

Dion  Chrysostom  (rhetorician), 

50-117 

Plutarch,  fl.  98 40-120 

Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna. 96-166 

Suetonius ...68- 

Statues  of  Antinous  (Hadrian’s 
Page). 

Epictetus fl.  117-138 

Moles  Hadriani  (St.  Angelo). 

Edictum  Perpetuum  of  Hadrian, 

132 

^lian  (the  rhetorician). 

Aulus  Gellius  (‘'Attic  Nights”), 

fl.  143 


Justin  Martyr 103-166 

Herodes  Atticus  (antiquarian, 
etc.) 104-180 

Fronto  (antiquarian) ..fl.  153, d.  166 

Appian  (hist.) fl.  147 

Galen 130-200 

Gaius  (jurist) fl.  160 

Appuleius — 130-174 

Celsus  (philosopher) fl.  160 

Marcus  Aurelius 121-180 

Lucian - 120-200 

Irenaeus  (Bishop  of  Lyons).  120-200 

Pausanias  (geographer) fl.  174 

Polycarp  suffers  martyrdom 166 

P.  vElius  Aristides  (rhetorician), 

fl.  170 

Ilermogenes  (rhetorician) fl.  170 

Statue  of  Aurelius. _ 180 

Dion  Cassius  (hist.) 155- 

Clement  of  Alexandria d.  213 

Origen 185-253 

Julius  Paulus  (jurist)? 

Diogenes  Laertius  (biographer). 
Temple  of  Sun  at  Baalbcc 197 

ATHEN2EU8 fl  . 200 

IIlPPOLYTUS d.  230 

Tertullian.. 190-240 

Sextus  Empiricus  (phil) fl.  225 


"S 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


663 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 

Table  VII.  From  A.  D.  200  to  the  Norman  Conquest.  By  Centuries. 


A.D. 

History  op  Rome  and  Other 

English  and  Scotch  History. 

English  Literature. 

Literature  on  the  Continent 

COUNTRIES. 

Caracalla,  Rom 

Wall  of  Severus 210 

Lucian  died  (poet) 

Roman  Citizenship  extended  to  the 

whole  Empire 

Sextus  Empiricus  (phil.)  ... 

-fl.  225 

Gallienus  and  the  Tyrants,  Rom., 

Papinian  at  York. 

Ulpian  died  (lawyer) 

25,9-208 

Roman  authors  read. 

Aureiian,  Rom 

- 270-275 

Dalriada? 

Plotinus  (phil.) 

204-274 

Diocletian,  Rom 

.284-305 

Origen  (theo.) 

-d.  253 

CONSTANTINE,  Rom.,  (274-337 

Carausius  revolts ...286 

3o6“337 

Ossian?  ? 

Zenobia  at  Palmyra  (queen) 

270 

300 

Proclaims  Christianity 

311 

Britain  subdued 313 

Council  of  Nicsea 

JULIAN,  Rom 

. 361-363 

Ulphilas.  Moeso-Gothic  Gospels, 

Paganism  restored . 

361 

Early  Christian  Martyrs. 

Gregory  Nazijnzen  (theo.) 

337 

Great  popular  migrations  begin 375 

• 

---379 

Theodosius  I.  Paganism 

pro- 

Ambrose  of  Milan  (theo.).. 

39* 

scribed.  Rom 

The  Empire  divided 

.....391 

Incursions  of  Piets  and  Scots. 

St.  Jerome  (theo.) 

340-420 

394 

ALARIC  (Visigoth). 

Pelagius. 

St.  Augustine  (theo.) 

354-430 

400 

At  Rome.. 

Romans  leave  Britain 409 

St.  Patrick. 

Orosiu8. 

Attila  at  Chalons,  Fr 

451 

Genscric  at  Rome 

45S 

Tlie  Traveler’s  Song. 

St.  Martin  of  Tours. 

Succession  of  Western  Emperors 

St.  David. 

Proclus  (phil.) 

.412-485 

ends 

CLOVIS  (Merovingian),  Fr.. 

Ilengistand  Horsa.449  Kent. 

Beowulf. 

Becomes  Christian 

496 

Ella,  Saxons 477  Sussex. 

The  Culdees? 

.470-526 

Theodoric  (Ostrogoth),  at  Ravenna. 493 

Cerdic,  “ 495  Wessex. 

Boethius  

500 

Saxons 530  Essex. 

Aneurin. 

St.  Benedict 

-480-543 

JUSTINIAN,  Rom 

King  Arthur? 

( Anglia. 

Merlin? 

N 

iO 

1 

Belisarius 

Angles  5504  Deira. 

( Mercia. 

Taliesin. 

Institutes  and  Pandects 

of 

m 

Four  Masters?  (pub.  1634). 

Justinian  

(0 

K 

Chilperic.  Brunebault,  Fr 

Fergus  More  II.?  Scot. 

History  of  Gildas 564? 

Dares  Phrygius. 

C 

Gregory  of  Tours  ......... 

Lombards  in  Italy 

..570-770 

St.  Columba 521-615 

-544-550 

Cussiodorus. 

O 

MAHOMET 

(570-632) 

Ethelbert  (Kent)  Christian. 598 

St.  Austin  in  England.. 597-610 

Gregory  I.,  Pope 

600 

The  Hegira 

Edwin  (Northumbria),  Rex 

Fragment  of  Judith. 

Laws  of  Rotharis. 

Anglorum 627 

C.KDMON? 

No  Romans  after  Heraclitus,  Ilom., 

The  Koran  published  .... 

6IO-64I 

Devon  subdued 647 

n M TT l.i.  | •_  /tnr,l 

r,?,j 

Lawn  of  Ina. 

Omar  at  Alexandria 

MOORS  in  Spain 

Ina  of  Wessex 689-726 

Aidhelm 650-710 

3 


664 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 
Table  VII.  From  A.  D 200  to  the  Norman  Conquest.  By  Centuries. 


History  of  Rome  and  Other 
Countries. 


Death  of  Roderick.  Sp 711 

Charles  Martel  at  Tours,  Fr.  732 

Pepin  the  Short,  Fr 752-768 

Death  of  St.  Boniface 755 

Roland  at  Roncesvalles 778 

Irene  (Constantinople) 780-803 

Haroun-al-Raschid 780-808 

CHARLEMAGNE, (742-814)  771-814 


English  and  Scotch  History 


Cornwall  subdued. 

1 st  Landing  of  Danes 786 

Offa  of  Mercia 790 


English  Literature. 


Bede. 


.672-735 


Cynwulf  , 


.715-780 


Alcuin 735-804 


Literature  on  the  Continent. 


Schools  at  Fulda  and  St.  Gall, 
Ireland. 


Benedict  d’Aniana 750-821 


Saracens  in  Sicily. 

Treaty  of  Verdun  (division  of 
Empire) 844 

Rolf  Ganger  in  Neustria,  Scan. 841-876 

NORMANS  in  France. 


Egbert  (Wessex) 827-836 

Kenneth  II.,  Scot.  Piets 
and  Scots  united. 


2d  Danes.  Ragnar  Lodbrog. 

866 

ALFRED  ....  ... ..871-901 


History  of  Nennius? 


Joannes  Scotus  ERIGENA..875 


Brelion  Law  in  Ireland. 


Alfred's  Translations 


Eginhard 840 

Otfried’s  Krist c.  870 

Heliand 870 

Archbishop  Hincmar 882 

Old  High  German  Alliterative 
Poetrv. 


2 « 
<2 


Magyar  invasions. 

Henry  I.  (The  Fowler),  Ger.. 913 

Otho  the  Great,  Ger 936 


Hugh  Capet,  Fr 987 


DANES  in  England. 


Athelstane 925 

Battle  of  Brunanburg 937 

Edwy  (contest  with  Church), 
955 

Malcolm  I.,  Scot.  Strath- 
clyde   944-9  52 

3d  Danes.  Sweyn. 

CANUTE,  Scan 1014 


Asser’s  Life  of  Alfred 910 

War  Poems;  Brunanburgh, 
Maldon. 

St.  Dunstan. 

.Elfric’s  Homilies 995 

The  Grave? 


Gerbert.  Silvester  II.,  Pope, 

999-1003 

Hroswitha c.  980 


Schools  of  Cordova  and  Seville, 
Spain. 


Avicenna 980-1037 


The  Cid  (Ruy  Diaz)  in  Spain, 

(1040-1099) 


Malcolm  II.,  Scot 1003-1033 

Edward  the  Confessor.  1042 

Macbeth  defeated  and  slain, 

Scot 1058 

Malcolm  III.  Canmore, 

Scot — ...... ......1058 

HAROLD 1065 

“ defeats  Norwegians.  1066 


Annals  of  Innisfallen: 


Annals  of  Tighernach? 


Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle, 

875-1154 


Translation  of  Psalms  at  St. 
Gall. 


Icelandic  Sagas. 


Lambert  of  nerzfeld 1060 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


66 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.  — Continued. 
Table  VIII.  From  Conquest  to  Middle  of  Fourteenth  Century.  By  Periods  of  Fifty  Years. 


Continental  History. 


English  and  Scotch  History. 


English  Literature. 


Literature  and  Art  on  the 
Continent. 


1050 


HILDEBRAND,  or  Gregory 
VII.,  Pp 1073 


Norman  Kingdom  of  the  Two 
Sicilies 1071 


Comneni  at  Constantinople,  Rom. 

Henry  IV 1066-1106 

Urban  II.,  Pp 1088 

First  Crusade 1095-1099 

THE  CRUSADES 1095-1270 


WILLIAM  I.,  The  Conqueror, 

1066-1087 

Battle  of  Hastings 1066 

Edgar  Atheling  to  Scotland...  1068 

Hereward  in  the  Isle  of  Ely...  1071 

Conquest  of  England  completed, 
1073 

Domesday  Book 1086 

William  II.,  Rufus 1087-1100 

Henry  I.. — 1100-1135 


Lanfranc..  ... fl.  1070-1089 


Anselm fl.  1089-1109 


Chanson  (le  Roland. 

Bruno  founds  Carthusians.. 1084 

Scholasticism. 

Roscelin. 

Peter  Lombard. 

Peter  the  Hermit. 

Verse  Edda  compiled. 


Orders  of  Knights— 

Of  St.  John,  or  Rhodes 1048 

The  Templars 1118 

Teutonic  Order 1190 

Persecution  of  Jews. 

Hohenstaufen  Dynasty,  Ger., 

1138-1254 

Guelfs  and  Ghibellines,  It 1140 

Secon  d Crusade 1147-1149 

SALADIN (1137-1:93) 


Conquest  of  Normandy. .1101-H07 

Alexander  I.,  Scot 1:07-1124 

Shipwreck  of  Prince  William. :i2o 

David  I.,  Scot 1:24-1:53 

Stephen  (Blois)  and  Matilda, 

U35-”54 

Battle  of  the  Standard ..1138 

Henry  II.  (Plantagenet). 1:54-1 189 


Ordericus  Vitalis :07s-:  142 

William  of  Malmesbury, 

1095-: 142 

Euclid  translated 1 1 16 

Play  of  St.  Catherine  at 
Dunstable 1:19 

Hilarius :::o-::6o 

Geoffrey  Gaimar. 

Wace’s  Brut’  d’Angleterre. 


FREDERICK  I.  (Barbarossa), 
Ger n5J 


Conquest  of  Ireland 1:56 

Malcolm  IV.,  Scot 1153-1165 

Constitutions  of  Clarendon  ...7:54 


Adrian  IV.,  Pp i’54 

Arnold  of  Brescia 1 : 32-1 1 55 

Battle  of  Legnano 117^  j Eleanor  and  Rosamund 

Dandolo  at  Venice 1203 

Philip  H.,  Augustus,  Fr ::8o 

Third  Crusade. 1190-1192 

Innocent  III.,  Pp ”98 


William  the  Lion,  Scot. , 

1165-1214 

Murder  of  Bucket 1170 


Assizes  of  Clarendon  and 
Northampton 1166-1 1 76 


Glanvil,  Chief  Justice 1180 

Richard*  I 1189-1194 

Massacre  of  Jews. 

John  1 1199-1216 


Arthurian  Legends, 

University  of  Oxford 1190 

Giraldus  Cambrensis.  1147-1216 
Layamon’s  Brut. 

Luc  de  Gast 1154-1189 

John  of  Salisbury 1130-1180 

Walter  Mupcs 1143-1200 

Josephus  Iscanua c.  1190 

Anglo-Norman  Ballads. 


William  of  Guienne.  1st  Trou- 
badour. 

Universities. 

University  of  Bologna... 1116 

Study  of  Civil  Law. 

Pandects  at  Amalfi ......1137 

Abelard ...  ..  ......1079-1142 

Anna  Comnena 1083-1148 

Reineke  Fuchs  f 
St.  Bernard 


Study  of  Canon  Law. 

Aveiiroes 1120- 

Nibelunoen  Lied. 

University  of  Paris 1169 

Joachim  of  Flore 1130-1203 

Troubadours  and  Minne- 
singers. 

Vidal.  Bertrand  de  Born. 

Waller  von-iler  Vogclwoldo. 

Poem  of  Tiik  Cid. 

Gndrun. 

St.  Dominic 1170-1321 


Ln 


666 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 
Table  VIII.  From  Conquest  to  Middle  of  Fourteenth  Century.  By  Periods  of  Fifty  Years. 


Continental  History. 


Fourth  Crusade 12&0-1204 

Attack  on  Constantinople 1204 

Latin  Empire 1204-1261 

Albigensian  Crusade 1207-1229 

Battle  of  Bovines,  Fr 1214 

FREDERICK  II.,  Ger.  (1194-1250) 
12x2 

Fifth  Crusade 1216-1220 

Frederick  King  of  Jerusalem ..  1229 

Alphonso  the  Wise  in  Spain, 

1226-64 

Gregory  IX.,  Pp 1227 

Retreat  of  Moors  to  Granada  .1240 
Sixth  Crusade 1249-1250 


LOUIS  IX.,  Fr 1226-1270 

Richard  of  Cornwall,  Eng., 
Emperor  of  Germany..  1256-1271 

End  of  Caliphate  at  Bagdad. ..1258 

Seventh  Crusade 1270 

Rudolf  of  Hapsburg,  Ger.  1273-1292 

Genoa  powerful  under  Doria, 

1270-1283 

Fra  Dolcino 1275-1304 

Sicilian  Vespers 1282 

War  between  Genoa  and  Pisa.  1284 

Ugolino 1288 

Colonnas  and  Orsinis  at  Rome. 
BONIFACE  VIII.,  Pp..  1294-1303 
Swiss  League 1295 


Charles  of  Valois  in  Italy 1301 

Philip  IV.,  The  Fair,  Fr., 

1285-1314 

Clement  V.  at  Avignon,  Pp...  1305 

Fall  of  the  Templars 1305-1310 

Henry  VII.  Luxemburg,  Ger., 

1308-1313 

Rutli  (William  Tell?) 1307 

Morgarten 1315 

Election  to  Empire  declared  in- 
dependent of  Papacy 1338 

Louis  the  Bavarian,  6-'er.  1314-1347 

Philip  VI.  Valois,  Fr.  1328-1350 

Dugueeclin (1314-1330) 


English  and  Scotch  History. 


Stephen  Langton  and  Barons. 

Interdict  removed 1213 

Magna  Charta 1215 

“ confirmed  and  renewed 

thir: y times.. 1216-1608 

Alexander  II.,  Scot 1214-1249 

Henry  III ....1216-1272 

Fall  of  Hubert  de  Burgh 1232 

Unsuccessful  Wars  in  France. 


Provisions  of  Oxford  1259 

Alexander  III.,  Scot...  1249-1286 

Battle  of  Largs 1263 

Barons’  War 1262-1266 

De  Montfort’s  Parliament 1264 

Battle  of  Lewes 1264 

Battle  of  Evesham 1265 

EDWARD  I ...1272-1307 

Statute  of  Mortmain 1279 

Wales  subdued ...1283 

Margaret  and  Baliol,  Scot., 

1286-1292 

William  Wallace  ..fl.  1296-1298 
Expulsion  of  Jews. 

Battle  of  Falkirk 1298 


Edward  II 1^07-1^27 

The  Lords  Ordainers 1310 

ROBERT  I.  (BRUCE),  Scot., 

1306-1329 

Battle  of  Bannockburn,  Scot..  1314 

EDWARD  III... 1327-1377 

David  II.,  Scot 1329-1371 

Battle  of  Halidon  Hill 1333 

Battle  of  Cressy 1346 

Battle  of  Neville’s  Cross 1346 

Calais  taken 1347 


English  Literature. 


Robert  Grostete 1175-1253 

Story  of  Genesis  and  Exodus. 
The  Ormulum? 

“Owl  and  Nightingale.” 
University  of  Cambridge..  1231 
“Ancren  Riwle.” 

Matthew  Paris 1222-1275 

Romances 


Thomas  of  Erceldoune,  the 
Rhymer. 

Michael  Seot d.  1293 

ROGER  BACON 1215-1292 

Telescope,  Gunpowder,  “Opus 
Majus.” 

Henry  Bracton c.  1260 

Surtees’  Psalter. 

Peter  Langtoft. 

Robert  of  Gloucester. ..c.  1280 

Duns  Scotus 1265-1308 

“ Land  of  Cockayne.” 

Robert  (Manning)  of  Brunne. 


R.  Higden,  “ Polychronicon,” 
1328 

“Cursor  Mundi”. 1320 

Humpole’s  “ Prick  of  Con- 
science.” 


William  Occam d.  1347 

Chester  Plays. 

Fordun’s  “ Scotichronicon,” 
1350 

Laurence  Minot  .....1300-1352 
Sir  John  Mandeville. 1300-1370 


Literature  and  Art  on  the 
Continent. 


University  of  Salamanca 1200 

Gottfried  of  Strasburg’s  Tristran. 
Raymond  in  Languedoc, 

Albert  of  Stade’s  Troilus. 

The  Inquisition  begun 1229 

St  Francis  of  Assisi 1182-1230 

Mendicant  Orders. 

Sordello fl.  1260 

Chretien  de  Troyes 1140-1227 

Snorro  Sturlasson 1178-1241 

Albertus  Magnus 1193-1280 

Trojumanna  Saga. 

Prose  Edda 1241 

William  of  Lorris. 


Roman  de  la  Rose. 

Earliest  Plays  in  Spain  and 
National  Lyrics. 

Benoit  de  St.  More. 

Thomas  Aquinas 1227-1274 

ClMABUE,  Pt ....1240-1308 

Tableau  of  Marie  of  France. 

Raymond  Lully 1235-1315 

Marco  Polo 1255-1325 

Gesta  Romanorum.  Berchorius. 

Guido  de  Columns 1287 

Nicholas  TV.,  Pope 1288 


Giotto,  Pt ...... 1276-1337 

DANTE 1265-1321 

Meister  Eckhard  d.  1329 

Jean  de  Meun. 

J.  Tauler 1290-1361 

Theologia  Germanica. 

Orcagna,  Pt 1320-1389 

PETRARCH 1304-1374 

University  of  Prague 1348 

Gonsalez  de  Bercio. 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


667 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 
Table  IX.  From  Middle  of  Fourteenth  to  End  of  Fifteenth  Century.  By  Periods  of  Twenty-Five  years. 


Continental  History. 


RlENZI 1343-1354 

Marino  Faliero  at  Venice 1352 

John  II.,  Fr 1350-1364 

Aurea  Bulla 1356 

The  Jacquerie  in  France 1358 

Hanseatic  League 1140-1723 

The  Free  Companies. 

I Visconti,  Milan 

Tyrants  in  Italy...  Scala,  Verona 
{ Este,  Ferrara 

Charles  V.,  Fr 1364-1380 

Gregory  XI.  at  Rome,  Pp 1370 

The  Schism. — 1378-1439 


Charles  VI.,  Fr 1380-1422 

Joan  of  Naples  executed 1382 

Decline  of  Genoa. 

Philip  Van  Artevelde,  Dtch 1382 

Austro-Swiss  War 1385-1470 

Winkelried  at  Sempach 1386 

Margaret  of  Norway 1389 

Union  of  Calmar 1397 

Florence  powerful. 


Council  of  Pisa 1409 

Sigismund,  Emperor,  Oer 1410 

Council  of  Constance... 1414-1418 

Pope  John  XXIII.  deposed,  /71..1415 

Executions  of  IIuss  and  Jerome  ..1415 

Frederick  of  Hohenzollern,  Mar- 
grave of  Brandenburg,  I ‘run 1417 

Hussite  Wur,  Ziska 142.-1436 

Charles  VII.,  Fr.. 1422-1462 


English  and  Scotch  History. 


War  with  Spain,  Scotland  and 
France. 

The  Black  Death  ..1349,  1361,  1369 
Battle  of  Poitiers 1356 

Peace  of  Bretigny 1360 

Law  Pleadings  in  English 1362 


Robert  II.  (Stuart),  Scot., 

1371-1390 


Death  of  the  Black  Prince 1376 

Richard  II i377-‘399 

W at  Tyler’s  Insurrection 1381 

John  of  Gaunt  in  Spain... 1386 

Raid  of  Otterburne 1388 

Robert  HI.,  Scot 1390-1406 

Priemunire  Statute 1393 


English  Literature. 


Langland’s  “Piers  Plow- 
man ” 1369 

Chaucer’s  “ Romaunt  of 
Rose.” 


Wyclipfe 1324-1384 


Barbour 1316-1396 


Gower 1325-1408 


CHAUCER d.  1400 


Henry  IV.  (Bolingbroke), 


1399-1413 


Percy  Rebellion.  Shrewsbury, 

1403 

Prince  James  of  Scotland  cup- 
tured 1405 

Albany,  Regent,  Scot 1406-1423 

Battle  of  Ilarlaw 1 4 1 * 

HENRY  V 1388-1422 

Persecution  of  the  Lollards. 

Battle  of  Agincourt 1415 

Cobbam  burnt ‘4*7 

Treaty  of  Troyes <420 

Henry  VI 1422-1461 

JAMES  I.  reigns,  Scot. 


“ Legend  of  Good  Women,” 

after  1382 

Trevisa fl.  1387 

Andrew  Wyntoun... 1350-1420 


The  Canterbury  Tales,” 
1390-1398 


Wakefield  and  Towneley 
Mysteries. 


University  of  St.  Andrews.  141 


James  I.,  " King’s  Qualr.” 


Uccleve 1370-M54 


Literature  and  Art  on  the 
Continent. 


BOCCACCIO 1313-1375 


Gerhard  Groot 1340-1380 


Brethren  of  Common  Lot, 
at  Deventer. 


Pedro  Lopez  Ayala  . 1332-1407 


Froissart  1337-^01 


Poggia  and  Laurentius  Valla. 


Fra  Angelico,  Pf...  1387-1448 


Amadis  d«  Gaul 1390 


Ghiberti,  A.  and  S, 


1381-1455 


Jeun  Gerson 1363-1425 


Embassy  of  Ray  Gonzalez 
to  Tamerlane. 


H.  Van  Eyck,  Pt 1360-1426 

J.  Van  Eyck,  Pt — 1390-144' 

Masaccio,  Pt 1402-1428 

Thomas  a Kempls...  1380-147' 
Donatello,  A.  and  .9. .1383  146* 


83 


668 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.-Continued. 

Table  IX.  From  Middle  of  Fourteenth  to  End  of  Fifteenth  Century.  By  Periods  of  Twenty-Five  Years. 


Continental  History. 


Joan  op  Arc,  Fr 1429-1431 

French  recover  Paris 1436 

Council  of  Basle 1433-1449 

Florence 1439 

Alphonso  V.  at  Aragon,  Sp 1449 

The  Sforzas  at  Milan 1449 

Hapsburg  Emperors,  Get.  . 1438  et  seq. 
The  Medici  at  Florence,  1430  et  seq. 
Nicholas  V.  Single  Pope 1447-1454 

Mahomet  II. 


1500 


Constantinople  taken 1453 

Belgrade  resists  the  Turku. 

Hungary  powerful. 

The  Foscari  at  Venice. 

Pius  II.  (.Eneas  Sylvius),  Pp 1458 

LOUIS  XI.,  Fr 1461-1483 

Wars  with  Charles  the  Bold. 

Poland  powerful. 

Battle  of  Murten 1476 

Duchy  of  Burgundy  merged  in 
France. 

Death  of  Charles  the  Bold 1477 

Maximilian’s  Marriage  with  Mury.1477 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA,  Sp., 

1479-1512 

Prince  Henry  of  Portugal. 

Charles  VIII.,  Fr 1483-1498 

Provence  joined  to  France 1487 

Charles  marries  Anne  of  Brittany. 1491 

“ invades  Italy 1494 

B.  Diaz  rounds  C.  of  Good  Hope.. i486 

The  Moors  driven  from  Spain 1491 

( OLUMBUS (*436-1505)  1492 

Alexander  VI.,  Pp I49f 

Maximilian  I.,  Ger 1493 

Swiss  Confederacy  Independent. .1499. 

Louis  XII.,  Fr 1493-1515 

Vasco  da  Gama,  Port 1497- 


English  and  Scotch  History. 


War  between  Scotland  and 
England 1436 


James  II.,  Scot 1437-1460 


Duke  of  Gloucester  murdered.  1447 


Jack  Cade’s  Insurrection 1450 


Civil  Wars  of  the  Roses, 

*452-1485 


English  expelled  from  France.  1453 
Battle  of  St.  Albans 1455 


James  III.,  Scot 1460-1488 

Edward  IV 1461-1483 

Warwick,  King-maker 1471 

Battleof  Tewkesbury. 1471 


Queen  Margaret  at  the  Court  of 
R6n6  of  Provence 1475 

Duke  of  Clarence  murdered. ..1478 

Edward  V —1483 

RICHARD  HI 1483-1485 

Rattle  of  Bosworth  Field 148s 

HENRY  VII.  (Tudor)... 1 485-1 509 

James  IV.,  Scot 1488-1513 

Poynings’  Act  in  Ireland 1495 

Sebastian  Cabot 1497 


English  Literature. 


Humphrey,  Duke  of  Glou- 
cester   1430 

Lydgate 1375-1461? 


Chevy  Chase,  and 
Early  English  Ballads. 

Thomas  of  Walsingliam..i44o 

Mysteries  and  Moralities. 

University  of  Glasgow 1451 

Peacock’s  “ Repressor,”..  1449 


Littleton 1481 

Sir  John  Fortescue  ..1475-1480 
Sir  Thomas  Malory.. 1433-1475 

The  Morte  d’Arthur. 

The  Coventry  Mysteries  . . 1468 


Caxton’s  Press  in  England, 
1474 


The  Paston  Letters. .1425-1506 
Blind  Harry’s  Wallace. 


Revival  of  Letters,  Classical 
Studies  and  Theology. 
Grocyr,  Colet,  Warham, 
More,  etc. 


Erasmus  in  England 1497 

II.  Boyce 1470-1536 

DUNBAR 1450-1530 

Douglas — 1474-1 522 

Ilenryson fl.  1490-1500 


Literature  and  Art  on  the 
Continent. 


University  of  Florence 1438 

Fra  Filippo  Lippi,  Pt., 

1412-1469 

Culture  in  Aragon  and  the 
Sicilies. 

Della  Robbia,  A.  and  S., 

1400-1482 

INVENTION  OF  PRINTING, 
*445 

Cozzoli,  Pt 1408-1478 

John  of  Goch  ... 1451 

Memling,  Pt 1425-1495 

Giovanni  Bellini,  Pt., 

1426-1516 

John  Wessel  — 1420-1459 


The  Mazarin  Bible 1453 

Francois  Villon 1431- 

De  Imitations 1471 

Boiardo 1434-1494 

Philip  de  Comines 1445-1509 

University  of  Upsala 1476 

Pico  della  Mirandola. 1463-1494 

Mabuse,  Pt 1499-1562 

Francia,  Pt ......1450-1518 

Ghirlandajo,  Pt 1449-1498 

LORENZO  DE  MEDICI, 

fl.  1470-1492 
Sodoma,  Pt 1479-1554 


Pulci fl.  1480 

Ficinus,  Politian. 

Perugino,  Pt 1446-1521 

Arabian  Nights. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci,  PI..R.  1490 

Sebastian  Brandt,  “ Nar- 
renschiff  ” 1494 

Savonarola  ........fl.  1494-1508 

Giorgione,  Pt 1477-1511 

Albrecht  Durer, ^-1471-1528 
RAPHAEL,  Pt 1482-1520 

MICHAEL  ANGELO,  A. 
and  S ...1473-1456 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.  — Continued.  669 

Table  X.  The  Sixteenth  Century.  In  Decades. 


1510 


1520 


>53° 


Continental  History 


JULIUS  II.,  Pp I503 

League  of  Cambray.  Pope.  Prance, 
and  Empire  against  Venice. 

Portugal  powerful  in  East. 

Spain  conquers  Cuba. 

Don  Manuel  of  Portugal, (1469-1521) 

LEO  X . , Pp 1513 


Vasco  Nunez  at  Darien,  Port..  1513 

Bayard 1524 

Francis,  I.,  Fr 1515 


Magellan  (navigator) . 


.1470-1521 


Adrian  VI.,  Pp 1522 

( 1516  Spain. 

CHARLES  V.  Empire. 

t 1530  Italy. 

Gustavus  Vasa,  Port 1523 

Peasants' War,  Ger 1525 

REFORMATION  in  Germany, 

I5,9~3° 

Confession  of  Augsburg 1530 

Cortez  in  Mexico 1520 

Clement  VII.,  Pp 1523 

Battle  of  Pavia,  Sp.. 1525 

Constable  Bourbon  at  Rome..  1528 
Turks  before  Vienna 1529 


Pizarro  in  Peru,  Sp 1531 

Brittany  annexed  to  France. . . 1532 

Ivan  I.,  Russian  Czar 1533 

Anabaptist  at  Munster 1534 

Calvin  at  Geneva 1532-1535 

Foundation  of  JESUIT  Order,  1534 


Council  of  Trent >545-1563 


Smalcaldic  War 1547 


Henry  II.,  Fr 1547 


English  and  Scotch  History. 


Perkin  Warbeck  executed 1499 

James  IV.  of  Scotland  marries 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry 
V II 1 502 


Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales,  mar- 
ries Catherine  of  Aragon 1501 

Henry  VIII 1509-1547 


Battle  of  Flodden 1513 

War  with  France... 1513 

Battle  of  Spurs 1513 

Margaret,  Regent  of  Scotland. 

WOLSEY (1471-1530) 

“ Cardinal 1515 

Field  of  Cloth  of  Gold 1520 


Futile  Scotch  invasion  of  Eng- 
land  1522 


Sir  Thomas  More (1480-1535) 


Chancellor 1529 


James  V.  reigns,  Scot 1528-1542 


Archbishop  Cranmer  pro- 
nounces divorce 1533 

REFORMATION  in  England. 

Act  of  Supremacy 1534 

Cromwell,  Vicar  General 1535 

Suppression  of  Monasteries. 

>535->536 

Execution  of  More 1535 

Pilgrimage  of  Grace 1537 

The  Six  Articles 1539 

Execution  of  Cromwell 1540 


Solway  Moss 1542 

Mary  nominally  succeeds...  .1542 

Deuth  of  Beaton,  Scot 1546 

Edward  VI >547->553 

Somerset,  Protector ■547-,549 

Economic  distress. 

Battle  of  Pinkey >547 


English  Literature. 


Stephen  Hawes. 1483-1512 

“Pastime  of  Pleasure”. .1506 
“Nut  Browne  Maid.” 

Skelton 1460-1528 

Scholarship. 

Linacre,  Smith,  and  Cheke. 
Ballads  and  Moralities. 


More’s  “Richard  III.’ 

First  English  Prose  History. 

“ Utopia 1516 

First  Original  Romance. 


Barclay  (Ship  of  Fools,  Satire 
and  Eclogues) 1490-1535 


Berner's  Froissart 1523 

Tyndale's  New  Testa- 
ment  1526 


Wyatt — 1503-1542 


Surrey >5>7->S47 


Literature  and  Art  on  the 
Continent. 


ERASMUS 1467-1536 

Berni 1490-1536 

Bembo 1470-1547 

Reuchlin 1455-1522 

ARIOSTO 14-4-1533 

Andrea  del  Sarto,  Pt 1488-1530 

Voyages  of  Amerigo  Vespucci,  1507 
TITIAN,  Pt i477->576 


Machiavelli 1469-1527 

CORREGGIO,  Pt >493-<534 

Mantuan rs>3 

Pa  racelsus > 493- 1 54  ■ 

“Epistolse  Obscurorum  Viro- 

rum”— >5'6 

C.  Agrippa  and  Cardan. 

Ulrich  von  Hutten 1488-1523 

G.  Agricola... >494“>565 

LUTHER ..1483-1546 


Sir  David  Lynds ay.  1490- 1556 

Elliot’s  “Governor” 1531 

Coverdalk’s  Bible 1535 

Latimer 1472-1555 

Leland — 1552 

Cranmer.  Anglican  Liturgy. 


Hall’s  Chronicles 1548 

Haywood's  Interludes. 
Akciiam,  “Toxophllus " ..  1 545 

• “Schoolmaster”. ..1563 

U.  Crowley d.  1588 

Gascoigne >J4°*'577 


Rabelais W9°->553 

Zwingle «484  >53l 

Melancthon >497->S' 8 

Holbein.  Pt i498->559 

COPERNICUS >473->543 

Palissy,  A.  and  S 1499-1589 

Boscan  (Spain)... 


Hans  Sachs  (Germany). 


. .11.  1530 


Jardin  des  Pluntes. 

Vittoria  Colonna 1490-1547 

Margueretof  Navarre  ...1492-1558 

CALVIN ,5°9-«564 

J.  Everts  (Joannes  Secundus), 

1511-1536 

Vesalius.  first  Scientific  Anato- 
mist. 

Ignatius  Loyola. 1491-1550 

Francis  Xavier  1506-1552 

St.  C.  Borromco >538-1576 


Mendoza  (Hist,  of  Moors), 

>5°3->J75 

Benvenuto  Cellini,  A.  and  S. 

1500-1572 

Vasari,  Pt i5>>->37> 

Palladio,  A.  and  S 1518-1580 

Telesios 1509  1588 

Sicilian 1506-1556 

TINTORETTO.  /V 1512  >594 


■sjfe 


i 


4 


670  TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 

Table  X.  The  Sixteenth  Century.  In  Decades. 


( ONTINENTAI,  HISTORY. 


1560 


1580 


Metz  taken  by  France 1552 

Servetus  burnt  by  Calvin 1553 

Religions  Peace  of  Augsburg. . 1555 
Philip  II.,  S p 1556 

Catherine  de  Medici,  and  the 
Guises. 

Francis  II.,  Fr 1559 

Charles  IX.,  Fr 1560 


Civil  Wars  in  France 1562-1595 

Soliman  II.  in  Hungary 1566 

Pius  V.,  Pp 1566 

Alva  in  the  Netherlands 1567 

Cosmo  de  Medici,  Duke  of 
Tuscany. 

Don  John  of  Austria 1569 

Hungary  annexed  to  Austria..  1570 


Battle  of  Lepanto,  Sp 1571 

Poland  an  Elective  Monarchy,  1572 
Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  1572 

Revolt  of  Netherlands 1572 

Henry  III.  Fr 1574 

The  League 1576-1593 

Union  of  Utrecht 1579 

WILLIAM  THE  SILENT  (Or- 
ange), Dutch. 


Independence  of  Netherlands 
Declared 1581 

William  of  Orange  assassi- 
nated  1584 

Sextus  ~V.,Pp 1585 

The  Duke  of  Guise  assassi- 
nated  1588 

Alexander  of  Parma 1571-1592 

HENRY  IV.,  Fr 1589-1610 

Battle  of  Arques 1589 

Battle  of  Ivry,  Fr 1590 


Henry  IV.,  Catholic 15 


Sigismund  of  Poland  in  Sweden. 

1592-1600 


1600  The  Edict  of  Nantes 1598 


English  and  Scotch  History. 


Mary'  Tudor ..1553-1558 

Lady  Jane  Grey  beheaded 1553 

Mary  op  Guise  in  Scotland..  1554 

Reconciliation  with  Rome 1554 

Latimer,  Ridley,  and  Cranmer 
burnt 1555-1556 

Gardiner  and  Pole  in  power. 

Calais  lost 1558 

ELIZABETH 1558-1603 


William  Cecil,  Secretary 1559 

REFORMATION  in  Scotland. 

MARY  STUART,  Scot.,  reigns 

1562-1568 

Murder  of  Rizzio 1566 

Murder  of  Darnley 1567 

Northern  Rebellion 1569 

Murray,  Regent,  Scot 1570 


Morton,  Regent,  Scot 1572 

Burgliley,  Lord  Treasurer 1572 

Walsingham.  Secretary 1573 

Elizabeth  declines  the  Nether- 
lands  1575 

Drake  sails  round  the  World..  1577 

James  VI.,  Scot 1578-1625 


Risings  in  Ireland 1580 

Raleigh  in  Virginia 1584 

Leicester  in  the  Netherlands:  1584 

Battle  of  Zutphen 1586 

Babington’s  Plot 1586 

Execution  of  Mary 1587 

Drake  at  Cadiz 1587 

THE  ARMADA 1588 


War  with  Spain  and  Portugal, 

1589-1600 


Tyrone’s  Rebellion  in  Ireland. 

1 595-1601 


Capture  of  Cadiz  by  Easex 1596 

Gowrie  Conspiracy 1600 


English  Literature. 


Marlowe '564-1593 

Lodge _d.  1625 

Hakluyt  ..... 1513-1616 

Coke ...1550-1634 

Camden  ........ 1557-1623 

Lyly  (Euphues)  and  Comc- 

lies 1554-1603 

Shakspeare’s  Poems. 

Bacon's  Essays 1597 

Globe  opened after  1594 

Bodleian  founded 1598 

Gilbert  (Magnetism).  1540-1603 


Literature  and  Art  on  the 
Continent. 


Udal.  Earliest  Comedy...  1550 

Wilson’s  Art  of  Rhetoric..  1551 

Sannazaro  and  Montmajor 
(Diana). 

Socinus ....1539-1604 

Mirror  for  Magistrates. 

Bale’s  King  John. 

Sackville  (1527-1608)  Ear- 
liest Tragedy 

Stephens  and  the  Scaligers. 

1484-1609 

Gesner’s  Mithridates 1555 

Peter  Ramus — 1572 

Fox’s  “Martyrs”... 

1553 

Palestrina,  M. 

I524-I594 

Tottel’s  Miscellany. 

1 557 

P.  VERONESE,  Pt  .... 

I S28-I588 

John  Knox 

I505“I572 

CAMOENS 

1 52 7- 1 579 

Buchanan 

The  Geneva  Bible... 

I506-I582 

I 560 

St.  Teresa 

iS'S-'sSa 

The  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
1560 

Beza 

.1519-1605 

Tusser’s  Bucolics 

Ronsard 

I524-I586 

Silvester’s  Du  Bartas. 

Bishops’  Bible 

Kochanowski 

1530-1584 

I 

MGNTATGNF. 

Puttenham  and  Coxe. 

Isaac  Casaubon 

-1559-1614 

Sir  Phwp  Sidney. 

1554-1586 

University  of  Leyden... 

1575 

Southwell 

.1560-1596 

Bodin 

-! 530-1596 

Cynthio  and  Bandello’s  Tales. 

Chronicles  of  Hollinshed 
and  Stowe. 

Mariana 

.1536-1623 

K no  lies 

1545-1610 

TASSO 

- 1544_I595 

University  of  Edinburgh..  1581 

Francis  de  Sales 

.1567-1622 

Hooker 

i553-i6oo 

Albericus  Gentilis  at  Oxford..  1582 

Raleigh 

1552-16x8 

Gregorian  Calendar 

1583 

SPENSER  

1 553“ '599 

Guarini’s  Pastor  Fido.. 

'585 

Warner 

1558-1609 

Tycho  Brahe 

1546-1601 

Peele 

1 — 1598 

The  Caracci,  Pt 

1560-1605 

Nash 

1558-1601 

Paolo  Sarpi 

1552-1623 

Greene  

? — 1592 

Giordano  Bruno 

— 1600 

Charron  and  Vanini. 

Fludd  and  Bohem. 

CERVANTES 1547-1616 

University  of  Barcelona 1596 

Lope  de  Vega 1562-1635 

P.  Ilooft 1583-1652 

KEPLER 1571-1630 


Is 

SFT 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued.  671 
Table  XI.  The  Seventeenth  Century.  In  Decades. 


Continental  History. 


BARNEVELI).  Dutch — 1590-1618 

Philip  III..  Sp 1598-1621 

Biron’s  Conspiracy - 1602 

Dutch  powerful  in  the  Indies.  1607 

Maurice,  Dutch 1584-1625 

Spinola 1604-1625 

Truce  between  Spain  and 
Netherlands 1609 

Moors  expelled  from  Spain. ..1609 

Henry  IV.  assassinated ..1610 


British  History. 


English  Literature. 


Patent  to  East  India  Company 1600 

Execution  of  Essex 1601 

James  I ...1603-1625 

Gunpowder  Plot 1605 

Hampton  Court  Conference 1604 

Emigrations  to  Virginia 1608 

Ulster  Settlements,  Ire 1608 

Hawkins  at  Mogul  Conrt 1609 


SHAK3PE  ARE.  1564. 1616 

Hall  and  Marston’s  Satires. 

Burbage,  Act ? -1619 

Dekkar ? ->639 

Chapman 1557-1634 

Daniel 1562-1619 

Drayton 1563-1631 

Davies 1570-1626 

Donne 1573-1631 

W otton 1 568-1 639 

BACON 1561-1626 


1610 


LOUIS  XIII.,  Fr 1610-1643 

Mary  de  Medici,  Regent. 

Romanoffs  in  Russia 1613 

Execution  of  Barneveld 1619 

Frederick,  King  of  Bohemia  . 1619 

Ferdinand  II.,  Sp 1619-1637 

Battle  of  Prague 1620 

THIRTY  YEARS’  WAR. 

1618-1648 


1620 


1630 


1640 


Carr  (afterwards  Somerset),  favorite. 

x6ii 

Death  of  Prince  Henry 1612 

Marriage  of  Princess  Elizabeth  to 
Frederic,  Elector  Palatine 1613 

Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
favorite 1615 

Execution  of  Raleigh 1618 


The  Pilgrim  Fathers 1620 


GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS, 

1611-1632 

Wallenstein,  Oer 1583-1634) 

New  York  founded  by  the  Dutch, 
1624 

Huguenot  Rising 1625 

Boston  founded 1627 

Rochelle  taken 1628 

Philip  IV.,  Sp 1621-1665 

Edict  of  Restitution >629 

RICHELIEU,  Fr — (1585-1642) 

“ supreme..  1624-1642 


Fall  of  Magdeburg 1631 

Battle  of  Lutzen,  Scan I--1632 

Christina,  Scan 1632-1654 

Oxenstiem (1583-1624) 

Death  of  Wallenstein 1634 

Peace  of  Prague .-1635 

France  and  Spain  at  War.  1635-1659 

Independence  of  Portugal 1640 

Cinq  Murs  and  De  Thou 1642 

War  between  Portugal  and 
Holland. 


Louis  XIV.  accedes 1643 

Anne  of  Austria,  Regent 1643 

Turenne  on  the  Rhine 1643 

Conde  at  Rocroy >643 

Masaniello >647 

Peace  op  Westphalia 1648 

Frederick  William  the  Great, 
Elector,  Pr 1640-1688 

MAZARIN,  Minister,  1^.1643-1661 


Bacon's  overthrow,  Virginia 1621 

Seldon  and  Pym  imprisoned 1622 

Spanish  Marriage  broken 1623 

War  with  Spain  declared 1624 

Charles  I... 1625-1645 

Eliot  sent  to  the  Tower 1628 

Massachusetts  Bay  settled 1628 

Buckingham  assassinated 1628 

PETITION  OF  RIGHT 1628 


Arrest  of  Five  Members 1629 

Ship  Money  levied 1634 

Laud  and  Wentworth  in  power. 

Trial  of  Hampden 1637-1638 

Prynne  fined  by  Star  Chamber 1637 

Nathaniel  Ward,  American  Author 

1570-1653 

Covenant  in  Scotland 1638 

First  Printing  Press  in  America..  1639 

LONG  PARLIAMENT 1640-1653 

John  Cotton,  Am 1638-1652 


English  Bible 1611 

Napier’s  Logarithms 1614 

Harvey.  Circulation  of  Blood, 
1616 

Beaumont 1586-1616 

Fletcher 1576-1625 

Ford 1586-1639 

W ebster  1582-1652 

Massinger  1584-1640 

Inigo  Jones,  C 1572-1652 

T.  Heywood 1570-1650 

BEN  JONSON 1574-1637 

G.  and  Ph.  Fletcher. .1585-1650 


First  Edition  of  Shakspeare, 

1623 

Burton 1576-1640 

Chillingworth 1602-1644 

Herbert i593->633 

Herrick 1591-1674 

Quarles 1592-1644 

Crawshaw  1615-1650 

Alexander,  E.,  of  Sterling, 

1580-1640 

J.  Florio 1545-1625 

Middleton 1570-1626 

Usher 1581-1656 


First  American  Book '640 

Pym,  Leader  of  the  House. 

Execution  of  Strafford....  — 1841 

Massacre  of  English  in  Ireland 1641 

CIVIL  WAR,  1642-51;  Edgchill..i642 

Self-denying  Ordinance 1644 

Mars  ton  Moor,  1644.  Naseby — 1645 

Execution  of  Laud '645 

Pride’s  Purge ,638 

Execution  of  the  King >649 

Execution  of  Montrose,  Scot '650 

Dunbar,  Scot.,  and  Worcester, 

1650  and  1651 


Shirley  (End  of  Old  Drama), 

1594-1666 

The  Cavalier  Poets — 

Drummond 1 585-1649 

Carew 1589-1639 

Randolph 1605-1634 

Suckling 1609-1641 

Davenant 1605-1668 

Cartwright 1611-1643 

Lovelace ...1618-1658 

Denham 1615-1668 

Cleveland 1613-1659 

Montrose 1612-1650 


Cowley 1618-1667 

Waller 1605-1687 

Hobbs'  “ Leviathan  " 1642 

Leighton 1611-1684 

Wither 1588-1667 

Marvell 1620-1678 

Royal  Society  founded 1645 

G.  Fox.  Quakerism 1647 

Confession  of  Faith 1649 

Icon  Basil  ike 1649 

MILTON  1608-1674 


Literature  and  Art  on  the 


Continent. 

GALILEO 1564-1640 

"Don  Quixote," 1605 

Malherbe 1555-1628 

Guido  Reni,  Pt 1575-1642 

Quevedo 1580-1645 

Rubens,  Pt — 1577-1626 

Douay  Bible 1609 


Honore  d’Urfe  (Astnea), 

1567-1625 


Opitz 


i595-,637 


Andreini  | 

and  > 

(Sacred  Plays) 

Marini,  j 

Van  Helmont.. 

»577-'644 

Teniers,  Pt 

Kepler’s  Laws. 

Vanini  burnt.. 

Campanella 

1568-1639 

Hugo  Grotius 

1583-1645 

Gassendi 

1592-1655 

Davila 

I576-163I 

Vandyck,  Pt.. 

1599-1641 

Velasquez,  Pt 

i 5 99- *66° 

Guercino,  Pt 

1590-1666 

The  Elzevirs 

1582-1652 

Vaugela* 

1586-1650 

J.  Balzac 

1594-1654 

Voiture  and  Hotel 

Kam- 

bouillet. 

French  Academy 

1635 

Corneille's  “Cid”  .. 

......  1636 

DESCARTES 

1596-1650 

Andreas  Gryphius  .. 

.1616-1664 

University  of  Utrecht 

C'laius'  Play  of  Creation. 

V ondcl 

.1587-1679 

CORNEILLE 

. 1606-1684 

Jesuits  and  Janscnlsts  at 

War. 

Bollandus... 

.1596-1665 

"Acta  Sanctorum”. 

*643 

Sal  muni  us* 

Torricelli’*  Barometer  — 1643 

Claude  Lorraine, 

”t.. 

1600-1682 

Rembrandt,  /V  — 

. 1600-1689 

The*  1'oiiHHinH  ami  Salvator 

Rosa,  Pt 

. 1600-1670 

Murillo,  Pt 

. 1618-1682 

Zaluzinnski 

St.  Simon  and  Mm®-  de 
Scvtgne. 


6y 2 TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE  . — Continued. 

Table  XI.  The  Seventeenth  Century.  In  Decades. 


Continental  History 

British  History. 

English  Literature. 

Literature  and  Art  on  the 
Continent. 

Cardinal  de  Retz (1614-1679) 

War  of  the  Fronde 1648-1653 

East  Prussia  free  from  Poland, 

1656 

LOUIS  XIV.  reigns.  Fr 1655 

Peace  of  the  Pyrenees 1659 

Colbert,  Minister 1661-1683 

Navigation  Act 1651 

Barebones  Parliament 1651 

Van  Tromp  in  the  Thames 1652 

CROMWELL,  Protector 1653-1658 

John  Eliot,  Am 1604-1690 

Dutch  defeated  by  Blake  and  Monk. 

•653 

Jamaica  conquered 1656 

Death  of  Blake... 1657 

Richard  Cromwell .1658-1659 

CHARLES  II.,  RESTORATION, 

1^60-1685 

Fuller 1608-1661 

HOBBES 1588-1679 

Selden 1584-1654 

Harrington's  “ Oceana  ”.-1656 

J.  Taylor 1613-1667 

I.  Walton 1593-1683 

Sir  T.  Browne -1605-1682 

Sir  M.  Hale 1609-1676 

Boyle 1627-1691 

Wallis .1616-1703 

Calderon 1600-1683 

Pascal 1623-1662 

Scarron 1610-1660 

Arnauld  and  Port  Royal. 

Delphin  Editions. 

M.  de  Scudery 1607-1701 

Rochefoucauld .1613-1680 

MOLIERE 1622-1673 

Versailles  built 1661 

French  India  Companies 1664 

Charles  11.  of  Spain  — 1665-1700 

Spanish  Netherlands  invaded  1666 

Peace  of  Breda 1667 

The  Triple  Alliance—  England, 
Holland  and  Sweden 1668 

Peace  of  Lisbon  1668 

Roger  Williams,  Am 1606-1683 

Corporation  Act 1661 

First  Standing  Army. 

Act  of  Uniformity 1662 

Secession  of  Puritans. 

2d  Dutch  War,  Van  Ruyter  in  the 

Thames 1666 

Great  Plague  of  London 1665 

Great  Fire  of  London 1666 

The  Cabal 1668 

South  Carolina  settled 1669 

S.  Butler. 1612-1680 

Restoration  Drama, 

1 063-1 700 

Clarendon 1608-1674 

“London  Gazette” 1665 

Baxter 1615-1691 

BUNYAN 1628-1688 

Barrow 1630-1677 

Para  dise  Lost.  1677 

Tillotson 1630-1694 

South 1633-1715 

Algernon  Sidney 1617-1683 

Sir  Peter  Lely,  Pt 1617-1680 

Bossuet 1627-1704 

Bourdaioue « — 1632-1704 

“ Journal  desSavans” 1665 

La  Fontaine 1621-1695 

Boileau 1636-1711 

Puffendorf 1632-1694 

SPINOZA ....1632-1677 

Turenne  and  Conde  invade 
Holland 1672 

The  De  Witts  assassinated 1672 

William  Stadholder,  Dtch., 

1672-1702 

Battle  of  Fehrbellin,  Pr 1675 

First  Russo-Turkish  War 1678 

Peace  of  Nimeguen 1678 

“Reunions”  in  Elsass  .1680-1681 

Lauderdale  in  Scotland 1671 

The  Test  Act 1673 

Charles  pensioned  by  Louis 1674 

Oates  Plot.  Murder  of  Godfrey. .1678 

Habeas  Corpus  Act 1679 

Sharpe  murdered.  Drumclog  and 
Bothwell,  Scot 1679 

Exclusion  Bill.  Origin  of  Whig 
and  Tory 1680 

Cudworth 1617-1688 

H.  More -1614-1687 

Sydenham 1624-1689 

Ray 1628-1705 

Evelyn 1620-1706 

Pepys 1632-1703 

Pilgrim’s  Progress 1678 

Otway 1651-1685 

Stair 1619-1695 

DRYDEN — 1631-1700 

Aphra  Behn 1642-1689 

Buckingham -1628-1684 

La  Bruyere 1644-1696 

RACINE 1639-1699 

Paris  Academy  of  Music..  1672 

Filicaya 1642-1707 

Spener 1635-1705 

C.  Maratta,  Pt 1625-1713 

Malebranche 1638-1715 

Abbe  Fleury 1640-1723 

Mme.  Dacier 1654-1720 

Strasburg  seized  in  time  of  peace, 
168  ( 

Sobieski  repels  the  Turks  at 
Vienna 1683 

Revocation  of  Edict  of  Nantes, 

1685 

French  in  the  Palatinate 16S8 

PETER  THE  GREAT,  Pus., 

1689-1725 

Stafford  executed,  1680;  Shaftes- 
bury acquitted... 1681 

Pennsylvania  settled 1682 

Itye-House  Plot.  Russell  and  Sid- 
ney executed 1683 

JAMES  II 1685-1689 

Argyle  executed,  Scot 1685 

Monmouth  Rebellion.  Sedgemoor. 

Monmouth  executed 1685 

Trial  of  Seven  Bishops 1688 

BILL  OF  RIGHTS 16S9 

Cotton  Mather 1663-1728 

William  Penn 1644-1718 

Rochester 1647-1680 

Etheridge 1670 

Dorset 1637-1706 

Sedley 1639-1701 

Roscommon 1634-1684 

LOCKE 1632-17^4 

Purcell,  M. 1658-1695 

Sir  W.  Temple 1628-1698 

Jeremy  Collier 1650-1726 

NEWTON 1642-1727 

Fenelon 1651-1715 

Madame  Guyon  and  the 
Quietists  persecuted.  ..1687 

LEIBNITZ 1646-1716 

Bossuet’s  “Variations ”...1688 

Massillon 1663-1742 

J.  F.  Regnard 1665-1709 

France  and  England  at  War, 

1689-1697 

Battle  of  Steinkirk 1692 

Battle  of  Landen 1692 

Namur  taken 1695 

Treaty  of  Ryswick 1697 

The  Czar  in  England 1697 

Treaty  of  Carlowitz 1699 

End  of  House  of  Austria  in 
Spain 1700 

WILLIAM  III 1689-1702 

Toleration  Act 1689 

Siege  of  Londonderry .1690 

Killiecrankie,  Scot.,  and  the  Boyne, 

Ire 1690 

National  Debt  begun 1692 

Glencoe  Massacre,  Scot 1692 

Death  of  Queen  Mary 1694 

Abolition  of  Censorship  of  Press. . 1695 

Darien  Expedition 1698-1700 

Second  East  India  Company 1698 

Partition  Treaties 1698-1700 

Sir  C.  Wren,  A 1632-1723 

Wycherley 1640-1715 

Buruet  — - 1643-1715 

Congreve 1669-1 728 

Bentley 1661-1742 

Halley - 1656-1742 

Vanbrugh 1666-1726 

Farquhar 1678-1707 

Sir  Godfrey  KnEller,  Pt.. 

1648-1723 

University  of  Halle 1694 

Dictionary  of  French  Academy, 
1694 

Bayle’s  Dictionary 1695 

Fontenelle 1656-1756 

Fenelon's  “TelemaqueM...i699 

Rollin 1661-1741 

Rapin 1661-1725 

TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE 


673 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 
Table  XII.  The  Eighteenth  Century,  to  the  American  Revolution.  In  Decades. 


CHARLES  XII.,  Scan...  1697-1 718 

Battle  of  Narva 1700 

Jesuits  in  China 1700 

War  of  Spanish  Succession. 

1701-1713 

The  Grand  Alliance 1701 

Frederick  I.,  of  Prussia 1701 

St.  Petersburg  founded 1703 

Defeat  of  Allies  at  Almanza.  Fr., 

>7°7 

Death  of  Aurunzebe 1707 

Battle  of  Pultowa,  It  us 1709 


Foreign  History. 


Archduke  Charles,  Emperor, 

Ger 17” 


Peace  of  Utrecht 1713 

Frederick  William  of  Prussia  1713 

Louis  XV.  succeeds,  Fr 171s 

Duke  of  Orleans,  Regent,  Fr..  1715 

Cardinal  Dubois,  Minister, 

Quadruple  Alliance  against 
Spain >7l8 


Peter,  Emperor  of  all  the  Rus- 
sias - *722 

Louis  XV.  reigns,  Fr 1723-1774 

Cardinal  Fleury,  Minister 1726 

Catharine  I.,  Czarina,  Fits., 

1725 ->727 

Peace  of  Vienna J725 


Victor  Amadeus  of  Savoy  re- 
signs to  hie  son,  King  of  Sar- 
dinia. 


War  of  Polish  Succession, 

1733~* 1735 


Peace  of  Versailles 1735 

Peace  of  Vienna >738 

Peace  of  Belgrade 1739 


FREDERICK  II.,  Prus., 

1712-1740-1786 


British  History. 


Halifax  and  Somers  impeached, 

1701 

Act  of  Settlement 1701 

Death  of  James  I 1701 

ANNE  1702-1714 

Irish  Parliament  petitions  for 
Union 1703 

MARLBOROUGH 1 702-1 71 2 

Battle  of  Blenheim 1704 

Sir  G.  Rooke  takes  Gibraltar..  1704 

Battle  of  Ramilies . 1706 

THE  UNION  with  Scotland..  1707 


Battle  of  Malplaquet 1709 

Harley  and  Bolingbroke,  Tory 
Ministers 1710 

Sacheverell  Trial 1710 

GEORGE  1 1714-1727 

Oxford,  Ormond,  and  Boling- 
broke  impeached... 1715 

Rebellion  of  1st  pretender, 

1715-1716 

Sheriffmuir i7«5 

Septennial  Bill tji6 

Walfole 1721-1742 


English  Literature. 


Defoe ..1661-1731 

Mandeville - 1670-1733 

Hamilton's  “De  Gram- 
mont" 1704 

Prior .....1664-1721 

Shaftesbury 1671-1713 

SWIFT 1667-1745 

Addison 1672-1719 

Steele 1671-1729 


South  Sea  Bubble 1720-1721 

Atterbury  banished i723 

Wood’s  Halfpence 1723 

Period  of  Peace  and  Prosperity, 
and  Rise  of  Great  Towns. 

Guy’s  Hospital  founded 1724 

War  with  Spain 1726 

GEORGE  II 1727-1760 


Queen  Caroline 1727-1741 

Georgia  colonized,  Am 1732 

Portcous  Mob 1736 

“Jenkins’  Ear” 1738 

Publication  of  debates  pro- 
hibited   >739 

Whiteflcld (1714-177°) 

Wesley (i7°3-'79i) 

Methodism  begins — 1739 


Literature  and  Art  on  the 
Continent. 


“The  Tatler” 

Arbuthnot 

1675-1735 

The  Spectator 

17” 

Cibber — 

1671-1757 

Gay 

I688-X732 

Parnell 

1679-I7X8 

POPE 

.1688-1744 

Pope's  Homer  

17*4 

Bolingbroke 

1678-1751 

Toland,  Collins,  Etc 

1718 

LadyM.  W.  Montague, 

1 690- x 762 

Allan  Ramsay 

.1686-1757 

“ Robinson  Crusoe  ” 

*7X9 

1657-1733 

-1675-1739 

Clarke 

Young 

1686-1765 

“Gulliver” 

1726 

Berkeley  

.1684-1753 

M odern  H istory  at  Oxf  ord.  1 724 

Hutcheson 

-1694-1747 

Wm.  Cullen 

.1712-1790 

“Dunciad" 

*729 

Maclaurin 

. 1698-1746 

“Essay  on  Man” 

Jonathan  Edwards,  Am.. 

1703-1758 

Savage 

1698-1743 

C.  Middleton 

. 1683-1750 

Blair 

.1699-1746 

Hartley 

.1705-1757 

Bradley 

1692-1762 

Bishop  Butler 

.i694-!753 

Warburton 

.1698-1779 

Thomson 

.I7OO-I748 

D.  Mallet 

.I7OO-I765 

J.  B.  Rousseau,  Fr 1670-1741 

Berlin  Academy 1702 

University  of  Moscow 1705 

Discovery  of  Herculaneum,  It..  1708 

Buddseus ..1667-1729 

Vico 1668-1744 

Maffei 1675-1755 


Stahl 1660-1734 

Boerhaave 1668-1738 

Le  Sage’s  “Gil  Bias” 1715 

Watteau,  Pt 1684-1721 

The  Bernouillis. 

Holberg  .... 1684-1754 

J.  C.  Wolf ............1679-1754 

Muratori 1672-1750 


Tiraboschi  and  Dcninn. 

Academy  of  Science,  St.  Peters- 
burg   1725 

Maupcrtuis 1698-1759 

Laurent «7*5-'773 

Bach,  il. 1685-1750 

Handel,  M 1685-1759 

Pcrgolesi,  M 1707-' 739 

Montesquieu 1689-1755 


LlNNAtUS A-  1735 

“Lettres  PhiloBophiquee"  burnt 
by  the  hangman. 

Qucsnny 1694-1774 

Gottucbcd.. ... 1700-1766 

Bodmer  (Zurich) 1698-1783 

Metastasio 1698-1782 

VOLTAIRE 1694-1778 


674 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY 


AND  LITERATURE. 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued 
Table  XII.  The  Eighteenth  Century  to  the  American  Revolution.  In  Decades. 


Foreign  History. 


British  History. 


English  Literature. 


Literature  and  Art  on  the 
Continent. 


Maria  Theresa,  Queen  of  Hun- 
gary, Ger 1740-1780 

Charles  of  Bavaria,  Ger 1742 

War  of  Austrian  succession, 

1741-1748 

Francis  I.,  Ger . 1745 

Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

Louis  XV.  invades  Holland. ..1744 
Dupleix  at  Pondicherry 1748 


Walpole  resigns 1742 

Pelham 1743 

Battle  of  Dettingen 1743 

Anson’s  Voyage 1740-1744 

Battle  of  Fontenoy,  Ire 1745 

Rebellion  of  Charles  Edward, 
Scot ....1745-1746 

Prestonpans,  1745.  Culloden..i746 

Clive  in  India 1750-1760 


Richardson 1689-1761 

Fielding  1707-1754 

Sterne 1713-1768 

Arne ... 1710-1779 

Hogarth,  Pt 1697-1764 

Garrick,  Act 1716-1779 

Lord  Monboddo 1714-1799 

Shenstone 1714-1762 

Akenside 1721-1770 

Chesterfield 1694-1773 


Swedenborg fl.  1740 

Gellert 1715-1769 

Condillac  ...... 1715-1780 

Helvetius 1715-1771 

Vauvcnargue 1715-1747 

Klopstock’s  Messiah 1747 

Malesherbes 1721-1791 

Lomonossoff .... 1711— 1 765 

ROUSSEAU . 1712. 1779 


Paoli's  Corsican  Revolt 1754 

Earthquake  at  Lisbon 1755 

Seven  Years  War 1756-1763 

England  allied  with  Prussia. 

Damiens  executed 1757 

Battles  of  Rosbach  and  Leuth- 
en,  Prus — .1757 

Battle  of  Zorndorf,  Prus 1758 

French  defeated  at  Minden 1759 


{New  Style  of  Dates  in  Great 
Britain .] 

Duke  of  Newcastle’s  Ministry. 1754 

Braddock’s  defeat,  Am 1755 

PITT  (Chatham) 1756-1761 

Admiral  Byng  shot 1756 

Battle  of  Plassey 1757 

English  Naval  Victories..  1758-1759 
Wolfe’s  Victory  and  Death  at 

Quebec,  Am 1759 

Conquest  of  Canada  complet- 
ed, Am ...1760 


HUME  .1711-1776 

Churchill ...7731-1764 

Gainsborough,  Pt 1727-1788 

Reynolds,  Pt 1723-1792 

Woolman,  Am..<. 1720-1772 

Simson 1700-1761 

Smollet ..1 721-17  71 

JOHNSON 1 709-1 784 

Foote,  Act 1721-1777 

H.  Walpole 1717-1787 

J.  Macpherson 1738-1796 


Buffon 1707-1788 

Discovery  of  Pompeii 1750 

Marmontel  and  Laharpe. 

B.  de  St.  Pierre 1737-1814 

Goldoni ... 1707-1792 

Diderot ) ,,  , ... 

y Encyclopedic. 

D’Alembert  l I75i 

M.  Mendelssohn 1729-1786 

LESSING — 1729-1781 


1760 


Catharine  II.,  Czarina,  Bus., 

1762-1796 


The  Philippines  to  England. . .1763 

Treaty  of  Hubertsburg 1763 

Treaty  of  Paris 1763 

Corsica  to  France,  Fr 1769 


Napoleon  and  Wellington  born. 


1769 


GEORGE  III 1760-1720 

Lord  Bute.  1762.  G.  Grenville.  1763 

Wilkes’  Agitations 1762-1772 

Rockingham  and  Grafton. 1765-1766 

American  Stamp  Act 1765 

Riots  at  Boston,  Am 1768-1773 

Letters  of  Junius 1769-1772 

Arkwright’s  Jenny.  Watt 
Engine 1769 

Lord  North’s  Ministry. ..1770-1782 
Bruce's  Travels 1768 


ADAM  SMITH 1723-1790 

Reid 1710-1796 

Robertson 1721-1793 

Hutton 1726-1797 

Wm.  Hunter 1718-1785 

J.  Watt 1730-1819 

GIBBON  ....  1737— 1794 

Percy’s  Reliques 1765 

Collins .1721—1756 

Gray 1716-1771 

Beattie .........  1735— 1802 

Black 1728-1799 

Academy  of  Arts 1768 


Euler 1707-1783 

Lavoisier ... 1743-1794 

Affair  of  Calas 6712 

CoNDORCET 1743-1794 

Winckelmann fl.  1764 

Scheele ... 1742-1786 

Beaumarchais fl.  1764 

Lavater 1740-1800 

Lichtenberg 1741*  1799 

Ewald  (Dane) 1743-1781 


Parliament  of  Paris  abolished-1771 


First  Partition  of  Poland 1772 


Hyder-Ali  in  India .1767-1780 


LOUIS  XVI.,  Fr 1774-1793 


English  Debates  reported 1771 

Warren  Hastings  in  India, 

1772-1785 

Suicide  of  Lord  Clive 1774 

Cook’s  V oyages 1 770-1779 

WAR  OF  AMERICAN  INDE- 
PENDENCE. 


Cavendish  1731-1810 

Goldsmith 1728-1774 

Blackstone 1723-1780 

Chatterton 1 752-1 770 

COWPER. 1731-1800 

T.  Warton .1729-1790 


Alfieri 1749-1803 


Turgot 1727-1781 


Gluck,  M ....1714-1787 


Beccaria 1 735-1794 


-ilS 


9 


k- 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.  — Continued.  675 
Table  XIII.  From  the  War  of  the  Revolution  to  1880.  In  Periods  of  Five  Years. 


>780 


Colonial  and  United  States 
History. 


Cargoes  of  Tea  Ships,  Boston,  thrown 
into  the  harbor  by  masked  men. 1773 

Boston  Port  Bill 1774 

First  Continental  Congress 1774 

Declaration  of  Rights 1774 

Union  of  Colonies  formed 1775 

Washington,  Commander-in-chief, 

•775 

Continental  Fast —1775 

Falmouth  burnt 1775 

Norfolk  destroyed 1776 

British  evacuate  Boston 1776 

Declaration  of  Independence,  i 776 

French  Commissioners  sent 1776 

Congress  adjourns  to  Baltimore. . 1776 
Philadelphia  in  hands  of  British..  1777 

Alliance  with  France 1778 

Treaty  with  France Feb.  6,  1778 

Philadelphia  evacuated 1778 

Savannah  taken  by  British 177S 

New  Haven  plundered 1778 


1785 


Charleston  taken  by  British 1780 

New  London  burnt  by  Arnold 1781 

Lord  Cornwallis  surrenders 1781 

Independence  acknowledged  by 
Holland 1782 

Independence  acknowledged  by 
Sweden,  Denmark,  Spain  and 
Prussia 1783 

Independence  recognized 1783 

Peace  with  Great  Britain 1783 

Treaty  of  Peace  ratified  by  Congress, 
1784 


John  Adams,  First  Ambassador  to 
England '785 

Cotton  introduced  into  Georgia ..  1 786 

Constitution  of  the  United  States 
adopted — 1787 

Constitution  ratified  by  all  the 
States,  except  Rhode  Island  and 
North  Carolina 1788 

Emancipation  of  Slaves  by  the 
Quakers  of  Philadelphia 1788 

Government  organized  under  the 
Constitution 1689 

Ten  Amendments  added  to  the 
Constitution 1789 

George  Washington,  President.  1789 

Departments  of  State,  War  and 
Treasury  created 1 789 

John  Carroll,  First  Catholic  Bishop 
in  U.  8 >789 


Other  Countries. 


Royal  Marriage  Act,  Eng 1777 

Death  of  Chatham,  Eng 1778 

Neckar,  Er.,  Minister 1776-1781 

“No  Popery”  Riots 1782 

Rodney’s  Victories 1779-1782 

Elliot  at  Gibraltar 1779-1782 

Tippoo  Saib  in  India 1779 


Lord  George  Gordon  Riots 1780 

Settlement  of  Upper  Canada..  1784 

Lord  Rockingham’s  2d  Minis- 
try, Eng - 1782 

Lord  Shelburne 1782 

Grattan's  Irish  Constitution..  1782 

Coalition  Ministry 1783 

Wm.  Pitt (1759-1806) 

C.  J.  Fox (1749-1806) 

E.  Burke (1730-1797) 

Wilberforce,  Anti-Slavery, 

(1759-1833) 

Russia  takes  Crimea 1783 

England  wars  with  Tippoo  Saib, 

1783-1799 

Erskine,  Eng (1750-1823) 


English  and  American 
Literature. 


B.  Franklin 1706-1790 

J.  Adams 1735-1826 

“Wealth  of  Nations."  De- 


Cline  and  Fall 

1776 

B.  West,  Pt 

Priestley 

-1734-1804 

Sir  J.  Banks 

Ph.  Freneam 

J.  Trumbull.. 

.1757-1804 

Burns 

Sir  A.  Ferguson 

.. I723-1816 

H.  Mackenzie 

• '745-1834 

“Thb  Crisis”  and 
mon  Sense.” 

“ Com- 

Literature  and  Art  of 
other  Countries. 


Herder.  Oer 1744-1803 

Linnsenus 1707-1778 

Heyne 1729-1812 

Mozart,  Mu*.,  Ger.  1756-1792 

Kant,  Ger 1724-1804 

Lessing,  Ger 1726-1781 

Gall,  Ger ....1758-1828 

Dr.  Hahnemann,  fier.  1755-1843 
Alfieri,  It .1749-1803 


Pestalozzi ....  1749-1827 

| Metastasio,  It 1698-1782 


Attempted  assassination  of  the 
King.  Eng >786 


ltusso-Turkish  Wars 1787-1790 

Assembly  of  Notables,  Er 1787 

Trial  of  Warren  1 tastings .1788-1795 

Assembly  of  States  General,  Er., 
1789 

Nationul  Assembly,  Er. 1789 

Bastile  stormed 1789 


Ritson 1752-1803 

H.  Blair 1718-1800 

Sir  Wm.  Jones 1740-1794 

E.  Darwin 1732-1801 

Sheridan 1751-1817 

Dibdin 1745-1814 

Paley 1743-1805 

Dugald  Stewart 1753-1828 

Hayley 1745-1820 


Joel  Barlow 1755-1812 

S.  Hopkins 1721-1803 

J.  Bellamy i7i9-‘79° 

R.  T.  Paine 1773-1811 

Horne  Tooke 1736-1812 

Hannah  More >745-1833 

J.  Jefferson 1743-1826 

J.  Madison i75i-i836 

A.  Hamilton 1757-1804 

Bcckford 1760-1844 

John  Jay >745-'8>9 

T.  Dwight 1752-1817 

S.  Peters «73S->8»6 

B.  Rush  ...  i745-*®«3 

London  "Times”  founded, 

1788 


Chateaubriand 1768-1848 

Lavater 1741-1801 

Oerster 1777-1851 

Schiller,  Ger 1759-1805 

Niemcewicz c.  1780 

Mallet... 1730-1807 

Haydn,  Mus... 1732-1809 

WlELAND 1733-1813 

Burger 1748-1794 


Jacobi 


.1740-1813 


Goethe,  Ger 1749-1832 


Bcrthollet 1748-1822 


Laplace 1749-1827 


David,  PI 1748-1825 


Legendre 1752*1833 


Parny »7S3-,8,5 


•The  memorable  battles,  military  and  nav 


al,  are  omitted  from  this  table,  and  will  be  found  In  Tables  of  Military  and  Naval  History  of  the  U.  8. 


rv 


84 


67 6 TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 

Table  XIII.  From  the  War  of  the  Revolution  to  1800.  In  Periods  of  Five  Years. 


Colonial  and  United  States 
History.* 


Virginia  and  Maryland  cede  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia 1790 

Benjamin  Franklin d.  1790 

First  Census  U.  S.  taken 1790 

First  Patent  for  Threshing  Machines, 
1790 

Bank  of  the  U.  S.  established 1791 

Vermont  admitted  into  the  Union.  1791 

Washington  City  chosen  as  the 
Capital  of  the  Republic 1792 

Kentucky  admitted 1792 

United  States  Mint  established 1792 

Coal  Mines  discovered  in  Pa 1793 

Steam  first  applied  to  Saw  Mills  in  Pa., 

• 1793 

Invention  of  the  Cotton  Gin, Whitney, 
1793 

George  Washington’s  2d  election..  1793 

Mad  Anthony  Wayne  defeats  Indi- 
ans in  Ohio 1794 

First  Sewing  Thread  ever  made  of 
Cotton  produced 1794 


1800 


.Jay’s  Treaty  with  Great  Britain 
ratified 1795 

First  Glass  Factory  built,  at  Pitts- 
burgh .... 1795 

Tennessee  admitted 1796 

Washington’s  Farewell  Address  ..1796 

First  Cutlery  Works  established  in 
U.  S 1797 

N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser  estab- 
lished .................. ....  1797 

John  Adams,  President 1797 

Difficulties  arise  with  France.  Con- 
gress convened  preparatory  to 
war ..1797 

Geo.  Washington  appointed  Com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  American 
Armies,  with  the  rank  of  Lieut.- 
General 1798 

Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  passed 
Congress i798 

Death  of  Washington ...1799 

U.  S.  Frigate  Constitution  cap- 
tures the  French  Frigate  l’lnsnr- 
gente 1799 

Three  Commissioners  sent  to  France, 


Other  Countries. 


Suwarrow  takes  Ismail 1790 

Death  of  Mirabeau 1791 

Canada  is  given  a Constitution  -1791 
Legislative  Assembly,  Fr..  1791-92 

The  Revolution,  Paris 1791-92 

Escape  and  arrest  of  the  King. 1791 

Birmingham  (Eng.)  Riots 179I 

Paine  and  “People’s  Friend,” 

1791-1792 

Conference  at  Pilnitz 1792 

Battle  of  Jcmappes 1792 

The  French  Convention 1792 

First  Coalition  1792-1797 

Execution  of  Louis  XIV.  and 

Marie  Antoinette 1793 

Fall  of  Gironde.  La  Vendee..  1793 

Reign  of  Terror,  Paris 1793 

Death  of  Marat 1793 

England  begins  War  with  France. 

J793 

Dumauriez  joins  the  Allies 1793 

2d  Partition  of  Poland 1793 

Toulon  taken  by  the  French. .1793 
Toronto  made  the  Capital  of 

Ltpper  Canada 1794 

Suspension  Habeas  Corpus  Act, 

Eng 1794 

Defeat  of  the  Poles  under  Kos- 
ciusko  1794 

Corsica  conquered ...1794 

English  Expedition  to  Dunkirk, 

1794 

Execution  of  Danton.  Fall  of 
Robespierre --1794 


English  and  American 
Literature. 


3d  Partition  of  Poland 1795 

The  Directory',  Fr 1795 

Cape  of  Good  Hope  doubled- -1795 

Disaster  of  Quiberon 1795 

Carnot (I753-IS23) 

Moreau (1763-1813) 

Bonaparte  in  Italy 1796 

Battle  of  Lodi,  Arcolo 1796 

Spice  Islands  taken  by  English.  1796 

J enner ’s  Vaccination j 796 

Cash  Payments  suspended,  Eng., 

1797 

Iloche  fails  in  Ireland 1797 

Battle  of  St.  Vincent 1797 

Sea  Fight  of  Camperdown 1797 

Peace  of  Campo  Fermio 1797 

End  of  Republic  of  Venice 1797 

Bonaparte  in  Egypt.  Aboukir.1798 

Battle  of  the  Nile 1798 

Great  Irish  Rebellion 1798 

Habeas  Corpus  Act  again  sus- 
pended   1798 

Pope  Pius  VI.  deposed  by  Na- 
poleon  1798 

Parthenopean  Republic 1799 

Second  Coalition 1799-1802 

NAPOLEON (1768-1821) 

The  Consulate 1799-1804 

Sidney  Smith  at  Acre 1799 

1799  I Nelson (1758-1805) 


Boswell’s  Johnson.. 1790 

Bentham 1748-1832 

Werner 1750-1817 

Porson 1758-1808 

Parr ...1747-1825 

Gifford .... ......1756-1826 

Bloomfield 1766-1823 

Fi.axman,.-!.  and  .9..  1755-1826 
J.  P.  Kemble,  Act...  1757-1823 
Mrs.  Siddons,  Act..  1755-1831 

M me.  d’Arblay 1752-1840 

Godwin 1756-1836 

Mrs.  Inchbald 1753-1821 

Crabbe  1754-1832 


Literature  and  Art  of 
other  Countries. 


Blake,  Ft 1779-1827 

Tannahill 1774-1816 

R.  Hall... 1764-1831 

The  “Anti-Jacobin” 1797 

Dr.  T.  Brown 1778-1820 

Playfair 1749-1819 

Sir  H.  Davy 1778-1829 

Dalton 1767-1844 

Lawrence,  Ft 1769-1830 

Bowles 1762-1852 

Sir  Walter  Scott..  1771-1832 


Galvanism  discovered 1791 

F.  A.  Wolf 1759-1824 

GOETHE..... ....1749-1833 

Canova,  A.  and  S...  1757—1822 
SirWm.  Herschel.. 1738-1822 
Schiller....  ........1759—1803 

Kotzebue 1761-1819 

Talma,  Act ...1763-1826 

W.  Humboldt 1767-1835 

A.  Humboldt 1769-1859 

Beethoven,  Mus 1770-1827 

Weber,  Mus. 1786-1826 

J.  Paul  Richter 1763-1825 

Hauy ....1743-1822 


Voss 1751-1826 

Derzhavin 1743-1816 

Karamzin 1765-1826 

SCHLEIRMACHER 1768-1834 

Werner 1768-1823 

Baggesen 1764-1826 

Novalis . — . — 1772-1801 

Malte  Bran 1775-1826 

Hoffman ...1776-1822 

A.  W.  Schlegel 1767-1845 

F,  Schlegel 1772-1819 

Lamarck ...1744-1829 

Jussien 1748-1836 

Cuvier 1769-1839 

A.  M.  Ampere.. 1775-1836 


♦The  memorable  battles,  military  and  naval,  are  omitted  from  this  table,  and  will  be  found  in  Tables  of  Military  and  Naval  History  of  the  U.  S. 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued.  677 
Table  XIV.  From  A.  D.  1800  to  A.  D.  1825.  In  Ferlods  of  Five  Years. 


United  States  History. 


iSoc  N.  Y.  Post  established 1800 

Important  Treaty  concluded 
with  France. 1800 

[ A General  Bankruptcy  Law 
passed 1800 

j Removal  of  Government  to 
I Washington 1800 


Thos.  Jefferson.  3d  President. 

1743-1826 

Internal  Revenue  Law  repealed, 


The  “Whisky  Rebellion"  in 
Pa... ...1801 

Tripoli  declares  War  against 
U.  S ... 1801 

First  Patent  for  making  Potato 
and  Com  Starch... 1802 

Ohio  admitted— 1802 

West  Point  Military  Academy 
founded  1802 

Louisiana  purchased  of  France, 

1803 

Com.  Preble  sent  to  Algiers  and 
Tripoli 1803 

Alexander  Hamilton  killed  in 
a Duel  by  Aaron  Burr 1804 

Amendment  to  the  Constitu- 
tion adopted— 1804 

The  Lewis  and  Clark  exploring 
Expedition 1804 


1805 


Other  Countries. 


Hatfield  attempts  to  assassinate  the 
King,  Enrj...r 1800 

Battle  of  Marengo 1800 

Battle  of  Hohenlinden 1800 

Malta  taken 1800 

Armed  neutrality  of  Northern  Pow- 
ers   1800 

Union  of  Great  Britain  anu 
Ireland 1801 

Nelson’s  Victory  at  Copenhagen  . 1801 

Peace  of  Laneville 1801 

Alexander  I.,  Russia... 1801 

The  Italian  Republic. 1802 

St.  Domingo  conquered 1802 

Peace  of  Amiens 1802 

Mahratta  War.  Battleof  Assay. ..1803 

Emmett’s  insurrection,  Ire 1803 

Camp  at  Boulogne.  Volunteers. . .1803 


English  and  American 
Literature. 


“ Edinburg  Review  ” estab- 
lished   1802 


Malthus  on  Population— 1 803 

Alison 1757-1839 

Coleridge 1772-1834 

Wordsworth  1770-1850 

Southey 1774-1843 

Landor 1775-1864 

S.  Rogers 1762-1856 

• 

Isaac  Disraeli 1766-1848 

C.  Lamb '775-1835 

J.  R.  Drake,  Am 1795-1820 

Slavery  abolished  in  Canada, 

1803 

W Allston,  Am...  .1779-1843 


Peace  declared  between  Tripoli 
and  U.  S 1805 

Burr  charged  with  Treason,  ac- 
quitted   1806 

England  persists  in  the  right  of 
searching  American  Vessels. 1806 

Rob’t  Fulton,  1st  Steamboat  on 
the  Hudson 1807 

Congress  declares  an  Embargo 
on  all  Vessels  in  American 
Ports 1807 

First  Wooden  Clocks  made  by 
Machinery 1807 

Trouble  with  England  respect- 
ing the  rights  of  Neutrals..  .1807 

First  Printing  Office  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  at  St. 
Lonis 1808 

Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade..  18:8 

Repeal  of  Embargo  Act 1809 


.James  Madison,  4th  President. 

> 75  * - ' 836 


Italian  and  Neapolitan  Kingdoms, 

1805-J 

Third  Coalition. - 1805 

Battle  of  Trafalgar 1805 

Russia  Extends  East  and  South...  1805 

Capitulation  of  Ulm 1805 

WELLINGTON 1768-1852 

Coalition  Ministry. 

Battleof  Austerlitz 1805 

Deaths  of  Pitt  and  Fox 1806 

Dutch  and  Westphalian  Kingdoms. 

1806-7 

Fourth  Coalition 1806 

Battle  of  Jena 1806 

German  Empire  Dissolved 1806 

Confederation  of  Rhine 1806-1813 

Francis  I.,  Austria. 

Eylan  Friedland 1807 

Peace  of  Tilsit. 1807 

Danish  Fleet  captured 1807 

Abolition  of  Slave  Trade,  Eng 1807 

Madeira  taken '807 

Joseph,  King  of  Spain 1808 

New  Nobility  of  France  created.. .1828 

Coruna  and  Walchcrin  1809 

Ionian  Islands.  Collingwood 1809 

Wellesley  passi.s  the  Duro 1809 

Battle  of  Taiavera 1809 

Finland  taken  from  Sweden 1809 

Rattle  of  Wagram 1809 

Pius  VII.  imprisoned 1809 


Literature  of  the 
Continent. 


Voltaic  Battery.. —1801 

J.  B.  Say 1767-1820 

Madame  DeStael...  1767-18 17 

MlCKIKWICK 1798-1843 

Oehlenschlager.. 1777-1850 

Fichte ...1762-1814 

Pestalozzi 1746-1827 

Kriroff 1768-1844 

Chateaubriand 1769-1848 

The  Code  Napoleon 1804 

Tieck 1773-1858 

Do  Maistre 1754-1821 

Fouqll6 1777-1843 


Cobbett 1762-1835 

Huzlitt 1778-1830 

Miss  Austen  1775-1818 

Miss  Edgeworth 1767-1849 

W M.  Wltford 1744-1327 

T.  Campbell 1777-1844 

"Quarterly  Review” 1809 

Sir  J.  Mackintosh  ...1765-1835 

James  Mill 1773-1836 

BYRON 1788  1824 

Washington  Irving,  Am.. 

1783-1859 

J.  Fenlmore  Cooper,  Am., 

1789-1851 

T.  8.  Key,  Am 1779.1843 


Chamisso 1781-1838 

Rask - 1787-1814 

Arndt ..—1769-1864 

K timer 1790-1813 

Amim  ...............  1781-1831 

Slimondl 1773-4841 

Bnttina  Briftitano 1777-1842 

Varhngen  Von  Euse..  1785-1858 

Hegel 1770-1831 

Neander 1789-1*50 


678  TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 
Table  XIV.  From  A.  D.  1800  to  A.  D.  1825.  In  Periods  of  Five  Years. 


English  and  American 
Literature. 

SHELLEY 

1792-1822 

William  Roscoe 

-1753-1831 

Keats 

-1795-1821 

Moore 

.!779-i852 

Jeffrey 

“r773~I^5° 

Sir  C.  Bell 

.1774-1842 

J.  Montgomery 

.1771-1854 

R.  Heber 

I783-1826 

Sidney  Smith 

.1772-1845 

Leigh  Hunt 

1784-1859 

T.  Hook 

I788-I84I 

A.  Wilson,  Am 

I766-1813 

Waverley  Published 

Edmund  Kean,  Act 

.1790-1833 

Hogg 

1772-1835 

Professor  Wilson... 

1785-1854 

Wilkie,  Pt 

1785-1841 

Haydon,  Pt.. 

I786-I846 

Joanna  Baillie 

I762-I85I 

Motherwell 

1798.1835 

E.  Elliott 

178l-l849 

D.  Ricardo 

1772-1823 

J.  C.  Calhoun.  Am. 

I782-185O 

Daniel  Webster,  Am 

1782-1852 

1825 


United  States  History. 

Am.  Board  Foreign  Missions 

organized . 1810 

Manufacture  of  Steel  Pens  com- 
menced   ... 1810 

First  Agricultural  Fair  in  U.  S., 

at  Georgetown,  D.  C 1810 

Battle  of  Tippecanoe.  Defeat 
of  Indians  by  Gen.  Harrison-i8ii 
Reparation  made  by  England  for 
the  attack  on  the  Chesapeake,  181 1 
Additional  force  of  35,000  men 

authorized 1812 

Detachmentof  Militia  not  exceed- 
ing 100,000  men  authorized..  1812 
Gen.  Henry  Dearborn  appoint- 
ed Commander-in-Chief. 

War  declared  against  Great 

Britain ...1812 

Louisiana  admitted 1812 

Gen.  Hull  invades  Canada 1812 

“ surrenders  to  Gen.  Brock.  1812 
James  Madison's  2d  Presiden- 
tial Term 1812-1817 

Massacre  of  Americans  by  the 

Indians  at  Rever  Raisin 1313 

The  Power  Loom  introduced 

into  U.  S 1813 

Oswego  taken  by  British 1814 

Treaty  of  Peacesigned  at  Ghent,  1814 
Washington  City  Burned  by  the 

British .. 1814 

Hartford  Convention 1814 

J ethro  Wood  patents  Iron  Plow,  1814 

Treaty  of  Ghent  ratified  by 

Congress 1815 

Congress  declares  War  against 

Algiers 1815 

U.  S.  Bank  re-chartered  for  20 

years 1816 

Indiana  admitted _. 1816 

The  Erie  Canal 1817-1825 

James  Monroe,  5th  President, 

1758-1831 

Mississippi  admitted 1817 

Illinois  admitted 1818 

Gen.  Jackson  defeats  the  Sem- 

inoles  in  Florida 1818 

U.  S.  Flag  adopted  by  Law  ...1818 
Foundation  of  New  Capital 

laid ..1818 

Alabama  admitted 1819 

Lithography  introduced  into  the 

U.  S 1819 

The  Savannah,  first  Steam 
Packet  crosses  the  Atlantic . . 1 8 19 

James  Monroe's  2d  Presiden- 
tial Election 1820 

Passage  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise   1820 

Florida  Ceded  to  United  States 

by  Spain 1820 

Percussion  Caps  for  Guns  first 

used 1820 

Maine  admitted 1820 

Stephen  Decatur  killed  in  a duel 

by  Com.  Barron 1820 

Missouri  admitted 1821 

Gas  first  used  for  illuminating 

purposes 1822 

Boston  incorporated  as  a City.  1822 
Independence  of  South  Ameri- 
can Republics  acknowledged 

by  the  U.  S 1822 

Com  Porter  suppresses  piracies 

in  the  West  Indies 1823 

The  Monroe  Doctrine 1823 

Gen.  La  Fayette  re-visits  the 

Ur.  S -1823 

Pins  first  made  by  Machinery.  1824 


Other  Countries. 


Insanity  of  the  King,  Eng ..1810 

Tyrol  subdued.  Ilofer 1810 

Annexation  of  Holland 1810 

Wellington  at  Tores  Vedras 1810 

The  Regency,  Eng 18 11 

Soult  and  Massena  in  Spain 181 1 

Stein 1757-1831 

Invasion  of  Russia.  Moscow  burnt, 

1812 

Salamanca 1812 

English  Storm  Cindad,  Rodrigo, 

and  Badajos 1812 

Perceval  shot  by  Bellingham 1812 

Lord  Liverpool,  Premier ...1812 

Battle  of  Leipsic 1813 

Lord  Eldon,  Chancellor,  Eng.  1807-1827 

Battle  of  Vittoria 1813 

First  Peace  of  Paris 1814 

Abdication  at  Fontainebleau 1814 

Louis  XVIII.,  Fr 1814 

Talleyrand,  Fr (1754-1838) 

Congress  of  Vienna 1814 

Sir  S.  Romilly .(1757- 1818) 

Napoleon  returns  from  Elba  and 

ico  days 1815 

Battle  op  Waterloo 1815 

Norway  united  with  Sweden 1815 

Holy  Alliance 1815 

Second  Peace  of  Paris 1815 

United  Netherlands 1815 

METTERNICH.  -..(1773-1830) 

Sir  George  Sherbroke,  Governor 

Lower  Canada 1816 

Agricultural  and  Weaver  Riots, 

Eng — 1816-1817 

The  Family  of  Napoleon  forever 

excluded  from  France 1816 

Howe's  Trial  and  acquittal 1817 

Death  of  Princess  Charlotte 1817 

Specie  payments  resumed 1817 

Republics  in  South  America..  1817-1830 

Francia  in  Paraguay ...1816-1840 

Bolivar  in  Bolivia 1817-1830 

Duke  of  Richmond,  Governor  of 

Lower  Canada 1818 

Peel's  Currency  Act 1819 

Parry’s  Voyages  1819 

George  IV.,  Eng ........ 1762-1830 

Victoria  born 1819 

Inquisition  abolished  in  Spain 1820 

Cato  Street  Conspiracy,  Eng 1820 

Trial  of  Queen  Caroline 1820 

Death  of  Napoleon  1821 

Austria  maintains  Despotisms  in 
Italy. 

Antagonism  between  the  French 
and  English  Inhabitants  Lower 
Canada 1822 

Castlereagh’s  Suicide 1822 

“ replaced  by  Canning. 1823 
First  Mechanics’  Institute,  Eng 
Agitation  about  Test  and  Corpora- 
tion Acts,  Eng 1823 

English-Burmese  War... ..1824 

Charles  X 1824 

W elland  Canal . Canada  Charter  ..1824 

Brazil  Independent 1825 

Greek  War  of  Independence. . 1822-1829 
Nicholas  I.,  Russia 1825-1855 


Lockhart 1794-1854 

Galt 1779-1839 

Wm.  Ettt,PY 1787-1798 

Mrs.  Hemans 1793-1835 

Pollok 1799-1827 

Barham  (Ingoldsby). 1788-1845 
George  Stephenson  ..1781-1848 

LlNGARD 1771-1851 

Thomas  Hood 1799-1845 

Chautrey,  A.  and S. 1781-1841 
Davidson  Sisters, Am.  1808-1838 

W.  Wirt,  Am 1772-1834 

Audubon,  “ 1780-1851 

J.  Kent.  * 1 1763-1847 


Literature  or  other 
Countries. 


Uuiversity  of  Berlin 1810 

C.  Ritter  . 1779-1859 

Berzelius....  ..1779-1848 

Gay  Lussac 1778-1856 

Thorwaldsen,  A.  and  S., 

1770-1844 

SCHELLING ..1775-1854 

Ugo  Foscolo 1778-1827 

Savigny 1779-1861 

NIEBUHR 1776-1831 

Schopenhauer 1788-1860 

Heeren 1760-1842 

Pousckin,  Bus 1799-1837 

Lacordaire 1802-1861 

Lammenais  ...1782-1854 

Tegner 1782-1846 

A.  Be  Tocqueville..  1805-1859 

Platen 1796-1835 

Uhland 1787-1862 

Paganini  (Mus.) 1784-1840 

Beranger 1780-1857 

Neander 1789-1850 

HEINE 1800-1856 

Borne  (Immermann)  .1796-1840 

Jouffray 1796-1842 

Cousin 1792-1867 

Guizot 1787-1874 

Manzoni 1784.1873 

Lerinontoff 1814-1840 

Boyle,  H.  (Stendhal)..  1783-1842 

Turgenieff 1784-1845 

Silvio  Pellico 1789-1854 

Rossini,  Mus 1792-1868 

Malibran  (Garcia)  Act., 

1808-1836 


JsL 


4 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued.  679 
Table  XV.  From  A.  D.  1825  to  A.  D.  1845.  In  Periods  of  Five  Years. 


1825 


1830 


United  States  History. 


J.  Q.  Adams,  6th  President. . 1767-1848 

Corner  Stone  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
ment laid  by  Lafayette 1825 

Babcock  makes  first  Piano 1825 

Convention  with  Great  Britain  con- 
cerning Indemnities 1826 

John  Adams  died ..1826 

Thomas  Jefferson  died —.1826 

Duel  between  Henry  Clay  and  John 
Randolph 1826 

Intense  Anti-Masonic  excitement- . 1826 

First  Railroad  in  the  U.  S.,  from 
Quincy  to  Boston 1827 

Sand  and  Emery  Paper  first  made.  1828 

Passage  of  Tariff  Bill.  Woolen 
Manufacturers  protected 1828 

Tariff  Bill  a law.  Opposed  by  Cot- 
ton States 1828 

Andrew  Jackson,  7th  President, 

1767-1845 

“ opposes  the  project  to  re- 
charter Bank  of  U.  S..1829 

Daniel  Webster’s  great  speech 
against  nullification 1829 

Samuel  Colt  made  his  first  Revolver, 

1829 


Treaty  with  Turkey 1830 

The  Mormon  Church  founded  by 

Jos.  Smith 1830 

Death  of  ex-President  Monroe 1831 

Establishment  of  the  Liberator...  1831 
First  Mowing  Machine  patented. .1831 
Chloroform  discovered  by  Gustino.  1 83 1 
Steam  Knitting  Machinery  first 

used .-.1831 

Pres.  Jackson  vetoes  the  Bank 

Bill <832 

New  Tariff  Measures  passed 1832 

Rubber  Shoes  first  made I..1832 

South  Carolina  Nullification  Move- 
ment   - 1832 

First  appearance  of  Asiatic  Cholera, 

1832 

The  Black  Hawk  War 1832 

State’s  Rights  Doctrine  dates  from  1832 
President  Jackson's  Nullification 

Proclamation 1832 

Prof.  Morse  invents  the  Magnetic 

Telegraph 1832 

Removal  of  the  Public  Deposits 

from  the  Bunk  of  the  U.  S 1833 

Andrew  Jackson's  2d  Presidential 

Term 1833 

Tariff  Controversy  settled  .... 1833 

The  N.  Y.  Sun,  first  penny  paper 

established 1833 

First  Double-Cylinder  Press  made. 1833 

Caloric  engine  invented 1833 

Gen.  Thompson  killed  in  Seminole 

War 1834 

Lucifer  Matches  first  made  In  U.  S.1834 
Cyrus  McCormick's  Reaper  patented, 
1834 


Other  Countries. 


First  Railway  in  England 1825 

Thames  Tunnel 1825 

Canning,  Minister,  Eng 1827 

Battle  of  Navarino 1827 

Palmerston.  Foreign  Secretary, 
Eng 1827 

O’Connell’s  Agitations  in  Ireland, 

1828 

Wellington,  ’’rime  Minister...  1828 

Peace  of  Adrianople 1829 

Contest  between  Dom  Pedro 
and  Prince  Miguel  in  Portu- 
gal  1826-1834 

Catholic  Emancipation,  Eng..  1829 

First  agitation  for  responsible 
government  in  Upper  Canada, 

1829 


English  and  American 
Literature, 


July  Revolution  in  France  . 1830 

Lord  Aylmer, Governor  of  Lower 
Canada 1830 

Charles  X.  abdicates  in  favor  of 
Duke  of  Bordeaux 1830 

Insurrection  in  Poland.  1830-1831 

Louis  Philippe,  Fr 1830-1848 

William  IV.,  Eng 1830-1837 

Earl  Grey's  Ministry,  Eng 1831 

Leopold,  King  of  Belgians  — 1831 
The  Reform  Bill,  Eng...  1830-1832 
Dutch  thrown  back  on  Holland, 

1832 

Imperial  Duties  surrendered  to 

the  Canadian  Asrembly 1832 

Russia  takes  remains  of  Poland, 

1832 

Otho  of  Bavaria,  King  of  Greece, 
1832 

Negro  Slavery  abolished  in 

British  Colonies 1833 

The  Zollverein,  Oer 1834 

Trades-Union  and  Repeal  Riots, 

Eng >834 

Lord  Melbourne's  Ministry,  Eng.. 

1834 

Don  Carlos  in  Spain 1833-1840 

Quadruple  Alliance 1834 

Lord  John  Russell,  Whig 

Leader,  Eng 1834 

Maria  Christina,  Sp, , Regent, 

1833-1840 

Lord  Brougham,  Whig  Orator, 

1834 

Tracturluh  Movement,  Eng., 

>833-184 t 


Sir  William  Hamilton, 

1788-1856 

Dr  Chalmers 1786-1847 

L.  E.  Landon 1802-1838 

Miss  Mitford 1787-1855 

Edward  Irving 1792-1834 

Sheridan  Knowles . . . 1 784- 1 862 

Procter  (Barry  Cornwall), 

1798-1862 

De  Quincey 1785-1860 

Macaulay 1800-1859 

II.  Hallam 1778-1859 

CARLYLE 1795-1881 

Story,  Am.  law 1779-1845 

Marshall,  “ 1755-1835 

Emmons,  Am.  </i«>f..i745-'84° 


Literature  and  Art  op 
other  Countries. 


Whately 1787-1863 

P.  F.  Tytler 1791-1849 

Dr.  Arnold >795‘>842 

Macready,  Act.. 1793-1873 

Sir  F.  Palgrave 1788-1861 

Broughum 1778-1868 

Charles  Napier 1786-1861 

William  Napier 1785-1861 

Turner,  Vl «77S-«85> 

David  Cox,  I't I793-|859 

Ilalleck,  Am >795->867 

R.  11.  Dana,  Am 1787  1879 

J.  Pierpont  “ 1785  1866 

Perclval,  “ ...  .1793-1856 


Donizetti,  Mus 

.I798-1848 

Schubert,  Mus 

. I797-1828 

Bellini,  Mus 

, 1806-1835 

Mendelssohn,  Mus . 

1809-1847 

Meyerbeer,  Mus 

.1794-1864 

A.  Scheffer,  PI 

.>795-1858 

I)ELA  ROCHE.  Pt 

.>797-1852 

Augustin  Thierry 

■i795->8j6 

Balzac  

.>799-1850 

Comte 

.1798-1857 

Lenan 

.l80a-l850 

Arago 

.1786-185* 

mi 

Lamartine 

. I 790- I 869 

Michelet 

.1798-1874 

Victor  Hugo 

. 1802 

Leopardi  

.1798-1837 

Giuuti 

Becker 

.1816-1845 

F.  Bremer 

. 1801  - I865 

Oernted  

II.  C.  Andersen 

l.lpsius 

1818  1853 

Kwuld 

.. 1803- 1875 

,1.  II  Dumas.  FV — 

7>PV 


680  TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 
Table  XV.  From  A.  D.  1825  to  A.  D.  1845.  In  Periods  of  Five  Years. 


United  States  History. 

Great  Fire  in  New  York;  674  build- 
ings burned 1835 

Seminole  Indian  War,  under  Osceola, 

1835 

Creek  Indians  in  Georgia  removed 
beyond  the  Mississippi 1835 

N.  Y.  Herald  founded  by  James  G 
Bennett 1835 

The  National  Debt  paid 1835 

Post  and  Patent  Offices,  Washing- 
ton, burned 1836 

Alpaca  first  made 1836 

Arkansas  admitted 1836 

Electric  Telegraph 1837 

Martin  Van  Buren,  8th  President, 

1782-1862 

Independence  of  Texas  acknowledged, 

1837 

Great  Financial  Crisis 1837 

Extra  session  of  Congress  called  to 
devise  relief ; 1837 

Riot  at  Alton,  111.  Rev.  E.  P.  Love- 
joy  killed 1837 

The  Mormons  driven  from  Missouri, 

1838 

The  Banks  suspend  specie  payments, 

'839 

Goodyear  invents  Vulcanized  Rubber, 

1839 

Log  Cabin  and  Hard  Cider  Campaign, 

1840 

Jerome  manufactures  Brass  Clocks, 

• 1840 

William  Henry  Harrison.  9th 
President 1 773-184 1 

President  Harrison  died  in  office. .1841 

N.  Y.  Tribum  founded  by  Horace 
Greeley 1841 

U.  S.  Bank  failed,  followed  by 
banks  generally 1841 

Webster’s  Dictionary  appeared...  1841 

Troubles  with  Canada 1841 

All  the  members  of  Cabinet  resign 
but  Mr.  Webster 1841 

John  Tyler,  Vice-President,  be- 
comes President 1841 

The  Webster- Ashburton  Treaty...  1842 

Seminole  War  terminated 1842 

The  “Dorr  Rebellion,”  Rhode 
Island ,g42 

Settlement  of  the  N.  B.  Boundary 
question ,g43 

U.  P.  Upsher,  Sec.  of  State,  and 
T.  W . Gilmer  killed  by  bursting 
of  a gnn  on  steamer  Princeton.. 1843 

Fremont  Explores  the  Rocky 
Mountains ,g43 

First  Patent  for  Fireproof  Safe.  ..1843 

First  Telegraph  — Washington  to 
Baltimore.... ,g44 


Other  Countries. 


English  and  American 
Literature. 

H.  Taylor 1800 

J.  H.  Newman 1801 

E.  B.  Pusey 1800 

Keble .,1792-1866 

A.  W.  Pugin,  A.  and  S., 

1811-1852 

Isaac  Taylor 1787-1865 

D.  Jerrold 1803-1857 

Milman 1791-1868 

Thirl  wall 1797-1875 

Grote ...... 1794-1871 

J.  S.  Mill ...1806-1873 

J.  F.  Cooper,  Am.  novelist , 

1789-1851 

Mrs.  Sedgwick,  “ 1789-1867 

Paulding,  “ 1778-1860 


Literature  and  Art  op 
other  Countries. 


■835 


The  Jupineau  party  advocate 
Canadian  separation  from 
Great  Britain 1835 

Mehemet  Ali  1 

> 1832-1848 

Ibrahim  Pasha  ) 

Ecclesiastical  Commission,  Eng., 
1836 

Louis  Napoleon  at  Strasburg.i836 

VICTORIA 1837 

Ernest  Augustus  of  Hanover..  1837 

Coersive  measures  of  the  British 
Parliament 1837 

House  of  Assembly,  Lower 
Canada,  refuses  to  transact 
business 1837 

Insurrection  in  Canada..  1837-1838 

Anti-Corn-Law  League,  Eng..  1838 

Lord  Durham  in  Canada 1838 

Union  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Canada.  Lord  Sydenham, 
Governor 1839 

Clergy  Reserve’s  question  set- 
tled, Canada 1840 

Death  of  Lord  Sydenham 1840 

Queen  Victoria’s  Marriage 1840 

Penny  Postage,  Eng.,  established, 
1840 

Sir  William  Peel  in  power, 

1841-1846 

Opium  War  in  China 1839-1842 

Afghan  War  in  Cabul 1838-1842 

Louis  Napoleon  at  Boulogne. .1840 

Espartero  in  Spain 1840-1843 

Abd-el-Kader 1835-1847 

Frederick  William  IV 1840 

War  in  Scinde 1843 

Free-Church  Secession 1843 

Isabella  II.  of  Spain. ..1843-1868 

Canadian  Government  removed 
to  Montreal 1844 

Charles  Albert,  Sardinia.  1831-1849 

Trial  of  O’Connell,  Ire 1844 


Montalembert 1810-1870 

A.  Dumas  (Pere) 1803  871 

Zschokke 1771-1848 

Mine.  Dudevant  (George  Sand), 
1804-1876 

Eugene  Sue 1804-1857 

Lenancourt  (Obermann)? 

Azeglio 1800-1866 

Quinet 1803-1875 

Chopin,  Mus .1810-1849 

J.  L.  Grimm 1785-1863 

W.  K.  Grimm 1786-1859 


1840 


1845 


T.  M.  Kemble 1807-1857 

Moxon  tried  for  “ Queen 
Mab” 1841 

Stanfield,  Pt 1798-1867 

Channing 1780-1842 

Miss  Martineau 1801-1876 

Sir  A.  Alison 1790-1867 

J W.  Donaldson 1811-1861 

Sir  E.  L.  Buhver 1805-1873 

E.  B.  Browning 1805-1861 

B.  Disraeli 1805-1881 

W.  E.  Gladstone 1809 

Sir  D.  Brewster,  <Sfct..  1781-1868 
Faraday,  “ ..1791-1867 

Noah  Webster, Am  .1758-1843 
N.  P.  Willis,  11  .1806-1867 
G.  P.  Morris,  “.1802-1864 
Burton,  Ad.,  “ .1804-1860 
Woodworth,  “ .1812-1859 
D.  P.  Thompson,  “ .1795-1868 
Mrs.  Sigourney,  “ .1791-1865 


Dahlmann 1785 

Gervinus 1805-1871 

Verdi,  Mus ...1814 

Mdle.  Grisi,  Ad 1812 

Rachel,  Ad 1821-1858 

Jenny  Lind,  Singer.  1821 

Strauss,  Mus 1808-1874 

J.  Bunsen ... 1791-1860 

Lappenberg 1795-1865 

F.  C.  Schlosser -1861 

Ranke... 1795 

Ddllinger 1799 

M.  d’Aubigne.. 1794 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued.  681 
Table  XVI.  From  A.  D.  1845  to  A.  D-  1865.  In  Periods  of  Five  Years. 


United  States  History. 


1845 


James  K.  Polk,  nth  President, 

„ . . , . 1795~i839 

Mexico  declares  war  against  the 
U.  S ! 1845 

Texas  admitted ,845 

Thornton  and  party  captured  by 
Mexicans i846 

Congress  declares  “ War  existed  by 
the  act  of  Mexico" ,846 

Gun  Cotton  invented 1846 

Ether  first  used  as  an  anaesthetic. -1846 

Iowa  admitted.  4846 


Elias  Howe  Sewing  Machine  patented, 

„ T.  l846 

Oregon  Dispute 1845-1846 

Smithsonian  Institute  founded....  1847 

American  Army  enters  City  of 
Mexico ,847 

Treaty  of  Peace  with  Mexico 1848 

Wisconsin  admitted 1848 


Gold  first  discovered  in  California.  1848 


Zachary  Taylor,  12th  President, 

1784-1850 

President  Taylor  forbids  the  fitting 
out  of  filibusting  expeditions 
against  Cuba i84q 


U.  S.  Gold  Dollars  first  coined 1849 


The  Frencn  Ambassador  dismissed 
from  Washington 1849 


1850 


Death  of  President  Taylor 1850 

N.  Y.  Times  established... 1850 

Vice-President  Fillmore  be- 
comes President 1800-1874 

California  admitted 1850 


Fugitive  Slave  Act  passed 1850 

Treaty  with  England  for  a transit- 
way across  Panama 1850 

Kossuth,  a Hungarian  patriot, 
arrives  in  New  York 1851 


Congressional  Library  destroyed  by 

fire 1851 

Dispute  with  England  about  the 

fisheries 1852 

Death  of  Daniel  Webster  and  Henry 

Clay... 1852 

Expedition  to  Japan 1852 

First  Street  Railroad  in  New  York 

City 1852 

First  Steam  Fire  Engine  used 1853 

Exploration  for  a Pacific  Railroad.  1853 
Franklin  Pierce,  14th  President, 

1804-1869 

Greytown,  Central  America,  bom- 
barded for  Spanish  insult  to  U.  S. 

Consul 1853 

World’s  Fair,  or  Crystal  Palace, 
opened  in  New  York 1853 


Dr.  Kane  sails  for  the  Arctic  Sea..  1853 
“ Kansas-Nebraska  Bill”  passed..  1854 

Treaty  with  Japan 1854 

Reciprocity  Treaty  with  England. 1854 
Repeal  of  the  Compromise  of  1820. . 1854 
Massachusetts  Aid  Society  send  out 

Settlers  to  Kansas 1854 

A.  H.  Reeder  appointed  Governor 
of  Kansas 1854 


Other  Countries. 

Great  Fire  at  Quebec 1845 

Sir  John  Franklin's  last  voyage. 

1845 

Cobden  and  Bright  flourish..  1845 


Irish  Famine 1846 

Austrians  seize  Cracow 1846 

Pius  IX.,  Pp 1846 

Corn  Laws  abolished 1 846 


Lord  Elgin,  Governor  of  Canada, 

* 1847 

Financial  Panic  in  England...  1847 

Sikh  Wars 1845-46,  1S4S-49 

Caffre  Wars  with  England, 

1847-1848 

Rajah  Brooke  in  Borneo 1847 

Joseph  Story -1847 

3d  French  Revolution 1848 

2d  French  Republic 1848 

Louis  Napoleon,  President 1848 

Mazzini  at  Rome  — 1848 

Chartist  Riots,  Eng 1848 

Kossuth  in  Hungary 1848 

Smith,  O’Brien  and  Mitchell..  1848 

Battle  of  Novara 1849 

Canadian  Annexation  agitated  .1849 
Great  Riots  in  Montreal 1849 

Palmerston,  Prime  Minister, 
Eng 1850-1865 

Death  of  Peel ..1850 

Coup  d’Etat  and  Massacre  at 
Paris 1851 

Gold  discovered  in  Australia..  1851 

Lord  Derby,  Conservative 
Leader,  Eng.. 1851-1860 

Death  of  Wellington 1852 

Goobertio  in  Ituly (1801-1852) 

Aberdeen  Ministry,  Eng.  1852-1855 

Great  Fire  at  Montreal 1852 

Manteuffel  in  Russia. . .(1805-1858) 
Burmese  War  with  England..  1852 

Napoleon  III... 1852-1870 

Crimean  War 1853-1856 

Russians  cross  the  Priitli 1853 

Turkish  Fleet  at  Sinope 1853 

Battles  of  Alma,  Buluklava, 
Inkermann....  1854 

Siege  of  Sebastopol 1854-1855 


English  and  American 
Literature. 

Literature  and  Art  op 
other  Countries. 

Mrs.  Sojnerville 

.1780-1872 

Whcwell 

.1794-1866 

Liebig 

R.  Murchison 

.1792-1871 

C.  Lyell 

-1797-1875 

Helmholtz 

Hugh  Miller 

• 

1802-1856 

Samuel  Brown 

.1817-1856 

Discovery  of  Neptune 1846 

Sir  J.  Herschell 

1792-1871 

R.  Owen 

.1804 

A.  Herzen 

J.P.  Nichol 

.1804 

Sir  W.  R.  Hamilton..  1805-1865 

Wm.  Cullen  Bryant,  Am., 

1784-1878 

Edward  Everett,  .1m.  1794-1865 

Wm.  H.  Prescott,  “ .1796-1854 

Schwanthaler,  A. 

Rauch,  A.  ami  S 

and  <$., 

1802-1848 

...  1777-1857 

George  Bancroft,  “ 

1800 

R.  W.  Emerson,  “ 

1803-1882 

N.  Hawthorne,  “ 

1804-1864 

Mommsen,  tier.. 

H.  Powers,  S 

1805-1873 

L.  M.  Child*.  Am 

Mrs.  Judson,  “ 

1802 

1817-1854 

Curtius,  Ger 

Washington  Irving 

, Am., 
1783-1859 

Edgar  A.  Poe,  Am. 

18H-1840 

M.  Stuart,  “ 

I780-1852 

W.  W.  Story, 

1819 

H.  D.  Thoreau,  “ .. 

l8l7-l8(2 

J.  R.  Lowell.  “ .. 

1819 

F.  E.  Church,  Pt... 

1826 

C.  Darwin 

1809-1882 

Sir  C.  Eastlake,  Pt. 

1793-1865 

Overbeck,  Pt 

Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.  Am.% 
1812 

A.  Tennykon i8cg 

Kaulbach,  Tt 

T.  Graham 

I805-1869 

Charles  Dickens  . 

1812-1870 

Jules  Junin,  J<y.. 

....1804-1874 

Wm.  M. Thackeray 

l8ll-l863 

1816-1855 

18H-1865 

Mr«.  Coftkcll 

J.  F.  Fcrrler 

i8o8-i8f'4 

Landseer,  Pt 

1802-1873 

C.  Mcrlvolc 

1808 

David  Scott,  l*t 

1806-1849 

682  TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Continued. 


Table  XVI.  From  A.  D.  1845  to  A.  D.  1865.  In  Periods  of  Five  Years. 


English  and  American 
Literature. 

W.  E.  Avtoun  ... 

II.  McCulloch,  Pt 

1806-1867 

E.  M.  Ward,  Pt.. 

....1816 

Philip  Bailey 

Svdney  Dobell... 

1824-1874 

Alexander  Smith. 

Ruskin 

1819 

A.  H.  Clough 

Norman  Macleod 

1811-1873 

Sir  G.  C.  Lewis.. 

1806-1863 

I.  D.  Maurice 

J.  Hill  Burton ... 

00 

0 

vO 

Dr.  J.  Brown 

Robert  Browning 

1812 

J.  Sparks.  Am. .. 

Palfrey,  “ ... 

— 1796 

Goodrich,  “ 

E.  K.  Kane,  44  ... 

United  States  History. 


1855 


1865 


Territorial  Legislature  of  Kansas 

meets  at  Shawnee 1855 

Free  State  men  meet  at  Topeka. . . 1855 
Anti-Slavery  excitement  in  Kansas, 
1855 

Sioux  Indians  defeated  by  Gen.  Howe, 

1855 

Suspension  Bridge  over  Niagara 

completed 1855 

President  Pierce  recognizes  the  Fili- 
buster Gen.  Walker  as  President 

of  Nicaraugua 1856 

Mr.  Crampton,  British  Minister  at 

Washington,  dismissed 1856 

Severe  Fighting  in  Kansas 1856 

James  Buchanan,  15th  President, 

1791-1868 

The  Dred-Scott  decision  rendered 

by  Chief  Justice  Taney 1857 

Troubles  with  the  Mormons 1857 

Great  Financial  Panic 1857 

Great  religious  revivals... --1857 

Dispute  with  England  respecting 
the  right  of  completion  of  the 
Atlantic  Telegraph,  1858;  Search, 

1858 

Minnesota  admitted .1858 

Mount  Vernon  purchased  by  the 

ladies 1858 

Oregon  admitted 1859 

Oil  first  discovered  at  Titusville,  Pa.. 

1859 

Alexander  A.  Stephens  advocates  a 

Southern  Confederacy 1859 

Prince  of  Wales  visits  the  U.  S 1859 

Abraham  Lincoln,  16th  President, 

1809-1865 

South  Carolina  passes  Ordinance  of 

Secession i860 

Cabinet  Officers,  U.  S.  Senators, 
and  Members  of  Congress  from 

Southern  States  resign i860 

New  York  Banks  suspend  Specie 

Payment 1861 

Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama, 
Georgia,  Tennessee,  Arkansas, 
North  Carolina,  Louisiana,  and 

Texas  secede 1861 

Provisional  Government  of  Con- 
federate States  adopted  at  Mont- 
gomery   1861 

Jefferson  Davis,  President 1861 

Bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter 1861 

Virginia  divided  into  two  States. .1861 

Call  for  75,000  Volunteers 1861 

Non-intercourse  Proclamation 1861 

General  Scott  resigns  Command  of 

Army !86i 

Gen.  George  B.  McClellan  appoint- 
ed Commander-in-Chief 1861 

The  Trent  affair 1861 

President  Lincoln  calls  for  300,000 

more  men 1862 

Confederate  Congress  meets  in  Rich- 
mond  1862 

Kansas  admitted ..  .1862 

Proclamation  of  Emancipation 1862 

West  Virginia  admitted 1862 

ist  U.  S.  Colored  Regiment  enrolled, 

1863 

Anti-draft  Riots  in  New  York  City . 1863 

Proclamation  of  Amnesty 1863 

Draft  of  500,000  men  ordered 1864 

Nevada  admitted 1864 

Gen.  U.  S.  Grant  appointed  Com- 

munder-in-Chief 1 1864 

President  Lincoln  calls  for  200,000 

men ,864 

Fugitive  Slave  Law  of  1850  repealed, 

1864 

Chambersburg,  Pa.,  burned 1864 


Other  Countries. 


Death  of  Nicholas --1855 

Alexander  II.,  Emperor  of  Russia, 
.855 

Russia  grants  Amnesty  to  Poles, 

1856 

Annexation  of  Oude 1856 

Panama  R.  R.  to  Aspinwall 
opened 1856 

Persian  War 1856-1857 

Indian  Mutiny,  East  Indies, 

1857-1858 

Government  of  India  transfer- 
red to  Crown 1858 

Second  ChineseWar.  TheCon- 
cha  Arrow 1856-1860 

Conspiracy  Bill.  Volunteers,  Eng., 
1858 

Cavour  in  Italy.. (1810-1861) 

Franco-Austrian  War 1859 

Solferino,  Savoy  and  Nice  to 
France 1859 

Lord  Palmerston  resigns  and 
returns 1859 

Stanley,  Secretaryfor  India. 1859 


Commercial  Treaty  England 
and  France ..i860 

Garibaldi  in  Sicily i860 

William  I.,  King  of  Prussia. .1861 

Victor  Emanuel,  King  of  Italy. 1861 

Otlio  expelled  from  Greece 1861 

Queen  Victoria  proclaims  neu- 
trality   1861 

Napoleon  III.  proclaims  neu- 
trality   18  1 

Confedrate  Alabama  sails  from 


England 

1862 

H.  Buckle 

Cotton  Famine  in  England, 
1862- 

1 863 

M.  Fuller,  Am.. 

George,  King  of  Greece 

1863 

H.  Reed,  “ .. 

Insurrection  in  Poland... 

1863 

P.  Benjamin,  “ .. 

French  in  Mexico 

1864 

J.  Q.  Adams.  “ .. 

T.  H.  Benton,"  .. 

I767-1848 

Schleswig-Holstein  War 

1864 

Wheaton.  *4  .. 

- .I785-1848 

Bismarck 

1814 

Silliman,  “ .. 

- -i779-*864 

Ionian  Islands  surrender. 

1864 

E.  Hitchcock,"  .. 

...1793-1864 

Sir  A.  Helps 1817-1875 

Froude 1818 

Kingsley 1819-1875 

Layard 1817 

Kinglake 18  n 

G.  II.  Lewes 1817-1878 

J.  W.  Colenso  1814 

B.  Jowett 1817 

A.  P.  Stanley... 1815 

M.  Arnold 1822 


Literature  and  Art  of 
other  Countries. 


Sainte-Beuve  1804-1869 

De  Musset 1810-1857 

v 

J.  J.  Ampere 1800-1864 

Littre  1801 

P.  Mer m6e 1803-1870 

Wagner,  Mus 1813 

R.  Schumann,  Mus...  1810-1856 

Ristori,  Act ...1821 

Rosa  Bonheur,  Pt  ..1822 

Millet,  Pt 1815-187; 


Spectrum  Analysis . .1861 


Geibel 1815 


Freiligrath 1810-1 876 


Gutzkow 1811-1878 


Frey  tag.  Oer 1 788-1861 


Renan,  Fr 1823 


TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.  — Continued.  683 
Table  XVII.  From  A.  D.  1865  to  A.  D.  1880.  In  Periods  of  Five  Years. 


United  States  History. 


1865 


Gen.  Lee  surrenders 


Other  Countries. 


1865 


Gladstone  in  power 


President  Lincoln  assassinated 
by  Wilkes  Booth 1865 


Seven-Weeks  War. 


American  Literature. 


1865-1874 
1866 


J.  E.  Worcester 

J.  P.  Marsh 

Albert  Barnes  .. 


1784-1865 

1801 

1798-1870 


Yice-Pres.  Andrew  Johnson 
becomes  President 1808-1875 

Booth,  the  assassin,  mortally 
wounded  and  captured. 1865 

15th  Amendment  submitted  . .1865 

Atlantic  Cable  successfully  laid. 

1866 

The  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill, 
and  Civil  Rights  Bill  passed 
over  President  Johnson’s 


veto 1866 

Nebraska  admitted 1867 


Horace  Greeley  and  others  sign 
Jefferson  Davis’ bail  bond. -1867 

Alaska  purchased  from  Russia.  1867 

President  Johnson  impeached 
by  the  House  and  acquitted..  1868 


Battle  of  Sadowa 1866 

North  German  Confederation, 

1866 

Venice  falls  to  Italy 1866 

Lord  Russell’s  Reform  Bill,  Eng..  1866 

» 

Fenianism  in  Ireland  and  United 


States 1867 

Mr.  Disraeli’s  Reform  Bill 1867 

Maximilian  shot  in  Mexico ..1867 


The  Dominion  of  Canada  formed.  -1867 

Francis  Joseph  crowned  at  Pesth, 

1867 

Gladstone  Ministry,  Eng - 1868 


H.  W.  Longfellow. 

1807 

J G.  Whittier 

1807 

W.  D.  Whitney 

1827 

T.  B.  Read 

1825-1872 

J.  G.  Saxe 

1816 

F.  Way  land 

Journalists: — 

1796-1865 

G.  D.  Prentice 

1802-1870 

Horace  Greeley 

1811-1872 

H.  J.  Raymond... 

1820-1869 

Thurlow  Weed 

1797 

J.  W.  Forney 

1817 

J.  G.  Bennett 

1795-1872 

J G.  Holland 

.1819 

C.  Anthon 

1797-1867 

Haliburton  (Sam.  Slick), 

1802-1865 

Hildreth 

.1807-1865 

Rev.  Dr.  McClintock 

.1814-1870 

Mrs.  Parton  (Fanny  Fern), 

1811-1870 

J.  T.  Field 

1820 

I).  G.  Mitchell  (Ik  Marvel), 

1822 

English  and  other  Foreign 
Literature. 


J.  P.  Joule,  Scientist.  1818 


J G.  Stokes,  ” .1820 

W.  Tyndall,  “ 1820 

Sir  Wm.  Thompson. 

Scientist.  1824 
T.  H.  Huxley,  “ .1825 

M.  Taine,  Fr 1828 

E.  Angier,  “ 1820 

T.  Gautier,  “ 1811-1872 

G.  Dor£,  “ Art 1852 

O.  Feuillet,  “ 1822 

Dumas  (HI),  Fr 1824 

A.  Trollope,  novelist..  1815 

C.  Reade  “ ..1814 

W.  Collins,  “ ..1824 

Mrs.  Cross  (George  Eliot), 
novelist 1822 

Mrs.  Oliphant,  novelist, 

1820-1857 


Mrs.L.  Linton,  novelist.  1822 


Ulysses  S.  Grant,  18th  Presi- 
dent   - 1869 

Death  of  Geo.  Peabody  (Phil- 
anthropist)   1869 


1870 


Death  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee..  1870 


CongTess  repeals  the  Income  Tax, 
1871 

Great  Riot  (Chinamen’s)  in  San 

Francisco — -.1871 

Orange  Riot  (attacked  by  Catho- 
lics) in  New  York - 1871 

The  Great  Chicago  Fire. ..1871 
Great  Forest  Fires  in  Wiscon- 
sin and  Michigan 1871 

W.  M.  Tweed  and  others  ar- 
rested for  fraud  in  New  York 

City 1871 

Great  earthquake  and  loss  of 

life  in  California 1872 

The  World’s  Peace  Jubilee, 

Boston 1872 

The  Great  Boston  Fire 1872 

Barnum’s  Museum  destroyed 

by  fire  in  New  York 1872 

Settlement  of  the  Alabama 

Claims 1872 

U.  S.  Troops  defeated  by  Mo- 
doc Indians 1873 

Gen.  Canby  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Thomas  murdered  by  Modoc 

Indians --*873 

Failure  of  .Jay  Cooke  & Co. 

and  others 1873 

Capt.  Jack  and  other  Modoc 

Indians  executed --'873 

Payment  of  the  Geneva  Award.  1873 

Death  of  Charles  Sumner 1874 

Mill  River  (Mass.)  Reservoir 

disaster... — 1874 

Kalakaua,  King  of  Hawaiian 
Islands,  visits  the  U.  S 1874 


Abyssinian  Expedition 1868 

Isabella  II.  of  Spain  deposed 1868 

Dis-establishment  of  Irish  Church.  1869 


Manitoba  joins  the  Dominion  of 
Canada 1870 

Land  Bill  of  Ireland ...1870 

Franco-Prussian  War 1870-1871 

British  Columbia  joins  Dominion 

of  Canada 1871 

Napoleon  surrenders  Sedan 1870 

English  Educational  Bill 1870 

Paris,  Metz,  and  Straslnirg  surren- 
der   1871 

Meeting  of  the  Alabama  Claims 

Commission  at  Geneva 1871 

William  I.,  Emperor  of  Germany  ..1871 

Rome  the  Capital  of  Italy 1871 

3d  French  Republic 1871 

University  Tests  abolished,  Eng.  .1871 
Army  Purchase  abolished,  Eng..  .1871 

War  in  Cuba 1871 

The  Ballot  passed,  Eng 1871 

Lord  Dufferin  Governor  General  of 

Canada 1872 

Prince  Edward  Island  joins  Canada. 

1872 

The  Jesuits  expelled  from  Germany, 

1872 

Russia  quarrels  with  Khiva 1872 

Scotch  Educational  Bill 1872 

Murshal  McMahon,  President  of 

France ‘S72 

France  pays  the  War  Indemnity  to 

Germany *873 

The  German  Stamp  Tax 

Irish  Educational  Bill  fails 1874 

Disraeli,  Prime  Minister 1874 

Amadeus.  Spanish  Republic.  Don 
Curios,  Alphonso,  Sp .1870-1875 


J.  S.  C.  Abbott 1805-1877 

J.  G.  Motley 1814-1877 

C.  F.  Browne  (Artemus  Ward), 
1834-1867 

Cary  Sisters  died 1871 


J.  Parton 

S.  A.  Allibone 

O.  W.  Holmes  . . . 

E.  P.  Whipple  ... 

R.  II.  Stoddard  .. 

X825 

W.  Whitman 

...18.9 

T.  W.  Higginson. 

1823 

J.  T.  Trowbridge 

G.  W.  Curtis 

W.  C.  Tyler 

..-1835 

It.  G.  White 

It.  II.  Dana,  Jr. . . 

l8l5 

Herbert  Spencer. .-1820 


Geo.  MacDonald  .. 

Cousin,  Fr.,  Phil. 

Swinburne 

— I837 

Holman  Hunt,  Pt.. 

.. 1827 

D.  G.  Rossetti 

...1828 

Millais,  Pt 

E.  A.  Freeman 

J.  Foster 

Flaubert,  Fr 

Lubouluy£ 

< astelnr,  Sp 

...  1832 

II.  V.  Sybi  l,  (ter.. 

1817 

Bayard  Taylor 1825  1878 

W.  L.  Garrison 1805-1876 

Rev.  Dr.  Bushnell.  . . 1802  1876 

J.  W.  Draper .1811 

Dr.  Austin  Flint 1812 

Son,  1836 

G.  S.  Hillard 1808  1879 

Rev.  Dr.  Hodge 1797  1878 


Hartmunn,  “ 1821-1872 

M.  Thierry,  Fr. , His..  1797  1873 

Tulloch.  Iter.,  I'heol  .1822 

M.  Guizot,  Fr 17H7-1874 

Hans  Christian  Andersen, 

Dan 1805-1875 


684  TABLES  OF  AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE.— Concluded. 

Table  XVII.  From  A.  D.  1865  to  A.  D.  1880.  In  Periods  of  Five  Years. 


1875 


United  States  History. 


East  River  spanned  by  an  Ice  Bridge, 
1875 

100th  Anniversary  of  the  battles  of 
Concord  and  Lexington 1875 

Centennial  Celebration  of  Bunker 
Hill 1S75 

Death  of  Vice-President  Henry 
Wilson 1875 

William  B.  Astor  died 1875 

A.  T.  Stewart  died 1876 

Dom  Pedro,  Emperor  of  Brazil, 
visits  U.  S 1876 

Whisky  Ring  broken  up 1875-1876 

Opening  of  Centennial  Exhibition, 
Philadelphia 1876 

Gen.  Custer  and  31 1 U.  S.  Troops 
slain  by  Sioux  Indians,  led  by 
Sitting  Bull 1876 

Colorado  admitted 1876 

First  Wire  of  East  River  Bridge..  1876 

Brooklyn  Theater  burned 1876 

Ashtabula  (Ohio)  Railroad  disaster, 


Death  of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt- . 


1876 

.1877 


1880 


The  Electoral  Commission  Bill  passed, 
1877 

Electoral  Commission  Count  declare 
the  election  of  R.  B.  Hayes 1877 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes.  19th  Presi- 
dent ._ _ 1877 

Great  Railroad  Strikes  and  Riots..  1877 

Gen.  Miles  whips  Nez  Perces  Indians, 
1877 

Extradition  Treaty  with  Spain  ...1877 

Wm.  M.  Tweed  died 1878 

Wm.  Cullen  Bryant  died 1878 

Yellow  Fever  rages  at  Vicksburg, 
Memphis,  etc 1878 

Gold  at  Par  for  the  first  time 
since  1862 1878 

Specie  Payment  resumed 1879 

Anti-Chinese  Bill  vetoed 1879 

Extra  Session  of  Congress  called..  1879 

Proclamation  warning  settlers  from 
the  Indian  Territory 1879 

Yellow  Fever  at  Memphis 1879 

Relief  ordered  by  U.  S.  Government 
in  uid  of  sufferers 1879 

Steam  Yacht  Jeannette  sent  out 
by  James  Gordon  Bennett  to  dis- 
cover theN.  W.  passage 1879 

Arrival  at  San  Francisco  of  Gen. 
Grant,  homeward  bound  on  his 
2%  years'  tour  around  theWorld.  1879 

The  French  Transatlantic  Cable 
landed ,879 


Other  Countries. 


Re-opening  of  the  Eastern  Ques- 
tion   1875 

Prince  of  Wales  visits  India... 1875 

French  Legislative  Body  re-or- 
ganized ..1875 

English  Channel  Tunnel  Bill 
passed,  Fr 1875 

Japan  Cedes  Territory  to  Russia, 

1875 

Russia  Conquers  Khiva 1876 

Meeting  of  New  French  Cham- 
bers   1876 

England  purchases  the  Suez 
Canal 1876 

Victoria  proclaimed  Empress 
of  India 1876 

Disraeli  elevated  to  the  Peerage, 

1876 

New  Marriage  Law,  Austria..  1876 

The  German  the  Official  Lan- 
guage in  Prussian  Poland. ..1876 

Deposition  of  Catholic  Bishops 
in  Germany 1876 

Russo-Turkish  War 1877-1878 

England  neutral  in  Russo-Turk- 
ish  War  1877 

Death  of  M.  Thiers 1877 

Marquis  of  Lome,  Viceroy  of 
Canada 1878 

Treaty  of  San  Stefano  and  Berlin, 

1878 

Great  Commercial  depression 
in  England 1878 

British-Afghanistan  War 1878 

International  Exposition  at  Paris, 
1878 

Marriage  of  King  Alfonso,  Sp.  1878 

Death  of  Victor  Emanuel 1878 

Death  of  Pope  Pius  IX 1878 

Leo  XIII.  elected  Pope 1878 

Austria  occupies  Bosnia 1878 

The  Zulu  War 1879 

M.  Julius  Grevy,  President  of 
France 1789 


American  Literature. 


Bret  Harte 1837 

Joaquin  Miller.. 1841 

W.  D.  Howells 1837 

Edward  Eggleston 1837 


Miss  Dodge  (Gail  Hamilton), 
.838 


W.  T.  Adams  (Oliver  Optics), 
1822 


Judge  Tourgee,  “Fool’s  Er- 
rand ’’  

S.  L.  Clemens  (Mark  Twain), 
•835 

D.  R.  Locke  (Petroleum  V. 
Nasbyi 1833 


II.  W.  Shaw  (Josh  Billings). 

1818 

E.  E.  Hale.... ............  1822 


Miss  Phelps,  “Gates  Ajar,” 

1844 

T.  B.  Aldrich 1836 

W.  Greene 1811 

II.  W.  Beecher... 1813 

Guyot 1807 

Clara  Louise  Kellogg,  Singer. 

1842 

Charles  March 1825 

Thos.  Nast,  Caricaturist  .1840 

E.  C.  Stedman 1833 

C.  D.  Warner 1829 

Henry  James,  Jr 

A.  Winchell 1824 

L.  M.  Alcott.... ..........  1833 


English  and  other  Foreign 
Literature, 


Virchow,  Ger 1821 

Mcssonier,  Fr.,  Ft 1822 

Zeller,  Fr.,  His 1820 

Auerbach,  Ger 1812 

Figuier,  Fr 1819 

Oscar  Wilde,  Esthete 1857 

Du  Bois  Raymond,  Ger 1818 

Ewald,  Ger 1802-1875 

Flaubert,  Fr 1821 

Cassagnac,  Fr 1806 


Dudevant  (George  Sand),  Fr., 

1804-1876 


Du  Chaillu,  Fr 1835 

Haeckel,  Ger 1834 

Holse,  Han 1811 

Victor  Hugo,  Fr 1802 

Jacoby,  Ger .1805-1877 

Janauschek,  Act  1830 

Pasteur,  Fr.,  Chemist 1822 

Patti.  Singer,  Spain 1843 

Reclus,  Fr 1830 

Remusat,  Fr.'. 1797-1875 


Lord  Lyttcn  (Owen  Meredith!. 

1831 


indirntvrFnrc  the  same^  J®;®*  *500  to  A.  D,  1880.  As  several  of  the  abbreviations  used  in  the  two  series  of  tables 

Maeed?mUn-  P C Ph^nieTii  1 *!  ?,to,P"tP- . Th‘Te  abbreviations  are  as  follows:— Or.,  Greek;  S.  Gr..  Spartan  or  Sicilian;  Per.,  Persian; 
Scandinavian-  fd  iv  J Carthaginian;  Rom..  Roman;  Ger.,  German;  Fr..  French;  Sp..  Spanish;  Rus.,  Russian;  Prtis..  Prussian; 
SnterS  JfHd  Mna  PiaT^  4 Sort.,  Scotch;  Ire.,  Irish;  Dtch..  Dutch;  Port..  Portuguese;  It.  Italian;  Am..  American;  Pp..  Pope;  Ft.. 

P Where  Z S’  A.rchlte't  and  Sculptor;  Act..  Actor;  Theol.,  Theologian;  Phil.,  Philosopher;  His.,  Historian, 

rulers.'date  of  teginSng  and  endTng  o?  r- ^e?"1.n?.1.nlP”d?d|  ‘s’  ln  the.  of  £<Pe™*  facts,  comme 
Jt.  stands  for  flourished,  and  o 

of  Hebrew  prophets,  the  dates  muicaie  me  supposed  period  of  prouhesviiiL'.  With  these  remarks  it  fa  Relieved  that  the  tahlea  will  he  intelligible. 


commencement  and  termination;  in  the  case  of 


THE  PRINCIPAL  COUNTRIES  OF  THE  WORLD 


685 


Showing  their  Population,  Area,  Religion,  Government,  Capital,  Debt,  Standing  Army,  Navy,  Miles  of  Railroad,  and  Trade 

with  the  United  States. 


Country. 

Popula- 

tion. 

Area  in 

English 

Square  Miles. 

Population  to 

Square  Mile. 

v 

.5  S £ 

If! 

(0  Ch 
< 

Navy,  No. 

of  Vessels. 

Miles  of 

Railroad. 

National 

Debt. 

Chinese  Empire.  .. 

433  *000,000 

3,924,627 

r 10 

270,000 
2V),  450 

3s 

10 

Unknown 

British  Empire 

237.39'. 7SS 

7.788,347 

8,404.767 

30 

53' 

26, 9SS 

3, 888,907, 080 

Russian  Empire. . . . 

86,952,347 

10 

768,427 

223 

>2,945 

2,840,597.635 

United  States 

50,155.783 

3,026,504 

10 

25,000 

140 

S>, 955 

1,942,172,295 

German  Empire 

42,727,260 

208,744 

201 

4'9.73S 

74 

19,020 

3,000,000,000 

Austria-Hungary  . . 

37,700,000 

240,940 

>58 

292,166 

43 

i i,i6S 

1,625,096,042 

France 

36,905.73s 

204,096 

1S2 

502,697 

492 

14,100 

3,513,724,650 

Japan 

Great  Britain  & Ire- 

156,604 

214 

7S.512 

>7 

67 

145,000,000 

land ... 

34,160,000 

31,669,147 

121,230 

860,562 

26s 

>35  452 

222 

17,092 

t.SSS, 007,080 

Turkey 

>7 

459,36o 

170 

1 ,200 

1,212,772,200 

Italy 

27,769.47s 

1 14,406 

243 

>99,557 

151,668 

Si 

13S 

5,000 

',977,117,84s 

Spam 

i0,S35,5o6 

195.775 

92 

4, "2 
1,364 

2,401,612,001 
^bS, 35 1,139 

Brazil 

9930,478 

3,286,110 

3 

16,055 

63 

Mexico 

0,276,079 

761,640 

12 

21,146 

4 

403 

395,000,000 

Persia 

6,500,000 

648,000 

IO 

30,000 

none 

none 

No  debt 

Morocco 

600,000 

260,000 

23 

20,000 

none 

none 

3,000,000 

Siam 

5,700,000 

3 10,000 

23 

none 

none 

none 

No  debt 

Roumania 

5,376,000 

49,262 

105 

18,000 

9 

79> 

90,000,000 

Belgium 

5.336, 1S5 

>>.373 

469 

46,383 

10 

2,300 

232,684,553 

Egypt 

5,250,000 

212,600 

24 

14,000 

>4 

>,■63 

450,000,000 

Portugal 

4 44',037 

35.8i2 

121 

62,920 

34 

709 

428,977,613 

Norway  & Sweden . 

4.429.7 13 

170,980 

2.5 

36,495 

42 

3,05' 

39,241,142 

112,248,37s 

Canada  

Holland  or  Nether- 

3,602,321 

3.483,952 

I 

3,000 

7 

4.929 

lands  

Abyssinia 

3*579.5*9 

3,000,000 

12,680 

i5S,ooo 

2S2 

61,803 

>05 

1 ,262 

391,242,322 

Columbia 

Madagascar 

2,951,21 1 
2,900,000 

432,400 

228,570 

6 

10 

2,600 

none 

42 

>5,390,304 

Switzerland 

2.776,035 

>5.90' 

1S1 

106,102 

none 

1,500 

6,225,000 

Peru  

2,699,945 

502,760 

5 

13,200 

iS 

744, 

213,482,680 

Chili 

2.375,971 

130,977 

16 

3,5oo 

12 

977 

60,741,469 

Denmark 

1,912,142 

>4.553 

>3' 

35703 

33 

S19 

52.000,000 

Norway 

1,806,900 

122,280 

>4 

1 S,ooo 

32 

5>° 

13,526,128 

Venezuela 

',784. '97 

36S.235 

5 

5,494 

none 

39 

62,659,687 

Bolivia 

'.742,352 

500, S70 
571,000 

4 

4,025 

37 

none 

17,500,000 

Argentine  Republic 

1,715.6s 1 

2 

S.2-S3 

25 

1,466 

68,4 16, cm3 

Servia 

1,720,270 

'8,787 

S7 

14,150 

none 

5,000,000 

Greece 

>,457,894 

>9.94' 

73 

>2,397 

21 

7 

9S, 012, 000 

Guatemala 

>,  >90,754 

40,778 

29 

3,200 

none 

none 

3.877,384 

Ecuador  

1,100,000 

2lS,984 

3 

1,200 

3 

75 

17,500,000 

Hayti 

Liberia 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

29,000 

25,000 

20 

25 

6,82s 

2 

none 

548.022 

San  Salvador 

600,000 

9.5oo 

1,000 

none 

none 

5,000,000 

Uruguay 

455.000 

70,000 

6 

4,060 

3 

340 

43,615,000 

Nicaragua 

300,000 

49,000 

5 

6,000 

none 

none 

9,000,000 

Paraguay  

Honauias 

*221,000 

57.223 

4 

2,000 

none 

47 

12,09s, (17 

35  ',700 

47.092 

l 

1,500 

none 

56 

37,000,000 

Costa  Rica 

185,000 

21,495 

900 

none 

29 

12,000,000 

3,780,000 

San  Domingo 

150.000 

20,000 

s 

4,000 

5 

none 

Hawaii 

60,000 

7,000 

8 

none 

none 

none 

450,000 

Capital. 


Pekin 

London 

St.  Petersburg. 
Washington  . . 

Berlin 

Vienna 

Paris 

Tokio 


London  

Constantinople. 

Rome 

Madrid 

Riode  Janerio. . 

Mexico 

Teheran 

S Morocco 

1 Fez-Mequinez 
Bangkok. . . . 
Bucharest.. . 
Brussels  ..... 

Cairo 

Lisbon 

Stockholm  . . 
Ottawa 


Amsterdam 

Magdala 

Bogota 

Antananarivo 

Berne 

Lima 

Santiago  

Copenhagen  . . . 

Christiana 

Caraccas 

Chuquisaca 
Buenos  Ayres. . 

Belgrade 

Athens  ........ 

Guatemala 

Quito 

Port  an  Prince. 

Monrovia 

San  Salvador  . , 

Montevidio 

Nicaragua  .... 
Assumption. . . . 

Comayagua 

San  Jose 

San  Domingo. 
Honolulu 


Prevailing 

Religion. 


Buddhic 

Protestant 

Greek  Church. 

Protestant 

Protestant  . . . . 

Catholic  

Catholic 

Buddhic 

Protestant 

Mahomedan  . . 

Catholic 

Catholic 

Catholic 

Catholic 

Mahomedan  . . 
Mahomedan  . . 

Buddhic 

Greek  Church . 

Catholic 

Mahomedan  . . 

Catholic  

Protestant 

Protestant 

Protestant 

Coptic  Chris’ns 
Catholic 

Protestant 

Catholic 

Catholic 

Protestant 

Protestant 

Catholic 

Catholic 

Catholic  

Catholic 

Greek  Church . 

Catholic 

Catholic 

Catholic 

Protestant  . . . . 

Catholic 

Catholic  ...  .. . 

Catholic 

Catholic 

Catholic 

Catholic 

St.  Catholic. . . 
Protestant  .... 


Government. 


Monarchy  . . . 
Monarchy  . . . 
Monarchy  . . . 

Republic 

Empire* 

Monarchy 
Republic 
Monarchy  . . . 

Monarchy  . . . , 
Monarchy 

Monarchy 

Monarchy  . . . 
Monarchy.  .. 
Republic 
Monarchy  . . . 
Monarchy  . . . 

Monarchy  . . . 
Monarchy  . . . 
Monarchy  . . . 

Monarchy 

Confederation 
Colony 

Monarchy  . . . 

Monarchy 

Republic  ..... 
Monarchy  . . . 

Republic 

Republic 

Republic 

Monarchy 

Confederation 

Republic 

Republic 

Republic 

Monarchy  . . . 
Monarchy  . . . 

Republic 

Republic 

Republic 

Republic 

Republic 

Republic 

Republic 

Republic  .... 

Republic 

Republic  .... 
Republic  .... 
Monarchy  . . . 


U.  S.  Commerce 
with 

Foreign  Countries 
1 $79. 

Imports.  Exports. 


16,565.979 

See  note 
662,750 

35.565.J'7 
3 '5.8i3 
55.o9S.7oS 

9,894.884 

111,971  ,760 
656,646 

30.385.63S 

14.cvt7.S19 

none 

none 

none 

none 

4,209,232 

See 

4S4.3s5 

2>3.924 

27.856,914 

10,037,059 

7.iS7."3 

none 

2,370,557 

642,715 

863,856 
See  N’w’y 
5.249.7 '7 

3,5'9.'05 
none 
409,32s 
Sec  note 
See  note 
3.S77.S24 
63,360 
See  note 
1,780,140 
See  note 
Sec  note 
See  note 
See  note 
657, 509 
3,264,56* 


4.661,957 
See  note 
16,725,463 

57,412,277 

2,631,707 

92.55S,736 

2,676,924 

363,013,646 

4.7'9,302 

8,658,233 

27,910,942 

25,522,401 

0,761,284 

none 


none 

none 

28,522,401 

Turkey. 

4,927!  161 

2,147,252 

32,048,314 

16,461,262 

5.77'.454 

none 

1,305,362 

1,256,023 

3.194.57s 

& Sweden. 

2.05M35 

2.128,01 2 
none 
285,019 
See  note 
Sec  note 

3,262,64a 
130,929 
See  note 
939.3b* 
See  note 
See  note 
See  note 
See  note 


2,509, 


Europe 

America 

Asia 

Australasia  . 

Africa 

Total  ... 


PoPULA- 

HON. 

Commerce. 

Imports. 

1 

Exports. 

289,000,000 

S4,840,000 

So6,700,000 

1,800,000 

80,000,000 

$9*97b,ooo,ofr) 

2. 140.000. 000 

1.131.,  000, 000 

462.000. 000 

291 .000. 000 

$5,650,400,000 

972.800.000 
489,000,000 
237,^00,000 

134.400.000 

$ 1,316,200,00c 

1, 167,200,00^ 
641 ,600,000 
224,400,01x1 

1 56/’OO.ooc 

1,262, 340,  OOO 

I 

1 

$7*474.400.6r)0 

$'>,  526,000, oon 

1867-68 

1869-70 

»*7*  73  

1*71*75 

1876 

These  figures  carry  with  them  their  own  importance. 


Ann  1 m 

I M TOR  TS. 

85  ,Sa8,6oo,oor 
6,081 ,300,  ouo 
7,772,000,000 

7,251,400,000 

7.17 


Note.— Trade  with  the  British  Possessions,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  excluded,  was— Imports,  20,128,494;  Exports,  29,373,079.  \5  it h South 
American  Ports  not  given  above— Exports,  92,747.  With  the  Central  American  States— consisting  of  San  Salvador,  Nicaraeuajf Honduras , G 1“ ■ 

and  Costa  Rica— Imports,  2,497,134;  Exports,  1,4.83,389.  * The  Empire  forms  a Customs  League  named  Zollvcrcin.  t Inc  greater  part  ol  this  trade 

is  with  Cuba.  X A Province  of  Turkey,  yet  practically  independent 


THE  COMMERCE  OF  THE  WORLD. 

The  following  tabic  shows  a comparison  of  the  Commerce,  Population.  Annual  Imports  and  Exports  of  the  several  geographical 

divisions  of  the  world  for  1876 — the  latest  published  statistics. 

The  following  shows  the  variations  in  the  total  imports  and 


Annual 

I MIS. 

$5,225,orx>,ooo 
5»VM*boo,°00 
0,<rf*i,joo,ooo 
6,448, 400, (HO 
6,$j6,C XXI.OOO 


686 


LEGISLATURES  OF  THE  WORLD 


Upper  House. 

Lower  House. 

Countries. 

HOW  CHOSEN. 

LENGTH 

TERM. 

NO. 

HOW  CHOSEN. 

LENGTH 

TERM. 

NO. 

Argentine  Republic 
Austria 

Belgium 

50 

253 

136 

Crown  and  hereditary. 

Citizens,  property  test. 

1 Crown  and  indirect  i 
| election j 

Governor  General 

Life 

8 yrs. 

Life 

104 

68 

77 

58 

Property-holding  citizens 

Property-holding  ci  tizens 

Indirect  election 

3 yrs. 

4 

Life 

Popular  suffrage 

5 

Colombia  (U.S.) 

Denmark 

State  Legislatures 

Hereditary  andelect’v  -j 
Popular  suffrage 

Life  or 

9 yrs- 

27 

j-  66 

18 

Popular  suffrage 

Citizens  30  years  old 

Popular  suffrage 

3 

66 

102 

3° 

538 

397 
j"  658 

Indirect  election j 

Life  or 

j-3°° 

59 

537 

188 

Popular  suffrage 

Appointed  by  States., 
j Hereditary,  crown  1 
| and  church j 

Elected  by  the  people.. 
Hereditary  and  church. 

Hereditary  and  crown. 

State  Legislatures 

9 yrs. 

Popular  suffrage. 

Great  Britain 

Life 

Household  suffrage — j 

Until 

dissolu- 

tion 

Life 

705 

270 

54 

39 

39 

45 

Popular  vote 

445 

508 

33i 

86 

Popular  vote 

6 

Popular  vote 

States,  from  rich 

People,  property  test 

Popular  vote 

British  Crown 

Life 

British  Crown 

Life 

88 

Popular  vote 

6 

86 

Districts  

6 

44 

133 

no 

99 

433 

Hereditary 

Life 

People,  property  test 

Mostly  Hereditary 

British  crown 

Life 

30 

76 

18 

Indirect  election 

Popular  election 

46 

Spain 

t Hereditary,  elective  { 

| and  crown j 

Popular  election 

10  or 
life 

l 

x37 

44 

16 

36 

J 

Sweden 

Switzerland 

Cantons 

Tasmania 

Elected, property  test.. 

10 

j Elected,  smaller  prop-  I 
j erty  test j 

3 

32 

86 

Western  Australia. 

Appointed 

United  States 

State  Legislatures 

6 

7r> 

Popular  vote 

2 

325 

Remarks. 


Compensation,  $3,500  per  annum. 

Elected  at  different  times,  as  the  crown 
may  order. 

Only  natives  eligible.  One  Representative 
to  40,000  inhabitants. 

Senators  must  be  40  years  old;  Deputies 
Catholics;  both  natives. 

Slight  property  qualification  required  of 

voters. 

One  Representative  for  20,000  inhabitants. 

Each  State  has  43  Senators.  Representa- 
tives according  to  population. 

Members  of  either  house  must  be  at  least  25 
years  old. 

Congress  meets  annually,  September  15. 

Senators  must  be  40  years  old;  Deputies  25. 

Prussia  has  17  members  Upper  House;  236 
of  the  Lower  House. 

The  election  is  by  ballot.  A member  of  the 
House  must  be  21  years  of  age.  No  com- 
pensation is  allowed. 

Only  one  body,  called  Boule. 

The  citizens  of  full  age  may  vote,  if  they 
pay  taxes  amounting  to  $4  a year. 

A voter  must  be  25  years  of  age,  and  tax- 
payer to  the  extent  of  $8  a year. 

Senators  must  be  30  years  of  age;  Repre- 
sentatives 25. 

Property  test  for  voters  exceptionally  high. 
Clergymen  disfranchised. 

No  property  test  for  voters,  and  the  elec- 
tion is  by  ballot. 

A moderate  property  test  required  of  voters 
and  legislators. 

No  property  test  is  required. 

Slight  property  test  for  voters, who  must  be 
25  years  of  age. 

The  ratio  of  representation  is  one  member 
for  20,000  inhabitants. 

Besides  a property  test,  there  are  several 
personal  tests  applied. 

Electors  must  be  at  least  25  years  of  age. 

Voters  may  vote  where  they  have  property 
and  where  they  reside. 

The  people  elect  the  Electors  and  they 
choose  the  Legislators. 

Members  of  the  Upper  House  must  be  30 
years  of  age;  of  the  Lower,  21. 

The  Senate  has  no  fixed  number  of  mem- 
bers, nor  uniform  method  of  designation. 

Senators  receive  no  pay;  Representatives, 
small  salaries. 

Any  voter,  except  a clergyman,  is  eligible 
to  either  house. 

Besides  elected  Legislators,  are  ex-officio 
members  holding  other  important  offices, 
and  resident  subjects  possessing  degrees 

Clergymen  and  felons  are  ineligible  as 
legislators. 

Slight  property  test  for  voters.  A legislator 
must  hold  real  estate  to  the  value  of  $5,000. 

A Senator  must  be  30  years  of  age;  a Rep- 
resentative 25.  Each  house  sole  judge 
of  the  election  and  qualification  of  its 
members. 


Note.— In  the  preparation  of  the  above  tables,  reliance  has  mainly  been  placed  upon  the  Statesman's  Manual  for  1881.  No  country  which 
does  not  enjoy  any  of  the  rights  of  self-government,  however  important  in  other  respects,  has  a place  in  this  connection.  Of  the  several  States  of 
the  United  States  it  may  be  added,  that  each  has  two  legislative  bodies,  both  elected  by  popular  vote,  and  that,  under  the  14th  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  no  citizen  can  be  deprived  of  the  right  of  suffrage  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 
No  State  allows  female  suffrage,  nor  does  any  require  an  intelligence  test. 


CONGRESSIONAL  APPORTIONMENT. 


The  number  of  Representatives  in  the  popular  branch  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  which  each  State  will  be  entitled,  from  March  4 
1883,  to  March  4,  1893.  based  on  the  tenth  census,  is  as  follows: 


Alabama 8 

Arkansas 5 

California . 6 

Colorado 1 

Connecticut 4 

Delaware 1 

Florida 2 

Georgia 10 

Illinois 20 

Indiana 13 


Iowa..... , 11 

Kansas  7 

Kentucky n 

Louisiana 6 

Maine . 4 

Maryland 6 

Massachusetts ...11 

Michigan n 

Minnesota 5 

Mississippi 7 


Missouri 14 

Nebraska 3 

Nevada 1 

New  Hampshire 2 

New  Jersey 7 

New  York 34 

North  Carolina 9 

Ohio 2i 

Oregon 1 

Pennsylvania 28 


Rhode  Island 

South  Carolina 7 

Tennessee 10 

Texas u 

Vermont 2 

Virginia 10 

West  Virginia 4 

Wisconsin 9 

Total. .....325 


INDUSTRIES  AND  MONEY  OF  ALL  NATIONS 


687 


INDUSTRIES  OF  NATIONS,  IN  MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS,  IN  1870  AND  1880. 


Commerce. 

Manufactures.] 

Mining. 

Agriculture. 

Carrying 
Trade,  etc. 

Banking. 

Total. 

1S70 

1SS0 

187° 

1SS0 

1S70 

1SS0 

1870 

1SS0 

1S70 

1SS0 

1S70 

1SS0 

1S70 

1SS0 

Great  Britain 

2601 

3467 

3 ,23 

37SS 

224 

3'6 

1265 

1168 

544 

7S3 

3S9 

525 

S206 

10047 

United  States 

s.37 

1464 

33'S 

4320 

■83 

350 

2019 

2554 

642 

S08 

■95 

253 

7'96 

9749 

France 

12!  I 

1615 

2136 

2360 

44 

5S 

2004 

■946 

204 

302 

146 

165 

5715 

6446 

Germany 

■3*4 

1S6S 

■659 

2077 

68 

102 

150s 

1654 

204 

336 

122 

■36 

4S75 

6173 

Russia 

535 

929 

997 

I I 14 

39 

54 

■703 

1S00 

■3<5 

214 

58 

73 

3(6S 

4184 

Austria 

404 

6S1 

S9O 

1002 

24 

34 

1 168 

1280 

78 

I l8 

68 

83 

2632 

3 '98 

Italy 

360 

467 

5°i 

559 

IO 

10 

632 

70s 

54 

73 

24 

29 

■ 5s' 

'S43 

Spain 

■S' 

■85 

375 

42S 

24 

34 

462 

530 

34 

5S 

IO 

■5 

■056 

1250 

Belgium 

3'* 

5°' 

355 

414 

29 

39 

■65 

170 

34 

39 

■5 

>5 

009 

1 178 

Holland 

345 

535 

1S0 

204 

199 

224 

■9 

24 

63 

6S 

S06 

■055 

Sweden  and  Norway. . . 

■3' 

*75 

■75 

195 

IO 

10 

229 

253 

44 

73 

■5 

■ 5 

604 

72'. 

Denmark 

73 

92 

6S 

88 

122 

■ 3' 

5 

IO 

5 

5 

273 

326 

Portugal 

49 

<53 

49 

54 

I 1 2 

122 

3 

5 

5 

5 

218 

249 

Turkey,  etc 

404 

306 

3S9 

321 

25S 

jSo 

■5 

29 

■5 

■5 

10S1 

s5' 

Australia 

277 

433 

44 

63 

41 

29 

170 

253 

5 

■5 

24 

49 

564 

842 

Canada 

l6l 

170 

■ 70 

224 

24S 

292 

24 

44 

IO 

■9 

613 

749 

South  America 

4'4 

438 

S8 

■ 07 

34 

39 

34° 

389 

■ 5 

29 

■9 

24 

910 

1026 

South  Africa 

39 

83 

IO 

■5 

IO 

19 

24 

34 

S3 

■5' 

The  World 

9677 

■3472 

■4527 

■7333 

745 

■094 

I262S 

■3685 

2060 

2960 

1183 

■491 

poSio 

5003s 

Note. — The  average  production  of  human  industry  per  head  is  $100,  an  increase  of  12  per  cent,  since  1S70. 


Increase. 


1S41 

2553 

701 

'29s 

716 

162 

■94 

269 

249 

■'7 

S3 

3' 

278 
■36 
1 16 

68 


944s 


MONEY  OF  ALL  NATIONS  COMPARED  WITH  POPULATION  AND  TRADE. 


United  States 

Great  Britain 

France 

Germany . 

Russia 

Austria 

Italy.. 

Spain  and  Portugal. . . 

Holland 

Belgium 

Norway  and  Sweden. 

Switzerland 

Greece,  Turkey,  etc.. 

South  America 

Australia 

Canada 

Japan - 


Tick  World. 


ed: 

v.5 

ion  Dollars. 

lcrcase,  Mill- 
ion Dollars. 

tual  Gold  Cur- 
ency,  Million 
Dollars. 

Iver  Currency, 
lillion  Dollars. 

V ri 

'v  j Si 

f U 

C«  £ 

C 

5 c ~ 
0 

1 

-I 

„cS 

o.| 

C.-S 

Paper  per  In- 
ibitant,  in  Dol-  j 
lars. 

otal  Specie  and 

iper per  Inhab- 
itant. 

pecie  Ratio  to 
Commerce. 

Paper  Ratio  to 
Commerce. 

Tot: 

il. 

doncy  Ratio  to 

All  Industries. 

1S70 

18S0 

M 

< 

c n''- 

H 

686 

642 

375 

■5' 

u6s 

10.  c6 

u.89 

23-35 

36  to  100 

44  to  100 

So  to 

OO 

12  to  too 

199 

219 

20 

60  3 

93 

9'5 

20.19 

6.32 

26.51 

21  “ 

7 “ 

28 

9 “ 

345 

438 

93 

7*5 

4' 4 

'S67 

50.40 

1 1.91 

42-32 

7.  •• 

2S  “ 

99 

24  “ 

219 

204 

32' 

209 

734 

1 1.6S 

4.62 

16.30 

28 

; 1 “ 

39 

.12  “ 

569 

866 

207 

107 

5s 

1031 

2.19 

10.95 

13- *4 

iS  “ 

9.3  “ 

56 

-*4 

195 

3'» 

1 16 

44 

29 

384 

'.95 

7-79 

9-74 

1 1 “ 

45  “ 

253 

3 

73 

63 

39 

49 

4°4 

3 1° 

10.95 

■4-35 

21  “ 

70  “ 

9' 

39 

34 

■ 95 

83 

35' 

13.86 

3-65 

■7-5' 

124  •• 

3.3  “ 

■57 

54 

73 

■9 

■9 

58 

■5° 

■9  4 <5 

18.25 

37-7' 

■5  “ 

14  “ 

29 

>5  “ 

44 

63 

■9 

■ 07 

('i 

233 

30.89 

"•43 

4232 

34  " 

■3  “ 

47 

39 

44 

5 

44 

10 

9S 

6.32 

5-'o 

I 1 .4  2 

IS  ** 

■5  " 

33 

9 " 

5 

20 

■5 

5s 

34 

33-o8 

24 

1C7 

83 

5 

5 

"7 

•49 

4.86 

5-35 

4 “ 

,|0  “ 

44 

14 

*75 

326 

■5' 

■5 

41 

385 

2.19 

12.40 

■ 4-59 

■3  “ 

74  “ 

87 

3J 

15 

20 

5 

44 

5 

(%) 

17.27 

7-30 

24-57 

IO  “ 

4 " 

•4 

7 

20 

39 

■9 

5 

5 

49 

2.19 

9-25 

11.44 

2.65 

6 “ 

24  “ 

3° 

■27 

■27 

5 

4 

I36 

2881 

388s 

1066 

2.701 

■3'4 

7901 

8.76 

8.5' 

.7.27 

30  to  IOO 

29  to  100 

59 

16  to  100 

Note. — The  estimate,  of  gold  and  silver  coin  are  mainly  from  the  Washington  Mint  Report.  India  is  not  included;  say  about  5*1  million 
dollars  of  silver,  49  of  gold  and  58  of  paper. 


6) 


1 


Q 

688 


THE  ART  OF  WAR — CAPITAL  AND  EARNINGS  OF  NATIONS. 


THE  ART  OF  WAR. 


Increase  or  Decrease  of  Armaments  since  1869, 


Countries. 

Cost  of  Army. 

ooo’s  are  supVd. 

Cost  of  Navy. 

ooo’s  suppressed 

Total  Exp’d’t’re 

ooo's  suppressed 

Total 

Force 

Total 

Force, 

Rauo  to 

Popula’n . 

1S69 

isso 

1S69 

1SS0 

1869 

1SS0 

in  1S69. 

1880. 

1S69 

iSSO 

United  States 

77.S40 

38,920 

19,460 

13,622 

97,300 

52,542 

64,000 

33,000 

0.17 

0.07 

Great  Britain 

7-2,975 

75.S49 

55.661 

50,596 

1 28,636 

1 26,490 

21)8,700 

258,000 

0.S7 

0.74 

France 

82,705 

109,463 

38,920 

30,65° 

121,625 

140,113 

493,000 

523,000 

1.30 

t.41 

Germany 

58,38° 

85,13s 

4 379 

14,109 

62,759 

99,247 

3So,ooo 

44S,ooo 

1 .00 

I .OI 

Russia 

87.570 

141, 0S5 

17,028 

20,947 

■04,598 

162,032 

876,000 

835,000 

■ •■9 

I .04 

Austria . 

46/21S 

60,326 

4.379 

3,892 

50,597 

64,21s 

283,000 

298,000 

0.S1 

0.78 

Italy 

30,  I63 

42,812 

6,325 

■0,703 

36,488 

53,5  >5 

199,000 

216,000 

0.76 

0.77 

Spain 

20,433 

23,839 

5,838 

5.352 

26,271 

29,191 

174,000 

120,000 

1.08 

0.80 

Holland 

S,S38 
6, Si  1 

9>73° 

6,325 

5,838 

12,163 
6,81 1 

■5,568 
9,2  24. 

82.000 

73.000 

56.000 

46.000 

2 -34 
1.46 

2*15 

0.8l 

Denmark 

1,946 

2,433 

973 

1,460 

2,919 

3,893 

44,000 

40,000 

2 50 

2.02 

Sweden  und  Nor  wav. 

3,40rt 

6,81 1 

1,460 

1,946 

4.S66 

8,757 

60,000 

62,000 

1 .00 

0-95 

Portugal 

3.406 

3.S92 

1,460 

1,460 

4,S66 

5,352 

26,000 

34,000 

0.65 

0 80 

Turkey 

iS,ooi 

9,730 

4,865 

2,433 

22, S 66 

12,163 

jSS,ooo 

103,000 

1 .70 

2.  IO 

Greece 

973 

1,460 

4S7 

4S7 

’,460 

■,947 

9,000 

24,000 

0.60 

1 -5° 

Brazil  

7.298 

7,29s 

3,892 

4,865 

1 1,190 

12,163 

7,200 

21,000 

o.So 

0.21 

The  World 



... . . . . . ..... 

523.963 

628,075 

»7J*452 

168,360 

695.415 

796,435 

3.291700 

3147000 

0.93 

0.76 

CAPITAL,  OR  WEALTH  OF  NATIONS. 


Countries. 

Million  Doll- 
ars. 

Increase 

Million$ 

Ratio  per 
Inhabitant. 

Ratio  free 

of  National 
Debt. 

1870 

iS'O 

1S70 

1SS0 

1870 

1SS0 

Great  Britain 

40,42s 

43,590 

3,162 

$1,284 

$1,265 

$1,158 

$■,■53 

France.  

34,649 

36,084 

■,435 

910 

97S 

847 

878 

United  States 

30,747 

38,336 

7,589 

798 

769 

735 

730 

Germany 

26,028 

29,555 

3,527* 

686 

657 

667 

632 

Russia 

16,006 

17,222 

I,2l6 

214 

214 

200 

x75 

Austria 

■3,768 

■ 4,838 

1,070+ 

384 

379 

336 

326 

Italy 

3,514 

9,049 

535 

321 

3'6 

253 

229 

Holland 

5,254 

5,497 

243 

■.474 

>,377 

1 ,362 

■,275 

Belgium 

4,379 

4,573 

■94 

866 

817 

837 

759 

Spain 

6,033 

6,680 

647 

370 

399 

287 

24S 

Portugal 

1,241 

■>323 

82 

311 

316 

23s 

219 

Sweden  and  Norway. 

3-371 

3,590 

219 

560 

55° 

555 

535 

Denmark  . . 

',654 

1,703 

49 

924 

866 

890 

842 

Turkey,  Greece,  etc.. 

3.648 

3,697 

49 

■5' 

■5' 

127 

92 

Australia 

■,683 

2,484 

701 

924 

837 

827 

681 

Canada 

2,549 

3,094 

545 

671 

720 

752 

6S1 

South  Africa 

345 

477 

132 

3S9 

35° 

379 

3'6 

South  America 

4.379 

4,62 1 

242 

■75 

180 

146 

190 

The  World 

204,676 

226,313 

21.637 

545 

$ 550 

$ 496 

46 1 

♦Including:  $1,362,000,000  for  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  flncluding  $267,- 
575,000  for  Bosnia. 


EARNINGS  OR  INCOME  OF  NATIONS.* 


Countries. 

Million 

Dollars. 

1! 

is 

Ratio  per 

Inhabitant. 

Ditto  free 

of  Taxes. 

1870 

18S0 

1S70 

.880 

1S70 

1S80 

United  States 

5,167 

7,327 

2,160 

$i34-'8 

$■35.82 

$116.23 

$123.03 

Great  Britain 

4,675 

5,624 

949 

■4855 

■63.05 

129.1 1 

143.66 

France 

3,834 

4,5'o 

676 

100.S6 

1 12. 14 

85.66 

90-59 

Germany 

3,415 

4,140 

725 

90.04 

91.10 

81.85 

80.  19 

Russia 

2,754 

3,075 

321 

38.34 

3S.43 

32.5' 

32.23 

Austria 

1,961 

2,238 

277 

54-44 

57-32 

45-49 

47-44 

Italy 

',■34 

1,226 

92 

42.S5 

43-2' 

30.67 

29-5' 

Spain 

774 

905 

■31 

46.99 

54-86 

36.S5 

43-58 

Belgium 

49' 

574 

si 

97-79 

102.98 

86.72 

89.71 

Holland 

433 

5°6 

73 

123.67 

126.77 

107.74 

109.60 

Sweden  and  Norway 

433 

5'  ■ 

78 

72.16 

78-59 

66.95 

71-31 

Denmark 

'85 

214 

29 

107.08 

102.52 

97-34 

99.29 

Portugal 

■56 

170 

■4 

36.00 

39-0? 

3 '-94 

30.36 

Turkey,  Greece,  etc. 

457 

404 

— 

20.68 

19.46 

17.64 

16.87 

Australia 

307 

433 

126 

■68.33 

*5'-3° 

141.81 

123.58 

Canada 

457 

574 

”7 

121.95 

■34.72 

1 13.S4 

124.46 

South  Africa 

63 

88 

25 

70.54 

65.20 

65. 28 

52.06 

South  America 

803 

920 

"7 

32.62 

37  34 

2538 

29.94 

The  World 

27,499 

33.439 

R-9  39 

$ 70.01 

$ 7^*T> 

$ 62.15 

S 66.94 

♦Computed  on  a uniform  basis  in  relation  with  the  tables,  “Industries 
of  all  Nations/’ 


Note.— During:  the  decade  from  1S70  to  18S0,  the  aggregate  debt  of  nations  was  increased  from  $7,875,000,000,  or  $920,000,000  less  than  the 
cost  of  new  railways  during  the  same  length  of  time.  The  net  earnings  of  the  world  have  increased,  but  the  relative  burden  of  taxation  has 
increased.  The  paper  money  of  the  world,  a form  of  debt,  rose  from  $2  960,000,000  in  1870  to  $3,995,000,000  in  18S0,  an  increase  of  34  per  cent. 
The  actual  amount  of  gold  and  silver  coin  in  1S80  is  set  down  as  $4, 1 15,000,000,  6S  per  cent,  gold  and  32  per  cent,  silver.  The  total  production  of 
silver  during  the  decade  was  $798,000,000;  of  gold,  $1,006,000,000.  In  the  transaction  of  the  world’s  commerce  the  mediums  of  exchange  were  as 
follows:  19.93  per  cent,  in  gold ; 9.61  in  silver;  27.81  in  bank  notes;  and  42.65  in  checks,  drafts  and  bills  of  exchange. 


•V 


RAILROADS 


FOOD  AND  FOOD  SUPPLY  OF  ALL  NATIONS. 


689 


INCREASE  OF  RAILROADS*  SINCE  1870;  TOTAL  COST  AND  TRAFFIC. 


Countries. 

Miles  Open. 

Increase, 

Miles. 

Cost  of  New 

Lines, 

Million  $ 

1 

Total  Cost, 

Million  $ 

Passengers, 

Millions. 

Goods,  Mill- 
ion Ions. 

Cost  of  Con- 

struction 
per  mile. 

Actual  Re- 

ceipts per 
mile. 

Working 

Expenses. 

Net  Earn 

ings  per  mile 

Profit  on 

Capital. 

i$7o* 

1SS0. 

1S70. 

>879- 

1S70. 

1S79. 

United  States 

44,614 

S6.497 

4>,SS3 

2,181 

4,821 

1 10 

•98 

>5° 

210 

56,239 

6,2oS 

3,634 

2,574 

4.62  % 

Great  Britain v 

>5.537 

17.696 

2,  >59 

910 

3.4S9 

34  s 

629 

170 

2'5 

197,227 

>6,327 

S,'5t 

S >73 

4 'S  “ 

France 

10,851 

>5,375 

4,524 

613 

2,048 

HO 

l6o 

52 

70 

'33.05s 

>3,140 

6,699 

6,441 

4-85  “ 

Germany 

•M57 

2 '.275 

9,SiS 

>,>87 

2,150 

<36 

196 

9s 

>30 

100,657 

12,052 

7,36' 

4.7" 

4-65  “ 

Russia 

7.09s 

•4,69s 

7,600 

70s 

',323 

>4 

3s 

8 

35 

89,729 

11,112 

6,714 

4,389 

4.S2  «* 

Austria 

5.9o6 

12,160 

6,254 

642 

1,241 

21 

42 

25 

45 

102,019 

8,562 

4,66d 

3,896 

3-S6  “ 

Italy 

3.S2S 

S.096 

1,271 

107 

4S2 

24 

29 

6 

S 

93,797 

6,276 

4, >84 

2,091 

2.22  “ 

Spain  and  Portugal 

3,820 

5,260 

1,440 

« >7 

414 

IO 

2S 

4 

7 

79,737 

5.960 

2.505 

3,455 

4.4O  “ 

Norway  and  Sweden ....  

>-7s3 

5, '67 

3.3S4 

"7 

170 

s 

17 

5 

7 

33,39S 

3,016 

>,95  > 

1.065 

3.38  “ 

Belgium  and  Holland 

2,6S4 

3,9>o 

1,226 

>36 

409 

47 

67 

29 

32 

99,6.35 

9,  >95 

5,9" 

3.2S4 

3.21  “ 

Switzerland * 

ss5 

I,6y> 

765 

73 

160 

>5 

24 

4 

6 

97,319 

6, 105 

4,oS7 

2,0 16 

3.10  '* 

Turkey,  Greece,  etc 

451 

1,870 

I,4l6 

1 12 

146 

I 

2 

— 

— 

78,083 

— 

— 

— 

— “ 

Canada 

4,010 

6,145 

2, >35 

122 

355 

4 

6 

4 

6 

57,74S 

3.697 

2,967 

729 

1.26  “ 

Australia 

1,170 

4,350 

3,  >So 

2'4 

292 

I 

4 

I 

4 

67,oSS 

4,2Si 

2,238 

2,043 

3-<H  “ 

India 

4,780 

8,6l  I 

3.83> 

2S7 

59s 

22 

43 

5 

s 

69.594 

6,354 

3,313 

3.041 

1 37  “ 

South  America 

2,160 

6,830 

4,670 

345 

462 

7 

12 

4 

s 

6S,i 10 

4,622 

2,627 

1.989 

3.00  “ 

Africa,  etc 

966 

5.897 

4,93‘ 

5S 

315 

I 

2 

1 

2 

58,380 

— 

— 

— 

“ 

. The  World 

122,000 

222,487 

I0O.4S7 

7.926 

18,905 

879 

',497 

566 

793 

84,846 

8,222 

4.6S5 

3,537 

4.1$  “ 

Note.- The  tariff  returns  per  mile  show  a decrease  of  4 per  cent,  for  passengers  and  22  per  cent,  for  freight  since  1S70. 


FOOD  SUPPLY  OF  ALL  NATIONS. 


Countries. 

Grain — Million 
Bushels. 

Meat — Thousand 
Tons. 

Production  of 

Production. 

li 

c — 
c 

0 

Surplus. 

Deficit. 

Production,  j 

Consump- 

tion. 

| Surplus. 

VC 

V 

S 

I Wine,  Mill- 
| ion  Gals. 

I Bee.  M il 

1 ion  Gals. 

Spirits.  Mill- 
1 ion  Gals. 

United  States 

2390 

2020 

370 



3,Si6 

2,740 

1076 

— 

20 

360 

76 

Great  Britain 

410 

690 

2S0 

1.205 

i,SoS 

— 

603 

0 

1 1 10 

3' 

France  

740 

910 

— 

170 

1,002 

1,228 

— 

226 

660 

192 

33 

Germany 

950 

1065 

— 

"5 

1,340 

1,700 

- 

360 

90 

SSo 

01 

Russia 

1620 

1440 

180 

— 

2,1 16 

1,925 

191 

— 

20 

50 

i°S 

Austria 

560 

530 

3° 

— 

960 

<475 

— 

'5 

290 

245 

Italy 

270 

275 

— 

5 

224 

2>5 

9 

— 

660 

20 

8 

Spain  

305 

300 

5 

— 

196 

iSS 

8 

— 

260 

0 

4 

Belgium 

95 

120 

— 

25 

92 

I4O 

— 

4S 

0 

170 

•s 

Holland 

50 

65 

— 

'5 

'44 

87 

57 

— 

0 

35 

1 

Denmark 

74 

62 

12 

— 

1 12 

52 

60 

— 

0 

25 

8 

Swed.,  Nor... 

78 

So 

— 

2 

213 

I46 

67 

— 

0 

35 

2/ 

Portugal 

30 

35 

— 

5 

54 

47 

7 

— 

SS 

0 

I 

Tur.,  Greece.. 

90 

So 

10 

— 

25° 

250 

— 

— 

24 

O 

Australia 

58 

4' 

>7 

— 

990 

'52 

838 

— * 

2 

O 

4 

Canada 

170 

l60 

IO 

— 

287 

270 

'7 

— 

0 

O 

I 

River  Plate  . . 

6 

6 

— 

— 

i,3'° 

272 

103S 

— 

1 

1 

1 

Algeria 

20 

15 

5 

— 

1 IO 

82 

28 

— 

9 

O 

O 

•The  World 

7916 

789. 

22 

— 

14,421 

12,277 

2141 

2114 

3"3 

4l6 

•There  are,  moreover,  200  million  bushels  of  wheat  grown  in  India 
of  which  one-tenth  is  exported;  and  besides  the  wine  crop  here  given 
the  Cape  produces  4l/J  million  gallons,  and  Madena,  Canaries,  etc.,  5 
millions. 


FOOD  OF  ALL  NATIONS. 


Countries. 


Australia. 


Grain  per  inhabi- 
tant. 


River  Pintle 

Algeria. . 


General  average 


Meat  per  inhabitant. 


Liquor  per  inhabi- 
tant. 


Wine. 

IA 

c . 

tion 

j 

a 

c 

0 

IA 

X 

1A 

X 

6 _ 

C r 

c 

0 

~r. 

be 

r*.  - 
3-5 
■g  3 

b 

Consump 

Bushels 

Surplus 

Bushel 

Deficit 

V 

x 

Ui 

C 

U <A 

ax 

'O  — 

0 

u 

Oh 

a • 
Ex 

3 — 

c 

0 

O 

Surplus, 

Z 

VC 

a 

I Gallons  p 
1 duction 

0 C 

: c. 

■3  | 

O 5 

■5 

be 

& 

I 

0. 

tr. 

4S.10 

40.66 

7-44 

171.00 

120.00 

51.00 



0.40 

0.60 

7.30 

'.52 

1 1.90 

20.02 

— 

s. 

12 

7S.26 

1 19. 10 

— 

10.84 

— 

0.51 

32.18 

0.90 

19.94 

24.02 

— 

4 

oS 

68.06 

8 ,S8 

— 

13.82 

17.S0 

1S.60 

S-*5 

0 SS 

21.15 

23-71 

- 

2 

56 

66.63 

84.51 

— 

17.8s 

2.10 

3.20 

19.44 

'■35 

20.22 

'7-97 

2-25 

— 

59-34 

54.05 

5.29 

— 

0,02 

0.03 

0.65 

1.30 

14.35 

'3-57 

0.78 

— 

5S-'o 

56,03 

— 

0.93 

7-55 

7.50 

6.25 

0.60 

9-45 

9.62 

— 

O 

‘7 

21.54 

20.80 

0.74 

— 

*3-44 

22.57 

0.75 

O 3O 

'798 

17.68 

0.30 

— 

26.00 

2504 

0.96 

— 

15.40 

12.50 

0.25 

17.25 

22.S4 

— 

5 

59 

37,6o 

57.10 

— 

19.50 

— 

0.72 

30.70 

2. So 

12.50 

l6.25 

— 

3 

75 

80.75 

4S.40 

32  35 

— 

0.76 

8-75 

» 90 

30.83 

5-97 

— 

125.S0 

58.15 

67.65 

— 

— 

0.25 

12.50 

4 20 

' ' -75 

12.05 

- 

O 

3° 

72.SO 

51.10 

21.70 

— 

— 

0.25 

5-40 

4.20 

7.14 

8-33 

— 

1 

>9 

28.82 

25.20 

3.62 

— 

20.42 

lO.fo 

“ 

O 20 

7-5° 

6.66 

0.84 

— 

45.00 

15  00 

— 

— 

2.00 

I. So 

— 

O.  IO 

21.10 

■4-59 

6.51 

— 

790.00 

120.00 

^70. 00 

— 

075 

1.30 

? OO 

'•36 

40.30 

38." 

2.19 

— 

'53-00 

120.00 

3 3 00 

— 

7“ 

0.1  1 

? OO 

0 30 

2.02 

2.02 

- 

— 

1 183.00 

2a). 00 

9S3.OO 

— 

0.3.1 

6.20 

2.00 

0.25 

4-95 

1.65 

— 

88.00 

66  in 

22.00 

— 

3.10 

2 95 

? on 

O.  IO 

20.23 

20.19 

0.04 

- 

77.00 

0S.S7 

s.13 

6.56 

6.51 

S.02 

1 .06 

•The  total  length  of  telegraphs  in  1S70  was  3137650;  in  i8So,  604,010,  an  increase 
of  about  </)  per  cent,  in  the  decade. 


690 


AGRICULTURE,  POPULATION,  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  ALL  NATIONS 


AGRICULTURAL  AND  PASTORAL  INDUSTRIES 
OF  THE  WORLD. 


Countries. 

Grain  Cultivation 

Pastoral  Farming. 

Acres  under 
Grain, 
ooo’s  sup  • 
pressed. 

Acres  per 
Adult  Male. 

Bushels  per 

Acre. 

Horn’d  Cat- 

tle. 

coo's  are 

suppressed. 

Sheep. 

ooo’s  are 

suppressed. 

I Horn’d  Cat. 

pr.  100  inh’s. 

Sheep  per 
iooinhab’ts. 

United  States 

102500 

10.25 

23-3° 

335°° 

38000 

67 

76 

Grea  Britain 

11260 

1.63 

36.40 

9912 

32174 

29 

93 

France 

40300 

5 -45 

18.50 

11315 

23674 

3° 

64 

Germany 

43200 

4-75 

22.05 

15S00 

25200 

35 

55 

Russia 

158000 

9-95 

10.25 

2S000 

64000 

35 

80 

Austria 

37300 

4.78 

15.04 

13131 

21418 

33 

55 

Italy 

19560 

3-43 

13. So 

3490 

7150 

12 

25 

Spain 

25000 

7-5° 

12.20 

1SS0 

14000 

9 

84 

Belgium 

2910 

2.65 

32.72 

1242 

586 

22 

10 

Holland 

'73° 

2.l6 

28.S0 

1466 

941 

37 

24 

Denmark .... 

2670 

6.70 

27.72 

1348 

1720 

6S 

ss 

Sweden  and  Norway. 

4380 

3-37 

17.80 

3205 

3276 

49 

50 

Portugal 

*57° 

2.84 

1 1.64 

S23 

2417 

12 

55 

Greece 

6lO 

2.90 

15.20 

58 

2100 

3 

130 

Australia 

3400 

6.10 

17.10 

7879 

65914 

2S7 

2402 

Canada  

8500 

9.90 

20.00 

2702 

3331 

63 

77 

River  Platte 

330 

0.60 

I9.OO 

1885O 

76000 

630 

25S0 

South  Africa 

600 

2.40 

9.90 

1730 

1 1700 

130 

S9O 

The  World 

464820 

6.44 

17.02 

ISS703 

393601 

43 

109 

Note  — During1  the  period  from  1870  to  1880  the  agricultural  wealth  of 
the  world  increased  8. 58  per  cent. 


INCREASE  OF  POPULATION  SINCE  1870. 


Countries. 

Populr  tion  in 
1S70, 

In  thousands. 

Excess  Births 
over  Deaths, 

In  thousands. 

Net  Emigra- 
tion, 

In  thousands. 

Net  Immigra- 
tion, 

In  thousands. 

| Population  ill 
18S0, 

! In  thousands. 

Increase 

In  thousands. 

Ratio  of  In- 
crease. 

2,192 

^oic;2 

Great  Britain 

31205 

4265 

965 

34505 

3300 

'0.57 

612 

5288 

03*7 

Russia  ( Europe) 

73725 

6565 

130 

So  160 

6435 

8-73 

216S 

*1103 

16551 

386 

305 

16632 

81 

0.50 

Belgium 

5052 

527 

40 

5619 

567 

11.23 

3574 

452 

60 

3960 

386 

Sweden  and  Norway... 

6028 

724 

202 

6550 

522 

8.66 

1785 

223 

44 

1964 

179 

10.03 

. 

Turkey,  etc 

23648 

16,5 

1.205 

24088 

440 

2.01 

Australia 

1829 

45° 

584 

2863 

1034 

56.50 

Canada  

3763 

307 

228 

4298 

535 

14-23 

582 

South  America 

24700 

516 

270 

25483 

786 

3.18 

The  World 

375129 

3033' 

41172s 

36599 

9 7b 

CONSUMPTION  OF  COTTON,  WOOL,  FLAX, 
JUTE,  ETC. 


Countries 

| Cotton, mill- 

| ion  lbs. 

Wool, mill- 

«7 

£> 

C 

0 

Flax,  jute, 

etc.,  million 

lbs. 

Total, mill- 

ion  lbs. 

Increase, 

mill.  lbs. 

1S70 

1SS0 

1870 

1SS0 

1870 

18S0 

00 

N 

O 

18S0 

United  States 

530 

911 

204 

258 

54 

23 

788 

1 192 

404 

Great  Britain 

1 101 

1404 

342 

401 

660 

766 

2103 

2571 

468 

France 

210 

270 

292 

350 

360 

402 

862 

1022 

160 

Germany 

26S 

390 

155 

265 

226 

305 

649 

960 

3” 

Russia 

93 

133 

130 

■65 

170 

220 

393 

5'S 

1*5 

Austria 

103 

130 

7° 

80 

9° 

95 

263 

305 

4* 

Italv 

55 

90 

30 

34 

iS 

25 

IOO 

149 

49 

Spain 

60 

76 

35 

40 

14 

26 

109 

142 

33 

Belgium 

36 

48 

94 

105 

146 

.48 

276 

3°1 

25 

Holland 

1 1 

■3 

6 

7 

5° 

55 

67 

75 

8 

Scandinavia 

20 

25 

23 

23 

17 

19 

60 

67 

7 

Switzerland,  Greece,  etc. . . . 

78 

70 

20 

20 

s 

20 

I l6 

IIO 

British  Colonies,  etc 

7° 

i°5 

30 

35 

So 

5° 

'5° 

190 

40 

The  World 

2635 

3665 

'431 

1 ^ 

00 

1S70 

2154 

5936 

7602 

1666 

Note.  - During  the  period  from  1870  to  1SS0  the  increase  in  the  manu- 
factures of  the  world  was  18.60  per  cent. 

MANUFACTURES  OF  ALL  NATIONS  IN  MILLIONS 
OF  DOLLARS,  IN  1870  AND  1880. 


Countries. 

Textiles. 

Hardware. 

Ifi 

.0) 

*0 

e 

c 7. ; 

3 

5 

Increase. 

1870 

1SS0 

#| 

18S0 

1870 

18S0 

1S70 

18S0 

United  States 

428 

559 

268 

53° 

2622 

3230 

33 'S 

4319 

1001 

Great  Britain 

944 

1036 

603 

754 

1576 

1S97 

3123 

36S7 

564 

France 

6is 

652 

156 

199 

1362 

iqc8 

2136 

2359 

223 

Germany 

34' 

462 

199 

3O2 

1 1 19 

13H 

■659 

2078 

419 

Russia 

219 

263 

SS 

73 

720 

778 

99' 

1 1 14 

117 

Austria 

156 

175 

49 

73 

6S0 

754 

891 

1002 

in 

Italy 

88 

122 

'9 

24 

394 

4'4 

5°i 

560 

59 

Spain 

83 

107 

24 

29 

268 

292 

375 

428 

53 

Belgium 

136 

146 

44 

63 

175 

204 

355 

4>3 

58 

Holland 

24 

29 

10 

'5 

146 

l6l 

:So 

205 

»5 

Norway  and  Sweden.. 

34 

34 

24 

34 

199 

219 

. 257 

287 

3° 

SwitzerPd,  Greece,  etc. 

24 

24 

‘S 

*5 

3S4 

345 

423 

384 

British  Colonies 

I46 

165 

68 

97 

97 

I46 

3” 

40S 

97 

The  World 

324' 

3774 

■537 

220S 

974s 

11262 

14526 

>7244 

2751 

* Annexation  of  Bosnia. 


INCREASE  OF  COMMERCE  AND  BALANCE  OF  TRADE 


Countries 


United  States 

Great  Britain 

France  

Germany 

Russia 

Austria 

Italy 

Holland 

Belgium 

Spain  and  Portugal. . 
Norway  and  Sweden 
Turkey,  Greece,  etc. . 

Australia 

Canada 

South  Africa 

India 

West  Indies 

South  America 


The  World 


Guoss  Trade. 

Average  of 

Ten  Years. 

Current  of  Bullion. 

ooo’s  are 
suppressed, 
i Syr. 

ooo’s  are 
suppressed. 
1SS0. 

ooo’s  arc 
suppressed. 

Imports. 

1S7C. 

Exports. 

1SS0. 

Surplus  Im- 
ported 
since  1S70. 

Surplus  Ex- 
ported 
since  1S70 . 

837,000 

1,464,000 

627,000 

535.°°°,°°° 

589,000,000 

241,304,000* 

2,661,155 

3,336.580 

675,425 

i,vSo^,oi5,ooo 

1 ,35M7°>0°o 

122,476,375 

1,211,385 

i,6i5,iSo 

i,S6S,i6o 

403,795 

758,840,000 

671,370,001 

662,61  5,000 

'>3'3,5S° 

554.610 

817,320,000 

773.535,°°° 

> 

535.15° 

929,215 

394,065 

301,650,0^0 

272,440,000 

98,759,5°° 

408,600 

6Si,ioo 

272,500 

350,375,000 

320,090,000 

6, Si  1,000 

360,010 

467,040 

564,335 

107,030 

248,1 15,000 

228,655,000 

. 

2,529,So  1 

345, +1° 

218,925 

238,385,000 

189,735,°°° 

51,569,000 

3' ',36° 

5°5,9S5 

194,595 

248,1 15,00 . 

104,600,000 

221,746,700 

199.465 

248,115 

48,650 

1 16,760,00:) 

107,030,000 

209,195,00  > 
18,487, coo 

201,300 

4OS,6O0 

267,575 

306,485 

432.985 

63,275 

155.380.000 

126.490.000 

199.465.000 

121,630,000 

1 1 1 ,S95,oco 
'S9, 735, 000 

277.3°5 

155, 6S0 

225.970,25o 

100,450 

170,270 

9,S2o 

87,570,000 

72,975,000 

5..-94,7oo 

38,920 

82,710 
4S  1,635 

43,79° 

19,460,000 

24,325,000 

9.121,875 

4i3.525 

6S,  1 10 

170,270^000 
48,650,00 ) 

277,305,002 

335,052,55° 

9M10 

102,160 

9,720 

48,650,000 

2,091,650 

4i3,525 

437,850 

24,325 

20  5,300,000 

223»790.ooo 

3S1.902.500 

10,192,150 

13,961,350 

3,871,31s 

6,430,930,000 

5,769,230,000 

1,632,353.15° 

962, SS  ,750 

* Down  to  iSTSthe  United  States  had  exported  $379,465,000,  but  in  the  years  1879  and  1SS0  the  net  importation  was  about  $138,166,000.  On  the 
other  hand  great  Britain  no  longer  imports  bullion,  but  exported  $34,055,000  since  1879. 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  COINS  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES  AND  CHANGES  IN  COINAGE. 


Gold  Coins  Authorized  by  Law. 


Double-eagle  March  3,  1849 

Eagle,  April  2,  1792 

Eagle,  June  28,  1834  

Eagle,  January  18,  1837 

Half-eagle,  April  2,  1792 

Half-eagle, June  28,  1834.-4. 

Half-eagle,  January  18,  1S37 

Three-aollar  piece,  Feb.  21,  1853.. 

Quarter-eagle,  April  1,  1792 

Quarter-eagle,  June  28,  1834 

Quarter-eagle,  January  18,  1S37 

Dollar,  March  3,  1849 

Silver  Coins. 

Dollar,  April  2,  1792 

Dollar,  January,  1837 


Fine- 

ness. 

Weight 

Grains. 

Total  ain't  coined 
tojan.  30,  1876. 

9~o 

516 

. $765,656,74°  00 

916  y3 

270 

1 

890  Yx 

258 

V . . 56,651,12000 

900 

25° 

) 

si6% 

'35 

1 

899  Ti 

129 

> . . 69,344,980  to 

900 

129 

900 

77-4 

...  1,295,56s  00 

916% 

67H 

1 

§9954 

64Af 

r..  26,789,970  00 

900 

64  Vi 

i 

900 

25.8 

....  19. 343,2 iS  00 

892.4 

4l6 

t 

9)0 

412*4 

( . . 8,045,83s  CO 

[Coinage  Discontinued  by  act  of  February  12,  1873.] 


Trade  Dollar,  February  12,  1873.  .. 

Half-dollar,  April  2,  1792 

Half-dollar,  January  iS,  1837 

Half-dollar,  February  21.  1853 

Half-dollar,  February  12,  1S73 

Quarter-dollar,  April  2,  1792 
Quarter -dollar,  January  18,  1837... 
Quarter-dollar,  February  21,  1853.. 
Quarter-dollar,  February  13, 1873.. 
Twenty -cent  piece,  March  3,  1675. 

Dime,  April  2,  1792 

Dime,  January  18,  1837 

Dime,  February  21,  185.; 

Dime,  February  12,  1873 

Half-dime,  April  2,  1792 

Half-dime,  January  18,  1837 

Half-dime,  February  21,  1853 


900 

420 

892.4 

20S 

900 

20614" 

900 

192 

9CO 

192.9* 

892-4 

104 

900 

i°354 

900 

9° 

900 

</i'4S 

900 

77.16 

892.4 

41 .6 

900 

4154 

900 

384 

900 

38.58 

892.4 

20.8 

900 

20% 

900 

19.2 

15,4*8,450  00 

1 

1 

r ..  109,123,190  5° 


27,189,946  5° 
J (61/  grams) 

(5  grms)269,4i8  co 

! 

[..  14,086,71630 

J grams) 

i . . 4,906,946  90 


[Coinage  discontinued  by  act  of  February  12,  1873.] 


Threc-cent  piece,  March  3,  1850. I 75°  ,2H  I I 

Three-cent  piece,  March  3.  1 853 ...  [ 900 11.9  it.  1,181,850  *3 

* The  half-dollar  authorized  by  the  law  of  February  12,  1873,  weighs 
1 2 V4  grams,  and  equals  half  the  value  of  the  five-franc  pieces  of  France, 
Belgium  and  Switzerland,  the  five-lire  of  Italy,  five-peseta  of  Spain, 
five-drachma  of  Greece,  and  equals  the  florin  of  Austria. 


COIN  MINTED  SINCE  1870. 


Countries. 

Gold. 

Silver. 

Total. 

39!,146,000 

197,5  >9.003 
I53»5°I,°oo 
424,228,000 

■52,858,300 

31,622,500 

Australia 

133.301,000 

526,879,500 

102.651.500 

72.975.000 
93,894.5°° 

48.650.000 
46,217,500 

973,000 

39,596,250 

10.216.000 

114.327.500 

22.379.000 
184,870,000 

156,409,75° 

121,630,0:0 
SO, 27 2 50O 

2 V 1,304,350 

1 70,2S<),000 
126,490,000 
39-353.000 
47,185,650 
20,919,000 
,2b543.5°° 
27.73°.5°o 

185,356,50° 

Italv 

Norway  and  Sweden 

Mexico,  Peru,  etc 

Japan  

7.589,400 

l(),703,000 

10,216,000 

5,35'.5°° 

.486,50° 

The  World 

1 ,02  1 ,557/>50 

021,231,050 

2,542.788,700 

PRECIOUS  METALS,  PRODUCTION  SINCE  1870. 


Countries. 

Gold. 

Silver. 

Total. 

383,363,000 
337to3i,ooo 
24,325,000 
-•  \ L 520,1  mo 

321 8.874.000 

374.605.000 
72,975,000 

712,236,000 
*32^3  *»ooo 

398,9  ?o,ooo 
306,495,000 

Australia  

Mexico,  Peru,  etc 

Russia,  etc 

The  World 

978,83.8,00° 

776,454,000 

!, 755, 202 ,030 

Production  of  Iron  and  Steel  Works  in  United  States. 


Iron  ani>  Stkki.  Products. 

Census  year 

i"... 

Census  year 
1870. 

Pig  iron  and  castings  from  furnace 

Net  Tons. 
3,781,021 

Net  Tons. 

All  products  of  iron  rolling  mills.,.. 

2,553.24'' 

',141,824 

Bessemer  steel  finished  products 

889,890 

19.403 

Open-hearth  steer  finished  products 

93, '43 

28,061; 

Crucible  steel  finished  products 

7°,3>9 

4,95° 

2.*S5 

Product*  of  forges  and  blomurics 

72.557 

IIO,8o8 

7,265,  M° 

.4.655.215 

692 


THE  FINANCIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


THE  FINANCIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


From  Washington  to  Hayes,  Showing  the  Public  Debt,  Gross  Revenues,  Expenditures,  Imports  and  Exports. 


Y’r 

President 

Public 

Debt. 

Revenues 

Expend- 

itures. 

Exports. 

Imports. 

Y’r 

President. 

Public 

Debt. 

Revenues. 

Expendi- 

tures. 

Exports. 

Imports. 

17S9 

Washingt’n 

iS37 

VanBurcn.. . 

1,878,223 

27,883,853 

37,265,037 

117,419,3/6 

1 40,989,2 1 7 

I790 

Washington 

20,205,156 

23,000,000 

1S3S 

VanBuren... 

4-s57,66o 

39,019,382 

39,455,437 

I08,486,6l6 

113,717,404 

1791 

Washingt’n 

75,463,476 

I0,2I0,02£ 

7,207,539 

19,012,041 

29,200,000 

1S39 

VanBuren.. . 

h,983,737 

33,881,242 

37,614,936 

121,088,416 

162,092,132 

1792 

Washingt’n 

77,227,924 

8,740,766 

9, >41,569 

2o,7S3,o9S 

31,500,000 

1S40 

VanBuren. . 

5,125,077 

25,032,193 

28,226,533 

132,085,936 

107,641,519 

1793 

Washingt’n 

80,382,634 

5,720,624 

7,529,575 

26,109,572 

31,000,000 

1S41 

W.  Harrison 

6,737,398 

30,519,477 

31,797,530 

121,851,803 

>27,946,177 

>794 

Washingt’n 

78,427,404 

10,041,101 

9,302,124 

33,026,233 

34,000,000 

1842 

J.  Tyler 

15,028,486 

34,773,744 

32,936,876 

104,691,531 

100,152,087 

>795 

Washingt’n 

8o,747.S87 

9,419,802 

>0,435,069 

47, 9S9.472 

69,756,268 

1S43 

J.  Tyler 

27,203,45° 

20,7S2,4IO 

12,118,105 

84,346,450 

64,753,799 

1796 

Washingt’n 

83.762.>72 

8,740,329 

8,367,776 

67,064,097 

8i,  436,164 

18+4 

J.  Tyler 

24,74s,  1 SS 

3i,'98,55S 

33,642,0  m 

I I 1,200,046 

108,435,035 

>797 

Tohn  Adams 

82,064,479 

8,758,916 

8,626,01 2 

56,850,206 

75»379>4°6 

1845 

J.  K.Polk... 

17,093,794 

29,941,853 

30,490,408 

1 14,646,606 

"7,254,564 

1798 

John  Adams 

79,228,529 

8,209,070 

s, 613, 517 

61,527,097 

6S,  55i,7co 

1846 

J.  K.  Polk. . . 

16,750,926 

29,699,967 

27,632,282 

113,488,516 

121,691,797 

>799 

Tohn  Adams 

7S,40S,6C9 

12,621,459 

11,077,043 

78,665,522 

79,089,148 

1S47 

J.  K.  Polk... 

38,956,623 

55,338,168 

60,520,851 

1 58,648,622 

146,545,638 

1S00 

Tohn  Adams 

S2,976,294 

12,451,184 

>1,989,7 39 

70,970,780 

91, 252,76s 

1S4S 

J.  K.Polk... 

4S, 526,379 

56,992,479 

60,655,143 

154,032,131 

154,998,928 

1S01 

T.  Jefferson. 

83,038,050 

>2,945,455 

12,273,376 

94,115,925 

”1,363,513 

1S49 

Z.  Taylor.... 

64,704,693 

59,796,892 

56,386,422 

145,755,820 

i47,S57,439 

1 So  2 

T.  Jefferson. 

SO,7l2,632 

>5,o°>,39i 

13,276,084 

72,483,160 

76,333,365 

1S50 

M.  Fillmore. 

64,22S,23S 

47,649,38S 

44,004,718 

151,898,790 

178,138,318 

1S03 

T.  Jefferson. 

77,054.686 

I 1,064,097 

11,258,983 

55,Soo,oS3 

64,666,613 

1851 

M.  Fillmore. 

62,560,395 

52,762,704 

48,476,104 

218,388,011 

216,224,932 

1S04 

T.  Jefferson. 

86,427,120 

>1,835,840 

12,624,646 

77,699,074 

iS5,ooo,ooo 

1852 

M.  Fillmore. 

65,131,692 

49,893,115 

46,712,608 

209,658,366 

212,945,442 

1 805 

T.  Jefferson. 

82,312,150 

13,689,508 

>3,727,>24 

95,566,021 

1 20,600,000 

1853 

F.  Pierce. . . . 

67,340,62s 

61,500,102 

54,577,061 

230,976,157 

267,97s, 647 

l806 

T.  Jefferson. 

75,723,270 

i5,6oS,S28 

15,070,093 

101,536,963 

129,410,000 

1S54 

F.  Pierce.  . . 

47,242,206 

73,802,291 

75,473,119 

27S,24I,064 

304,562,381 

lS07 

T.  Jefferson. 

69,2lS,398 

16,398,019 

I 1,292,292 

ioS,343,i5i 

138,500,000 

'S55 

F.  Pierce  . . . 

39,969,73' 

65,351,374 

66,164,775 

275,156,846 

261,468,520 

1S08 

T.  Jefferson. 

65, >96, 3>7 

17,062,544 

16,704,584 

22,430,960 

56,990,000 

1856 

*F.  Pierce. . . 

31,972,537 

74,056,899 

73,185,644 

326,964,908 

314,639,942 

1809 

J.  Madison. 

57,023, 192 

7,773,473 

13,867,226 

52,203,333 

59,400,OOC 

iS57 

J.  Buchanan. 

28,699,S3  I 

68,969,2 1 2 

71,071,713 

362,960,608 

360,890,141 

1S10 

J.  Madison . 

53, >73, 217 

12,144,206 

>3,3>9,9S6 

66,657,970 

85,406,000 

185S 

J.  Buchanan. 

44,91 i,8Si 

70,372,665 

81,690,521 

324,644,421 

282,613,150 

1811 

J.  Madison. 

48,005,587 

> 4, 43 >,83S 

13,601,800 

61,316,883 

53,400,000 

1S59  J . Buchanan . 

58,496,837 

81,758,557 

83,756,020 

356,789,461 

338,768,130 

1812 

J.  Madison. 

45,209,737 

22,639,032 

22,279,121 

38,527,236 

77>O3O,OO0 

i860  J.  Buchanan . 

64,842,287 

76,841,407 

76,984,84s 

400,122,297 

362,166,254 

1813 

J.  Madison. 

55,962,827 

40,524,844 

39,190,520 

27,855,927 

22,005,000 

1S61 

A.  Lincoln. . 

90,580,873 

83,371,640 

85,283,744 

243,97',277 

335,650,153 

1814 

J.  Madison. 

81,487,846 

34,559,536. 

3S,028,230 

6,927,44' 

12,965,007 

1S62 

A.  Lincoln. . 

524,176,412 

581,679,915 

570,859,141 

210,688,675 

2oS,77',729 

1815 

J.  Madison. 

99,833,660 

50,961,237 

39,582,493 

52,557,753 

1 13,041,200 

1863 

A.  Lincoln. . 

1,119,772,138 

889,379,652 

$95,822,360 

241,997,474 

252,919,920 

1816 

J.  Madison. 

>27,334,933 

57,>7>,42> 

48,244,495 

81,920,452 

i47>i°3>°4° 

1864 

A.  Lincoln. . 

1,815,784,370 

1,392,500,716 

1,295,894,656 

243,977,589 

329,562,895 

1817 

J . Monroe . . 

>23,491,965 

33,833,592 

40,877,646 

87,671,560 

99,250,000 

1865 

A.  Lincoln. . 

2 ,6So, 647,869 

1,805,939,345 

1,907,171,366 

2oi,S58,372 

248,555.652 

1818 

J.  Monroe 

103,466,633 

21,593,936 

35.104,875 

93,281,133 

121,750,000 

1S66 

A. Johnson . . 

2,733,236,173 

1,270,884,173 

1,141,072,776 

420,161,476 

44S,5'2,isS 

1819 

J.  Monroe. . 

95,529,648 

24,605,665 

24,004,199 

70,141,501 

87,125,000 

1S67 

A.  Johnson.. 

2,67s,  126, 103 

1,131,060,920 

',093,070,655 

43S, 577.312 

417,833,575 

1820 

J.  Monroe. 

91,015,566 

20,881,493 

21,763,024 

69,661,669 

74,450,000 

186S 

A.  Johnson.. 

2,611,687,851 

',030,749,516 

1,270,884,173 

454,30i,7i3 

371,624,80s 

1821 

J.  Monroe. 

89,987,427 

19,573,703 

19,090,572 

64,974,382 

62,585,724 

1869 

U.  S.  Grant.. 

2,588,452,213 

609,62I,82S 

5S4.777.996 

413,961,115 

437,314,255 

1S22 

J.  Monroe. . 

93,546,676 

20,232,427 

>7,676,5 92 

72,160,281 

83,241,541 

1870 

U.  S.  Grant.. 

2,480,672,427 

696,729,973 

702,907,842 

499,092,143 

462,377,587 

1S23 

J.  Monroe. . 

90,875,877 

20,540,666 

>5, 3'4,'7> 

74,699,030 

77,579,267 

1871 

U.  S.  Grant.. 

2,353,211,332 

652,092,468 

691,680,858 

562,518,651 

54 '.493, 70S 

1S24 

J.  Monroe. . 

90,269,777 

24,381,212 

3 ',898,538 

75,986,657 

89,549,007 

1S72 

U.  S.  Grant.. 

2,253,251,32s 

679,153,921 

682,525,270 

549,2i9,7i8 

640,338,766 

1S25 

I.  Q.  Adams 

83,788,432 

26,840,85s 

23,585,804 

99,535>3S8 

96,340,075 

1873 

U.  S.  Grant.. 

2,234,482,933 

548,669,221 

524,044,597 

£07,088,496 

663,617,147 

1826 

J.  Adams 

81,054,059 

25,260,434 

24,103,398 

77,595,322 

84,974,477 

1S74 

U.  S.  Grant.. 

2,251,690,46s 

728,751,291 

709,19s,  933 

654,913,445 

595,861,248 

1827 

1.  CL  Adams 

73,987,357 

22,966,363 

22,656,764 

82,324,727 

79,484,068 

1S7S 

U.  S.  Grant.. 

2,232,284,531 

675,971,607 

682,000,885 

605,574,853 

553,906,153 

1S2S 

J.  Q.  Adam. 

67,475,043 

24,763.629 

25,459,479 

72,264,6S6 

88,509,824 

1876 

U.  S.  Grant.. 

2,180,395,066 

691,551,673 

714,446,357 

596,890,973 

476,677,871 

1S29 

A.  Jackson. 

58,421,413 

24,827,627 

2S,o44,35S 

72,358,671 

74,492,527 

1S77 

R.  B.  Hayes. 

2,205,301,392 

630,278,167 

565,299,89s 

658,637.457 

492,097,540 

1S30 

A.  Jackson. 

48,565,406 

24,844,116 

24,585,281 

73,849,505 

70,876,920 

1S7S 

R.  B.  Hayes. 

2,256,205,892 

662,34  5, 0S0 

590,641,271 

728,605,891 

466,872,846 

1 S3 1 

A.  Jackson . 

39,123,191 

2S,526,820 

30,038,446 

81,310,583 

103,191,124 

1879 

R.  B.  Hayes. 

2,245,495,072 

1 ,066,634,827 

966,393,692 

735,436,SS2 

466,073,77  s 

1S32 

A.  Jackson. 

24,322,235 

31,865,561 

34,356,69s 

87,176,943 

101,029,266 

18S0 

R.  B.  Hayes. 

2,143,260,917 

545,340.713 

700,233,238 

8S2,78i,577 

760,989,056 

>833 

A. Jackson. 

7,001,032 

33,94S, 4 26 

24, 2S7.29S 

90,140,443 

108,118,311 

1SS1 

J.A.Garfield 

2,120,415,370 

486,949,423 

438,281,819 

921,784,193 

753,240,125 

>834 

A. Jackson. 

4,760,0s 1 

2>,79>,935 

24,601,982 

'04,336,973 

126,521,332 

ISS2 

C.  A.  Arthur 

183$ 

A.  Jackson. 

35>.2S9 

35,430,087 

>7,573,'4> 

121,693,577 

149,895,742 

ISS3 

>836 

A.  Jackson. 

2Q 1 .oSo 

50,S26,796 

30.S6S,  164 

I2S,663,040 

iS9,9So,oS5 

* The  figures  given  from  185b  to  1879,  inclusive,  are  from  the  report  of  John  Sherman,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  the  Senate  of  the  U.  S.,  June  10’ 
18S0,  and  can  be  relied  upon  as  correct.  The  amounts  given  under  head  of  Public  Debt,  represent  all  outstanding  principal.  The  cash  in  Treasury 
has  not  been  deducted  from  amount.  % 


4 


A POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


693 


Showing  the  Number  of  Votes  Cast,  both  Popular  and  Electoral,  tor  each  of  the  Candidates  for  President  and  Vice  President,  from  the  Foundation  of  the 
Governmentto  the  Present  Time:  Together  with  an  account  of  the  Number  of  States  Voting  at  Each  Election. 


17S9 


1792 


■70 


15  >35 


'3  s 


1504 

1505 


1S1 2 


1816 


1820 


■3  s 


>7  <76 


18 


176 


218 


19  221 


*4  *35 


824,24  261 


Candidates 

for 

President. 


F. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

A.  F. 
A.  F. 
F. 

A.  F. 
A.  F. 
F. 

A.  F. 

F. 

F. 

K. 

R. 

R. 

F. 
R. 
F. 
R. 
R-  . 
A.  F. 
R. 
F. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

R. 

R. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

R. 

F. 

R. 

F. 

R. 


R. 

F. 


R. 

F. 


R. 

O. 


Geo. Washington . 

John  Adams 

John  Jay. 

R.  H.  iJarrison... 

John  Rutlege 

John  Hancock 

Geo.  Clinton 

S.  Huntingdon... 

John  Milton 

J.  Armstrong 

Benj.  Lincoln 

Edw’d  Telfair.. . . 

Vacancies1 


R. 

C. 

R. 

R. 


Geo.  Washington . 

John  Adams 

Geo.  Clinton 

Thos.  Jefferson.. . . 

Aaron  Burr 

Vacancies® 

John  Adams 

Thos.  Jefferson. . . 
Thos.  Pinckney . . 

Aaron  Burr 

Sami.  Adams 

Oliver  Ellsworth. 

Geo.  Clinton 

John  Jay 

James  Iredell 

Geo.  Washington 

John  Henry 

S.  Johnson 

C.  C.  Pinckney . . . 
Thos.  Jefferson3. . 

Aaron  Burr 

John  Adams 

C.  C.  Pinckney . . . 

John  Jay 

Thos.  Jefferson . . . 
C.  C.  Pinckney. . . 
James  Madison. . . 
C.  C.  Pinckney. . . 
Geo.  Clinton 


Vacancy6.  . . 
James  Madison. 
Dewitt  Clinton. 

V acancy7 .... 

James  Monroe 

Rufus  King.  . 


Vacancies*-. . . . 
James  Monroe. . . 
J.  Adams 


Vacancies*. 


And’ w Jackson10. 

J.  Q.  Adams 

W.  H.  Crawford 
Henry  Clay 


Vacancy11. 


Candidates 

for 

Vice  President. 


Q 3 
•o  c 
• c '3 
Jsc 


s52 

111 
— il 
>4  H ^ 


rt  £ 


v 


> O'Ji 

’Swja 

>7;  ~ 

V.’CTZ 

V 


C >c73 

o *3  - 

■O  y </5  — 

”7)  ^ 2‘5 

I 

U » U 

u <n  o u 

,0  u ts  3 


> o.s'm 

0.5- - 
~0  «£■ 
2:  rt  „ CO 

^ Etc 

C O — 

VI  U 

ir  c 
£ C U*2 
O > .H 
‘-'<5  W r 

^ -r*  • ® 

I w « '55 
. u c y 

Si  ho 

o §-2 

■S  C.O 

1 55.87* 
103,3*1 

44,282 

46.887 


69 


73 


28 


C o 

> u u 

:|5 

<£  c >> 

o x 3^' 
c 

> 3 w 

of  g 

J-Sii 

<u  bc~ 

•g2  c 

S.S.. 


CJ 

° e h . 

=11  ‘ 

o ifl'O 

•-  V yj 

£ ji*  p 

°r|i?  : 

psSii. 

1 3 f-2  ' 

C rt  w 

f3  <—  * 


Geo.  Clinton4 

Rufus  King 

Geo.  Clinton 

Rufus  King 

John  Langaon. . . 
James  Madison. . 
James  Monroe. . . 


E.  Gerry*  . 
J . Ingcrsol . 


D.  D.  Tompkins. 

J.  E.  Howard 

James  Ross 

J.  Marshall 

Robt.  G.  Harper. 


D.  D.  Tompkins. 
Rich.  Stockton. . . 
Dan’l  Rodney  . 
Robt.  G.  Harper 
Richard  Rusn. . 


J.  C.  Calhoun. 
Nathan  Sanford. 
Nat’l  Macon. 
Andrew  Jackson. 
M.  Van  Buren. 
Henry  Clay. ... 


States 

Total  Elect.  V. . 

Party 

Candidates 

for 

President. 

States  

Vote — Popular. 

TT 

0 

c 

Candidates 

for 

\rice  President. 

R 

n 

0 

-1 

£1  i 

< 

IS2S 

2i 

20l 

D. 

Andrew  Jackson.. 

■5 

647, *3" 

■ 7-1 

J.  C.  Calhoun. . . . 

•71  l 

R. 

J.  Q.  Adams 

9 

509.097 

83 

Richard  Rush  ... 

■S3* 

*4 

2SS 

D. 

Andrew  Jackson.- 

>5 

687,932 

219 

M.  Van  Buren.  . . 

■4 

R. 

Henry  Clay 

530,  ■ S9 

49 

John  Sargent 

49 

A M. 

jjohn  Floyd 

1 

I I 

Henry  Lee 

u 

( \Y  m.  YV  irt 

1 

Amos  Ellmaker.. 

7 

Win.  YY’ilkins 

.30  ' 

Vacancies12 

£ 

1S36 

26 

*94 

D. 

M.  Van  Buren.  13 

>5 

76". 549 

17° 

R.  M.  Johnson13  . 

>47 

, YYr.  II . Harrison 

73 

Fr.  Granger 

77 

j Hugh  L.  White 

2 

) . 

26 

John  Tyler 

47 

) Dan’l  YYrcbster.. 

1 

f 736,636 

*4 

Wm.  Smith 

23 

1 XV.  P.  Mangum 

1 

i 

1S4O 

26 

*94 

w. 

YV.  H.  Harrison14 

■9 

1,275.017 

2.34 

John  Tvler 

D. 

M.  Van  Buren... . 

1,128,702 

(0 

R.  M. Johnson. . . . 

L. 

Jas.  G.  Birney 

7.059 

L.  W.  Tazewell . . 

1 1 

Jas.  K.  Polk 

1 

1S44 

26 

*75 

D. 

Jas.  K.  Polk 

■5 

'.337. *43 

170 

Geo.  M.  Dallas  .. 

170 

w. 

Henry  Clay 

1 1 

1,299,068 

«°5 

T.  Frelinghuyscn 

105 

L. 

Jas.  G.  Birney 

62,300 

1S4S 

3° 

290 

w. 

Zach.  Taylor16.  . . 

15 

1,360,101 

163 

M.  Fillimore.  ... 

•63 

I). 

Lewis  Cass 

'5 

1 .**0,544 

127 

Wm.  O.  Butler. . . 

>27 

F.  S. 

M.  Van  Buren  — 

291,263 

Chas.  F.  Adams. 

1852 

31 

2q6 

D. 

Franklin  Pierce.. 

>,601,471 

254 

Wm.  R.  King16 . . 

*51 

W. 

Winfield  Scott.. . . 

4 

>,386,578 

42 

Wm.  A.  Graham. 

42 

F.  D. 

John  P.  Hale 

IC6,I49 

Geo.  YV. Julian... 

■856 

31 

296 

D. 

Jas.  Buchanan .... 

'9 

i.StS.ifx) 

>74 

J.  C.  Breckinridge 

'74 

R. 

J.  C.  Fremont.. . . 

I 1 

M4‘,*64 

114 

Wm.  L.  Dayton.. 

1 '4 

A. 

M.  Fillmore 

1 

874,534 

8 

A.  J.  Donelson. . . 

8 

33 

R, 

1.866.31:2 

H.  Hamlin 

1S0 

D. 

J.C.  Breckenridge 

1 1 

'845,763 

72 

Joseph  Lane 

7* 

c.  u. 

John  Bell 

3 

589,58! 

39 

Edw.  Everett .... 

39 

I.  D. 

S.  A.  Douglas. . . 

2 

',375,' 57 

12 

11.  V.  Johnson  . . . 

12 

1S64 

3" 

314 

R. 

A.  Lincoln17 

22 

2,216,067 

212 

Andrew  Johnson . 

212 

D. 

G.  B.  McClellan.. 

3 

>,SoS,725 

21 

G.  1 1.  Pendleton 

21 

8l 

Si 

1S6S 

37 

317 

R. 

U.  S.  Grant 

26 

3.015.0 71 

214 

Schuyler  Colfax . . 

214 

D. 

Horatio  Sevmour 

S 

*,709,613 

So 

F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.  . .. 

So 

23 

1S72 

37 

366 

R. 

U.  S.  Grant 

i' 

3* 597.07* 

2S6 

Henry  Wilson20. 

2S6 1 

D .iVL. 

1 lorace  Greelev. . . 

6 

2.»34,<>79 

B.  Gratz  Brown . . 

47 

I). 

Chas.  O’Connor. . 

29,40s 

Geo.  W.  Julian. . . 

5 

T. 

James  Black.-. . . . 

5, CoS 

A.  H.  Colquitt. . . 

5 

T.  A.  Hendricks. 

42 

Jno.  M.  Palmer. . . 

.3 

B.  Gratz  Brown.. 

>8 

T.  E.  Bramlcttc. . 

3 

C.  J. Jenkins 

2 

YV.  S.  Grocsbcck. 

1 

1 

XV.  B.  Markin.  . 

1 

1 

>4 

1876 

3S 

K>9 

R 

R.B.  Haves33.. .. 

21 

4,033,295 

•85 

W.  A.  Wheeler. . 

>85 

D. 

S.J.Tilden 

•7 

4, *84, 265 

‘s4 

1 . A.  Hendricks  . 

■84 

G. 

Peter  Cooper.  ... 

81,740 

P. 

G.  C.  Smith..  ... 

9,5** 

iSSc 

3S 

’/« 

R 

Jas.  A ( • irfi<  Id** 

>9 

4.150.9*' 

U*4 

Chester  A .Arthur 

*'■» 

I) 

W.  S.  1 1.mcock. . 

'9 

4,447,888 

'55 

Wm.  II:  English. 

'55 

G 

James  B.  Weaver. 

307,74c 

B.  J.  t himtx 

P 

Neal  Dow  

>0,305 

II.  A.  Thompson 

Scattering 

1,69c 

Note, — jn  the  column  showing  to  which  party  the  various  candidates  be- 
^•d,  we  have  only  used  the  initial  letter:  K stands  for  Federalist:  A.  F.t 

i- Federalist;  R.,  Republican;  O.,  Opposition ; C.,  Coalition;  A.  M.,  Anti 

Mason;  D.,  Democratic;  W.,  Whig;  L.,  Liberty;  1*  .S.,  Free  Soil ; A.,  Ameri- 
can; C.  U.,  Constitutional  Union;  I D , Independent  Democrat;  DAL., 
Democratic  and  Liberal ; 1 . 1 empcranci*;  G., Greenback,  and  P^_Proh>bitjon«_ 


longed, 

Ant 


1 Electoral  votes  not  cast:  Va.,  2 ; Md.,  2. 

2 Electoral  votes  not  cast:  Md.,  2;  Vt.,  1. 

a The  vote  for  Thos.  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr 
being  a tie,  the  election  devolved  upon  the  House 
of  Representatives,  resulting,  on  the  36th  ballot, 
in  the  choice  of  Jefferson  as  President  Burr,  re- 
ceiving the  next  highest  number  of  votes,  was 
declared  Vice  President.  „ . . tt 

4 George  Clinton,  Vice  President;  died  April 
20,  1813. 

8 Electoral  vote  not  cast:  Ky  .,  1. 

* Elbridgc  Gerry,  Vice  President:  died  Nov. 
23,  1813.  . 

7 Electoral  vote  not  cast:  Ohio,  1. 

8 Electoral  votes  not  cast:  Md.,3;  Del.,  t 

i;rs 


° Elect’l  votes  not cast.Miss., 


1 ; Tcnn.,1. 


There  being  no  choice  for  President,  the  elec 
tion  devolved  upon  the  House  of  Representatives, 
a choice  being  made  at  the  first  ballot,  Adams 
receiving  the  vote  of  13  States,  Jackson  7 States, 
and  Crawford  4 States. 

11  Elect’l  vote  not  cast  for  Vice  Pres.:  R.  I.,  1. 

13  Electoral  vote  not  cast:  Md.,  2. 

18  No  candidate  having  received  a majority  of 
the  electoral  votes  for  Vice  President,  the  Senate 
elected  R M.  Johnson,  by  a vote  of  33  to  16  for 
Francis  Granger.  c in 

14  President  Harrison  died  April  4,  1841.  vice 
President  John  Tyler  became  President. 

i®  President  Taylor  died  July  9,  1850.  Vice 
President  Fillmore  became  President. 

>«  W.  R.  King,  Vice  Pres’t;  died  April  18,  1853. 


17  President  Lincoln  assassinated  byj.  Wilkes 
Booth,  April  15,  1865.  Vice  President  Johnson 
became  President. 

1®  Electoral  votes  not  cast:  Nevada,  1;  States 
in  rebellion  So,  viz.:  Ala.  8.  Ark.  5,  Fla.  i,  Ga.  9, 
La.  7,  Miss.  7,  N.  C.  9,  S.  C.  6,Tcnn.  10, Texas 6, 
Va.  10. 

>•  Electoral  votes  not  cast:  Miss.,  71  Texas,  0; 

Jo’Honry  Wilson,  Vice  President;  died  Nov. 

>>  Electoral  votes  thrown  out:  3 of  Ga  for 
Greeley,  thin  deceased ; Ark.  6,  La.  8,  because  of 
double  returns  from  both  States. 

33  Decided  by  an  Electoral  Commission  ap- 
pointed by  Congress. 


-7 


9S  AiMAilnaUd  July  9,  1M1 1 dM  Mpl.  I®,  1M1. 


694  THE  MILITARY  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Showing  all  the  Battles  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  War  of  1 81 2,  Mexican  War,  and  Civil  War  1861-’65. 


THE  PRINCIPAL  BATTLES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


Date. 


J777' 


April  19,  1775. 
May  10, 

June  17, 

Dec.  6-31 

Dec.  9, 

M’ch  17,  1776. 

June  28, 

Aug.  26, 

Sept.  16, 

Oct.  2S, 

Nov.  16, 

Dec.  26, 

Jan.  3, 

July  7. 

Aug.  6,  “ 

Aug.15,16  “ 
Sept,  n,  “ 
Sept.  19.  “ 

Oct.  4,  “ 

Oct.  4-6,  “ 

Oct.  7,  “ 

Oct.  22,  “ 

Oct.  22,  “ 

Nov.  1 6, 

June  28, 

July  2, 

July  3, 

Aug.  29, 

Dec.  29, 

Jan  9, 

March  3, 

June  20,  “ 

July  16,  “ 

Aug.  13,  “ 
Aug.  29,  “ 

Oct.  9, 

May  12,  17S0. 
May  29,  “ 

June  2},  “ 

July  30,  “ 

Aug.  7,  “ 

Aug.  is,  “ 
Aug.  18,  “ 

Oct.  7,  “ 

Nov.  12,  “ 
Nov.  20, 

Jan.  17, 

Feb.  25, 

March  15,  “ 
April  25,  “ 
May -June/4 
June  1-4,  “ 

Sept.  6,  “ 

Sept.  8,  “ 

Oct.  16-19,  “ 


1778. 


J779- 


17S1. 


Names  and  Places  of 
Battles. 


Lexington,  Concord. . . 

Ticonderoga 

Bunker  Hill 

Quebec 

Norfolk,  Va 

Boston 


Charleston  (Ft.  Moultrie.) 

Brooklyn,  L.  I 

Harlem  Plains,  N . Y 


White  Plains,  N.Y, . . . . 
Fort  Washington,  N.  Y. . 

Trenton,  N.  J 

Princeton,  N.  J 

Hubbardton,  Vt 

Fort  Schuyler,  N.Y 

Bennington,  Vt 

Brandywine,  Pa 

Bemis  Heights,  N.Y... 

Germantown,  Pa 

j Forts  Clinton  and  | 

| Montgomery f 

Stillwater  (Saratoga) 

Fort  Mercer,  N.J  

Red  Bank,  N.J 

Fort  Mifflin,  Pa 

Monmouth,  N.J 

Schoharie,  N.  Y 

Wyoming,  Pa 

Quaker  Hill,  R.  I 

Savannah,  Ga 

Sunbury,  Ga 

Brier  Creek,  Ga 

Stony  Ferry,  S.  C 

Stony  Point,  N.  Y 

Penobscot,  Me 

Chemung,  N.  Y 

Savannan,  Ga. . . 

Charleston,  S.  C 

Waxhaw,  S.  C, 

Springfield,  N.J 

Rocky  Mount 

Hanging  Rock,  S.  C.  . . . 
j Camden,  S.  C.  (San-  I 

I der’s  Creek) f 

Fishing  Creek 

King’s  Mountain,  S.  C. 

Fishdam  Ford.  S.  C 

Blockstock’s,  S.  C 

Cowpens,  S.  C 

Battle  of  the  Haw 

Guilford  C.  H.,  N.  C.  ... 

Hobkerk's  Hill,  Va 

Fort  96,  N.  C 

Augusta,  Ga 

New  London,  | n 
Fort  Griswold,  fL  onn--- 

Eutaw  Springs,  S.  C 

Yqrktown,  Va 


COMMANDERS. 


American. 


j Col.  Barret  and  Major  I 

I Buttrick f 

j Col.  Ethan  Allen  and  ( 

"j  Col.  Eaton* j 

j Gens.  Warren,  Pres-  ( 
1 cott,  and  Putnam. . . j 
j Schuyler,  Montgomery,  I 

j and  Arnold. ( 

Col.  Woodford. 

The  British  Evacuate  the 
( Moultrie,  Lee, and  Arm-  f 

) strong* f 

Gens.  Greene  and  Sullivan. 

Washington 

Washington 

Col.  Magaw 

Washington* 

Washington* 

Warner,  Francis  and  Hale. 
J Gen.  Herkimer  and  Col.  I 

j Gansevoort* i 

Gens.  Stark  and  Warner*.. 

Washington 

Gates* 

Washington 

James  Clinton 

Gates* 

Col.  Greene* 

Col.  Greene* 

Major  Thayer 

Washington* 

Col.  Brown* 

Col.  Z.  Butler 

Sullivan* 

Robert  Howe 

Lane 

Gen.  Ashe 

Gen.  Lincoln 

Gen.  Washington* 

Lovell 

Sullivan* 

Lincoln 

Lincoln 

Col.  Abr.  Buford 

Gen.  Greene* 

Sumter 

Sumter* 

Gen.  Gates 

Sumter 

Campbell* 


British. 


Sumter*. 

Sumter* 

Gen.  Morgan  * . . 

Col.  Lee* 

Gen.  Greene 

Gen.  Greene 

Gen.  Greene 

Maj.  Eggleston*. 

Col.  Ledyard 

Gen.  Greene 

Washington*. . . . 


j Col.  Smith  and  Lord  / 
( Percy* ) 

Capt.  Delaplace 


Gens.  Howe  and  Pigot* 

M'Lean  and  Carleton* 

Lord  Dunmore 

City  and  Harbor. 

Gen.  Clinton 

j Gens. Howe, Clinton  and  1 
I Cornwallis* f 


American. 


En 


Howe* 

Gen.  Howe* 

J Lord  Cornwallis  & Col.  ( 

I Rahl ( 

Col.  Mawhood 

Gen.  Frazer* 


Gen.  St.  Leger 

Cols.  Baum  and  Beyman. . , 

Howe* 

Burgoyne 

Howe* 


Sir  H.  Clinton* 

Burgoyne 

Donop 

Sir  William  Howe. 

Gen.  Howe* 

Sir  Henry  Clinton. . 

Indians 

John  Butler* 

Pigot 

Campbell* 

Prevost* 

Prevost* 

Col.  Maitland* 

Clinton 

McLean*.*. 

Brant 

Prevost* 

Clinton* 

Tarleton* 

Gen.  Knyphausen.. 

Turnbull* 

Col.  Brown 


Cornwallis* 

Tarleton* 

Ferguson.  

Wemyss 

Tarleton 

Cornwallis  and  Tarleton. . . 

Col.  Peyle 

Cornwallis* 

Rawdon*. 

Col.  Cruger* 

Col.  Brown 

{ Benedict  Arnold  & Col. 

I Eyre* 

Lord  Rawdon 

Cornwallis 


83 

3,000 


400 


10,000 


1,600 

3,000 

2,400 

3.000 
700 

2.000 
1 1,000 

2,500 

11.000 
600 

8.000 

4So 


400 

12,000 


400 

5.000 
900 
200 

1,200 

Soo 

1,200 

900 

4.000 
4,500 
3>700 

400 

3.000 
600 
600 

3,000 

700 

900 

500 

500 

900 


4,400 

1,200 

1,000 


150 

2,000 

16,000 


Loss. 


50  k.  34  w 

sp. 

. . 450  k.  & w. 
. . 160  k.  & w. 


10  k.  22  w. 

2(ooo  k.  w.  & p. 


300  k.  & w. 

. . . 100  k.  & w. 

...  .2  k.  2 froz. 
. . . 100  k.  300  p. 
...  324  k.  &'  w. 
. . 150  k.  & w. 

200  k.  & w. 

300  k.  600  w*40op. 


152  k.52iw.40op. 


8 k.  28  1 


...  67  k.  160  w. 
...  . 14  k.  10  w. 

Massacre. 

30  k.  132W. 440  m. 
....  100k.  453 p. 


150  k.  162  p. 

I46k.&w.  155  m. 
15  k.  83  w 


113  k.  150W.  53  p. 
13  k.  58  w. 


12  k.  41  w. 


.20  k. 


70  k.  & w. 

none. 

. . . 1 ,300  k.  <fc  w. 
. .266  k.  w.  & m. 
. . 150  k.  w.  & m. 
23  k.  28  w. 

16  k.  10  w.  12  m. 

152  k.355w.4o  m. 
. . . . 300  k.  & w. 


British. 


En 

gag’d 


48 

4, Soo 


4,000 


2,000 

5.000 

1.000 
1,800 
1,200 


1,200 

18,000 

3.000 

15.000 

3.000 

6.000 

2.000 


mix’d 

1,000 


1.000 

5.000 

2.000 
2,000 
1,800 

2.000 
600 

3. 000 
1,500 
2,900 

9.000 


5,000 

500 

500 

2,200 

3»5oo 

1,100 

45o 

400 

1,100 


2,400 

900 

550 


800 

2. 500 

7.500 


Loss. 


65  k.  180  w.  28  p. 
48  p. 


1. os°- 

. 20  k.  & w. 
.62  k.  & w. 


. . . 225  k.  & w. 


400  k. 

. ..18  k.  90  w. 
. 300  k.  & w. 
1,000  k.  & w. 

.36  k.  1,000  p. 


. . . 183  k.  & w. 

unknown. 

200  k.34  w.900  p, 
Soo  k. 


. . . 100  k.  400  w. 


5.79i  P* 

500  R. 

400  k.  & w. 


3Qok.3oow.  loop . 


222  k.  & w. 
. . 20  k.  & w. 


. 100  k.  & w. 

•63  k.  S43  p. 


• 150  P- 


..5  k.  15  w. 
• 3S  k.  50  p. 


.150  k. 


. .Soo  k.  w.  & p. 


.600  k.  & w. 
.25S  k.  & w. 


• -52  k.  334  w. 
. . .52  k.  20  w. 

..187  k.  & w. 

. .693  k.w.  & m. 
7,5ook.w.m.&p. 


The  British  sent  134,000  soldiers  and  sailors  to  this  war.  The  Colonists  met  them  with  230,000  Continentals  and  50,000  militia.  The  British  let 
loose  Indians  and  Hessians.  The  colonies  had  for  their  allies  the  brave  Frenchmen.  The  leading  battles  ot  the  war  particularly  worthy  of 
celebration  are  printed  in  small  capital  letters. 

The  * denotes  the  successful  army;  k.,  killed;  w.,  wounded;  p.,  prisoners;  m.,  missing;  s.,  surrendered. 


CHIEF  COMMANDERS  OF  THE  ARMY. 


The  following  is  a complete  list  of  the  various  officers  who  have  com- 
manded the  army  of  the  United  States  since  the  foundation  of  our  service 
to  the  present  time,  giving  the  rank  held  by  each,  with  the  period  of 
command:  General  and  Commander-in-Chief,  George  Washington, 
June  15,  1775.  to  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  From  that  date  to  Sep- 
tember, 17SQ,  the  army  consisted  of  eight  companies  of  infantry  ana  a 
battalion  of  artillery  (act  of  September,  17S5),  when  Brevet  Brigadier- 
General  Josiah  Harmer,  Lieutenant- Colonel  commandant  of  the  infantry, 
was  assigned,  and  held  until  March,  1791.  Major-General  Arthur  St. 
Clair,  March,  1791,  to  March,  1792,  when  he  resigned.  Major-General 
Anthony  Wayne,  March,  1792,  to  December  15,  1796,  when  he  died  at  a 
hut  on  the  bank  of  Lake  Erie,  in  Pennsylvania,  while  en  route  from 
Maumee  to  the  East.  Brigadier-General  James  Wilkinson,  December 


16,  1796,  to  July  2,  1798.  Lieutenant-General  George  Washington,  July  8, 
179S,  till  his  death,  December  4,  1799.  Brigadier-General  James  Wil- 
kinson (again),  June,  1S00.  to  January,  1812,  when  he  was  promoted  to 
Major-General.  Major-General  Henry  Dearborn,  January,  1812,  to  June, 
1S15,  when  he  was  mustered  out.  Major-General  Jacob  Brown,  June, 
1815,  till  his  death,  February  24,  1828.  Major-General  Alexander 
Macomb,  May,  1828,  until  his  death,  in  June,  1841.  Major-General 
Winfield  Scott,  June  25,  1S41,  to  November  1,  1861,  being  also  Brevet 
Lieutenant-General  from  May,  1S61.  Major-General  Geo.  B.  McClellan, 
November  1,  1S61,  to  March  11,  1862.  Major-General  Henry  W.  Halleck, 
July  23,  1S62,  to  March  12,  1S64.  Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  Grant 
(appointed  General  July  25,  1S66),  March  12,  1S64,  to  March  4,  1S69. 
General  William  T.  Sherman,  March  8,  1S69,  to  present  date. 


6" 


PRINCIPAL  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR  OF  1812. 


695 


Dates. 


Aug.  s,  1S12. 
Aug.  9, 

Aug.  IS, 

Oct  13, 

Oct.  at, 

Jan.  22,  18 
April  27, 

May  5, 

May  27, 

May  27, 

May  29, 

June  8, 

Aug.  2, 

Oct.  5, 

Nov.  11,  “ 
Mar.  30,  1814. 
April  25,  “ 

}u|y  5. 

July  25. 

Aug.  13, 

Aug.  24, 

Sept.  11, 

Sept.  12. 

Sept.  13, 

Sept.  15, 

Sept.  17, 

Dec.  19, 

Dec.  23, 

Jan.  8,  1S15. 


PRINCIPAL  BATTLES  OF  THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 

The  Americans  were  victorious  in  every  battle. 


Dates. 


846. 


May  8, 

May  9, 
Sept.  24,  “ 

Dec.  23,  “ 

Feb.  23,  iS4‘ 
Feb.  28,  “ 

Mar.  27,  “ 

April  18,  “ 

Aug.  20,  “ 

Sept.  8,  “ 

Sept.  13,  “ 

Sept.  14,  “ 

Oct.  9,  “ 


Names  and  Places  of 
Battles. 


Palo  Alto 

Resaca  de  la  Palina. 

Monterey 

Bracite 

Buena  Vista 

Sacramento 

Vera  Cruz 

Cerro  Gordo 

j Contreras 

1 Churubusco 

Moline  del  Key 

Chapultepec 

Mexico 

Huamantha 


COMMANDERS. 


American. 


Taylor 

Taylor 

Taylor 

Doniphan. 

Taylor 

Doniphan. 

Scott 

Scott 

Scott 

Scott 

Worth 

Scott 

Scott 

Dane 


Mexican. 


En- 

gag'd. 


Arista 

Arista 

Ampudia 

Ponce  de  Leon . 

Santa  Anna 

Trias 

Morales 

Santa  Anna. . . . 

Valencia 

San  til  Anna 

Alvarez 

Bravo 

Santa  Anna. . . . 
Santa  Anna 


American. 


2,300 

2.000 
6,600 

500 

4,700 

900 

12.000 
8,500 

4.000 

8.000 

7,200 

6.000 
500 


Loss. 


En- 

gag  M 


4 k.  dr  40  w 

. ...  120  k.  dr  w 
. 120  k.  dr  36S  w 


723  k.  dr  w 


. . 19  k.  d:  w. 
. 500  k.  dr  w. 

Slight. 

. 700  k.  dr  w 
. 7S7  k.  dr  w. 
Slight 


. 24  k.  & w, 


Mexican. 


6.000 

5.000 

10.000 
1,200 

17.000 

4.000 

12.000 

7.000 

25.000 

14.000 

25.000 


1,000 


Loss. 


.500  k.  dr  w. 


. .2,000  k.  St  w. 


.2,000  k.  & w. 
. ..500  k.  dr  \v. 
.2,500  k.  dr  w. 
. . .700  k.  dr  w. 
. . .230  k.  dr  w. 

Heavy. 

. . . Surrender. 
. . . Unknown. 


The  only  naval  engagements  of  importance  during  the  war  with  Mexico  was  the  bombardment  of  V era  Cruz,  Commodore  Connor,  which 
lasted  four  days,  and  tne  city  compelled  to  surrender,  and  the  bombardment  of  Monterey,  by  Commodore  Sloat. 


LENGTH  AND  COST  OF  AMERICAN  WARS. 


Length. 

Cost. 

1.  War  of  the  revolution 

2.  Indian  War  in  Ohio  Ter 

3.  War  with  the  Barbary  States. 

4.  Tecumseh  Indian  War 

7 years — 1775 — 1 782 

^-,804 
181 1 

* 1 35, '93,703 

5.  War  with  Great  Britain 

6.  Algerine  War 

7.  First  Seminole  War 

8.  Black  Hawk  War.. 

9.  Second  Seminole  War 

3 years — 1812—1815 
18.5 

1817 

1832 

■&15 

107,159,003 

10.  Mexican  War 

11.  Mormon  War  . . 

2 years — 1.846 — 1848 

1856 

96,000,000 

t2.  Civil  War 

4 years — 1861 — 1865 

6,500,000,000 

FEDERAL  PRISONERS  RECEIVED  AT  ANDERSONVILLE,  GA. 

First  detachment  of  prisoners  received  Feb.  15,  1S64.  Total  number  of  prison- 
rs  received,  49,485.  largest  number  imprisoned  at  one  date  (Aug.  9.  1804), 
;,oo6. 

Total  No. Deaths}!" 

Average  number  of  deaths  per  month,  for  the  thirteen  months 9|?S 

Largest  number  of  deaths  in  one  day  (Aug.  23,  1864) *>7 

Number  of  escapes 3*8 

PRINCIPAL  DISEASES  RESULTING  IN  DEATH. 


Diarrhoea 

Pneumonia 

Rheumatism 

Scurvy 

• • -3*574 

Debility 

..19s 

V arioloid  . . . 

Dysentery 

...  1 ,648 

Intermit’tdf  remit’t  f* s 

..177 

Gangrene . . 

Unknown 

. . . 1,208 

Gunshot  wounds 

■ • 1 49 

Catarrh 

Anasarca 

• • • 377 

Pleurisy 

. • IOQ 

Ulcer. 

Typhoid  fever..  .. 

. . 22Q 

Bronchitis  

■ 21 

Phthisis 

•63 

.63 

•55 

.51 


INDIAN  WARS. 

1676.  King  Philip’s  War. 

1704.  Deerfield,  Massachusetts,  burned. 

1708.  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  burned.  Capture  and  escape  of  Mrs. 
Hannah  Dustan. 

1713.  The  Tuscaroras  expelled  from  North  Carolina. 

1755.  Brad  dock  defeated  by  the  French  and  Indians. 

1761.  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac. 

177*$.  Massacre  of  Wyoming. 

1794.  Treaty  with  the  Six  Nations. 

1804:  Treaty  with  the  Delawares. 

1813-’ 14.  War  with  the  Creeks  in  Florida. 

1817.  War  with  the  Scminoles. 

1832.  War  with  Black  Hawk.  Stillman’s  defeat  on  Rock  River. 


commission- 


Names  and  Places  of 
Battles. 

COMMANDERS. 

American. 

British. 

American. 

British. 

En- 

gag’d. 

Loss. 

En- 

gag’d 

Loss. 

Brownstown,  Canada. . . 

Van  Horn 

Miller* 

Detroit 

Hull 

* 

Clay* 

1,200 

2,000 

1,000 

1,000 

LaCoell  Mill 

Riall 

6S  k. . 67  w.  & p. 

S4  k. 

S k.  & w. 

Mix’d 

2,500 

6,000 

. . .71  k.  w.  & p. 

12,000 

,835*,42.  War  with  the  Scininoles. 

1837.  Capture  of  Osceola. 

1855.  Defeat  of  the  Rogue  River  Indians.  . 

1856.  War  with  the  Indians  in  Oregon  and  W ashington  Territories. 
1862.  Indian  war  and  massacres  in  Minnesota. 

1864.  (Nov.  29.)  “ Chivington's  massacre  ” near  Fort  Lyon;  over  500 


Indians,  men,  women  and  children  put  to  the  sword. 

1873.  (April  2.)  Gen.  Canby  and  Rev  E.  Thomas,  peace 
ers  trcacnerously  slain  by  the  Modoc*. 

1S73.  (Oct.  it.)  Execution  of  the  Modoc  murderers  ol  Messrs.  < anhy 
and  Thomas — Captain  Jack,  Schonkin,  Boston  Charley  and  Black 

1S76.  (June  25.)  The  command  of  Gen.  Custer  defeated  by  the  Indians 
on  Big  Horn  River,  and  Gen.  Custer  and  the  greater  portion  of 
his  force  slain. 


~7[ 


T»  \ 


696 


PRINCIPAL  BATTLES  OF  THE  LATE  CIVIL  WAR 


Date. 


Names  and  Places  of 
Battles. 


Apr.i2,iS6i 

“ 

June  20 

July  5 


Aug.  10 
Sept.  12-14 


Nov.  7 

“ 7 

“ 8 

Dec.  iS 

Jan.  19,  1862, 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr.  6-7 


May 


June 


July 

Aug. 


*7 


Sept. 


.30 

29-30 


14 

>5 

J7 

19-20 


Oct. 


Dec. 


Jany. 


Feby. 

May 


27-29 

1863 


2-3 


*4 

16 

18*22 


June 


Bombardm’t  Ft. Sumpter 

Riot  Baltimore 

Big  Bethel,  Va 

Carthage,  Mo 

Rich  Mountain,  W.  Va. 
Bull  Run,  Va 

Wilson’s  Creek,  Mo 
Cheat  Mountain,  W.  Va 

Lexington,  Mo 

Ball’s  Bluff,  Va. ... 
Belmont,  Mo 


Pt.  Royal,  S.  C 

Piketon,  Ky 

Milford,  Mo. 

Mill  Spring,  Ky 

Roanoke  Island,  N.  C. 

Ft.  Henry,  Tenn 

Ft.  Donelson,  Tenn.  . . 

Pea  Ridge,  Ark 

Newbern,  N.  C 

Winchester,  Va 

Pittsburg  Land’g,  Tenn, 
Island  No.  10 


Williamsburg,  Va 

Winchester,  Va 

Hanover  C.  H.,  Va 

Corinth,  Minn 

Fair  Oaks,  Va 

Fair  Oaks,  Va 

Cross  Keys,  Va  

Port  Republic,  Va. . . . 
Chickahominy,  Va. . . . 

Gaines  Mills,  Va 

Malvern  Hill,  Va 

Baton  Rouge,  La 

Cedar  Mountain,  Va.  . 

Gallatin,  Tenn 

Kettle  Run,  Va 


Groveton,  Va 

Bull  Run  2nd 

Richmond,  Ky 

Chantilly,  Va 

South  Mountain,  Md.  . 
Harper’s  Ferry,  3 days’ 

siege 

Antietam,  Md.  

Iuka,  Miss  

Corinth,  Miss 

Perry ville,  Ky 


Prairie  Grove,  Ark. 


Fredericksburg,  Va. . . 

Vicksburg 

Stone  River,  Tenn  . 
Fort  Hindman,  Ark.. . , 

Fort  Donelson,  Tenn..  , 

Suffolk,  Va 

LaGrange,  Ark 

Fredericksburg,  Va. . . . 
Chancellorville,  Va 

Jackson,  Miss 

Champion  I lills,  Miss . . 
Big  Black  River,  Miss. 

Vicksburg,  Miss 

Port  Hudson 

Milliken’s  Bend,  Miss. . 

Beverly  Ford,  Va 

Winchester,  Va 

Shelbyvillc,  Tenn 


COMMANDERS. 


Federal. 


Maj.  Anderson 

6th  Regt.  Mass.  Vols. 

Brig.  Gen.  Price 

Col.  Sigel* 

Gen.  McClellan* 


Gen.  Irwin  McDowell. 

Gen.  Lvon* 

Gen.  J.  j.  Reynolds. . 

Col.  Mulligan 

Col.  E.  D.  Baker 

Gen.  Grant* 


j Com. Dupont  & Gen 
1 W.  T.  Sherman*  . f 

Gen.  Nelson*,.  . . 
t Col.J.  C.  Davis  and  / 

) Gen.  Steele* 

Gen.  Thomas* 

j Com.Goldsborough,  I 
j Gen.  Burnside*  . . f 
Surrendered  to  Com 
( Com.  Foote  & Gen.  / 

J Grant* 

Gen.  Curtis* 

Gen.  Burnside* 

Gen.  Shields* 


Gen.  Grant  and  Buell* 
j Com.  Foote  & Gen.  I 

l Pope*  f 

j Gen.  Kearney  and  < 

l Hooker* f 

Gen.  Banks 

Gen.  Morrell* 

Gen.  Halleck* 

Gen.  McClellan 

Gen.  McClellan* 

Gen.  Fremont 

Gen.  Shields 

Gen.  McClellan* 

Gen.  Porter. . 

Gen.  McClellan*  

Gen.  Williams* 

Gen.  N.  P.  Banks* 

Gen.  Johnson 

Gen.  Hooker* 

J Gens.  Hooker,  Sigel,  / 

I Kearney,  Reno*. . \ 

Gen.  Pope 

Gens.  Mason  & Craft*.. 
Gen.  Pope 

Gens.  Hooker  & Reno* 

Col.  Miles 

Gen.  McClellan* 

Gen.  Rosencrans* 

t Gens.Ord,Hurlburt,  { 

I and  Veatch* ) 

Gen.  Buell* 


Gens.  Blunt  and  Heron* 


Gen.  Burnside. 
Gen.  Sherman.. 


Gen.  Rosencrans* 

j Adin.  Porter  & Gen.  I 

I McClernand*. \ 

Col.  Harding 

Col.  Nixon* 

Capt.  DeHuff 

Gen.  Sedgwick 

Gen.  Hooker* 


Gen.  Grant* 

Gen.  Grant* 

Gen.  Grant* 

j Gen.  Grant,  Adml’s.  1 
) Porter  <&Farragut.  1 

Gen.  Banks 

Gen.  Thomas* 


Gens.  Buford  & Gregg. 
Gen.  Milrov 


1 Gen.  Rosencrans* . . 


Confederate. 


Gen.  Beauregard. 


Maj.  Gen.  MacGruder.. 
Price  and  Jackson  . 

Col.  Pegram 

Gen.  Beauregard* 

Gens. Price&  McCulloch 

Gen.  R.  E.  Lee 

Gen.  Price* 

Gen.  Evans* 


KIL'D,  WOUND’D,  PRIS’RS 


Federal.  Confederate. 


Gen.  Drayton. 


Gen.  Zollicoffer 

Gen.  Wise 

Foote, byGen.Tilghman. 
Gen.  Buckner 


Gens.  VanDorn  & Price. 

Gen.  Branch 

Gen.  T.J.  Jackson 
j Gens.  Johnston  and 
I Beauregard.. 

Gen.  Makad 


ind 


Gen.  Longstreet 

Gens.  Ewell  & Johnson* 

Gen.  Branch 

Gen.  Beauregard 

Gen.J.  E.  Johnston*.. .. 

Gen.  J.  E.  Johnston 

Gen.  T.J. Jackson* 

Gen.  T.J. Jackson* 

Gen.  R.  E.  Lee 

Gen.  R.  E.  Let* 

Gen.  R.  E.  Lee 

Gen.J.  C.  Breckcnridge. 

Gen.  Jackson 

Gen.  Morgan* 

Gen.  Ewell 

j Gens.  Jackson  and  I 

I Longstreet j 

Gen.  Lee* 

Gen.  Kirby  Smith* 

Gen.  Lee* ... 

Gen.  Lee 

Gen.  A.  P.  Hill*  .... 


. .no  one  hurt. 

3 k.  7 w. 

16  k.  34  w.  6 m, 
..  ..13  k.  31  w. 
...  1 1 k.  33  w. 
4500  k.  w.p.  28  c. 
481k.  ionw.7oop 
22}k.72IW.292m. 
13  k.  20  w.  60  p. 
-j2k.ioS  w.i624p. 
220  k.266w.5oop. 
84  k.  2SSW.2S5111. 

S k.  23  w.  250  p. 

. . ..6  k.  24  w. 
....2  k.  17  w. 
..39  k.  207  w 
. .50  k.  150  w. 


5 w. 

7 k.  & 8 w. 

no  report. 

250  k.  & w. 

140  k.  150  w. 

....  1852  k.  & w. 

421  k.  1317  w.  3m. 
100  k.  & w.  20  p 

25  k.  75  w, 

36  k.  264  w.  2 p. 
261k.427w.278m. 
' k.  & \v.  no  1 
report  2500  p V 
42gunscapd  ) 
400 k. & w. 2000 p. 


REMARKS. 


446k.  1 735 w.  1 50  p 
. 1351  k.  w.  & m. 

91  k.  466  w 

— 100  k.  400  w 
..1614  k.  7721  w 
3963  m- 


2073  k & W.623P, 
..53  k.  526  m. 


890^3627  W 1 222p 
. 5739  k-  & w. 
. 125  k.  500  w. 
67  k.  361  W.5741T1. 

So  k.  150  w. 

7500  k.  w.  & m. 
1000  k.  w.  & m. 

. . 250  k.  w.  & m. 

. 1500  k.  w.  & m. 
64  k.  100  w.  2oop. 
,Soo  k.  w.  & m. 

. . .6000  k.  & w. 


Gen.  R.  E.  Lee 

Gen.  Price 

j Gens.  Price,  Van-  I 
| Dorn  and  Lovell. . f 
Gen.  Bragg 
Gens.  Hindman 
Marmaduke, 
sons  and  Frost 
Gen.  R.  E.  Lee*. 

Gen.  Johnston*. . 


nan,  1 
, Par-  l 
3St. . . ) 


Gen.  Bragg 

Gen.  Churchill 

Wheeler  and  Forrest.  . . 


Gen.  Longstreet* 

Gen.  R.  E.  Lee 

Gen.  Johnston 

Gen.  Pemberton 

Gen.  Pemberton 


Gen.  Pemberton* 

Gen.  Gardner 

Gen.  McCullough 

Gens.  J.  E.  B.  Stuart  < 
& F.  Hugh  Lee...  f 
Gen.  Ewell* 


Gen.  Bragg 


Sook  4000  w^ooop 
200k.700W.2000p 
. 1300  k.  & w 

443  k.  iSo6\v.76m 
Sok.i2ow.  115S3P 

12500  loss 

••-•135  k.  S27  w. 

3iSk.iSi2\v233m 
3300  k.  w.  & m. 


495  k.  600  w. 

I 1512  k.  6000  / 
'<  w.  2078  p.  f 
191k.9S2w.756m. 

.1533  k.  6000  w. 
. 1000  k.  w.  & m. 

12  k.  20  w. 

130  k.  71SW.  5 m. 
20Q0  k.  w.  & m. 

2000  k.  & w. 

( 15000k.*  w.  | 

1 17000  p f 

40  k.  240  w.  6 m. 
. . .426  k.  1S42  w. 

29  k.  242  w. 

2500  loss. 

. .900  k.  w.  & in. 
127k.2S7w.157m. 
. .3S0  k.  w.  & m. 
2000  k.  w.  & m. 
S5k.  46S  w.  13  m. 


!3°°  P 

....  192  k.  140  p. 
30  k.  50  w.25oop. 

( 23 1 k.  1007  w.  | 

) 150009....  f 

j 1 100  k.  2500  / 

) w.  1600  p.  ) 
50  k.200  w.  200  p. 
000  k.  * \v.  300 p. 
J 1728  k.  8012  I 
| w.  959  m.  j 
17  k.  6300  p. 


( 700  k.  1000  ) 
I w.  300  p.  f 


400  k.  & W.6OO  p. 


. .2800  k.  3897  w. 

8000  k.  & w. 

600  k.  & w. 

1000  k.  w.  & m. 

1000  k.  & w. 
About  the  same. 
. . . .Nearly  5000. 
. .600  k.  w.  & m. 
..1000  k.  1500  w. 

1 10  k.  & w. 

8ook.&  w.iooop. 

1 2000  k.  w.  & m. 

700  k.  3000  w. 
.250  k.  500  w. 
.Soo  k.  & w. 


) 500  k.  2343  | 

I w.  1500  p.  f 
1500  k.  & w. 

15000  loss. 
263  k. 400  w.6oo  p. 
1423  k.  226S  l 
P.  5^  w.  \ 
1300  k.  3000  / 
w.  200  p.  j 

. . 1500  k.  &;w. 


. . . 1800  k.  & 
no  report. 


9000  k.  w.  iooo;p. 
1 55°  & w*  ' 

) 5000  p. . . . 

100k.400w.300j). 
. . 1500  k.  w.  & m. 


j iSoook.&  w.  I 

( 5000  p f 

400  k.  & w. 

400  k.  w.  & m. 
2,600  k.  w.  & in. 


no  report. 

. .600  k.  w.  m. 
. . ..200  k.  500  w. 
. .750  k.  w.  & m. 

. .>850  k.  w.  <£:  m. 
j 1634  p.  no  * 

| rep't.k.&w.  f 


150  p.  and  loss  of  camp, 
j Beauregard’s  report. 
1 Federal 
Gen.  Lyon  killed. 


Col.  Baker  killed. 


70  wagons  with  stores 
and  equipage. 

Gen.  Zollicoffer  killed, 
1200  horses  and  mules, 
100  large  wagons,  and 
2000  inusk’ts  were  capd. 

6 Forts,  65  guns,  17500 
small  arms  captured. 

Gen.  Buckner  captured; 
Gens.  Floyd  and  Pillow 
escaped. 

Gens.  McCulloch,  McIn- 
tosh, and  Slack,  killed. 

6 forts  captured. 

Confed.  report. 


Fed.  retreated. 

2000  p.  and  large  amount 
of  supplies  captured. 
Fed.  were  driven  back. 


Gen.  Williams  killed. 
Confeds.  repulsed. 

Gen.  Johnson  captured. 


Feds,  lost  Gens.  Kearney 
and  Stearns. 

Gen.  Reno  killed. 

Col.  Miles  killed. 


Confed.  repulsed. 


29  cannon  captured. 
17  cannon  captured. 


Cavalry  fight. 


lL 


PRINCIPAL  BATTLES  OF  THE  LATE  CIVIL  WAR.— Continued. 


697 


Dates. 


Names  and  Places  of 
Battles. 


July  12-3 


“ 5 

44  8 
“ 18-19 

Sept.  9 
44  19-20 

>4 
4 

41  23-25 

“ 25 

44  27 

“ 27-30 

1864 

Mar.  25 
8^9 


Gettysburg,  Pa 

Vicksburg  surrenders  . . 

Helena,  Ark 

Bolton,  Miss 

Port  Hudson,  surrender. 

Ft.  Wagner,  S.  C 

Cumberland  Gap 

Chickamauga 


Dec. 


Apr. 

May 


17-20 

5-7 


12-15 

«3*»5 


Bristow  Sta.,  Va 

Knoxville,  Tenn.  

Chattanooga I 

Missionary  Ridge. .. . f 

Ringold,  Ga 

Locust  Grove,  Va 


Paducah,  Ky# 

Mansfield,  La 

Plymouth,  N.  C 

Wilderness,  Va 

Spotsylvania,  Va 

Spotsyl vania,  Va 

Ft  Darling,  Va 

Resaca,  Ga 


COMMANDERS. 


KIL’D,  WOUND’D,  PRISONERS. 


Confederate. 


Gen.  Meade* 

Gen.  Grant* 

Gen.  Prentiss*  . . . 

Gen.  Grant* 

Gen.  Banks* 

Gen.  Gilmore 

Gen.  Burnside*.. 

Gen.  Rosencrans. 
Gen.  Warren* 
Gen.  Burnside*  . . 

Gen.  Grant* 

Gen.  Hooker* 
Gen.  Hooker* 
Gen.  Meade 


June 

25-2^ 

1 

Cold  Harbor,  Va 

15-is 

Petersburgh,  Va 

« 

22 

Weldon  R.  R.,  Va 

** 

27 

Kennesaw  Mt.,  Ga 

July 

9 

Moriocracy,  Md 

20 

Peach  Tree  Creek,  Ga. 

<4 

22 

Atlanta,  Ga 

44 

27-30 

Petersburgh,  Va 

Aug. 

5-20 

Mobile  Bay,  Ala 

« 

is- iS 

Deep  Bottom,  Va 

•« 

19 

6 Mile  Station,  Va 

«« 

25 

Weldon  R.  R.,  Va 

<* 

3> 

Atlanta,  Ga. . . 

Sept. 

19 

Winchester,  Va 

21 

Fisher’s  Hill 

26 

Ironton,  Mo 

20  Oct.  I 

Petersburg,  Va 

Oct. 

*9 

Cedar  Creek,  Va 

20 

Nims’  Creek,  Mo 

*« 

27 

Hatcher’s  Run,  Va 

Nov. 

30 

Franklin,  Tenn 

Dec. 

■s 

Nashville,  Tenn 

Jan.  15 

Ft  Fisher 

<• 

20-22 

Wilmington,  N.  C 

Feb. 

27 

Waynesboro’,  Va 

«* 

Kingston,  N.  C 

«« 

Averasboro’,  N.  C 

Mar. 

>9 

Benton ville,  N.  C 

25-27 

Petersburg,  Va 

Apri 

1 

Five  Forks,  Va 

<1 

2 

Selma,  Ala 

.. 

2-3 

6 

Petersburg  & Richmond 
Farinville  and  Sailors 
Creek 1 

*« 

9 

Surrender  of  Gen.  Lee’s 

*< 

11 

Ft.  Blakely,  Mobile. . . 

« 

12 

Surrender  of 

*4 

12 

Salisbury,  N.  C 

44 

26 

Surrender  of 

May 

I 

Surrender  of 

4 

Surrender  of 

it 

10 

Surrender  of 

11 

10 

Near  Boco,  Chico,  Tex 

44 

10 

Capture  of 

26 

Surrender  of 

Gen.  R.  E.  Lee 

Gen.  Pemberton 

Gens.  Price,  Holmes  I 
and  Marmaduke..  j 

Gen.  Joe  Johnston 

Gen.  Gardner 

Gen.  Beauregard*  . . 

Gen.  Frazier 

Gen.  Bragg* 

Gea.  A.  P.  Hill 

Gen.  Longstreet 

Gen.  Bragg 

Gen.  Bragg 

Gen.  Hardee 

Gen.  Lee 


Col.  Hicks* 

Gen.  Banks* 

Jen.  Wesseils 

Gen.  Grant 

Gen.  Grant 

Gen.  Grant 

Gen.  Butler* 

Gen.  Sherman* 

Gen.  Sherman* 

Gen.  Grant 

Gen.  Grant 

Gen.  Meade 

Gen.  Sherman* 

Gen.  Wallace  

Gen.  Sherman* 

Gen.  Sherman* 

Gen.  Grant 

j Adm.  Farragut  and  I 
] Gen.  Granger* . . . ' 

Gen.  Grant 

(Jen.  Warren* 

Gen.  Grant.  

Gen.  Sherman* 

Gen.  Sheridan  

Gen.  Sheridan* 

Gen.  Ewing* 

Gen.  Grant 

Gen.  Sheridan* 

Gen.  Pleasanton* 

Gen.  Grant . 

Gen.  Schofield*  ....  . 
Gen.  Thomas* 


Gen.  Terry* 

\ Adm.  Porter  and  I 
l Gen.  Schofield*  . . f 

Gen.  Sheridan* 

Gen.  Schofield* 

Gen.  Sherman 

Gen.  Sherman* 

Gens.  Grant  & Meade* 

{Gens.  Sheridan  and  I 

Warren*  I 

oen.  Wilson* 

Gen.  Grant. . 

Gen.  Sheridan 


total  loss  2S19S. 
245  k.36SS  w.303  p. 
250  k.  w.  & m. 


Gen.  Forrest 

Gen.  Kirby  Smith 

Gen.  Hoke* 

Gen.  Lee 

Gen.  Lee 

Gen.  Lee 

Gen.  Beauregard 

Gen.  Joe  Johnston. 

Gen.  Longstreet 

Gen.  Lee* 

en.  Lee* 

Gen.  Lee* 

Gen.  Johnston 

Gen.  Early* 

Gen.  Hood 

Gen.  Hood 

Gen.  Lee* 

j Gen.  Page  & Adm. 

Buchanan 

Gen.  Lee* 

Gen.  Pickett 

Gen.  Lee* 

Gen.  Hood 

Gen.  Early 

Gen.  Early 

Gen.  Price 

Gen.  Lee* 

Gen.  Early. 

Gen.  Price 

Gen.  Lee* 

Gen.  Hood 

Gen.  Hood 


. . 14  k.  46  w. 
500  k.  & w.  1500  p, 

. 150  k.  1700  p 
. . . loss  30,00c 
. . . loss  10,000 


Gen.  Bragg 

Gen.  Early 

Gen.  Bragg 

Gen. Johnson  

Gen.  Johnson 

Gen.  Lee 

Gen.  Lee. 

Gen.  Forrest 

Gen.  Lee 


Army  at  Appomattox 
) Adm.  Thatcher  and 
I Gen.  Canby  .... 

Montgomery,  Ala.,  to 

Gen.  Stonetnan* 

Gen.  Joe  Johnston's  .... 

Gen.  Morgan's 
Gen.  Dick  Tavlor  with. 

Tallahassee,  Fla Gen.  McCook,  Sr... 

Con.  Barrett Oen.  Slaughter  ... 

[Jefferson  Davis  at  Irwinsville,  Ga. . . 

Gen.  Kirby  Smith  and  his  army 


Gen.  Lee 

C.  II.,  to  Gen.  Grant 
Gen.  Taylor 

Gen.  Wilson 

Gardner 

Army  to  Gen.  Sherman 
old  command  to  Gen . . . 
;ili  forces  west  of  Miss, 


Federal. 


. 700  k.  w.  & m. 


1644  k.  9262  w.  1 

4945  m 1 

....  51  k.  329  w. 
. . . . Coo  k.  & w. 
. . . .4000  k.  & w. 


. .Soo  k.  w.  & m, 
. 1000  k.  w.  & in. 


Confederate. 


. . total  loss  37000. 
9000  k.  & W.30000P. 
500  k.  & w.  1000  p. 

4000  p. 

• 55°°  P- 

500  k.  ^31  w. 

2000  p. 

. . 17000  k.  w.  & m. 

1200  k.  & w.  Soo  p. 

1600  p. 

..16000  k.  w.  & in. 


Rear  guard  Johnston’s 
army. 


. 5000  k.  w.  & in. 

. . .700  k.  2S00  w, 

1S00  k.  & w, 

. 9000  k.  w.  & m. 

loss  10,000 

Coo  k.  & w.  12^0  p. 

1000  k.  & w. 

....  1000  k.  & w, 
1713  k.  w.  & m. 

3521  k.  & w. 

5000  k.  w.  & in. 

. . . 120  k.  SS  w. 

loss  4000 

3000  k.  & w 

1000  k.&  W.3000P 
50  k.  50  m.  439  w 

3000  k.  & w. 

.....  Coo  k.  & w. 

9 k.  60  w 

. . 5000  k.  & w. 
4000  k.&  w.  1300  p. 
2000  p.  1000  k.  A'  w 
Soo  m.  400  k.  1500  w 
189  k.  1033  w. 1104m 
6500  k.  w.  & m. 


. . 1 10  k.  536  w 
. . . 250  k.  & w 
....  60  k.  & w 

loss  iooc. 

. ..74  k.  774  w 

loss  1646 

iSok.  1 240  w.  990m. 
loss  3000, 


P 

. . . 2500  k.  w.  & p. 


1000  k.  & w. 

2000  p, 

1500  k.  & w. 
. loss  30000. 
. loss  1 0000. 

4000  p. 

..no  report. 
..no  report. 
300  p.  4000  k.  k w. 
Sooo  k.  w.  & ni. 
. .no  report. 
..no  report 
. .no  report. 
..no  report. 
5000  k.&  w.  looop. 
..  10000  k.  & w, 
1200  k.  w.  & in 
no  report  k.  & I 
w.  1756  p...  f 

loss  2500. 

. 1 500  p, 

....  1 500  k.  & w 
....  5000  k.  & w 
500K.4000W.  2500P 
\oo  k.  & w.  1100  p, 

1 500  k.  S:  w 

2*>oo  k.  & w 

2S00  k.&w.  noop 

900  k.  38C0  p 

. . 1600  k.  w.  & in 
1 750  k.3Soo  w.702  p 
. . 23000  k.  w.  & m 


. . .Sooo  k.  w.  & m. 


.2000  k.  & w. 


Hobson, 

River  to  Gen. 

..  ..,  70  k.  Adm, 


440  k.  & w.  2500  p 
1072  p 

5 k-  >352  P 

1200  k.&  W.2400P. 

327 k-  373  P 

167  k.  1625  p, 

2200  k.  k w.  2S00  p, 

5ooo  P 

3000  p 

. . 9000  k.  w.  & in 

6000  p. 

26115  p, 

500  k.  & w.  4300  p. 

...  2700  p.  100  g. 

1S00  p. 

2/50°  P- 

1200  p. 

Canby  10000  p 

....  Jones,  8000  p. 


REMARKS. 


Longstreet  wounded. 

2 Confed.  Gens.  30  guns 
captured. 


Johnson  flanked. 


McPherson  killed. 
1 50  guns  captured. 


Conreds.  repulsed. 

Confed.  Gens.  Rhodes 
md  Gordon  killed. 

Feds,  captured  26  pieces 
artillery. 

Gens.  Marmaduke  and 
Cabell  captured. 

Gen.  Johnson  captured 
and  47  guns. 

Fort  and  72  g.  captur’d. 


All  of  Early’s  guns. 


, joooo  p. 


All  of  Lee’s  artillery 
captured. 

Gen.  Forrest  & Rhoddy 
captured. 

Richmond  captured. 

Confed.  Gens.  Ewell, 
Kershaw,  Corse,  and 
Cuslis  Lee  captured. 

32  guns  captured. 

14  guns. 


This  was  the  last  en- 
gagement of  the  Civil 
War. 


* In  addition  to  the  battles  given  above  there  were  42 

Book  of  American  Progress,  published  by  E.  B.  Treat,  757  Broadway.  N.  V . 


I battles,  engagements,  and  skirmishes;  a complete  list  can  be  lound  in  the"National  Hand- 


Date  of  President’! 

mation. 


April  15,  1S61 
May  3,  1861 


^ly  22  and  25,  1S61 


4ay  and  June,  1862 

July  2,  1862 

August  4,  1862 

June  15,  1863... 


Number 

Period  of 
Service. 

Number 

Obtained. 

Date  of  President's  Procla- 

mation. 

\ l M HER 

Called  for. 

I KK IOD  OF 

Service. 

3 months. 

93.32'’ 

300.000  I 

200.000  ( 

j years. 

75.000 

C74S 1 

7>4.23' 

3 years. 

10O  days 

500,000  1 

3 months. 

85,000 

500.000 

300.000 

2.942.74* 

'5.°°7 

16,361 

1,  2,  3 years 

300,000 

3 years. 

1,  2,  3 years. 

300.000 

100.000 

9 months. 

6 months. 

This  does  not 


include  the  militia  that  were  brought  into  service  during  the  various  invasion,  of  Gen.  Lee" into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania. 


374.^7 

284,011 

3S4.88J 

204,568 

2, '*10,401 


sr 


698 


COST  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 


The  statement  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  amount  of  money  expended  for  all 
purposes  necessarily  growing  out  of  the  Civil  War,  brought  down  to  Jan.  1,  1880,  will  prove 
an  interesting  and  remarkable  exhibit  of  the  cost  of  war.  The  footings  as  reported  are 
$6,189,029,908.00;  this  does  not  include  expenditures  from  1861  to  1S80  of  the  Government  for 
expenditures  of  the  general  Government  other  than  for  the  war;  the  latter  item  was  $654,641,522. 


Expenses  of  National  loan  and 

currency $ 51,522,730 

Premiums  59*73^,  *67 

Interest  on  public  debt 1,761,256,19s 

Subsistence  of  the  army 381,417,548 

Quartermaster’s  Department 299,481,917 

Incidental  expenses  of  Quarter- 
master’s Department 85>342>733 

Transportation  of  the  army 336,793,3^5 

Transportation  of  officers  and 

their  baggage  3,025,219 

Clothing  of  the  army  343»543>SSo 

Purchase  of  horses  for  cavalry 

and  artillery 126,672,423 

Barracks,  quarters,  etc 31,070,846 

Heating  and  cooking  stoves 448,731 

Pay,  mileage,  general  expenses, 

etc.,  of  the  army 97,084,729 

Pay  of  two  and  three  years*  vol- 
unteers   1,040,102,702 

Pay  of  three  months*  volunteers.  868,305 

Pay,  etc.,  of  100-days*  volunteers.  14,386,778 

Pay  of  militia  and  volunteers 6,126,952 

Pay,  etc.,  to  officers  and  men  in 
Department  of  the  Missouri  . . . 844,150 

Pay  and  supplies  of  100- day  vol- 
unteers   4,824,877 

Bounty  to  volunteers  and  regulars 

on  enlistment 38,522,046 

Bounty  to  volunteers  and  their 

widows  and  legal  heirs 81,760,345 

Additional  Bounty  Act  of  July  28, 

18 66  69,99s, 7S6 

Collection  and  payment  of  bounty , 
etc.,  to  colored  soldiers,  etc. . . . 268,158 

Reimbursing  States  for  moneys 
expended  for  payment  of  mili- 
tary service  of  United  States. . . 9,635,5 12 

Defraying  the  expenses  of  min- 
utemen  and  volunteers  in  Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland,  Ohio,  In- 
diana, and  Kentucky 597,178 

Expenses  of  recruiting  1,297,966 

Draft  and  substitute  fund 9>7*3>S73 

Medical  and  Hospital  Departing.  45,108,770 

Medical  and  Surgical  History  and 

Statistics 196,04s 

Providing  for  comfort  of  sick, 
wounded,  and  discharged  sol 

dicrs 2,232,785 

Freedmen’s  Hospital  & Asylum.  123,487 

Artificial  limbs  and  appliances..  509,283 

Ordnance  service 4>553>53 1 

Ordnance,  ordnance  stores,  and 

supplies  . ... . . . S5.933.932 

Armament  of  fortifications 10,218,472 

National  armories,  arsenals,  etc.  23,603,489 

Purchase  of  arms  for  volunteers 

and  regulars 76,373,935 

Payment  of  expenses  under  Re- 
construction acts 3,128,905 

Secret  service 681,587 

Medals  of  honor 29,890 

Support  of  National  Home  for 
disabled  volunteer  soldiers  ....  8,546,184 

Publication  of  official  records  of 


War  of  the  Rebellion 170,09s 

Contingencies  of  the  army  and 

Adjutant- General’s  Departm’t.  2,726,69s 

Preparing  register  of  volunteers.  1,015 

Army-pensions 407,429,192 

Telegraph  for  military  purposes.  2,500,085 

Maintenance  of  gunboat  fleet 

proper 5,244,684 

Keeping,  transporting,  and  sup- 
plying prisoners  of  war 7>659,4!I 

Construction  and  maintenance  of 

steam-rams 1, 37°, 73° 

Signal  service 1 43,797 

Gunboats  on  the  Western  rivers.  3»239*3I4 

Supplying,  transporting,  and  de- 
livering arms  and  munitions 
of  war  to  loyal  citizens  in  States 
in  rebellion  agninst  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States 1,649,596 

Collecting,  organizing,  and  drill- 
ing volunteers 29,091,6 66 

Tool  and  siege  trains 702,250 

Completing  the  defenses  of  Wash- 
ington   912,283 

Commutation  of  rations  to  prison- 
ers of  war  in  Rebel  States 320,636 

National  cemeteries 4,162,848 

Purchase  of  Ford’s  Theater 88,000 

Headstones,  erection  of  head- 
stones, pay  of  Superintendents, 
and  removing  the  remains  of 
officers  to  National  cemeteries.  1,080,185 

Capture  of  Jeff  Da  vis 97,031 

Support  of  Bureau  of  Refugees 

and  Freedmen n,454»237 

Claims  for  Quartermaster's  stores 

and  commissary  supplies 850,220 

Claims  of  loyal  citizens  for  sup- 
plies furnished  during  the  Re- 
bellion  4,170,304 

Horses  and  other  property  lost  in 

military  service 4,281,724 

Fortifications  on  the  Northern 

frontier 683,74s 

Pay  of  the  navy 74,462,304 

Provisions  of  the  navy 16,368,623 

Clothing  of  the  navy 1,594,790 

Construction  and  repair 134,178,096 

25.174.614 

31.422.c94 

1.937.744 

30,300,302 
11,340,232 
898,252 
49,297,318 
2,526,247 
499,662 
404.531 
7,757,615 
1,862,132 
8,123,7  66 
2,614,044 
6,590,043 
2,821,530 

271,309 

289,025 


Equipment  of  vessels 

Ordnance 

Surgeons’  necessaries 

Yards  and  docks 

Fuel  for  the  navy  

Hemp  for  the  navy 

Steam  machinery 

Navigation I 

Naval  Hospitals 

Magazines 

Marine  Corns,  pay,  clothing,  etc. 

Naval  Academy 

Temporary  increase  of  the  navy. 
Miscellaneous  appropriations  . .. 

Naval  pensions 

Bounties  to  seamen 

Bounties  for  destruction  of  ene- 
mies’ vessels .. 

Indemnity  for  lost  clothing. . 


Expenditures  in  the  District  of  Columbia  from  1790  to  1876. 


The  total  amount  of  money  expended  by  the  Government  in  the  District  of  Columbia  for  all 
purposes  from  July  i6,  1793,  to  July  30,  1S76,  is  $92,112,395.  This  sum  was  divided  as  follows: 


Capitol $17,184,691 

Library  of  Congress* *,575,847 

White  House 1,040,449 

Purchase  of  wonks  of  art 602,569 

Botanic  Garden * 722,813 

Department  of  State,  etc 4,989,948 

Treasury  Department 7,062,942 

War  Department 2,044,065 

Navy  Department 3,899,136 

Post-Office  Department 2,124,504 

Department  of  Agriculture 3,174,192 

Smithsonian  Institution 2,305,420 

Patent  Office 13, 197,90s 

Benevolent  institutions 4»732,448 


Penal  institutions 4,418,329 

Courts 78,486 

Aqueduct 4,000,822 

hire  Department 104  299 

£a.nals 5974  >S 

gri,u?es 1,290,568 

Public  grounds *,867,537 

Streets  and  avenues 5 .975,294 

Loans,  reimbursements,  etc 4,927*299 

Miscellaneous*!- 3.5C5»400 

* hirst  appropriation  for  Congressional  Li- 
brarv,  1800. 

^ *rjSt  aPProP**at‘on  for  the  support  of  Public 


The  Federal  Army  During  the  Civil  War  ot 
1861-65. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  number 
of  men  furnished  by  each  State: 


Maine 

New  Hampshire. 

Vermont 

Massachusetts. . . 
Rhode  Island . . . 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania. . . . 

Delaware 

Maryland 

West  Virginia. . . 
Dist.  of  Columbia 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

Kentucky 

Kansas 

Tennessee 

Arkansas 

North  Carolina. . 

California 

Nevada 

Oregon 

Washington  Ter. 

Nebraska 

Colorado 

Alabama 

Florida 

Louisiana 

Mississippi 

Texas  

Dakota 

New  Mexico 


Total. 


Men  furnish 

ed  under  Act 
of  April  15, 
1861,  for75,ooo 
militia  for 
months. 


771 

71,745 

779 

34,605 

782 

35,246 

3,736 

152,048 

3, >47 

23,711 

2,402 

57,374 

13,906 

467,047 

3,123 

79,5” 

20,175 

366,326 

775 

'3,651 

49,731 

900 

32,003 

4,720 

16,872 

12,357 

3'9,659 

4,686 

197-147 

4,820 

258,217 

7S1 
8*7 
930 
96S 
10,501 

650 


2,576 

1,290 

8,224 

545 

*,965 

*,5*o 


93,326 


Aggregate 
No.  of  men 
furnished  un- 
der all  calls. 


90,110 
96,118 
25,034 
75,860 
> oh, 773 
78.540 
20,097 

'IX 

3,156 

>5 

216 

617 

895 

1,279 

1,762 


>81 

2.395 


2,688,523 


The  Provost  Marshal  General’s  report  shows 

that  there  were  killed  in  action  or  died  of  their 
wounds  while  in  service:  Commissioned  offi- 
cers, 5,221;  enlisted  men,  90,868.  Died  from 
disease  or  accident:  Commissioned  officers, 
2,321.  Enlisted  men,  182,329;  a total  loss  in 
service  of  280,739.  Deaths,  from  wounds  or  dis- 
ease contracted  in  service  which  occurred  after 
the  men  left  the  army  are  not  included  in  these 
figures. 

Losses  of  the  Government  for  Every  Adminis- 
tration from  1789  to  1876. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  losses  of  the 
Government  through  frauds,  carelessness  and 
from  all  causes,  and  the  amount  of  loss  on 
each  thousand  dollars,  for  every  Administra- 
tion from  the  beginning  of  the  Government 
till  the  end  of  President  Grant’s  Administra- 
tion, ns  follows: 


Period 

of  ser- 
vice, 
years. 

Total 

Losses. 

Loss  on 
$1,000. 

Washington 

8 

$ 250,970 

$ 2.22 

Adams 

4 

235.4” 

2-59 

Jefferson 

8 

603,467 

2-75 

Madison 

S 

2,191,660 

4.16 

Monroe 

8 

3,229,787 

s.53 

Adams 

4 

885,374 

4-39 

Jackson 

s 

3,761,111 

7-52 

Van  Buren 

4 

3,343,792 

".71 

Harrison i 

Tyler ) 

4 

',565,003 

6.4  0 

Polk 

4 

',732>85' 

4.0s 

lavlor ( 

Fillmore j 

4 

1, Si  4, 409 

4.19 

Pierce 

4 

2,l67,9S2 
2,6^9,  107 

3-^6 

3.81 

Buchanan 

4 

Lincoln  

4 

7,200,984 

76 

Johnson 

4 

4,6i9,599 

57 

Grant 

8 

2,846,192 

34 

Total 

$39,ioS,6os 

$ 1.29 

THE  NAVAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


699 


Showing  Navy  of  the  Revolution,  Naval  Battles  of  the  War  of  1812,  Mexican  War,  Civil  War,  the  Number  of  Vessels 
Captured  and  Destroyed  for  Violation  of  the  Blockade,  and  Federal  Vessels  Captured  or 
Destroyed  by  Confederate  Cruisers. 


THE  NAVY  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

In  December,  1775,  Congress  passed  an  Act  ofdering  the  building  of 
thirteen  vessels,  three  of  24  guns,  five  of  28,  five  of  32,  with  Ezekiel  Hop- 
kins as  Commander-in-Chief,  as  follows  : — 


Name. 


Hancock  . 

Congress. 


Montgomery  . 

Delaware 

Randolph 


Washington . 

Effingham... 

Raleigh 

Virginia 


Warren 

Prov  dence . 


Boston 

Trumbull  . 


History. 


Captured  by  the  British  in  1777. 

Destroyed  in  the  Hudson  River  to  avoid  cap- 
ture in  1777,  never  having  been  to  sea. 

Do.  do.  do. 

Captured  in  the  Delaware  River  1777. 

Blown  up  in  action  with  the  British  Ship  Yar- 
mouth, 64  guns,  in  1778. 

Destroyed  in  the  Delaware  by  the  British 
before  getting  to  sea,  in  1778. 

Do.  do.  _ do. 

Captured  by  the  British  in  1778. 

Captured  by  the  British  in  1778,  off  the  capes 
of  the  Delaware,  before  getting  to  sea. 

Burned  in  the  Penobscot  River  in  1779,  to  pre- 
vent falling  into  the  enemy’s  hands. 

Seized  by  the  Biitish  at  the  capture  of  Char- 
leston, S.  C-,  in  1780. 

Do.  do.  do. 

Captured  by  the  British  ship  Watt,  in  1781. 


Owing  to  the  superiority  of  England  on  the  sea,  and  the  great  difficulties 
with  which  Congress  had  to  struggle  during  the  war,  it  was  impossible  to 
give  any  great  attention  to  our  naval  armament ; but,  notwithstanding  this, 
the  waters  swarmed  with  American  privateers,  and  many  hundreds  of 
British  merchantmen  were  captured.  Probably  the  mo«-t  daring  naval  ex- 
ploit during  the  war  was  fought  off  the  coast  of  Scotland,  September* 23, 
1779,  between  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  of  40  guns,  Paul  Jones,  com- 
mander, and  the  Serapis,  a British  frigate  of  44  guns,  Captain  Pearson, 
The  Serapis  surrendered,  with  a loss  of  150.  Jones  lost  300  in  killed  and 
wounded,  and  while  his  ship  was  sinking  transferred  his  crew  to  the  Serapis. 

The  navy  was  disbanded  at  the  close  of  the  war,  the  few  remaining 
vessels  were  sold. 

In  addition  to  the  “thirteen”  vessels  above  named,  about  ten  other 
vessels,  ranging  from  24  guns  down  to  10,  were  purchased  and  fitted  out  as 
cruisers  while  the  others  were  building. 

1799 — The  Frigate  Constitution  captured  the  French  Frigate  LTnsurgente. 

1803 —  The  Frigate  Philadelphia  captured  by  the  Tripolitans. 

1804—  Commodore  Decatur  destroyed  the  Frigate  Philadelphia. 


NAVAL  BATTLES,  WAR  OF  1812. 


WHERE  FOUGHT. 


1812,  Aug,  13 
Aug.  19 
Oct.  18 
Oct.  25 
Dec.  29 

1813,  Feb.  24 
June  1 
Aug.  14 
Sept.  5 
Sept.  10 
Oct.  5 

1814,  Mar*  28 
Apr.  20 
Apr.  29 

Off  Newfoundland 

Off  Massachusetts 

Off  North  Carolina 

Near  Canary  Islands  ... 

Off  San  Salvador 

Off  Demerara 

Massachusetts  Bay 

British  Channel 

Off  Coast  of  Maine 

Lake  Erie 

Lake  Ontario 

Harbor  of  Valparaiso... 

Off  Coa?t  of  Florida 

June  28 

Near  British  Channel.. . 

Sept.  1 

Stonington,  Ct 

Near  Africa 

Sept.  11 

Lake  Champlain 

Sept.  15 

Mobile  Bay 

Dec.  9 

Lake  Borgue 

1815,  Jan.  15 

Off  New  Jersey 

Feb.  20 

Off  Island  of  Madeira.. 

Mar.  23 

Off  Brazil........ 

AM.  VESSELS  AND  COMMANDERS. 


Sloop  Alert,  Laugharne. 
Frig.  Guerriere,  pacres. 
Frig.  Frolic,  Whinyates.t 
Frig.  Macedonian,  Carden. 
Frig.  Java,  Lambert. 

Brig  Peacock,  Peake. 

Frig.  Shannon,  Broke*. 
Sloop  Pelican,  Maples*. 
Brig  Boxer,  Blythe. 

9 vessels  54  guns,  Perry* 6 vessels  63  guns,  Barclay. 

Commodore  Cnancey  captures  British  Flotilla. 

T3rig  Phccbe  Hillyar*. 

Sloop  Cherub,  Tucker. 
Brig.  Orpheus. 

Brig  Epervicr,  Wales. 

Sloop  Reindeer,  Manners. 


Frig.  Essex,  Porter* 

Frig.  Constitution,  Hull* 

Sloop  Wasp,  Jones*t 

Frig.  United  States,  Decatur*  .. 
Frig.  Constitution,  Bainbridge* 

Sloop  Hornet,  Lawrence* 

Frig.  Chesapeake,  Lawrence 

Brig.  Argus,  Allen 

Brig.  Enterprise,  Burrows*  


Frig.  Essex,  Porter  

Sloop  Frolic 

Sloop  Peacock.  Warrington* 

Sloop  Wasp,  Blakely* 


BR.  VESSELS  AND  COMMANDERS. 


British  fleet  attack  the  town  ; are  repulsed. 


Sloop  Wasp,  Blakely* 

14  vessels  86  guns,  McDonough* 

Fort  Boyer,  Maj.  Lawrence* 

66  gunboats,  Jones ......... 

Frig.  President,  Decatur........ 

Frig  Constitution,  Stewart*.... 

-doop  Hornet,  Biddle* 


Sloop  Avon,  Arbuthnot. 

17  vessels  95  guns,  Downie. 

4 ships,  9oguns,  Col.  Nichols. 
40  barges,  Lockyer*. 
Squadron,  Hayes*. 

Ship  Cyane,  Falcon. 

Skip  I evant,  Douglas. 

Brig  Penguin,  Dickenson. 


♦Indicates  the  victorious  party. 

t Afterwards  captured,  with  her  prize,  by  the  Poictiers,  a British  74. 


PRINCIPAL  NAVAL  BATTLES  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

1862,  Feb.  6— Fort  Henry,  Tenn.,  captured  by  Commodore  Foote. 

Feb.  8 — Roanoke  Island,  N.  C., captured  by  Commodore  Goldsborough 
and  Gen.  Burnside. 

Feb.  16 — Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.,  combined  forces  of  Gen.  Grant  and 
Commodore  Foote. 

Mar.  8— Confederate  Ram  Merrimac  “sinks”  U.  S.  Frigates  Cumber- 
land and  Congress,  Hampton  Roads,  Va. 

Mar.  9 — Federal  Monitor  disables  the  Merrimac. 

April  6— Pittsburgh  Landing. 

April  8 — Capture  of  Island  No.  10. 

April  11— Fort  Pulaski,  Ga.,  captured  by  land  and  naval  forces. 

April  24 — Forts  Jackson,  St.  Phillip  and  New  Orleans. 

May  13 — Natchez,  Miss.,  captured  by  Admiral  Farragut. 

July  1 — Malvern  Hill. 

1863,  Jan.  11 — Fort  Hindman,  Ark.,  Admiral  Porter. 

Jan.  11 — U.  S.  Steamer  Hatteras  sunk  by  Confederate  Alabama. 

'an.  17 — Monitor  Weehawken  captures  Confederate  Ram  Atlanta, 
lay  18 — Vicksburg,  Miss.,  Admiral  Porter. 

July  8— Port  Hudson,  Miss.,  captured. 

July  8 — Natchez,  Miss. 

1864,  June  19 — U.  S.  Steamer  Kearsage  “sinks  the  Alabama”  off  Cher- 

bourg, France. 

Aug.  5 -Mobile,  Ala.,  Admiral  Farragut. 

1865,  Jan.  15 — Fort  Fisher,  N.  C.,  captured  by  Gen.  Terry  and  Commodore 

Porter. 

During  the  Civil  War  the  Federal  Navy  was  increased  in  two  years 
to  over  400  vessels,  the  greater  part  of  which  were  used  in  blockading 
Southern  ports  ; notwithstanding  their  vigilance  and  effectiveness,  many 
Confederate  cruisers  managed  to  escape  the  blockade  and  destroy  the 
Northern  merchant  vessels. 

At  the  present  tjme  (1880)  not  one-half  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  navy 
are  in  active  service  ; the  greater  portion  of  those  in  commission  are  em- 
ployed in  what  is  called  squadron  service.  There  are  seven  squadrons, 
viz.,  the  European,  the  Asiatic,  the  North  Atlantic,  the  South  Atlantic, 
the  North  Pacific,  the  South  Pacific  and  the  Gulf  Squadrons.  These 
squadrons  are  under  command  of  a high  naval  officer  of  the  rank  of  com- 
modore or  rear  admiral,  whose  ship  is  called  the  fDg-ship  of  the  squadron. 


FEDERAL  VESSELS  CAPTURED  OR  DESTROYED  BY 
CONFEDERATE  “CRUISERS.” 

Ships  ...... — — — — ........  80 

Brigs .... ......  46 

Barks - 84 

Schooners 67 

Steamboats - 4 

Gunboats — — ------ — 3 

Cutter 1 

Tug x 


VESSELS  CAPTURED  OR  DESTROYED 
FOR  VIOLATION  OF  THE  BLOCKADE, 
OR  IN  BATTLE,  FROM  MAY,  1861.  TO 
MAY,  1865. 

Schooners 735 

Sloops 155 

Steamers  ..... .......... 262 

Barks - - 27 

Brigs 30 

Ships - 13 

Ironclads  and  Rams.... 16 

Brigantines ....... ..............  2 

Gunboats 3 

Propellers 4 

Pilot  Boats  2 

Boats - - 8 

Yachts  a 

l ugs  3 

Barkatine 1 

Pungy  1 

Miscellaneous ....  ........  86 


The  British  vessels  captured  during  the  war 
of  1812  were  1.740,  the  American.!  ,683. 

The  only  naval  engagements  of  importance  dur- 
ing the  war  with  Mexico  was  the  bombardment 
of  Vera  Cruz,  Commodore  Connor,  which  lasted 
four  days,  and  the  city  compelled  to  surrender, 
and  the  bombardment  of  Monterey  by  Commo- 
dore Sloat,  July  6,  1846,  and  the  capture  of  Mon- 
terey on  the  California  coast, by  Commodore  Sloat. 

Oct.  25,  1846— Tobacco  captured  and  Mexican 
vessels  in  port  destroyed. 


7 


700 


UNITED  STATES  PAPER  MONEY  AND  PENSION  STATISTICS. 


AMOUNT  OF  PAPER  MONEY  AND  FRACTIONAL  CURRENCY  OUTSTANDING  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AT 
THE  CLOSE  OF  EACH  FISCAL  YEAR  FROM  1860  TO  1881  INCLUSIVE. 


Prepared  at  the  Treasury  Department,  July  i,  18S1. 


Year  end 
ing  June 
3°- 

State  Bank 
Circulation. 

1S60 

$ 

207,102,477 

1S61 

202,005,767 

1S62 

183,792,079 

1S63 

238,677,21s 

1864 

■79.I57.7I7 

■ 865 

142,919,633 

i860 

19,996,163 

1867 

4,484,112 

180S 

3,i6,3,77i 

1S69 

2.558.S74 

lS70 

2,222,793 

1,968,058 

■s7> 

■872 

■,700,935 

■873 

1,294,479 

■S74 

1,009,02  1 

■N5 

786,844 

1S76 

658,938 

■877 

52I,6iI 

■878 

426,504 

■879 

iSSo  

352,452 

299,7QO 

1SS1 

242,967 

National 

Bank 

Circulation. 


.V,-*35>27° 
146,137,800 
2S 1, 479, 90S 
298,625,379 
299,762,855 
299,929  624 
299,766,984 
318,261,241 
337, ^4  >795 
347,267,061 
351,981,032 
334,408,008 
332,998,336 
317,048,872 
324,514,284 
329,69 1 ,697 
344,505,427 
355,042,075 


Legal 

Tender 

Notes. 


96,620,000 
297,7<57, 1 '4 
431,178,671 
432,687,966 

|O0,6l9,206 

37',  78.3, 597 
356,000,000 
356,000,000 
356,000,000 
356,000,000 
357»500>0C0 

356.000. 000 

382.000. 000 
>75,77 1 >5®° 
369,772,284 
.359,764,332 

346,6s  1,0 1 6 
346,681,016 

346.681.016 

346.681.016 


Demand 

Notes. 


One  and  two 
Year  Notes 
of  1S63. 

(See  Note  1) 


53,040,000 

3,351,020 

780,999 

472,603 

272,162 

208,432 

141,723 

■23,739 

06,256 

96,505 

55.296 

79,967 

76,7.32 

70,107 

66,917 

63,962 

62.297 
61,470 
60,975 
60,435 


Compound 

Interest 

Notes. 

(See  Note  1) 


S9,S79,475 

■53,47i,450 

42,3.38,710 

3,454,2.30 

1,123,630 

555,492 

347,772 

248,272 

■9S.572 

167,522 

142,105 

127,625 

■13-375 

104,705 

95,725 

90,485 

86.185 

82.185 
79,985 


15,000  OOO 

■9,3>756, 0S0 

159,012,140 

122,394,480 

28,l6l,8lO 

2,871,410 
2,152.910 
708,  500 
593,52<> 

479,400 
415,210 
307,390 
328,760 
29^,030 
274,920 
259,090 
242,590 
230,2  50 


Fractional 

Currency, 

Paper. 


20,192,456 

22,894,877 

25,005,829 

27.070.s77 

28,307,524 

32,626,952 

32,114,637 

39.s7s.6s4 

40,582,874 

40,855,035 

44,799,365 

45,881,296 

42,129,424 

34,446,595 

20,403,137 

■6,547,769 

15,842,606 

7.214,954 

7,105,953 


Fractional 

Currency, 

Sliver. 

(See  Note 


10,926,938 

33,185,273 

39.155.633 

39,360,529 

24,061,449 

19,974,897 


Total 
amount  in 
Currency. 


207,102,477 

202,005.767 

333,452,079 

649,867,283 

833,718,984 

983.318.686 

891.904.686 
826,927,154 
720,412,603 
693,946,057 
700,375,899 

717.s75.751 

738.570,903 

750,062,369 

781,490,916 

773,646,729 

749.303,474 

731,379.543 

729,215,50s 
734,801,995 
735  522,956 

780,584,809 


Amo’t 

per 

Capita 


6.58 

6.30 

10.19 

19.44 
24,48 
28.29 

25.14 
2 2. S3 

19. 45 

■8.37 

18.16 
iS  14 

15.15 
17.9s 

1S.23 

■7-55 

16.53 

15.68 

■5-19 

14.S7 

14.46 


Valueof 

Paper 
Dol.  as 
compar- 
ed with 
Coin, 
July  1 of 
each  yr. 


o 86.6 

o 7 6.6 
o 3S.7 
o 70.4 
o 66.0 
o 71-7 
o 70.1 
0 7.3-5 
o S4.6 
o 89.0 
o 87.  s 
o 86.4 
o 91.0 
o 87.2 
0 89.5 
o 94.7 

0 99.4 

I -00.0 

1 00.0 
I 00.0 


Value  of 
Currency  in 
Gold. 


288,769,500 

497,798,339 

322.649.247 
692,256,45s 
588,657,093 

592.906.769 
505,009,235 
510,050,352 

599.521.770 

638,909,418 
646,249  541 
648,053  SS7 

71 1,156,734 
674,619,947 
671,773,938 

694.375.247 

725,083.925 

734,801,995 

735,522,956 

780,384,809 


Note  i. — The  one  and  two-year  notes  of  1S63,  and  the  compound  interest  notes,  though  having  a legal-tender  quality  for  their  face-values,  were  in 
fact  interest-bearing  securities,  payable  at  certain  times,  as  slated  on  the  notes.  They  entered  into  circulation  but  for  a few  days,  if  at  all,  and,  since 
maturity,  those  presented  have  been  converted  into  other  interest-bearing  bonds,  or  paid  for  in  cash,  interest  included. 

Note  2. — The  amount  of  fractional  silver  in  circulation  in  1S60,  1861,  and  iS52,  cannot  be  stated.  The  amounts  stated  for  1876,  1S77,  1878,  and  1S79, 
are  the  atnounts  coined  and  issued  since  Januarv  1876.  To  these  amounts  should  be  added  the  amount  of  silver  previously  coined  which  has  come  into 
circulation. 

PENSION  STATISTICS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


List  of  Pension  Agencies , Names  of  Petition  Agents,  number  of  Pensioners  on  the  roll  of  each  Agency,  ‘June  30,  188I,  and  the  amount  disbursed  for 
pensions  during  the  year,  together  rvith  a comparative  statement  of  the  number  of  pensioners  on  the  roll  at  the  beg  i titling  and  close  of  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1881. 

From  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Pensions  for  1SS1. 


Local’n  of  Age’y. 

Name  of  Pen- 
sion Agent. 

Army. 

Navy. 

War  of  1S12. 

Disbursements  on  account  of  pensions  during  the 
year. 

Whole  number 

of  pensioners  on 
the  roll. 

Invali’s 

Wid’s. 

Invalids 

Will’s 

Survi- 

vors. 

Wi’ws 
of,  &c. 

For  regular 
pensions. 

For  Arrears 
of  Pensions. 

Salaries 
and  expen- 
ses of  pen- 
sion ag’ts. 

Total  dis- 
bursements. 

June  30, 
1881. 

June  30, 
1880. 

Boston,  Mass 

Chicago,  111 

Columbus,  Ohio. . 
Concord,  N.  II. 
Des  Moines,  la. . . 

Detroit,  Mich 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Knoxville,  Tenn.. 
Louisville,  Kv. . . . 
Milwaukee,  wis.. 
New  York,  N.Y.. 
Philadelphia,  Pa.. 
Pittsburgh,  Pa... 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

S.  Francisco,  Cal. 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.. . 
W ash  ington,  D.  C . 

D.  W.  Gooch. . . 
Ada  C.  Sweet. . 
A.  T.  Wikoff..  . 

E.  L.  Whitford 

Jacob  Rich 

Samuel  Post. . . . 
Fred.  Knefler  . . 

D. T.  Bovnton. . 
R.  M.  Kelly.... 

E.  Ferguson  . . . 
Chas.  R.  Coster 
II.  G.  Sickel  ... 
W.  A.  Herron  . 
N.  A.  Adams .. 
Henry  Cox  .... 

T.  S.  Poole 

Theo.  Gaines  . . 

10.156 
>3,997 
14,070 
10,482 
9,676 
7.52  ■ 
>0,740 

4,699 

2,594 

8,201 

7 384 

■0,417 

9,175 

9,432 

i,3°' 

■O.SS3 

■2.597 

7,oS6 

5,9H 

7,5i5 

6,88  f 

2,747 

2,761 

4,47s 

4,561 

2,7So 

3.  ”3 
5,S26 
5,569 
4,109 

2,998 

252 

5,946 

4,  '44 

500 

83 

5° 

■49 

24 

77 

9 

28 

473 

3'5 

49 

34 

5' 

345 

429 

52 

74 

"5 

22 

16 

23 

404 

32' 

5' 

21 

30 

358 

716 

405 

720 

1,161 

21S 

326 

219 

1,921 

3SS 

2'S 

545 

23S 

235 

3°9 

55 

S69 

358 

2,074 

1,030 

2,104 

3,i64 

547 

IVe 

6,390 
1,01 1 
416 

L337 

I, coo 

III 

■05 

2,3  ■ I 
1,36s 

$3, 604,673.6s 

4,637,481.6s 

4,352,166.21 

3,407,494-23 

3,220,988.82 

2.024.640.30 
3,002,155.2s 
2,667,932.69 
1,007.906.60 
2,806,721.05 
2,609,984.41 
3,172.870.0s 

2,731,350-38 

2,853,226.37 

361,320.39 

3.364.960.30 

3,896  975-05 

$29,647.03 

6i,602.SS 

63.381.22 
40,178.64 
33,449-55 
30.2S5.46 

54.442.78 

50.15s.74 

24.131.22 
25,985-68 

41.398.79 

37,oio.34 
31,219.82 
45  S5S.85 
5,272.96 

43,9.28.60 

57,723-i7 

$14,883.22 
■5,752-7' 
iS, 144.96 
16,911  59 
11,721.16 
io,533-54 
■ 2,587.94 
13  144.60 
7,255- '7 
9,859-99 
■7.43'-Ss 
15.2S1.60 
12,630.23 
11,636.  IT 
4.99I.8S 

■5.439-83 

l6.49S.S7 

$3,649,203.93 

4,714,837-27 

4.433-692.39 

3,464.584.46 

3,266,159,53 

2,065,459.3° 

3 069,486.00 
2.73 ',236.03 
1,039,292.99 

2.842.566.72 
2,671,815.05 
3,125.162.02 
2,775,200.43 
2,910.721.33 

371,585.23 

3.424.338.73 
3, 97'. '97-09 

20,961 
21 4S1 

24,533 

21,955 

■3,188 

■',375 

'6,253 

■7,746 

6,798 

11,996 

■5.969 

17,860 

■4,4'4 

13,628 

',794 

■9,709 

19,170 

I9,SS6 
■9,37° 
23-368 
21,031 
H.337 
10  8,8 
■5.'4S 
17,192 
6,701 
10,652 
■5,308 
16,584 
12,919 
12,472 
■.595 
iS,46S 
■7.956 

Total  number  of  pensioners  on  roll 

■53-o ’5 

76,683 

2,187 

2,008 

8,898 

26.029 

49,723- '47-52 

67S.6S5  73 

224,705.26 

50.626,538.51 

26S  S30 

250, S02 

Increase  during  the  year 

Decrease  during  the  year.  .. 

■9,813 

2.0S9 

■27 

138 

1,240 

■ ,279 

$12,676,961.63 

$19,291,485,10 

$S2i.S4 

6,614,001.63 

18,028 

Amount  paid  for  pensions  during  the  past2i  years .$506,345,044.21.  Average  annual  pension  to  each  pensioner, $107.01. 

During  the  year  28,740  new  names  were  added  to  the  roll,  1,344  °f*  which  had  formerly  been  on  the  roll,  but  dropped  for  various  causes.  During  same 
period  the  name's  of  10,712  pensioners  were  dropped.  The  salaries  of  pension  agents  under  the  existing  laws  are  $4,000 per  annum , and  an  extra  allowance 
or  perquisite  of  15  cents  for  each  pension  voucher  above  4,000  issued  in  any  year.  Out  of  this,  however,  pension  agents  must  pay  all  clerk  hire,  office  rent,  \ 
postage,  and  contingent  expenses  of  their  offices. 


RIGHT  OF  SUFFRAGE  IN  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  7 


or 


State. 


Alabama... 
Arizona  ... 
Arkansas 
California _ . 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Dakota 

Delaware . . . 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho  

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 


RESIDENCE  IN 

THE  STATE. 

RESIDENCE  IN 

THE  COUNTY. 

0 

» z . 
or  H 
z fc  v 

W ~ Z 

S P £ 
z 

i yr. 

3 mos. 

30  ds. 

i yr. 

IO  ds. 

i yr. 

6 mos. 

30  ds. 

i vr. 

90  ds. 

30  ds. 

6 mos. 





i yr. 



6 mos. 

go  (18. 

— 

— 

i yr. 

1 1110. 

— 

i yr. 

6 mos. 



i yr. 

6 mos. 

— 

4 mos. 

to  ds. 

... 

i vr. 

go  ds. 

to  ds. 

6 mos. 

60  ds. 

30  ds. 

6 mos. 

60  ds. 

10  ds. 

6 mos. 

.... 

30  ds. 

State. 

z 

M 

5 < 

Z 5- 
Z x 

2 s 

x — 

5 H 

z k- 
a £ 
z P 
§8 

RESIDENCE 

IN  THE  VOTING 

PRECINCT. 

Kentucky 

2 yrs. 

i yr. 

60  ds. 

Louisiana 

1 yr. 

10  ds. 

Maryland 

1 yr. 

6 mos. 

6 mos. 

Maine 

3 mos. 

Massachusetts 

1 yr. 

6 mos. 

Michigan 

3 mos. 

10  ds. 

Minnesota 

4 mos. 

10  ds. 

Mississippi 

6 mos. 

1 1110. 



Missouri 

I yr. 

60  ds. 

Nebraska. 

6 mos. 

40  ds. 

10  ds. 

Nevada 

6 mos. 

30  ds. 

New  Hampshire 





6 mos. 

New  Jersey 

» yr- 

5 mos. 



New  Mexico 

6 mos. 

3 mos. 

30  ds. 

State. 


New  York 

North  Carolina 

Ohio 

Oregon 

Rhode  Island 

South  Carolina 

Texas 

Tennessee 

Utah  

Vermont 

Virginia  

West  Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 


z 

“ w 

K H 

O < 

Z H 

W x 

2 a 
x S 

S H 

Z a* 

- r"1 

Mg 
z 5 

S3 

x 2 

RESIDENCE 

IN  THE  VOTING 

PRECINCT. 

1 yr. 

4 inos. 

30  ds. 

x yr. 

30  ds. 



1 yr. 

30  ds. 

20  ds. 

6 mos. 

90  ds. 



x yr. 



6 mos. 

I yr. 

60  ds. 



I yr. 

6 mos. 



i yr. 

6 mos. 



6 mos. 





1 yr. 

3 mos. 

i yr. 

6 mos. 

1 yr. 

30  ds. 



I yr. 

— 



90  ds. 

— 

— 

Note.— In  the  abbreviations  above,  yr.  stands  for  year,  mos.  for  months,  ds.  for  days.  Registration  is  required  in  all  the  States  except  Delaware,  Indiana, 
Kentucky,  Michigan,  Texas,  Tennessee  and  Vermont.  Rhode  Island,  North  Carolina,  Delaware,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and  New  Hampshire  require  a property 
qualification.  In  Georgia,  delinquent  taxpayers  are  disfranchised.  Delinquency  for  two  years  disfranchises  in  Pennsylvania.  The  payment  of  a poll-tax  is  required 
in  Tennessee.  Paupers  or  Indians  not  taxed  are  not  allowed  to  vote  in  Delaware,  Massachusetts,  Maine,  Texas,  Virginia,  West  Virginia  or  Wisconsin.  Women 
can  vote  In  the  Territories  of  Utah  and  Wyoming.  Chinamen  are  expressly  denied  the  right  of  suffrage  in  California,  and  do  not  vote  in  any  State.  Women 
are  allowed,  by  statute  law.  to  vote  in  school  elections  in  some  of  the  States.  Foreigners  who  have  gained  a residence,  even  if  they  have  not  been  naturalized,  can 
vote  at  State  and  local  elections  in  Indiana,  Iowa,  Michigan  and  Minnesota.  In  Congressional  and  Presidential  elections,  Federal  Supervisors  of  Elections  are  author 
ized  by  Congress  in  certain  emergencies,  and  under  the  general  direction  of  the  U.  S.  Courts,  to  prevent  intimidation  at  the  polls  and  fraud  in  counting  the  I 'allots 
In  Kentucky  alone  the  voting  is  not  by  ballot,  but  rive  rore.  Where  no  time  of  residence  is  specified  in  the  foregoing  table,  the  Constitution  of  tho  State  or  Laws  of 
the  Territory  are  silent,  or  the  time  for  the  county  and  the  town  are  the  same. 

NEW  TESTAMENT  CANON. 


Acts. 

Phil. 

1 Thes. 

2 Thes. 

He- 

brews. 

James. 

x 

Peter. 

2 

Peter. 

1 John. 

2 John. 

3 John. 

Jude. 

Rev. 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

om 

d 

om 

in 

d 

om 

oin 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

om 

om 

0111 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

d 

in 

in 

in 

in 

d 

in 

d 

111 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

om 

om 

om 

in 

om 

om 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

din 

om 

om 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

om 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

d 

in 

d 

in 

d 

d 

d 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

d 

in 

d 

in 

d 

d 

d 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

d 

in 

in 

d 

•in 

d 

d 

d 

d 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

om 

om 

om 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

om 

in 

om 

om 

om 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

om 

om 

om 

0111 

Sinai  MS 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

om 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

d 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

Council  of  Constantinople,  629... 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

0111 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

om 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

om 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

d 

d 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

.... 

Westminster  Assembly,  1647 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

in 

.. . ,1, inserted  • om  omitted  ■ d doubtfuL  The  Council  of  Trent  settled  tho  Canon  for  tho  Roman  Cnjhollc  Churrli  i tlio  Council  of 

Constantinople* f or^the^reek1 Church^ StaiSiS  for  tho  Protestants.  They  all  agree  us  to  what  writings  constitute  tho  Now  l,*ment. 

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE. 


Provinces. 

AREA. 

POPULA- 
TION • 

POP.  PER 
HQ.  MILE. 

Provinces. 

AREA. 

POPULA- 

TION. 

POP.  PER 
HQ.  MILK. 

Provinces. 

AREA. 

POP.  PER 

HQ.  MILK. 

POP!  1 L* 
TXOSf. 

Chihli 

Shantung 

Shansi 

Honan 

Kiangsu 

Anhwei 

Kiangsi 

58,949 

65,104 

55,268 

65,104 

44.50° 

48,461 

72,176 

27.990,871 

28,958,764 

14,004,210 

23,037.171 

37.843.s01 

34,168,059 

23.046,999 

475 

444 

253 

354 

850 

705 

320 

Chelikiang  .. 

Fukien 

Hupeh  

Hunan  

391**0 

53.48o 

70.450 

84,0c© 

67,400 

86,608 

166,800 

26,256,784 

14.777.410 

27,370,098 

18,652,507 

10,207,256 

15,193,125 

*'.435.678 

671 

276 

389 

933 

*5» 

*75 

138 

Kwangtung  . 
Kwungsl  ... 
Kweichow . . 
Yunnan 

Totals.. 

79.456 

78,250 

64.554 

107,969 

*9.  *74.030 

7.3*1.895 

5,288,319 

5,561,330 

341 

ll 

5' 

Kansu 

Szechuen 

1,307.836 

360,379.079 

*77 

W^F“ 


'r 


Ul 


702 


THE  PRESIDENTS  AND  THEIR  CABINETS. 


THE  PRESIDENTS  AND  THEIR  CABINETS  FROM  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT. 


President. 


Geo.  Washing-ton.. 
Geo.  Washington.. 


John  Adams. 


Thomas  Jefferson . 
Thomas  J efferson . 


James  Madison. 
James  Madison. 


James  Monroe. 
James  Monroe. 


John  Q.  Adams. 


Andrew  Jackson . 
Andrew  Jackson. 


Martin  Van  Buren. 


Win.  H.  Harrison. 
John  Tyler 


James  Knox  Polk. 


Zachary  Taylor.. 
Millard  Fillmore. 


Franklin  Pierce. 


James  Buchanan. 


Abraham  Lincoln. 


Abraham  Lincoln. 
Andrew  Johnson. . 


Ulysses  S.  Grant. 
Ulvsses  S.  Grant. 


Rutherford  B. Hayes. 


James  A.  Garfield... 
Chester  A.  Arthur.. 


Of 

"TpF 


1789 

1793 


n?7 


1S01 

1805 


1809 

1813 


1817 

1821 


1825 


1829 

is.w 


1337 


1841 

1841 


>845 


1849 

1S50 


>853 


■S57 


1861 


.S65 

1865 


1S69 

■873 


1877 


1SS1 

1SS1 


V ice-President 


John  Adams. 
John  Adams. 


Thomas  Jefferson. 


Aaron  Burr . .. . 
George  Clinton. 


George  Clinton. 
Elbridge  Gerry. 


Dan.  D.  Tompkins. 


John  C.  Calhoun. 


John  C.  Calhoun. . . 
Martin  Van  Buren. 


Richard  M. Johnson. 


John  Tyler. 


George  M.  Dallas.. 


Millard  Fillmore. 


William  R.  King. 


J.  C.  Breckenridge 


Hannibal  Hamlin.. 


Andrew  Johnson . 


Schuyler  Colfax. . 
Henry  Wilson. . . . 


VVm.  A.  Wheeler. 


Chester  A.  Arthur. 


1789 

■793 


Thomas  Jefferson . 
Edm.  Randolph.. 
Tim.  Pickering.. . 


1797 


Tim.  Pickering. 
John  Marshall.. 


iSoi 

1S05 


James  Madison. 


1809 

1813 


Robert  Smith. . . 
James  Monroe. 


1S17 


1825 


1529 

1^33 


1837 


1S41 


1S4S 


1849 


1S53 


1857 


1861 


1S65 


1S69 

>873 


1S77 


issi 


Secretary  of  State. 


John  Q.  Adams . 


Henry  Clay. 


Martin  Van  Buren. 
Ed.  Livingston. . . . 
Louis  McLane.... 
John  Forsyth 


lohn  Forsvth.. 


Daniel  Webster.. 
Hugh  S.  Legare.. 
Abel  P.  Upshur.. 
John  Nelson . 
John  C.  Calhoun. 


James  Buchanan. 


John  M.  Clayton. 
Daniel  Webster. . 
Edward  Everett. . 


William  L.  Marcy. 


Lewis  Cass . 

Jeremiah  S.  Black. 


Wm.  H.  Seward . 


E.  B.  Washburne. 
Hamilton  Fish.... 


Wm.  H.  Evarts. 


James  G.  Blaine 

F.  T.  Frelinghuysen . 


17S9 

]79T 

1795 


1797 

1S00 


Oliver  Wolcott. 
S.  Dexter 


1S01 


S.  Dexter 

Albert  Gallatin. 


1S09 

1811 


Albert  Gallatin. . 
G.  W.  Campbell. 
Alex.J.  Dallas.. 


1817 


1825 


1829 
1 S3 1 

1S33 

1834 


1837 


1S41 

'843 

1845 

1S44 

1844 


■845 


1S49 

1850 

1852 


iS<>3 


1S57 

i860 


1S61 


1869 

1S69 


1877 


1SS1 

1SS1 


Secretary  of  Treasury. 


Alex.  Hamilton.. 
Oliver  Wolcott. . 


W.  H.  Crawford. 


Richard  Rush. 


Samuel  D.  Ingham. 
Louis  McLane. 
William  J.  Duane... 
Roger  B.  Taney. . . . 
Levi  Woodbury. . . 


Levi  Woodbury. 


Thomas  Ewing. . . 
Walter  Forward. 
John  C.  Spencer. 
George  M.  Bibb. . 


Robt.  J.  Walker. 


W.  M.  Meredith. 
Thomas  Corwin.. 


James  Guthrie. 


Howell  Cobb 

Philip  F.  Thomas. 
John  A.  Dix 


Salmon  P.  Chase.. 
W.  P.  Fessenden. 
Hugh  McCulloch. . 


Alex.  T.  Stewart. . 
Geo.  S.  Boutwell... 
W.  A.  Richardson. 
Benj.  H.  Bristow.. 
L.  M.  Morrill 


John  Sherman. 


William  Windom.. 
Charles  J.  Folger 


1789 

■795 


■79  7 

1S00 


1S01 

1802 


1S09 

1814 

1814 


1817 


1825 


1829 

*831 

'833 

■833 

•S.,4 


>837 


1841 

1841 

<843 

1844 


*845 


1849 

1850 


■853 


1S47 

1860 

1861 


1861 

1S64 

1865 


1869 

1S69 

1S74 

1874 

1S76 


1877 


1SS1 

1SS1 


THE  PRESIDENTS  AND  THEIR  CABINETS 


7°3 


THE  PRESIDENTS  AND  THEIR  CABINETS  FROM  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT.  Concluded. 


Secretary  of  War. 

o 

.5 

c. 

<f 

Secretary  of  Nava*. 

I Appointed. 

Sec’y  of  Interior. 

rd 

0 

a 

c 

a 

c. 

< 

Postmaster  General. 

| Appointed. 

Attorney  General. 

Appointed. 

Henry  Knox 

T.  Pickering 

J.  McHenry 

17S9 

1794 

1790 

'797 

iS^o 

1500 

1501 

Henry  Knox 

T.  Pickering 

'7S9 

1704 

1796 

179s 

1798 

Interior  Department 
created  1S49. 

Samuel  CL  good 

T.  Pickering 

17S9 

1791 

'795 

E.  Randolph 

Win.  Bradford 

17S9 

*794 

‘795 

J.  McHenry 

Jos.  Habersham 

'797 

‘797 

S.  Dexter 

John  Marshall 

Rog.  Griswold 

1501 

1502 
1S05 

H.  Dearborn 

1S01 

1501 

1502 

1S01 

1801 

1S05 

180s 

1807 

1S09 

.S.3 

1S14 

•Sis 

•f  *7 
1817 

lS09 

1813 

1814 

1809 

1S14 

1S09 

1S14 

1S17 

1S23 

B.W.  Crowinshield. . . 

, S17 
1S1S 
'823 
1S23 

lt.J.  Meies 

1S1 7 

1825 

1S2S 

1S25 

1S2S 

William  Wirt 

1S25 

lS29 

183I 

1829 
1S3  I 
1S34 

1S20 

'S35 

J.  M.  Berrien 

lS29 

183I 

'834 

ft.  B.  Taney 

B.  F.  Butler 

J.  R.  Poinsett 

1S37 

M.  Dickerson 

).  K.  Paulding 

>837 

iS,S 

Amos  Kendall 

John  M.  Niles 

■837 

1S40 

B.  F.  Butler 

Felix  Grundy 

11.  D.  Gil  pi 

'8.(8 

1840 

1S4  I 
1S4  I 

'S43 

1844 

1.841 

1841 

'843 

IS44 

IS44 

1841 

1S46 

Francis  Gr  nger 

1S41 
184 1 

J.J.  Crittenden 

1841 

1.N41 

1S44 

C.  A.  Wickliffe 

1 1.  8.  I.egare 

John  Nelson 

John  Y.  Mason 

■845 

Cave  Johnson 

■845 

I.  Y.  Mason 

'845 

1846 

1S4S 

'849 

1S50 

Isaac  Toucey . 

G.  \V.  Crawford 

Winfield  Scott.. . 

1849 

iS^O 

IS5O 

Wm.  B.  Preston 

Win.  A.  Graham 

1549 

1550 
1S52 

Thomas  Ewing 

A.  If.  If.  Stuart 

1849 

1850 

Jacob  Collamer 

Nathan  K.  Hall 

1849 

1S50 

1852 

R.  Johnson 

J.J.  Crittenden 

1»53 

1S57 

1SO0 

1 861 
IS64 

Jefferson  Davis 

'853 

James  C.  Dobbin 

'853 

It.  McClelland 

>853 

James  Campbell 

■85 1 

Caleb  Cushing 

John  B.  Floyd 

■857 

i860 

Isaac  Toucey 

'857 

J.  Thompson 

1S57 

Aaron  V.  Brown 

Joseph  Holt 

Iloratio  King.. 

'857 

' s 59 
1861 

l86l 

I 864 

J.S.  Black 

U.  Mi  Stonto  id*  . 

S.  Cameron 

1861 

1S61 

Gideon  Welles 

l86l 

Caleb  B.  Smith 

1861 

1863 

1865 

Montg.  Blair 

Wm.  Dennison ... 

Edw.  Bates 

James  Speed 

Ulysses  S.  Grant 

1867 

1868 
186S 

().  If.  Browning 

i80<) 

A.  W.  Randall 

1S66 

H.  F.  Stanberrv 

O.  11.  Browning 

!*/> 

iS/»8 

1 St  8 

J.  M.  Schofield  

J.  M.  Schofield 

J.  A.  Rawlins 

W.  W.  Belknap 

Jas.  D.  Cameron  

l*X> 

1869 

1S69 

I876 

■877 

Adolph  E.  Boric 

G.  W.  Robeson 

1869 

1S69 

j.  n.  Cox 

C.  Delano....- 

Zacli.  Chandler • 

1869 

'57" 

1875 

J.  A.  J.  Cress  well 

Jas.  W.  Ma  shall 

Marshall  Jewell 

Jas.  N.  Tyner 

1869 

'874 

,s7t 

1871 

E.  R.  Hoar 

A.  T.  Ackerman 

E.  S.  Pierrepont 

G.  H.  w lUlara  .. 

A.  Tuft 

18/9 

1S70 

's75 

1576 
|S,6 

1577 

G.  W.  McCrary  

R.  W.  Thompson 

Nathan  Goff,  Jr 

& 

1881 

Carl  Schurz 

•877 

D.  M.  Keys.. . 

.877 

IT.  Devcns 

Hobt.T.  Lincoln  

iS8i 

Wm.  11.  Hunt 

Sam'l  J.  Kirkwood 

18S1 

Thomas  L.  James 

Timothy  O.  Howe 

1SS1  Wavnc  Vnc  Veagh 

1 11.  1 ■ ■ Ur.. 

|S8l 

|H8l 

• Before  the  accession  of  Andrew  Jackson  to  the  Pit  sidi  n<  y the  Postmai  ter  f«  n. . al  was  looked  upotraa  the  lu  ad  ol  a lj*reau. |,"1,  “j 
Jackson  invited  Mr.  Barry  to  a seat  in  his  cabinet  meetings,  since  which  tune  the  Postmaster  General  has  been  considered  a rcKular  member  ol 
the  Cabinet. 


704 

DISTANCES  AND  STANDARDS  OF  TIME  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  CITIES  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Air-Line  Distances  from  Washington  to  various  parts  of  the  World. 


MILES. 

Alexandria,  Egypt 5-275 

Amsterdam,  Holland 3-555 

Athens,  Greece — - 5-0o5 

Auckland,  N.  Z 8,290 

Algiers,  Algeria 3,425 

Berlin,  Prussia 3,847 

Berne,  Switzerland 3-73° 

Brussels,  Belgium 3,515 

Batavia,  Java — 11,118 

Bombay,  Hindostan 8,548 

Buenos  Ayres,  A.  C 5,013 

Bremen,  Prussia 3, 500 

Constantinople,  Turkey.. 4,880 

Copenhagen,  Denmark 3,895 

Calcutta,  Hindostan 9,348 

Canton,  China 9,000 

Cairo,  Egypt 5,848 

Cape  Town,  Cape  Colony 6,684 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 7,380 

Carracas,  Venezuela 1,805 

Charlotte  Town,  P.  E.  1 820 


Dublin,  Ireland 

— 3,076 

Delhi.  Hindostan 

.....  8,368 

Edinburgh,  Scotland 

3-275 

Fredericton,  N.  B 

Gibraltar,  Spain 

3,150 

Glasgow,  Scotland 

3-2*5 

Halifax,  N.  S. 

Hamburg,  Germany 

3-575 

Havana,  Cuba 

1,139 

Honolulu,  S.  I 

4,513 

Jerusalem,  Palestine 

5-495 

Jamestown, St.  Helena 

7- *5° 

Lima,  Peru .. 

3-5 '5 

Lisbon,  Portugal 

3-*9° 

Liverpool,  England 

3-228 

London,  “ 

3-3*5 

City  of  Mexico,  Mexico... 

— i,857 

Montevideo,  Uraguay 

5,0c 3 

Montreal,  Canada 

47* 

Madrid,  Spain 

— 3,485 

Moscow,  Russia 

miles. 

Manilla,  Phil.  Islands 9,360 

Mecca,  Arabia 6,598 

Muscat,  “ ... 7,600 

Monrovia,  Liberia 3,645 

Morocco,  Morocco 3,305 

Mourzouk,  Fezzan ...  5,525 

Mozambique,  Moz 7-348 

Ottawa,  Canada 462 

Panama,  New  Granada 1,825 

Parana,  A.  C _ 4,733 

Port  au  Prince,  Hayti 1.425 

Paris,  France  3-485 

Pekin,  China  8,783 

Quebec,  Canada 60 1 

Quito,  Ecuador ....  2,531 

Rio  Janeiro,  Brazil 4,280 

Rome,  Italy 4,365 

St.  Petersburg,  Russia 4,296 

Stockholm,  Sweden 4 055 

Shanghai,  China 8,600 

Singapore,  Malay 11,300 


MILES. 

St.  John’s,  N.  F 1,340 

San  Domingo,  S.  D 4,300 

San  Juan,  Nicaraugua 1,740 

San  Salvador,  C.  A 1,650 

Santiago,  Chili 4,970 

Spanish  Town,  Jamaica 1.446 

Sydney,  C.  B I.- 975 

Sydney,  Australia 8,963 

St.  Paul  de  Loanda 5.578 

Timbuctoo,  Soudan ... 3.395 

Tripoli.  Tripoli 4,425 

Tunis,  Tunis 4,240 

Toronto,  Canada 343 

Venice,  Italy 3,835 

Vienna,  Austria 4,1 15 

Valparaiso,  Chili 4,934 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico 1,680 

Warsaw,  Poland 4,010 

Yeddo,  Japan 7.630 

Zanzibar,  Zanzibar 7,078 


Distances  by  Water  from  New  York  to  various  parts  of  the  World. 


MILES. 

Alexandria,  Egypt 5,075 

Aspinwall  2-338 

Amsterdam, Holland 3,510 

Azores 2,240 

Bilize,  Balize 1.790 

Batavia.,  Java 13,066 

Belfast,  Ireland  - 2,895 

Bermudas,  West  Indies 660 

Bombay,  India n.574 

Bordeaux,  France  ....  3-3IC> 

Botany  Bay,  Australia 13,294 

Bremen - 3-575 

Bristol — 3010 

Brussels,  Belgium 3,420 

Buenos  Ayres,  S.  A 6,120 

Callao 3,5°° 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Africa..  6,838 
Cape  Horn,  S.  A.  7,000 


MILES. 

Chagres.  New  Granada 2.328 

Cherbourg 3,125 

Columbia  River *5-965 

Constantinople.  Turkey 5,140 

Copenhagen,  Denmark 3,640 

Calcutta,  India 12,500 

Canton,  China 14,090 

Galway .........  3,000 

Gibraltar,  Spain 3.300 

Glasgow,  Scotland 2,926 

Guayaquil,  Equador ....  2,800 

Halifax,  Nova  Scotia 555 

Havre,  France 3,325 

Hamburg  Germany 3-775 

Havana,  Cuba 1,280 

Hong  Kong  ... 6,488 

Kingston,  Jamaica 1,635 

Lima,  Peru 11,310 


MILES. 

Lisbon,  Portugal 3,175 

London,  England 3 375 

Liverpool,  “ 3.'  84 

Madras,  British  India n 850 

Malta 4,325 

Manilla,  PhilipPe  Islands  ...10,750 

Melbourne,  A stralia 11.165 

Monrovia,  Liberia...... 3 850 

Mozambique,  Moz 6,900 

Nagasaki 9,800 

Naples,  Italy 4-33° 

Panama,  New  Granada 2,066 

Pekin,  China 15-325 

Pernambuco,  Brazil 4,780 

Quebec,  Canada 1.400 

Rio  Janeiro,  Brazil 5,920 

St.  John,  New  Foundland 800 

St.  Petersburg,  Russia 4,420 


MILES. 

San  Diego 4,500 

Sandwich  Islands,  S.  I 7,15 7 

San  Francisco,  Cal 18,850 

San  Juan,  Nicaraugua 2,270 

Shanghai,  China ; 14,500 

Smyrna,  Asia  Minor 5,000 

Southampton 3,156 

Stockholm,  Sweden 4 050 

Tahiti,  S.  I 7,865 

Trieste,  Austria 5.130 

Valparaiso,  Chili 4.800 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico 2.200 

Victoria,  Australia 12,825 

Vienna,  Austria 4,100 

Yokohama,  Japan.... 7-520 


Distances  from  London,  England,  to  various  parts  of  the  World. 


MILES. 

Amsterdam,  Holland 290 

Baltimore,  Md  - 3,700 

Barbadoes,  W.  I 3.780 

Batavia,  Java — 11,812 

Bermudas,  W.  1.... 5, 195 

Bordeaux,  France 758 

Boston,  M ass 3,125 

Botany  Bay,  Australia 8,040 

Bombay,  India  11,320 

Buenos  Ayres,  S.  A 6,685 

Calcutta,  India 12,160 

Canton,  China 1^,650 

Cape  Horn,  S.  A /,  50 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Africa..  6,580 


MILES. 

Chagres,  New  Granada  4,650 

Charleston,  S.  C 4,3*5 

Columbia  River 16,130 

Constantinople,  Turkey 3.260 

Copenhagen,  Denmark 710 

Dublin,  Ireland ......  590 

Gibraltar,  Spain 1,380 

Halifax,  N.  S 2,750 

Hamburg,  Germany ... 420 

Havana,  Cuba.. 4,610 

Havre,  France .....  275 

Kingston,  Jamaica .....  4,560 

Lima,  Peru 10,730 

Lisbon,  Portugal 1,100 


MILES. 

Liverpool,  England 650 

Madras,  British  India 11,580 

Malta 4,212 

Manilla,  Philipine  Islands 12,425 

Monrovia,  Africa 3-475 

Naples,  Italy 2,420 

New  Orleans,  La 5,115 

New  York,  N.  Y 3-375 

Panama,  New  Granada 4,700 

Pekin,  China 15,100 

Pernambuco,  Brazil 4-450 

Philadelphia,  Pa ....  3,-40 

Quebec.  Canada 3-010 

Rio  Janeiro,  Brazil 5,400 


MILES. 

Sandwich  Islands,  S.  1 15,100 

San  Francisco,  Cal 8,200 

St.  Petersburg,  Russia *-375 

Singapore,  China *2,475 

Smyrna,  Asia  Minor 3, 120 

Stockholm,  Sweden 1,120 

Tahiti,  S.  I 11,800 

Trieste,  Austria 3,220 

Valparaiso,  Chili.... 9-475 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico 5-140 

Victoria,  Austialia *2,575 

Washington,  D.  C. 3-775 


Standards  of  Time  in  the  Principal  Cities  of  the  World,  compared  with  12:00  noon  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


Albany,  N.  Y.,  12  13  p.  m 
Amsterdam,  Holl’d,  528  p.  m 
Angra,  India,  3 19  p.  m 
Atchison,  Kan.,  1047  a-  m 
Athens,  Greece,  6 43  p.  m 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  zi  40  a.  m 
Augusta,  Ga.,  11  40  a.  m 
Augusta,  Me.,  12  29  p.  m 
Baltimore,  Md.,  1202  p.  m 
Bangor,  M e. , 12  33  p.  m 
Bath,  Me.,  1229  P-  m 
Berlin,  Germany,  6 02  p.  m 
Bombay,  India,  1000  p.  m 
Boston,  Mass.,  12  24  p.  m 
Brussels,  Belgium,  5 25  p.  m 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. , 11  52  a.  m 
Cape  Town,  Africa, 6 22  p.  m 
Cairo,  Egypt.  7 13  p.  m. 
Calcutta,  t ndia,  1 1 01  p.  m 
Cant'n,  China,  12  41  a.  m 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  12  29  p.  m 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  11  43  a.  m 
Charlottet’n.P.E.I.  12  58p.n1 
Chicago,  111.,  11  17  a.  m 


Cincinnati.,  O.,  11  30  a.  m 
Cleveland.  O.,  11  41  a.  m 
Constantinople,  7 04  p.  m 
Columbia,  S.  C.,  11  44  a.  m 
Columbus,  O.,  11  36  a.  m. 
Danville,  Va.,  11  50  a.  m 
Denver,  Col.,  1008  a.  m 
Des  Moines,  la.,  10  53  a.  m 
Detroit,  Mich.,  1 x 36  a.  m. 
Dubuque,  la.,  11  05  a.  m 
Dublin,  Ireland,  4 43  p.  m 
Edinburg,  Scotland,  4 55  p.  m 
Frankfort,  Ky.,ix  29  a.  m 
Galveston,  Tex.,  10  49  a.  m 
Halifax,  N.  S.,  12  54  p.  m. 
Hamilton,  Ont.,  11  49  a.  m 
Hannibal,  Mo.,  11  07  a.  m. 
Hartford,  Ct.,  12  17  p.  m 
Houston,  Tex.,  10  44  a.  m. 

1 ndianapolis.,  Ind. , 11  24  a. m 
Jacksonville,  111.,  11  07  a.  m 
Jefferson  City, Mo.,  10  59  a m 
Kalnma.  Wash.  T.,  8 58  a m 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  10  49  a.  m 


Key  West,  Fla.,  11  41  a.  m 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  11  32  a.  m 
Laramie,  Wy.  T.,  10  12  a.  m 
Leavenworth, Kan.,  1049  a. m 
Lisbon,  Portugal,  4 31  p.  m 
Lincoln,  Neb.,  10  41  a.  m 
Little  Rock,  Atk.,  10  59  a.  m 
London,  England,  5 07  p.  m 
Louisville.  Ky.  11  26  a.  m 
Macon,  Ga  , 11  37  a.  m 
Melbourne,  Aus.,  2 48  a.  m 
Memphis,  Tenn.,  11  08  a.  m 
Meridian,  Miss.,  11  14  a. m 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  n 16  a.  m 
Minneapolis, Minn.,  1055  a m 
Mobile,  Ala.,  11  16  a.  m 
Montgomery,  Ala.,  11  23  a m 
Monoton,  N.  B.,  12  48  p.  m 
Montreal,  Que.,  12  14  p.  m 
Moscow  Russia,  7 38  p.  m 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  11  21  a.  m 
New  Havtn,  Ct.,  12  16  p.  m 
New  London,  Ct.,  12  20  p.  m 
New  Orleans,  La.,  11  08  a.  m 


New  York,  N.  Y.,  12  12  p.  m 
Omaha,  Neb.,  10  44  a.  m 
Ottawa,  Ont.,  12  05  p.  m 
Paris,  France,  5 17  p.  m 
Paducah,  Ky.,  11  16  a.  m 
Pensacola,  Fla.,  11  19  a.  m 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1207  P-  m 
Pittsburgh,  Pa  , 11  48  a.  m 
Port  Hope,  Ont.,  11  54  a.  m 
Port  Huron.  Mich..  11  34  a.m 
Portland,  Me.,  1227  p.  m 
Portland,  Or#  gon,  8 56  a.  m 
Portsmouth,  Va.,  12  03  p.  m 
Providence,  R.  I.,  12  22  p.  m 
Quebec,  Que.,  12  23  p.  m 
Quincy,  111.,  11  07  a m 
Raleigh,  N C.,  11  50  a.  m. 
Richmond,  Va  , 1 1 58  a.  m 
Rio  Janeiro,  Brazil,  2 15  p.  m 
Rome,  Italy,  5 58  p.  m 
Rome.  Ga.,  11  32  a.  m 
St.  John,  N.  B.,  12  44  p.  m 
St.  John,  N.  F.,  1 37  ).  m. 

St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  10  50  a.  m 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  11  07  a.  m 
St.  paul,  Minn.,  10  56  a.  m 
Salt  L.  City,  U.  T.  9 40  a.  m 
Santa  Fe,  N.  Mex.,  1004  a.m 
San  Francisco,  Cal.,  8 58  a.  m 
Sault  St.  Marie,  M.,11  31  a.m 
Savannah,  Ga.,  11  44  a.  m 
Selma,  Ala.,  11  20  a.  m 
Shreveport,  La  , 10  57  a.  m 
Sioux  City. , la.,  10  42  a.  m 
Terre  Haute, Ind.,  11  18  a.  m 
Topeka,  Kan.,  10  45  a.  m 
Toronto,  Ont.,  11  51  a.  m. 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  12  09  p.  m 
Vicksburg,  Miss.,  11  05  a.  m 
Vienna,  Austria,  6 14  p.  m 
Vincennes,  Ind  .11  17  a.  m 
Virginia  City,  M.  T.,940  a.m 
Wilmington,  Del.,  12  06  p.  m 
Wilmington,  N.  C.,  11  58  a.m 
Winona,  Minn.,  1101  a.  m 
1 Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  11  45  a.  m 
Yankton,  D.  T.,  10  38  a.  m 


•V  s 


705 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SEVERAL  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES. 


Showing  Population  of  1370  and  1880:  When  Admitted  to  the  Union,  Public  Debt,  Area,  Where  and  By  Whom  First  Settled, 
National  Electoral  Vote,  Salaries,  Term  of  Office  of  Governor  and  Members  of  Legislature,  Number  of  Senators 
and  Representatives  comprising  the  Legislature,  Miles  of  R.  R.  in  operation  January  I,  1880. 


'0 .2 
£ <= 

IP 


States  and 
Territories. 


1820 
*1788 

1791 
*1788 
*179"> 
*1788 
*1788 
*1787 
*1787 
*1787 
*1738 
*1783 
*1789 
*1788 
*1788 

1845 

I8X9 

1817 
18*2 

1845 

1836 
1796 

1792 

1863 
1803 

1837 
1816 

1818 
1848 

1858 

1846 

1821 
1861 

1867 
1876 

1864 
1850 

1859 
Organ- 
ized. 

1863 
1861 
1853 

1864 
1850 
1850 
'853 

1868 
1799-91 

1834 
1 368 


Maine  . 

N.  Hampshire 

Vermont 

M a^sachusetts 
Rhode  Island 
Connecticut .. 

New  York 

New  Jersey.. 
Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia  

N.  Carolina.. 
S.  Carolina... 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi  ... 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Arkansas - 

Tennessee  — 
Kentucky  . . . 
West  Virginia 

Ohio 

Michigan 

Indi  tna 

Illinois 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa.... 

Missouri 

Kansas  .. — . 

Nebraska 

Colorado 

Nevada  


Oregon 


Arizona  

Dakota  

Idaho 

Montana  . — 
New  Mexico 
Utah  


Dis.  Col.** 
Indian  Ter1 
Alaska  * * 


Capitals. 

| Electoral  Vote. 

Augusta  

6 

Concord 

4 

Montpelier 

4 

Boston 

*4 

Prov.  & N’port 

4 

Hartford 

6 

Albany  

36 

1 renton 

9 

Harrisburg 

30 

Dover 

3 

Annapolis 

8 

Richmond 

12 

Raleigh 

11 

Columbia  

9 

Atlanta 

12 

Tallahassee 

4 

Montgomery  — 

10 

Jackson 

9 

New  Orleans. . . 

b 

Austin 

*3 

Little  Rock 

7 

Nashville  

12 

Frankfort  

'3 

Wheeling  

(, 

Columbus - . 

23 

Lansing 

>3 

Indianapolis 

'5 

Springfield 

22 

Madison 

I I 

St.  Paul 

7 

Des  Moines 

>3 

J efferson  City  . . 

16 

9 

Lincoln  - 

5 

3 

Carson  City 

3 

Sacramento 

s 

3 

. Santa  Fe  

. Salt  Lake  City 

. Olympia 

. Cheyenne 

* Tahlaquah..  . . 

.. 

Sitka 

33,040 

9,305 

9,56? 
8,3  ■ 5 
1,250 

4.990 
49,  >7° 

7,815 

45, 215 
2,050 
12,210 
42.450 

52.250 
.30,570 

59.475 

55.050 

52.250 
46,810 
48,720 

265,780 

53,850 

42.050 
40,400 
24,780 
41,060 
5S>9'5 

36.35o 

56,650 

f 6,0^0 

3,365 

C6.02C 

69,415 

82,080 

76.85s 

>03,925 

1 10,700 
158,360 
96,030 


1 1 3,020 
149,100 
84,800 
1 46,080 
122,580 

84,970 

69,180 

97,890 

70 

64,690 

577,390 


648,936 

346,991 

332,286 

>,783,085 

202,538 
622,700 
5,082,871  ’ 
1,131,116 
4,282,891 
1446,608 
934.933 
i,5>2,565 
>,399.780 
995.577 
1,542,180 

269,493 
1 ,262,505 
•,>3>.597 

939,940 

1,591,749 

802,525 

1.542,349 

1,648,690 

618,417 

3,198,062 

',636,937 

1, 97s, 301 

3.077.S71 

>,  3'5-497 
7*0,773 
1,624  «*5 
2, 166,380 
996,096 
452,402 
*94,327 
62,266 
864,692 
174,76s 


626.915 
318,300 

330355* 

1, 457>35* 
?*7,353 
537.434 
4,382,759 
906,096 
3,52*.95* 
126,015 
780,894 
1,225,163 
1,071,361 
653  410 
1,184,109 
187,748 
906.992 
827.922 

726.915 
808  579 
481,471 

1,258,520 

1,321,011 

442.014 
2,665,260 
-.  84.059 
1,680.637 
2.536.891 
1,054.670 

433.706 
,194,020 
1,721  265 

364.399 

122.015 
39,864 

42.49' 

560,247 

99-923 


40,440 

135.177 

32,610 

39,159 

119,565 

143.963 

75.116 

20,789 

177,624 


9.626 
14,181 
14  99° 
20.595 
9°,565 

86  786 

22.626 
9 752 
131.700 
8,785 
661 


Public  Debt. 

First  Settled  at 

£ 

0 

x 

> 

pa 

c 

0 

X 

State  Government. 

Limit  of  Session 

in  days. 

Miles  of  R.  R.  in 

operation,  1880.  | 

Jovernor  | 

Legislatu 

re. 

Salary. 

Term,  yrs; 

c 

V 

r. 

6 

£ 

►1 

- 

3 

< 

6 

£ 

| Term,  yrs 

$1,848,000 

Bristol 

French. 

1625 

$*  ,500 

2 

3* 

1 

*5* 

1 

nonet 

1 .009 

3-5734550 

Little  Harbor  .. 

English 

1623 

1. 000 

2 

24 

2 

280 

2 

none^ 

1,019 

59, "6  1 

Fort  Dummer. . 

English 

1764 

1,000 

2 

3° 

2 

232 

2 

none} 

873 

^^4020,464 

Plymouth 

English 

1620 

5,000 

1 

4f 

1 

240 

z 

nonet 

1,870 

2.534,500  2 

Providence 

English 

1636 

4,oco 

1 

3: 

1 

72 

1 

nonet 

210 

4,967,600 

Windsor 

English 

1635 

2, coo 

2 

21 

2 

245 

1 

nonet 

922 

9,111.0^4  3 

New  York 

Dutch  . 

1614 

io,cco 

3 

32 

2 

128 

1 

ncnct 

6 008 

2.096,000  4 

Bergen 

Dutch  . 

1620 

5. coo 

3 

2 1 

3 

6c 

1 

nenet 

1 ,663 

22,190,088 

Philadelphia  . .. 

English 

1682 

10, coo 

3 

eo 

4 

201 

2 

ncnel 

6068 

974,000  « 

Cape  Henlopen. 

Swedes. 

1027 

2,0CC 

4 

9 

4 

21 

2 

ronet 

280 

6,037,088 

St.  Mary 

English 

1634 

4»5co 

4 

26 

4 

85 

2 

90* 

§966 

See  Note  6 

Jamestown 

English 

1^07 

5«occ 

4 

40 

4 

99 

2 

90  f 

1,672 

26,850.227  7 

Chowan  River  . 

English 

1650 

3, coo 

4 

CO 

2 

120 

2 

60  j 

1.446 

6.146,595 

Ashley  River 

English 

1670 

4’5C° 

2 

34 

4 

124 

2 

nonet 

*.425 

10,844,500 

Savannah 

English 

>733 

4,000 

2 

44 

4 

>75 

2 

4 t 

2,460 

1,150,000  8 

St.  Augustine.. 

Span’ds 

>565 

3’5CC 

4 

4 

2 

Cot 

I'9 

8,596,000 

Mobile 

French. 

1711 

2,0c  c 

2 

33 

4 

ICO 

2 

50 1 

x 832 

752i*5o 

Natchez 

French 

1716 

4,0c  0 

4 

37 

4 

120 

2 

nonet 

1,140 

12,136,166 

Iberville 

French. 

1699 

4,ccc 

4 

36 

4 

99 

4 

90 1 

544 

3.581  663 

San  Antonio  — 

Span ’ds 

1692 

4 »ccc 

2 

3> 

4 

93 

2 

t>o$ 

2-59* 

4,736,5°° 

Arkansas  Post.. 

Fn  nch . 

R85 

3-500 

2 

31 

4 

93 

2 

60  f 

8c  8 

20,057,150 

Fort  London  . . 

English 

*757 

4,coc 

2 

2: 

2 

75 

2 

75 1 

1,70* 

I,85O.C08 

Boonesboro  

Fnrlish 

*775 

5, coo 

4 

3S 

4 

ICO 

2 

60  x 

*i595 

See  Note  0 

Wheeling  

English 

*774 

2,70c 

4 

24 

4 

65 

2 

45* 

694 

6.477.840 

Marietta 

Engli.h 

1 7fc8 

4.00c 

2 

36 

2 

120 

2 

nonet 

5'52* 

890.0001 0 

Detroit 

French 

1650 

1 ,occ 

2 

2 

ICO 

2 

no  ej 

3.673 

1.093,3951 1 

Vincennes 

French 

1730 

6.000 

4 

4 

100 

2 

(0% 

4 336 

282,700 1*.' 

Kaskaskia 

French 

1682 

6.00c 

4 

5* 

4 

■53 

2 

nonet 

7 .‘78 

2,252,057 

Green  Bay 

French 

i66f 

5>occ 

2 

3? 

2 

ICO 

X 

ncnct 

2 8q6 

430, cool!! 

Red  River 

Amer  . 

8:2 

3,00c 

2 

4* 

2 

106 

1 

60$ 

3,008 

545.435 

Burlington 

English 

1830 

3-ccc 

2 

50 

4 

T07 

2 

nonej 

4i779 

i7,co8,ocol4 

St.  Genevieve. . . 

Frer-ch. 

1764 

5 ecc 

4 

34 

4 

IC3 

2 

70 1 

3-740 

1,181,97510 

Amcr  . . 



2 ,00c 

2 

40 

4 

129 

2 

5°t 

3 >°3 

499,267 

Amer  - . 



2,500 

2 

3f 

2 

84 

2 

4°t 

1.634 

125,000 

Amer  .. 



3,000 

2 

26 

4 

49 

2 

4°i 

436,400 

Genoa  

Amer  . 

1851 

6,oco 

4 

25 

4 

5° 

2 

604 

720 

3,2oo,rool0 

San  Diego 

Span ’ds 

1769 

6,oco 

4 

40 

4 

80 

2 

60  i 

2,209 

588.843 

Astoria 

Amcr  . 

181 1 

1,50c 

4 

30 

4 

60 

2 

40  i 

295 

2, Coo 

4 

2 

2 

4<4 

*83 

1859 

2,6co 

4 

*3 

7 

26 

2 

4°  X 

4(0 

1842 

2,6co 

4 

*3 

2 

26 

2 

4°  I 

220 

1852 

2/00 

4 

*3 

2 

26 

2 

4° ; 

IO 

*537 

2.6<0 

4 

*3 

2 

26 

2 

404 

Il8 

Salt  Lake  City.. 

Amer  . 

1847 

2/  CO 

4 

1 4 

2 

27 

2 

40T 

593 

Amer  . . 

181 1 

2 600 

4 

9 

2 

30 

3 

4C! 

212 

1867 

2,6co 

4 

*3 

2 

26 

2 

40  + 

472 

21,688,323 

English 



s cMd 
275 







.... 



... 



•Original  thirteen  States,  and  date  of  ratification  of  the  Constitution.  (Official.  tThe  Legislature  meets  annually.  JThe  Legislature  meets  bi- 
ennially ° includes  the  District  cf  Columbia.  »* No  Territorial  Government.  •••This  does  not  include  383,71a  Indians,  estimated. 

I.  Cash  on  hand,  $79,203  ; surplus,  $20,087.  2.  Sinking  Fund,  $596, .90  ; net  debt,  $.,938,3.0.  3.  Canal  Sinking  Fund.  $. ,451.628  ; net  debt.  ? 7.659  - 

426.  4.  Sinking  Fund,  $1,379-797  1 net  debt,  $7x6,503.  5.  The  State  holds  railroad  mortgages,  etc.,  in  excess  of  this  debt,  $.65,799.  0-  ^wm*1' re- 
funding and  chaotic  condition  of  finances,  .he  exact  indebtedness  cannot  be  given.  About  $30,000,000  worth  of  bond,  are  issued, of  which  Uc  t Mrg.ma 
i,  charged  wilh  $15.239  370.  as  her  portion  of  the  State  debt  at  the  time  of  separation.  7.  An  act  of  . ho  1'K»  >tu»  providing  for  a comprom.se  of  the 
Slate  debt  was  passed  March  4,  .879-  8.  $435,000  worth  of  bond,  are  held  by  .he  Stale  Educational  Fund.  0.  No  State  debt  except  her  port, on  cf the  old 

Virginia  debt,  which  ha,  never  been  adju-ted.  10.  The  Sinking  Fund  it  now  more  than  sufficient  to  extinguish  the  entire  debt.  11.  In  addition  to  this, 
the  State  is  indebted  to  the  School  Fund  $3,904,783.  for  which  negotiable  bonds  have  been  issued.  12.  \\  a,  pa,d  January  >88..  13.  ^ewhole 

amount  is  held  by  the  Educational  Trust  Funds.  14.  $2,900,000  of  this  belong  to  the  State’s  permanent  School  Fund.  15.  Of  .In,  the  permanent  . chool 
Fund  holds  $607,925.  the  Sinking  Fund  holds  $94,275,  'he  Stale  University.  $9,800,  the  Normal  School.  $1,600.  10.  Against  this  the  State  owns  $2,700.- 

000  in  School  Funds*  and  has  $1,000,000  on  har.d,  leaving  a surplus  of  §500,000. 


77 


-6  K 


.is 


4 


•/ 


706 


POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1880. 


THE  POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1880 

AS  ISSUED  BY  THE  U.  S.  GOVERNMENT. 


The  following  table  presents  the  final  official  figures  of  the  population  of  the  United  States  at  the  Tenth  Census, 
with  a column  showing,  for  comparative  purposes,  the  population  of  1870. 

The  figures  for  Indian  Territory  and  Alaska  are  omitted,  as  their  inhabitants  are  not  considered  citizens.  All  Indians 
not  subject  to  taxation  are  also  omitted,  in  conformity  with  the  census  law. 

The  column  headed  “ Colored”  comprises  onlv  persons  of  African  descent. 


TOT  A I. 

POPULATION'. 


1880. 


States  and  Territories. 

1880. 

1870. 

Male. 

Female. 

Native. 

C 

"5 

u 

0 

fa 

YVhite. 

Colored. 

Chinese. 

Japanese. 

U) 

a 

.2 

*3 

c 

The  United  States 

So.i55.7s3 

3S,5SS,37i 

25,518,820 

24,636,963 

43,475,84° 

6,679,943 

43,402,970 

6,5So,793 

105,465 

148 

66,407 

The  States 

47.37 1 .34° 

3S,  155,505 

25.075,619 

24,295,721 

42,871,556 

6,499.784 

42,714,479 

6,51s, 372 

93,782 

141 

44.566 

Alabama . 

1,262,505 

996,992 

622,629 

639,876 

380,246 

1,252,771 

9,734 

662,185 

600,103 

4 

213 

Arkansas  

802,525 

484,472 

416.270 

792,175 

10,350 

591,531 

210,666 

6,018 

■33 

*95 

California 

864,69^ 

560,247 

518,176 

346,51s 

571,820 

292, S74 

767, 18 1 

75,132 

S6 

16,277 

Colorado 

I94.327 

39.S64 

I2Q.I3I 

6<,  196 
316,918 

'54,537 

39,790 

191,126 

2,435 

6l2 

154 

Connecticut 

622,700 

537,454 

305,782 

492,70S 

129,992 

610,769 

”,547 

123 

6 

25s 

Delaware 

146,608 

125,015 

74,'oS 

72,500 

137,140 

9,46S 

120,160 

142,605 

26,442 

I 

5 

Florida 

269.493 

iS7,748 

136,444 

'33,049 

259,584 

9,909 

126,690 

18 

■as 

Georgia 

1,542,180 

1,184,109 

762,981 

779,199 

i,53i,6i6 

10,5' 4 

816,900 

725,133 

'7 

124- 

Illinois 

3.077.S7* 

2,519,89' 

1,586,523 

1,491,448 

2,494,295 

5S.3,576 

3, 031.15' 

46,36s 

209 

3 

140 

Indiana 

i,97s.301 

i ,680,637 

I,OIO,36l 

967,940 

1,834,123 

144,178 

1,938,79s 

39,228 

29 

246 

Iowa 

I,624,6l5 

1,194,020 

84S, 136 

776,479 

1,362,965 

261,650 

1,614,600 

9,516 

33 

.... 

466 

Kansas 

99'),  096 

364,399 

536,667 

459,429 

8S6,oio 

no,oS6 

952.155 

43,107 

'9 

815 

Kentucky 

1,648,690 

1,321,01 1 
726,915 

832,590 

816,100 

1,589,173 

59,517 

1,377,179 

271,451 

IO 

50 

Louisiana 

939.946 

468,754 

471,192 

324,878 

885,800 

54,146 

58,883 

454,954 

483,655 

489 

848 

Maine 

648,946 

626,915 

324,058 

590,053 

646,852 

1,451 

8 

623 

Maryland 

934.943 

'.7S3.0SS 

7So,S94 

462,187 

558,440 

472,756 

852,137 

82,806 

724,693 

210,230 

5 

'5 

Massachusetts 

1,457,35' 

1,184,059 

924.645 

',339.594 

443,491 

1,763,782 

18,697 

229 

S 

369 

Michigan 

1,646,037 

862,355 

774,582 

1,248,420 

38s, 508 

1,614,560 

15,100 

27 

I 

7.249 

Minnesota 

7So,733 

439,706 

419,149 

361,624 

51.3.097 

267,676 

776,884 

1,564 

24 

I 

2,300 

Mississippi 

i,i3'.597 

827,922 

567,177 

564,420 

1,122,388 

9,209 

479,398 

650,291 

S' 

'.857 

Missouri 

2,168,380 

1,721,295 

1,127,187 

1,041.193 

1 ,956,S02 

211,578 

2,022,S26 

145,350 

91 

”3 

Nebraska 

452,402 

122,993 

24Q.24I 

203,161 

354.988 

97,414 

449,764 

2,385 

18 

235 

Nevada 

62,266 

42491 

42.019 

20,247 

36,613 

25,653 

53,556 

488 

5,4i6 

3 

2,803 

New  Hampshire 

346,991 

318,300 

170,526 

176,46.5 

300,697 

46,294 

346,229 

6S5 

'4 

63 

New  Jersey 

1,131,1  l6 

906,096 

559,922 

571,194 

909,416 

221,700 

1,092,017 

38,8.53 

170 

2 

74 

New  York  

5.082,871 

4,582,750 

2,505.322 

2,577  540 

3.871,492 
I,396,OOS 
2,804,1  19 

',2ii,379 

5,016,022 

65,104 

909 

'7 

819 

North  Carolina . 

1,399,750 

1.071,361 

6S7,908 

711,842 

3,742 

867,242 

531,277 

1,230 

Ohio  

3,198,062 

2,665,260 

1.613,936 

1,584.126 

394-943 

3,117,920 

79,900 

109 

3 

'30 

Oregon 

174,76s 

4,2S2,S9I 

90.923 

'03.381 

7',3S7 

M4.265 

30,503 

'63  075 

487 

9>5'° 

2 

1,694 

Pennsylvania  

3,521.951 

2,136,655 

2,146,236 

3,695,062 

587,829 

4, 197,016 

85,535 

I4S 

8 

1S4 

Rhode  Island 

276,53' 

217,353 

133,030 

143,501 

202, q 48 

73.993 

269,939 

6,4SS 

27 

77 

South  Carolina 

995.577 

705,606 

490,408 

5 ’5, '60 

987,89' 

7,686 

39', '°5 

6<H,332 

9 

•3' 

Tennessee  

1,542,359 

1,258,520 

769,277 

773.082 

1,525,657 

16,702 

1,138,831 

403,15' 

25 

IS* 

Texas  

Vermont 

i,59i,749 

332,280 

818,579 

330,551 

837,840 
166,  S87 

753.909 

165,399 

1.477,133 

291,327 

I I4,6l6 

40,959 

',197,237 

33',2'8 

393,384 

1,057 

136 

992 

11 

Virginia 

i,5'2.565 

1,225,163 

74S.SS9 

766,976 

1,497,869 

14,696 

18,265 

SSo,SsS 

631,616 

6 

85 

AY  est  \ irgini.i 

618,457 

442,014 

3'4,495 

303,962 

600,192 

592.537 

25,886 

5 

29 

Wisconsin 

1,315.497 

1,054,670 

080,069 

635,428 

910,072 

405,425 

1,309,618 

2,702 

l6 

3,'6i 

The  Territories 

7S4,443 

402,866 

443,201 

341,242 

605 ,284 

180,159 

6SS.49I 

62,421 

ii,6S3 

7 

21,841 

Arizona tT 

40,440 

9,65s 

2S,202 

12,2^8 

24,391 

16,049 

35,'6o 

155 

1,630 

2 

3,493 

Dakota 

135.177 

14,181 

82,296 

52,881 

83.3S2 

51,795 

133,'47 

401 

238 

1.391 

District  of  Columbia 

177  624 

131,700 

83.57s 

94.046 

160,502 

17,122 

118,006 

59,5o'> 

'3 

4 

5 

Idaho  

32,610 

'4,999 

21,818 

10,792 

22,636 

9,974 

29,013 

35,3^5 

S3 

3,379 

165 

Montana 

39,159 

20,595 

28,177 

10,982 

27,638 

11,521 

346 

1,765 

1.663 

New  Mexico 

'19.565 

91,8/4 

64,496 

55,069 

111,514 

8,051 

108,721 

i,oi  5 

57 

9.772 

Utah 

'43,96< 

S6.7S6 

74-509 

69,454 

99,969 

43,994 

15,803 

142,423 

232 

SO' 

807 

YVashington 

75.no 

23.055 

45.973 

29,143 

59,31.3 

67,199 

325 

3,186 

1 

4.40s 

Wyoming 

20,789 

9,1 1S 

14,152 

6,637 

14,939 

5,85° 

'9,437 

29S 

914 

140 

POPULATION  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  CITIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WORLD.  7°7 


POPULATION  OF  THE  100  PRINCIPAL  CITIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  IN  ALPHABETICAL  ORDEF— CENSUS  OF  1880. 


Total  Popula’n. 

1SS0. 

fetal  Popula’n. 

1SS0. 

Cities. 

State. 

1SS0. 

1S70. 

u 

% 

• J 

y — 

^ E 

— d 

zS 

L c 
.c  .rf 

Cities. 

State. 

1SS0. 

1S70. 

JU 

• V 

£ 

H 

i c 
©be 

Albany 

..  .N.  Y... 

90.755 

69,422 

43.770 

46,9SS 

516,993 

23,765 

Mobile 

...Ala.... 

29,132 

32, ^34 

13.189 

'5,943 

26,195 

2,937 

Allegheny 

Atlanta 

....Pa 

....Ga 

7$,6Sa 

37,409 

53.1S0 

2 ',789 

38,489 

17,677 

40,193 
■9  732 

59,245 

35.993 

19*437 

1,416 

Nashville 

Newark 

• ..N.J 

43vT50 

IT6.508 

25.S05 

105,059 

20,912 

66,077 

22,43s 

70,43' 

40.325 
96, 178 

•V  25 
40,130 

Aub  irn 

. ,.N.  Y... 

21,024 

17,225 

10.940 

10,984 

16,981 

4.943 

New  Bedlord... 

. . . Mass. . . 

26,845 

2**320 

12,37' 

30,462 

M,474 

2^,922 

5,923 

15,668 

Augusta 

..  ..Ga 

21,891 

15.389 

9,827 

12,064 

20,693 

1,198 

New  Haven 

62,S32 

So.St1' 

32,420 

47.214 

Baltimore 

. . . . Md  . . . . 

332,3'3 

267,354 

'57,393 

174,920 

276,177 

56,1.36 

New  Orle  ins.. . . 

...Li 

2 1 5.090 

191,41s 

100,892 

115,19s 

174.933 

41,157 

Bay  City 

. . . . Mich. . . 

20,69  3 

7,064 

ii,3's 

9,375 

",389 

9,304 

Newport 

...Ky 

•o,43t 

>5,087 

9.925 

10,508 

•5.422 

5,01 1 

Boston 

Bridgeport 

. . ..Mass... 

362339 

27,643 

250,526 

18,909 

172,268 

*3.42' 

*90,57' 

14,222 

248,043 

O.204 

"4.796 

7,439 

New  York 

Noriolk 

...N.  Y... 

. ..V  1 

1,200,299 

21,966 

942,292 

19,229 

590,5'4 

10,069 

615, 7S5 
' 1,897 

16,4  S 

727,029 
2*, *3* 

478/70 

S35 

Brooklyn  

....N.  Y... 

566,663 

396,099 

272,24s 

294,415 

388.969 

■77,694 

51,268 

15,668 

Oakland 

34-555 

30,518 

10,50 

jS,i  17 

20,fsS 

1 1,021 

Buffalo 

..  ...V.  Y... 

'55, '34 

"7,714 

70,904 

78,230 

104,866 

Omaha 

16,083 

17,104 

*3,4*4 

9,930 

Cambridge 

....  Mass. ... 

52,669 

39  634 

25,024 

27.645 

37.001 

Oswego 

...N.  Y... 

21,1  l6 

20,910 

10,055 

1 1,  61 

'5,555 

5.561 

Camden  

41,659 

20,045 

19.923 

21,736 

37,'64 

4 495 

Paterson 

51,031 

33,579 

24,765 

26,2' 6 

14,692 

32.329 

18,7-2 

Charleston 

. . ..S.  C.... 

49,9541 

.iS,9n6 

22.5SS 

27,399 

46,034 

.3,950 

Peoria 

29  259 

22,049 

14,507 

22,134 

7."5 

Chelsea 

21,782 

18.547 

IO  02 

",759 

■7,167 
29S, 326 
183, 4^0 
100,7.37 

4,595 

Petersburg 

. .Va 

2 1 ,656 

1S.950 

9,779 

",877 

2',3<» 

356 

111.. 

298.977 

256,905 

246,280! 

129,647! 

79.972 

204,849 

7',659 

59,409 

847, '7° 

i n6, t8q 

674,022 

86.O76 

405,975 

441,195 

77.91S 

18,058 

|642,535 

1 H.784 

204.335 

44,605 

6,902 

Cleveland 

....Oho... 

160, 146! 

92^829 

So'  1 74 

Portland 

...Me.  . 

33,810 

3*  *4  *3 

'5,752 

26,908 

Columbus 

5'  ,647 

31,274 

26,400 

25,2.38 

42,576 

9,071 

Poughkeepsie. . . 
Providence 

..  ..N.  Y... 

20,207 

20,'  So 

9 270 

49,787 

13,289 

10,937 

16,413 

3.794 

Covington 

29,720 
2 1 .S3  I 

35.675| 

24,505 

20,038 

30,473 

*4,*92 

15.528 

11,227 

2.3,233 

14.936 

6487 

6,S95 

7,246, 

..R.  I.... 
..  Ill 

*o4,$57 

27,260 

43,278 

63,600 
Sq,  366 

65,904 

24.052 

33,930 

51,038 

62,386 

55.o7»| 
13.979 
22,179 
34.1 '7 
46,978 

70,782 

20,70C’ 

28,075 
6,562 
3.624 
3*  MO 

18^969 

39,654 

60,260 

62,743 

Colo  . 

26,924 

*S,205 

29:481 

42,388 

Des  Moines 

22,40s1 

12,035 

"I531 

1 

4,203 

Rochester 

..  ..N.  Y.  .. 

26,622 

Detroit 

I 16,340 

79.577 

56  763 

59,577 

70,695 

45,643 

Sacramento 

....Cal..  .. 

21,420 

16,283 

12,271 

9, '49 

'4.372 

7.04  s 

Dubuque 

22,253 

18,434 

10,855 

",399 

16,107 

6,147 

St.  Joseph 

..  ..Mo..  . 

32,431 

'9.565 

17,832 

'4,599 

20.775 

5,656 

Elizabeth 

.....V.J.... 

28,229 

20,S32 

13,60s 

1 4,02  I 

20,644 

7.5S5 

St.  Louis 

. . Mo 

350  5lS 

3 '0,804 

179,520 

170,9,8 

245  5°5 
26,398 

105,013 

Elmira 

. ...N.  Y... 

2°»54l 

'5,86.3 

9,749 

10,7  92 

16,967 

3,574 

St.  Paul 

. . . Minn. . . 

41,473 

20,030 

22,  {6j 

19  112 

15.075 

744s 

Erie 

. . ..Pa 

27, 737 

29,2>0 

IO.646 

13,752 

14,228 

■ 3.985 

20,031 

7,706 

Salem 

. . ..Mass... 

27.563 

24,1.7 

12,58c) 

'4974 

20,115 

Evansville 

21,5.30 

15,052 

23,177 

6,103 

Salt  Lake  City. . 

. . . . U tah . . . 

20  768 

12,854 

993 

10,8  if 

9.877 

>3, <-95 

7.673 

Fall  River 

. . . . Mass. . . 

45,961; 

26,766 

23,163 

25.79s 

25,386 

23.575 

San  Antonio 

. . . 1 exas . . 

20  550 

*2,250 

43936 

23,170 

*4,952 

5.598 

Fort  Wayne. . . . 

. . . . Ind 

26,  S^o 

17  718 
3,513 
16,507 

*3*7*7 

13,163 

21  02S 

S.S52 

5,046 

1 ,000 

San  h rancisco. . 

. . . . Cal 

233.9S9 
T\7  9 

149  473 
2S.23; 

101,3s* 
*6,773 
22  680 

*29«7'5 

.•771c 

104,244 

»-994 

Grand  Rapids. . . 

. . . . Mich. . . 

32,oi6| 

16'  S3 

15,833 

22,OlC 

28,446 

Scranton 

45,850 

35  <"92 

29,993 

.5857 

5,681 

Harrisburg 

....Pa 

30,76 

2 3,104 

14,760 

16,002 

2,ti6 

Somerville 

. . Mass. . . 

24.933 

14.685 

".873 

13,060 

19,252 

Hartford 

42,015 

3N999, 

21.915 

.37,' 80 
20,297 
1 .733 

2C»f  1 46 

21,869 

3lf420 

>0,593 

Springfield 

....Ill  

'9713 

'7.364 

9, So- 

9 938 

>5-459 

25,807 

4.2S4 

V 1 

>5,254 

10.308 

'5.745 

1 1,607 

33  31° 
20  730 

26,703 
1 2,652 

1 5 767 

* 7*573 

7.533 

Holyoke 

. . . Mass.  . . 

1 1,000 
62,446 

1-5915 

Springfield 

. . . Ohio.. . . 

10.563 

1 0, 1 67 

17,646 

3084 

Ind  anapolis 

....  Ind 

75  05* 

48,  -44 
82,546 

36  '803 

38,'9! 

12,610 

Syracuse 

'I  aunton 

..  .N.  Y.  . . 

5 '.792 

43  05 

24.67' 

10,328 

27,117 

*3,°*S 

Jersey  Citv 

....N.J... 

12  ,722 

59,919 

6 ',803 

81,464 

39,25S 

21  213 

lS(62g 

io,SS5 

*0,084 

5.129 

Kan  as  City .... 

. . Mo 

55,785 

25.76c) 
TO.  1 5 1 

32,26) 

20,233 

23,921 

31,999 

23,786 

46,384 

9,3oi 

Terre  Haute 

.. . . Ind 

26,012 

i6fi<  3 

13,128 

12,914 

22,050 

3 992 

I 

22,  TOC 

3*379 

17,266 

I oledo 

5 ' '37 

T.cS.| 

25  034 

25,104 

35»7°S 

14.349 

'7.78 

2 1,366 

21.885 

Trenton 

...  N.J... 

29  9 . r 

22  S74 

1 j.921 

14.989 

21. >9' 

5,719 

..  ..Ky 

123,748 

k 0,753 

58,982 

63,776 

100,602 

23,156 

Troy 

. . . . N.  Y. . . 

56.747 

■l64'5 

27.'5I 

29  593 

39.809 

10  038 

29.475 

38,274 

4^,928 

26,853 

32,622 

36,321 

23,054 

Utica 

. . ..  N.  V. . . 

33,914 

28,80 

i c,666 

24  58' 

9.333 

28,233 

18,2  43 

20,031 

31,234 

7,040 

Washington 

D.  C. .. 

147.293 

ICQ  >99 

68.310 

78  9s. 3 

133.05 

1 1 242 

Manchester 

. ..N.  H... 

32,630 

23,556 

14.698 

17.932 

20,151 

'2,479 

Wheeling 

. ...W.  Va. 

30.737 

19,280 

15.127 

'5.6  'O 

2.4,623 

6,1*4 

. . . .Tenn. . . 

33.592 

40,226 

16,302 

17,290 

29,62  I 

3,97' 

Wilkesbarrc.. . . 

. . ..  Pa 

23  339 

10,  74 

" 45‘ 

1 i,8S8 

1 7.039 

6,301 

Milwaukee 

..  ,.\Vis.... 

1 1 5.4 

7* >44° 

57,475 

58.112 

60,514 

46,073 

Wilmington. . .. 

Del 

42.47S 

308* 

20  751 

21,727 

36  S04 

4/74 

Minneapolis  . . . . 

46.8S7 

13,066 

25,291 

21,596 

31,874 

15,013 

Worcester 

....  Mass. . . 

58  291 

41.1 r 

28,927 

29  361 

42,667 

15,624 

POPULATION  OF  THE  CITIES  OF  THE  WORLD  HAVING  OVER  100.000  INHABITANTS. 


Aberdeen,  Scotland 

. 105,8  iS 

Adrianople,  Turkey 

1 00, coo 

Agra,  India 

. 125.0-0 

Ahmedabad,  India 

120  OOO 

Alexandria,  Egypt 

i So, 000 

Amoy,  China 

. 270,000 

Amsterdam,  Holland 

. 263,204 

Antwerp,  Belgium 

. 104,628 

Bahia,  Brazil 

. 1,80,000 

Baltimore,  Md 

. 332.313 

Batavia. Java 

140,00) 

Bangkok,  Siam 

. 300,0:0 

Barcelona.  Spain  

. 20  J,  165 

Baroda,  India  

. 1 10,0*  O 

Belfast,  Ireland 

iSo.oco 

Benares.  India 

. 600,000 

Berlin,  Prussia 

. I,20*>,00° 

Bhurtpoor,  India  

. 100,000 

Birmingham,  England  .. 

. 360,000 

Bombay,  India 

. 898,218 

Bordeaux,  France 

. 215,000 

Boston,  Mass 

■ 362,839 

Bradford,  England 

. 160,000 

Breslau,  Prussia 

. 187,650 

Bristol,  England 

..  180,060 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y 

• 566.663 

Brussels,  Belgium 

. 32^.0  O 

Bucharest,  Turkey 

. 1 50,000 

Buenos  Avres,  S.  A ..... . 

. 150.  OCX) 

Buffalo,  N.Y  

. 155.134 

Cairo,  Egypt 

. 300, COO 

Calcutta,  India 

. 600,  00 

Canton,  China 

. 800,000 

Cawnpore,  India  .. ....... 

Chang-Choo-Foo,  China..  1,000,000 

Chicago,  111 5°3>,s5 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 255**39 

Cologne,  Prussia 150,000 

Cleveland,  Ohio 160,146 

Constantinople,  Turkey...  1,000,000 
Copenhagen,  Denmark ....  2CO,coo 

Damascus,  Turkey 180,000 

Delhi,  India  180,000 

Dhar,  India 105.000 

Dresden,  Germany 150,000 

Dublin,  Ireland  33a«5°° 

Detroit,  Mich 116,340 

Dundee,  Scotland 125*0°° 

Edinburgh.  Scotland 184,000 

Florence,  Paly 150,00* 

Foo  ChooFoo,  China 1,000,000 

Hyzabad,  India 100,000 

Genoa,  Italy 150,000 

Ghent,  Belgium 1 30  000 

Glasgow,  Scotland ■ ' ■ 1 

Greenwich,  Fngland *35»no° 

Hamburg,  Germany 2 15,00} 

Hang  Tchcou,  China 1,000,000 

Havana,  Cuba  ..  225.000 

Hue,  or  Hucfo,  Anam 132,000 

Hull,  England  130,000 

I lyderabad,  India 200.001 

Joodpoor  Marwar,  India..  100,000 

Jersey.  City,  N.J 120,722 

Deeds,  Kngfand 354/ 00 

Liege,  Belgium  120,0*0 

Lille,  or  Lisle,  France 150,000 

Lima,  Peru 100,000 


Lisbon,  Portugal 

240,(0) 

Liverpool,  England 

640,000 

London.  England 

3.814.571 

Louisville,  Ky 

123.758 

Lucknow,  India. 

325,000 

Lyons,  France 

329,000 

Madras,  India . 

MS*  0 

Madrid,  Spain 

400,000 

Manchester,  England 

380,000 

Manilla,  Philippine  Is 

*S5»©  0 

Marseilles,  France 

• 3 5-2  0 

Maranhao,  Brazil ...  

1 0,000 

Melbourne,  Australia 

*47*  19 

Mexico,  Mexico 

2 1 2 (XX) 

Miako,  Japan 

400,000 

Milan,  Italy. ...  

200  COO 

Milwaukee,  Wis 

1*5,586 

Montreal,  Canada 

115,000 

Moscow,  Russia 

. 

Munich,  Bavaria 

■ »7f»..S°° 

Nagpoor,  India 

115,000 

Nanking,  China  .... 

500,000 

Nantes,  France 

11500*) 

Naples.  Italy 

|67,SOO 

Newark,  N.  J 

• 156,506 

Newcastle- on *Tync,  Eng. 

New  Orleans.  La 

216(90 

New  York.  N.  Y 

.1,206  2(Jt) 

Ningpo,  China 

. 2 O OOO 

Odessa.  Russia 

120,0  O 

Palermo.  Italy 

175.000 

Paris,  France 

, 2,225,  01  • 

Patna,  India 

300,000 

Pekin,  China 

. **850,000 

Pesth,  Hungary 

131.735 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

847.170 

Pittsburgh,  Pa 

■56,359 

Portsmouth,  England, 

1 20,000 

Prague,  Bohemia 

150,000 

Providence,  R.  I 

■04.857 

Riga.  Russia 

102,000 

Rio  Janeiro,  Brazil 

370,000 

Rome,  Italy 

3O.3.OOO 

Rotterdam,  Holland 

140,000 

Rouen,  France 

1 10,000 

Saigon,  Cochin,  China .... 

200,  OCX) 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

35°.5' s 

St.  Petersburg,  Russia 

(*>S,ooo 

San  Francisco,  Cal 

233.959 

Santiago,  Chili  

100  000 

Seville,  Spain 

1 60,0c  0 

Shang  hai,  China 

160,000 

Sheffield,  England 

17  000 

Smyrna,  Asia  Minor 

1 eo.ixx) 

Stockholm,  Sweden 

Sydnev,  Australia 

'87,381 

Tiffin,  Russia  in  Asia 

104,024 

Tokio,  Japan 

594.283 

Toulouse.  France 

*30,433 

Trieste,  Austria 

100,000 

Tunis,  Africa 

150,000 

Turin,  Italy 

200,000 

Valencia,  Spain 

100,000 

Venice,  Italy 

1 15,000 

Vienna,  Austria 

726,105 

Warsaw,  Poland 

237,560 

Washington,  D.  t 

147,393 

Yeddo,  Japan 2,100,000 


G 


■s,  a 


* 


^71 


708  EDUCATIONAL  AND  RELIGIOUS. 

Tables  showing’,  according  to  report  of  1S7S,  the  salaries  of  teachers,  expenditures,  school  ages,  school  population,  enrollment,  attendance,  etc.,  of 
public  schools,  colleges  and  universities;  also,  giving  value  of  buildings,  grounds,  apparatus,  etc.,  of  those  owning  such: 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


STATES  AND  TERRITO- 
RIES. 


Alabama 

Arizona 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Dakota 

Delaware 

District  of  Columbia 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho  

Illinois 

Indian 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts 

Michigan  

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Montana 

N ebraska 

Nevada, 

New  Hampshire 

New  Jersey 

New  Mexico 

New  York 

North  Carolina 

Ohio 

Oregon.. 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode  Island 

South  Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington 

West  Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 


sen  L 
AGE. 


Total 14,608,406 


7-21 

6-21 

6-21 

r7 

4- 16 

5- 21 

5- 21 

6- 17 
4-21 
6-1S 

£lS 

6-21 


6-21 

5-21 

5- 21 
1.6-20 

6- 21 
4-21 
5-20 
5 

5-20 

5-21 

5- 21 

6- 20 
4-21 

5- 2* 

6- 1S 

4- 21 

5- Io 

•7-18 

5- 21 

6- 21 
6-21 

4- 20 
6-21 

5- 15 

6- 16 
6-1S 
8-14 
6-16 
5-20 

5- 21 

.4-21 

6- 21 
4-20 
.7-21 


SCHOOL 

POPULA- 

TION. 


NO.  EN- 
ROLLED. 


AV.  DAILY 
ATTEND- 
ANCE. 


AV. 

DAYS 

IN 

YEAR 


SALARIES 

OF 

TEACH- 

ERS. 


370»245 

3.0S9 

216,475 

205,485 

26,473 

138,407 

12,201 

35.649 

3»,Soo 
72,985 
433.444 
4,942 
1,002,421 
49.213 
699.IS3 
575.474, 
266,57. 
b.  572,80? 
274,406 
214,797 
276,120 
297,202 
476, S06 
271,428 
346,61, 
688,24: 

5.315 
104,030 
9,922 
73,785 
322,166 
d.  29,312 
1,615,256 
422,380 
1,027,248 
53,462 
1,200,000 

53,316 

228,128 

448,9*7 

*94,353 

33,604 

92,831 

4^3,70 1 
b.  12,997 
209,532 
478,692 


*59,659 

2,740 

33,747 

*54,069 
16,641 
1 19,828 
7,  *56, 
26,730 
22,842 
36,964 

209,872 


706,723 

12,222 

5».5?5 

428,  ^62 
177,806 
>.  248,000 

83,047 

*55.150 

*56,274 

3*0,  is  1 
359,702 
167,825 
205,978 

448,033 

3,277 

62,785 

7,6l2 
66,023 
202,634 
[.  5,151 

1,032,052 
228,092 
740,194 
26,902 
936, 7S0 
45,629 
>16,239 
261, 1 5 1 
146,946 
21,710 
73,081 
202,244 

• 5,385 
*30, 184 
297,502 
. 1,690 


98,534 

890 


94,696 

9,699 

75,565 

*,342 


18,133 

23,933 

*30,605 


420.03 1 
4,142 

3*5.893 

256.9*3 

io\9°3 

160.000 

54.390 

108,940 

8l,S29 

228,447 

210.000 


115,970 

182,000 


4,666 

48,4*2 

1*3,604 


577,606 

132,553 

465,372 

21,464 

603,825 

28,756 


172,198 


14,949 

48,63s 

116,464 


86.768 


90 


129 

146 

**3 

no 

80 

118 

182 

176 

14° 

85 

79 

99 


*94 

132 

179 

46 

*75 

94 

lM 

9* 

77 


9,375,440 


4,265,742 


*37 

*24 

*07 

*30 

96 

l6l 


$ 350,633 
*4,947 
121,397 
2,272,557 
153,089 

1,041,041 

30,489 

125,859 

237,189 

85,36 


TOTAL 

EXPENDI 

TURES. 


23,082 

4,445,657 


3,065,968 

*3,011,230 

980,435 

g.  1,000,000 
426,839 
830,670 
,122,414 

h.  871,851 
f.  1,920,239 

878,980 
5*5  >393 
2,32o>430 


444, 5°° 
106,301 
410,21  ~ 

*,528,9' 
i-  15,432 
7,756,844 
292,893 
4,956,5*4 

*94,57* 

4,755,620 

427,44: 
291,26' 
692,198 
656,977 
84,230 
407, S35 

7*4,65* 


501,705 

1,601,252 

16,400 


$ 358,697 
21,396 
132,620 

3,155,815 

243,050 

1,506,477 

57,793 

216,540 

373.606 
130,880 
4*2,453 

23,082 

7,526,109 

373.606 

?,65*,9* 
4,692,53s 
1,541,4*7 
g;.i,  130,000 

558.231 

1,050,709 

1,593,260 

5,166,988 

3,1*6,579 

1,494,685 

592,805 

2,406,133 

65,505 

750,52o 

204,137 

636,635 

2,004,048 
i.  18,890 

*0,755,730 
324, 2S7 
7,99S,*25 
275,106 
8,iS7,977 

679,770 

3*9,030 

794.232 
747,534 
i*3,i93 
5*1,101 

963,89s 


COLLEGES  AND  UNIVERSITIES  WITH  THE 
PREPARATORY  SCHOOLS. 


687,275 
2,1*7,535 
j.  16,400 


551,780,630  $8  >.  '7  ,58 1 


No. 

Col- 

leges 

IN- 

STRUCT- 

ORS. 

STU- 

DENTS 

VOLUMES 
IN  LI- 
BRARIES. 

VALUE  OF 

build’gs, 

GROUNDS 

& appar’s 

INCOME 

FROM 

FUNDS. 

INCOME 

FROM 

TUITION. 

4 

55 

5*7 

12,400 

$ 505,000 

$ 24,000 

$ 2,000 

5 

22 

333 

*,*65 

42,000 

1,900 

5,100 

12 

19s 

2,246 

43,610 

1,42s,  000 

**6,055 

103,400 

2 

10 

**7 

2,000 

130,000 

15,000 

3 

120 

k.  942 

136,275 

472,884 

42,709 

93,221 

1 

IO 

106 

6,500 

75,000 

4,980 

54° 

4 

47 

452 

45,000 

770,000 

8,500 

8,000 

6 

50 

662 

32,2*3 

610,000 

43,300 

20,900 

28 

272 

5,016 

1*0,893 

2,498,020 

128,766 

75,6So 

l6 

*93 

2,868 

58,872 

1,185,000 

47,700 

18,043 

19 

*73 

3,  *52 

48,5*0 

1,197,000 

53,7oo 

41,380 

8 

73 

93* 

20,300 

499,000 

4,7*3 

7,123 

*3 

94 

*,647 

36,7*9 

642,500 

25,47° 

37,4*3 

7 

39 

560 

22,500 

170,000 

19,458 

4,677 

3 

35 

k.  422 

39,900 

730,000 

26,050 

*6,576 

8 

73 

*,34* 

39,100 

380,500 

*81,734 

9,902 

7 

*39 

2,081 

267,990 

1,250,000 

3°4>io7 

213,850 

7 

123 

2,040 

50,240 

1,068,450 

79,95s 

20,089 

5 

58 

685 

19,604 

206.870 

49.0S1 

5, *39 

5 

36 

683 

9,600 

421,000 

3,960 

3,200 

*7 

196 

2,436 

84,425 

*>149,50° 

155,125 

S', 555 

3 

33 

3*9 

3,700 

218,000 

5,9°° 

1 

2 

I.  30 

1 

20 

k.  3*5 

54,83s 

100,000 

25,000 

21,400 

4 

63 

702 

53,200 

1,220,600 

81,003 

23,765 

26 

45* 

5, *88 

229,841 

6,353.653 

477,942 

341,775 

7 

47 

1,081 

28,000 

481,000 

10,500 

iSjOO 

34 

346 

6,39° 

N 

00 

1 

2,973,336 

177,101 

S3.7S6 

7 

42 

989 

8,120 

277,000 

*5, 6°o 

11,238 

27 

3*5 

3,844 

*65,596 

4,479,500 

*8i,439 

*3°,349 

1 

16 

k.  243 

51,000 

38,070 

28,032 

7 

44 

7S2 

21,780 

220,000 

31,116 

6,200 

21 

>63 

3,305 

48,837 

1,247,500 

75,89° 

28,954 

1 1 

80 

1,984 

14,460 

409,000 

J ,900 

38,850 

6 

i 

15 

k.  192 

33,86s 

368,000 

*3, 010 

7,576 

73 

1,105 

79,5'° 

1,605,000 

21,858 

26,062 

2 

*s 

241 

*,*43 

ICO, COO 

5°° 

2, COO 

4 

28 

382 

9,290 

455,000 

9,Soo 

5,396 

8 

1 10 

*■5*2 

44,33* 

843,500 

52,292 

64,639 

358 

3,885 

57,977 

2,187,932 

$36,871, 2!’ 

$2,548,324 

$',555,484 

a.  In  the  counties,  b.  Report  of  1877.  c.  Report  of  1S75.  d.  Reportof  1876.  e.  Not  including  average  attendance  in  five  civilized  tribes,  f.  Sal- 
aries of  superintendents  included.  g In  1S77.  h.  Partial  Report,  i.  In  1S75.  j.  In  1S77.  k.  No  preparatory  schools  included.  1.  In  preparatory  school. 
Massachusetts  is  accredited  in  this  report  with  but  one  preparatory  school. 


I able  showing,  according  to  census  of  1S70,  the  number  of  organizations,  members,  edifices,  sittings,  and  the  value  of  church  property  of  the 
several  denominations  in  the  United  States;  also  their  theological  seminaries,  according  to  report  for  1S7S: 


DENOMINATIONS. 


Baptist  (Regular) 

Baptist  (Others) 

Christian 

Congregational 

Episcopal  f Protestant) 

Evangelical  Association 

Friends 

Jewish  

Lutheran 

Methodist 

Moravian  (Unitas  Fratrum) 

New  Jerusalem  (Swedenborgian) ! 

Presbyterian  (Regular) 

Presbyterian  (Other) ! . . . ] 

Reformed  Church  in  America  (once  Dutch  Reformed). . . 
Reformed  Church  in  the  U.  S.  (once  German  Reformed) 

Roman  Catholic 

Second  Advent 

Shaker  

Spiritualist 

Unitarian 

United  Brethren  in  Christ 

Universalist * 

Union,  Unknowr  and  Miscellaneous 

•Partial  RcporU 


Church 

Organiza- 

tions. 

Church 

Edifices. 

Church 

Sittings. 

Church 

Property. 

8 b 
js  3 
Hi n 

oc_ 

£ £ 
HH 

Theol'g 

Stud’ts. 

*4,474 

12,857 

3,997,1*6 

$ 39,229,221 

10 

65 

S05 

* ,35^ 

1,105 

2,822 

2,7*5 

2,601 

641 

662 

*52 

2,776 

363.0IQ 
865,602 
I, I 17,212 
991,051 

193,796 

224,664 

73,265 

977,332 

2,378,977 

*2 

* 10 

*4* 

2,835 

8*s 

692 

189 

6,425, 137 
25,069,695 

36,5*4,549 

2,301,650 

3,939,560 

5,155,234 

*4,9*7,747 

69,854,121 

3 

10 

16 

& 

78 

359 

268 

3,032 

*3 

38 

265 

25,27s 

2>,337 

6,528,209 

1 1 

63 

4S0 

72 

90 

% 

6l 

25,700 

*§,755 

709,100 

869,700 

1 

4 

28 

6,262 

5,683 

2,I9S,900 

47.S2S.732 

*5 

79 

652 

',562 

1,388 

46S 

499,344 

5,436,524 

5 

*5 

69 

47* 

227,22S 

*0,359,255 

2 

5 

32 

1,256 

*,'45 

3.S06 

140 

is 

22 

431,700 

5,775,2*5 

60,955,560 

306,240 

86,900 

100,150 

6,282,675 

3 

9 

58 

4,  *27 

"A 

95 

1,990,5*4 

3m 

6,970 

*7 

9* 

932 

33* 

3*o 

*55,47* 

1 

6 

20 

*,445 

937 

205,025 

i,Si9,Sio 

1 

3 

3° 

7*9 

602 

2 io,SS4 

5.692,325 

2 

IO 

49 

462 

596| 

172,062 

'.369.745 

4 

20 

IOI 

UNITED  STATES  CIVIL,  ARMY  AND  NAVY  PAY  TABLES. 


7 09 


FOREIGN  EXCHANGE. 

Estimate  of  the  values  in  U.  S.  money  of  account  of  the  Standard  Coins 
of  other  Nations  and  proclaimed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Jan.  1,  1S80. 


COUNTRY. 

MONETARY  UNIT. 

STANDARD. 

Value  in 

U.  S. 
money. 

STANDARD  COIN. 

Silver 

.836 

Gold 

•54S 

British  Possessions 

Silver 

.836 

Chili  ! . 

Gold 

.912 

Condor, doubloon  & escudo. 

Gold 

.268 

10  and  20  crowns. 

Silver 

.S36 

Peso. 

Gold 

4*074 

5,  10,  25  and  50  piasters. 

Gold  and  Silver 

•193 

5,  10 and  20  francs. 

Gold 

4.866^ 

Greece 

Drachma 

Gold  and  Silver 

.19.5 

5,  10,  20,  50  & 100  drachmas 

Mark 

.238 

5,  10  and  20  marks. 

Silver 

•397 

Gold  and  Silver 

.193 

5,  10,  20,  50  and  100  lire. 

Yen  (Gold) 

Gold  and  Silver 

•997 

1,  2,5,  10  and  20  ven. 

Gold 

1 .00 

Dollar 

Silver 

.909 

Peso  or  dollar,  5,  10,  25  and 

50  centavo. 

Gold  and  Silver 

.402 

Gold 

.268 

10  and  20  crowns. 

Sol 

Silver  

.836 

Sol. 

Gold 

1 .(3 

2,  5 and  10  milreis. 

Russia 

Rouble  of  100  copecks 

Silver 

.669 

% and  1 rouble. 

Gold 

1 .00 

Spain.. 

Peseta  of  100  centimes 

Gold  and  Silver 

.19.) 

5,  10,  20, 50  and  100  pesetas. 

.268 

10  and  20  crowns. 

Gold  and  Silver 

5,  10  and  20  francs. 

Gold 

• OH 

25,  5o,  100,  250  and  500  pi- 

asters. 

United  States  of  Co- 

lombia 

Peso  

Silver 

.836 

Peso. 

United  States  Navy. — Active  Service. 


LINE— AT  SEA 

No. 

Admiral. i 

Vice  Admiral i 

Rear  Admirals 1 1 

Commodores 25 

Captains 50 

Commanders 90 

Lieut -Commanders  ....  80 

Lieuts 2S0 

Masters 100 

Ensigns 100 

Midshipmen 40 

Cadet  Midshipmen 334 

Mates 42 


Salary. 

§13,000 

9.000 

6.000 

5.000 

4*500 
3.500 

3.000 
2,600 

1,800  to  2,000 
,200  to  1,400 


2,SoO  to 
2,400  to 


500  to 


1,000 

950 

900 


STAFF. 


Medical  Directors 

Pay  Directors 

Chief  Engineers 

Surgeons  

Paymasters.  . . 

Passed  or  Asst.Surgeons 
Passed  Asst.  Paymasters 

Asst.  Paymasters 

Passed  Asst.  Engineers 

Asts.  Engineers 

Chaplains 

Naval  Constructors 

Asst.  Constructors. ..... 

Profs,  of  Mathematics. . 

Civil  Engineers 

Cadet  Engineers 


$2,800  to  4,400 
2,800  to  4,200 
2,Soo  to  4,200 
2,800  to  4,200 

2.500  to  4,200 
1,900  to  2,200 
2,000  to  2,200 
1,700  to  1,900 
2,000  to  2,200 
1,700  ta  1,900 

2.500  to  2,Soo 
*3,200  to  *4,200 
*2,000  to  *2,600 

2,400  to  3,5°° 
2,400  to  3,500 
500  to  1,000 


Marine  Corps. — Active  Servtce. 


Colonel  Commandant.. 

Colonel 

Lieut. -Colonels 

Major 

Captains. 

1st  Lieuts 

2d  Lieuts 


Pay  Table  of  the  Leading  Civil  Officers  of  the  United  States. 

President  of  the  United  States,  per  annum,  $50,000. 

Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  per  annum,  §10,000. 

Cabinet  Ministers,  per  annum,  $10,000. 

Chief  Justice  Supreme  Court,  per  annum,  $10,500. 

Justices  of  the  Supreme  Couit,j>er  annum,  $10,000. 

Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress,  with  mileage,  per  annum, 
$5,000. 

Speaker  House  of  Representatives,  with  mileage,  per  annum,  $10,000. 
Secretary  of  the  Senate,  per  annum,  $5,000. 

Clerk  House  of  Representatives,  per  annum,  $5,000. 

Assistant  Secretaries  of  Departments,  per  annum,  $6,000. 


Heads  of  Bureaus,  per  annum,  $1,000  to  $5,000. 
Superintendent  Coast  Survey,  per  annum,  $6,000. 


judges  District  of  Columbia,  per  annum,  $3,000. 

Secretary  Smithsonian  Institution,  per  annum,  $t,ooo. 

Ministers  Plenipotentiary  to  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany  and  Rus- 
sia, per  annum,  $17,500.  . . . -I  1 Xf  * 

Ministers  Plen  potentiary  to  Spain,  Austria,  China,  Italy,  Mexico, 

Brazil  and  Japan,  per  annum,  $12,000. 

Ministers  Resident  and  Plenipotentiary  to  Chili,  Peru,  Uruguay, 
Guatemala,  Costa  Rica,  Honduras,  Nicaragua  and  San  Salvador,  per 
annum,  $10,000.  ^ . ..  n 1 

Ministers  Resident  to  Portugal,  Belgium,  Netherlands,  Denmark, 
Sweden  and  Norway,  Switzerland,  Turkey,  Hawaiian  Islands,  II ay ti , 
Colombia,  Venezuela,  Ecuador,  Argentine  Republic,  Paraguay,  Bolivia 
and  Greece,  per  annum,  $7,500.  . 

Interpreter  and  Secretary  of  legation  to  China,  per  annum,  $5,000. 
Dragoman  and  Secretary  of  Legation  to  Turkey,  per  annum,  $3,000. 

Co.isul-General  to  Cairo',  per  annum,  $4,000. 

Consul-General  to  London,  Paris,  Havana  and  Rio  Janeiro,  per  an- 
num, $6,000.  ~ 

Consul  General  to  Calcutta  and  Shanghai,  per  annum,  $5,000. 
Consul-General  to  Melbourne,  per  annum,  $4.5°°- 

Consul-General  to  Kanagawa,  Montreal  and  Berlin,  per  annum, 

^ Consul-General  to  Vienna,  Frankfort,  Rome  and  Constantinople,  per 
annum,  $3,000.  e 

Consul-General  to  Turkey  and  Egypt,  per  annum,  $3.5°°- 
Consul-General  to  St.  Petersburg  and  Mexico,  per  annum,  $2,000. 
Consul -General  to  Liverpool,  per  annum,  $6,000. 

Secretaries  of  legation,  from  $1,500  to  $2, 625- 
Consuls,  from  $1,000  to  $7,000. 

The  Postmasters,  Collectors  of  the  Revenue,  Territorial  Governors 
and  Judges,  and  other  officers  employed  throughout  the  country,  arc 
too  numerous  to  be  designated  in  this  place. 


Pay  Roll  United  States  Army. 


No. 


General 

Lieut. -General 

Major-Generals 

Brig'r-Generals 

CAVALRY. 

Colonels 

Lieut. -Colonels 

Majors 

Captains 

Adjutants 

Reg.  Qrs 

1st.  Lieuts 

2d  Lieuts 

Chaplains 

ARTILLERY. 

Colonels 

Lieut. -Colonels 

Majors...  

Captains 

Adjutants 

Reg.  Qrs 

1st  Lieuts 

2d  Lieuts 


Salary. 
$13,500 
1 1,000 

7.500 

5.500 

S 3,500 
3,000 

2.500 
2, coo 
1,800 
1,800 
1,600 
1,50 

1.500 

S 3.5CO 

3.000 
2,5CO 

2.0  o 
1,800 
1,800 
1,600 
i*5°° 


INFANTRY. 

Colonels 25  $ 3..100 

Lieut. -Colonels 25  3,000 

Majors 2?  2, too 

Captains 250  1,800 

Adjutants 25  1,800 

IU-K.Qrs 25  1,800 

1st  Lieuts 250  1,500 

2d  Lieuts 250  1, ,00 

Chaplains 2 i,5°° 

STAFF. 

Aidcs-dc-Camps,  29:  6 of  them  the 
pay  of  a Colonel,  A.-de-C.  to  Gen- 
cral  of  the  army;  2 of  them  the  pay 
of  a Lieut. -Colonel,  A.-dc  C.  to 
Lieut. -General;  8 of  them  $200  in 
addition  to  pay  in  line,  A.-dc-C. 
to  Major-Generals;  13  of  them 
$150  in  addition  to  pay  in  line, 
A.-dc-C.  to  Brigadier  Generals. 


No.  Salary. 
S 3.500 

3.500 
3,000 

2.500 

1.500 

1.500 
1,400 

STAFF. 

Majors I 3 |$  2,500 

Captains | 2 | 2,000 

RETIRED  LIST.— NAVY. 

Brig'r- General 1 

Lieut. -Colonel I 

Majors .* 3 

Captains 4 

1 st  Lieuts 2 

2d  Lieuts 3 

Enlisted  file  of  Marine  Corps  1,500 
men. 

The  enlisted  persons  in  the  United 
States  Navy  consist  of  8,500  seamen, 
ordinary  seamen, jlandsmcn  and  boys. 
* Shore  duty. 


The  Different  Departments  of 
the  Army.  Vo  Salarf. 

Brig'r  Generals 8 $ 5,500 

Colonels *2  3»3°° 

Lieut  Colonels 

Majors  

Captains 

1st  Lieuts 

BNOINKRR  CORPS. 

Brig’r-Gencral 

Colonels 

Lieut  - Colonels 

Majors 

Captains 

SIGNAL  OFFICE. 

Colonels I 

Lieutenants 

Post  Chaplains * 3°  1 

RETIRED  LIST.— ARMY. 

Major  Generals 5 

Brig’r- General  s. *8 

Colonels 59 

Licut.-Coloncls 34 

Majors 5° 

Captains *3* 

ist.  Lieuts 7J 

2d  Lieuts *5 

Chaplains 8 

Professors 


3.000 

2.500 

2.000 
1, 600 

t 5.5°° 
3*5°° 

3.000 

2.500 
1,800 

[S  3.5°° 

1.500 
1,500 


7io 


METRIC  AND  STANDARD  SYSTEM  OF  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 


MEl rc,c  am  swim  system  of  weights  and  ^ 

M'Sm  ....TU  TABLES  OF  EOUIVAl^ru*r^ 


with  tablesj>f^equivalents. 


iHE  Metric  System  is  the  whole 
assemblage  of  measures  derived 
from  a fundamental  standard  called 
Meter.” 

The  metric  system  of  weights  and 
measures  originated  in  France  about 
1790.  In  1799  an  international  com- 
mission assembled  at  Paris  on  the 
invitation  of  the  government  to  set- 
tle, from  the  results  of  the  great  Meridian 
Survey,  the  exact  length  of  the  “definitive 
meter.”  Representatives  were  present  from 
France,  Holland,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Swit- 
zerland, Spain,  Savoy  and  the  Roman  Re- 
publics. A committee  from  the  Assembly 
of  Sciences  had  spent  several  years  of  labo- 
rious  determinations,  upon  which  were  to 
be  the  standard  units  of  the  new  metro- 
logical system.  As  the  result  of  the  inves- 
tigations of  this  international  commission,  a 
ten  millionth  part  of  the  earth’s  quadrant 
was  chosen,  and  called  a meter. 

To  determine  the  unit  of  weight  a cube  of  pure  water  at 
its  greatest  density,  each  edge  of  which  is  one  hundredth  of 
a meter,  was  taken  and  called  a gramme  or  gram.  The  mul- 
tiples and  subdivisions  were  made  to  correspond  to  the 
decimal  scale,  hence  its  great  simplicity. 

Probably  no  influence  had  contributed,  previous  to  the 
adoption  of  this  system,  more  largely  to  embarrass  trade 
among  the  different  nations  of  the  world,  than  the  endless 
diversity  of  instrumentalities  employed  for  the  purpose  of 
determining  the  quantities  of  exchangeable  commodities.  It 
is  to  this  long-felt  necessity  for  one  common  system  of 
weights  and  measures  throughout  the  world,  that  this  sys- 
tem, after  a lapse  of  but  three-quarters  of  a century,  has 
been  adopted  by  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
civilized  and  Christian  world.  In  1866  an  act  to  authorize 
the  metric  system  in  the  United  States  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress. The  utility  of  this  system  will  commend  itself  even 
at  a glance,  and  hence  the  importance  of  every  person  be- 
coming acquainted  with  it. 

All  metric  measures  arc  uniformly  multiplied  and  divided 
by  ten,  which  causes  the  system  to  be  also  called  decimal 
system  of  weights  and  measures. 

The  metric  system  comprises  only  five  standard  units,  or 
six,  including  the  units  of  moneys.  The  names,  uses,  and 
values  of  these  units  are : 


The  Meter,  which  is  the  unit  of  length  and  the  basis  of 
all  the  other  metric  measures. 

The  Are,  which  is  the  unit  of  land  measure,  and  is  the 
square  of  ten  meters. 

The  Liter,  which  is  the  unit  of  measure  of  capacity 
(both  liquid  and  dry),  and  is  the  cube  of  a tenth  part  of  a 
meter. 

The  Stere,  which  is  the  unit  of  solid  or  cubic  measure, 
and  equal  to  one  cubic  meter. 

The  Gram,  which  is  the  unit  of  measures  of  weights 
represented  as  previously  stated  by  the  weight  in  vacuum  of 
one-hundrcdlh  part  of  the  meter. 

The  Franc,  which  is  the  unit  of  metric  money,  repre- 
sented by  a silver  coin  weighing  five  grains,  and  of  which 
nine-tenths  are  fine  metal. 

Each  unit  has  its  decimal  multiples  and  sub-multiples, 
i.  c.,  weights  and  measures  ten  times  larger  or  ten  times 
smaller  than  the  principal  unit.  These  multiples  and  sub- 
multiples are  indicated  by  seven  prefixes  placed  before  the 
several  fundamental  units.  The  following  arc  the  prefixes : 

The  multiples  are  taken  from  the  Greek,  the  sub-multi- 
ples from  the  Latin. 


MVLTIPLES. 

1.  Doha , which  means  Ten. 

2.  Hecto , “ “ Hundred. 

3.  Kilo,  “ “ Thousand. 

\.  Myria ,*  “ “ TenThous'd. 


SUB -MULTIPLES. 

Decty  which  means  Tenth. 
Cenli,  “ “ Hundredth. 

Alilli,  “ “ Thousajidth. 


Thus  with  the  meter  we  have 


The  Met^-,  - i 

“ Peckameter,  or  io 

“ Hectometer,  “ 100 

“ Kilometer,  “ 1000 


meter. 


The  Meter 
“ Decimeter, 
“ Centimeter, 
“ Millimeter, 


0.1 
- 0.01 

0.001 

Note  — A similar  series  may  be  obtained  with  any  other  unit,  such  as 
the  Gram,  one  Kilogram,  one  thousand  grains;  the  Liter,  one  Hecto- 
liter, one  hundred  liters.  The  unit  of  money  the  Franc,  admits  no 
multiplying  prefixes.  Its  divisions  are  termed  Dccime,  Centime,  Mill- 
ime,  instead  of  Decifranc,  Centilranc,  MUlifranc,  although  Dccime  and 
Millime  are  seldom  used. 

The  formation  of  the  tables  can  be  seen  at  a glance  by 
the  following: 


VALUE.  LENGTH.  SURFACE. 

10,000 Kyriameter*. 

i,ODo Milometer.  Kilarc.* 

100 Hectometer.  Hectare. 

10 Decameter.  Dccare.* 

UNIT.  METER.  ARE. 

.1  Decimeter.  Dcciare. 

..Centimeter.  Centiare. 
..Millimeter.  Milliare.* 


.01  . 
.odi 


CAPACITY.  SOLIDITY.  WEIGHT. 


Kiloliler. 

Hectoliter 

Dekaliter. 

LITER. 

Deciliter. 

Centiliter. 

Milliliter. 


Kilosterc.* 
.1  Iectostere, 
Decastcre. 

STERRE. 
Decistere. 
Centi  stere 
Millistcre. 


Kilogram. 
♦Hectogram. 
Decagram. 
GRAM. 
Decigram. 
.*  Centigram. 
* Milligram. 


♦ Are  not  in  use. 


METRIC  AND  STANDARD  SYSTEM  OF  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 


711 


NAMES. 

PRONUNCIATION. 

ABR. 

Millimeter 

Mill' -e-mee' -ter 

mm. 

Centimeter 

Sent  '-e-mee' -ter 

cm. 

Decimeter 

Des’ -e-mee '-ter 

dm. 

Meter 

Mee'-ter 

m. 

Decameter 

Dek'-a-mee'-ter 

dkm. 

Hectometer 

Hec ' -to-mee ' -ter 

km. 

Kilometer 

Kill  '-o-mee'  -ter 

km 

Myriame'er 

Mir'-e-a-mee'-ter 

mym. 

Milliare 

Mill' -e-are 

?na. 

Centiare 

Sent' -e-are 

ca . 

Deciare 

Des '-e-are 

da . 

Are * 

Are 

a. 

Decare 

Dek ' -are 

dka. 

Hectare 

Hec ' -tare 

ha. 

Kilare 

Kill '-are 

ha. 

Myriare 

Mir ' -e-are 

mya. 

Millistere 

Mill' -e-steer 

ms. 

Centistere 

Sent '-e-steer 

cs. 

Decistere 

Des '-e-steer 

ds. 

Stere 

Steer 

s. 

Decastere 

Dek'-a-steer 

dks. 

Hectostere 

Hec '-to- steer 

/is. 

Kilostere 

Kill'-o-steer 

hs. 

Myriastere 

Mir'-e-a-steer 

nys. 

Milliliter 

Mill' -e-li ' -ter 

ml. 

Centiliter 

Sent'-e-li'-ter 

cl. 

Deciliter 

Des'-e-li'-ter 

dl. 

Liter 

Li '-ter 

1. 

Decaliter 

J)ek'-a-li'-ter 

dkl. 

Hectoliter 

Hec'-to-li'-ter 

hi. 

Kiloliter 

Kill '-o-li' -ter 

hi. 

Mvrialiter 

Mir'-e-a-li’-ter 

myl. 

Milligram 

Mill ' -e-gram 

mg. 

Centigram 

Sent' -e-gram 

Cff- 

Decigram 

Des '-e-gram 

dg- 

Gram 

Gram 

g • 

Decagram 

Dek'-a-gram 

dkg. 

Hectogram 

Hec'-to-gram 

kg. 

Kilogram 

Kill'-o-gram 

kg- 

Myriagram 

Mir'-e-a-gram 

myg. 

Quintal 

Quin'  -tal 

1- 

Tonneau 

Tun '-no 

T. 

* The  a in  deca  and  myria,  and  the  o in  hecto  and  kilo  are  dropped 


when  prefixed  to  Are.  

Tables  of  Standard  English  Measures  and  Weights,  and  the 
Metric  System. 

LONG  MEASURE. 

•>  lines  or  3 barleycorns  make  1 I S'A  yards  make  1 rod  or  pole. 

inch.  40  rods  make  1 furlong. 

3 feet  make  1 yard.  I ^ furlongs  1 mile. 

Cloth  Measure.* 

2 sixteenths  - 1 eighth.  I 2 quarters  - 1 half 

2 eighths  — 1 quarter.  | 4 quarters  — 1 yard. 

Other  Measures. 


3 inches  make  i palm. 

4 “ “ 1 nand. 

6 “ “ 1 span. 

18  u **  1 cubit. 

21.8  “ “ 1 Bible  cubit 

2%  feet  make  i military  pace. 
3 “ “ 1 common  pace. 

3.28  **  tl  1 meter. 

6 “ “ 1 fathom. 

8S0  fathoms  make  i mile. 


1 knot  or  geographical  mile  is 
of  a degree. 

3 knots  make  i marine  league. 

60  | 

6954  statute  miles  V i degree. 

99  1 12  miles  ) 

■Sg  part  of  an  inch,  a hair’s  breadth. 
A ships  cable  is  a chain  usually 
about  120  fathoms  or  720  feet 
long. 


• The  old  system  of  measuring  cloth  by  nails  and  ells  is  not  now  used 
in  this  country. 

One  minim  equals  one  drop. 


Scale  of  Comparison’. 


fur. 

S 


Table  of  Equivalents  as  between  Metric  and  Standard  Meas- 
ures. 


rod. 

yd. 

ft. 

in. 

320  — 

1760  C=> 

5280  — 

63360 

40  — 

220  = 

660  = 

7920 

s'A  - 

16^  _ 

19s 

3 ~ 

36 

1 in.  «=  25^  m.  m.  (nearly). 
1 ft.  = 305  “ “ 

1 yd.  = 914  “ “ 

1 rd.  = 5,029  “ “ 


1 mi.  = 1609.35  m- 
1 cm.  = .3937  in.  (nearly). 

1 m.  = 39.37  in.  =»  1.093  yd. 

1 km.  = .62137  mi.=  19S  rds.  13  ft 
10  in. 


. ft. 
yd. 


1 cu.  m 
1 cu.  ft. 

1 cu.  yd. 

1 cord 
1 fluid  oz. 
1 gal. 

1 bus. 


1 oz.  troy 
1 lb.  troy 
1 lb.  apoth. 
x oz.  avoir. 
1 lb.  avoir. 


6.5  sq.  cm. 
9.3  sq.  dm. 
.835  sq.  m. 
40.47  a. 


Square  Measure. 

1 sq.  cm. 


sq.  m.  =» 

are.  = 

ha.  =» 


Cubic  Solid  Measure. 


16.3S7  cu.  centm. 
j 2S.34  liters, 
j .02S3  steres. 
.76531  steres. 
3.6281  steres. 
.02958  liters. 
3.786  liters. 

35.24  liters. 


J 


1 liter  = 
1 hecto- 
liter 
1 kiloli- 
ter 

1 cu.  me- 
ter 

1 stere 


Weight. 

1 ton  avoir. 
1 gram. 


.155  sq.  in. 

\ 1550  sq.  in. 
1 10.76  sq.  ft. 
1 19.0  sq.  yd. 
2.471  acres. 


1.0567  qt.  liq.  meas. 
.gcS  qt.  dry  meas. 
2.S37  bu.  dry  meas. 
26.417  gal.  liq.  meas. 
35-3l6  cu.  ft. 

1.30S  cu.  yd. 

2A4. 17  g-.il.  liq. 
meas. 

.2759  cord. 


31.1  grams. 

373-2  “ 

2S.3S  “ 

453.6  “ 

Angular  Measure. 


kilogram 

tonneau 


.=.  907.2  kilos, 
j 15-432  fT-  troy. 

I .5643  dr.  avoir. 

— 2.2046  Jb.  avoir. 

— 2204.6  lb.  avoir. 


100  grades. 

1 J grades. 

1.85  minutes  (’cen.). 
3.0S  seconds  ( cen.). 


cir. 
grade 
' ccn. 

” cen. 


400  grades. 
9 deg. 

5-4*. 

3-24'. 


2 pints  (pt.) 
8 quarts. 

4 necks 
36  bushels 


Pry  Measure. 

1 quart, 

1 peck, 

1 bushel, 

1 chaldron, 

Scale  ok  Comparison. 


Pt 

bu- 

cald- 


cald. 


bu. 

36  - 


pks. 

144 

4 


qts. 

1.5a 

3! 


pts. 

J3°f 


Note.— The  standard  bushel  is  the  Winchester,  which  contains 
2150.42  cubic  inches,  or  77.627  lbs.  avoirdupois  of  distilled  water  at  its 
maximum  density. 

Its  dimensions  are  i8J4  inches  diameter  inside,  19J4  inches  outside,  and 
8 inches  deep. 

Liquid  or  Wine  Measure. 

4 gills  make  1 pint,  pt.  | 3'M  gallons  make  1 barrel,  bbl. 


pints 
4 quarts  " 


quart, 

1 gallon, 


qt 

gal. 


2 barrels 
63  gallons 


^ u 1 hogshead,  hh. 


Surveyors'  Measure. 

25  links  make  i rod. 

4 rods  “ 1 chain. 

80  ch.  **  1 mile. 

Surveyors’  Square  Measure. 

625  sq.  links  make  i sq.  rod, 

16  sq.  rods  “ i sq.  chain, 

10  sq.  ch.  **  1 acre, 

640  A.  “ * sq.  mile, 

36  sq.  miles  (six  milt  sq.)  make  i township, 


sq  rd. 
sq.  ch. 

A. 
sq.  mi. 
Tp. 


Square  Measure. 


144  sq.  in.  make  i square  foot. 

9 sq.  ft.  “ 1 square  yard. 

30&  sq.  yds.  “ i square  rod. 


40  sq.  rds.  make  i rood,  or  qr.  acre. 
4 R.  "1  acre. 

640  A.  11  1 sq.  mile  or  sec- 

tion. 


712 


METRIC  AND  STANDARD  SYSTEM  OF  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 


Scale  of  Comparison. 


A.  R. 

i = 4 


rds. 

sq.  yds. 

sq.  ft. 

sq.  in. 

=,  160  = 

4840  = 

43“i<»  = 

6272040 

= 40  = 

1210  = 

10S90  = 

156S160 

1 = 

30V  — 

272^  = 

392°4 

9 - 

1 =■ 

1296 

144 

Cubic  or  Solid  Measure. 

172S  cu.  in.  make  1 cubic  foot. 


27  cu.  ft. 

40  cu.  ft.  of  round  timber  or  { 
50  cu.  ft.  of  hewn  timber  f 
8 cu.  ft. 

16  cd.  ft.  or  | 

128  cu.  ft.  J 

24^  cu.  ft. 


cubic  yard. 

1 ton  or  load. 

1 cord  foot. 

1 cord  of  wood. 

( perch  of 
i-<  stone,  or 
( masonry. 


24  grains  (gr.) 
20  pwt. 

12  OZ. 

grains 


lb. 

1 


20  grains  (gr.) 
3 scruples 
8 drams 
12  ounces 


Weights. 

Troy  Weights. 

make  1 pennyweight, 

“ 1 ounce, 

“ 1 pound, 

“ 1 carat  (diamond  wt.), 

Scale  of  Comparison. 

dwt. 


Scale  of  Comparison. 

T.  cwt.  qr. 

lb. 

oz. 

dr. 

1 = 20  = 80  = 

2000  = 

32000  = 

512000 

1=4  = 

100  = 

4000  = 

25600 

1 = 

25  = 

400  == 

6400 

6 = 

16  = 

256 

I = 

l6 

United  States  money  is  a 

decimal  cutrency. 

Table. 

pwt. 

10  mills  (m.)  1 cent,  ct. 
10  cents  1 dime,  d. 

oz. 

100  mills. 

lb. 

10  dimes  i dollar,  $ 

IOOO  “ 

100  cents. 

k. 

10  dollars  i eagle,  E. 

I OOOO  “ 

1000  “ 

100  dimes. 

oz. 

12 

1 


240 

20 

1 

ik. 


Apothecaries’  W eight. 

make  1 scruple, 

“ 1 dram, 

“ 1 ounce, 

“ 1 pound, 

Scale  of  Comparison. 


lb. 

1 


oz. 

12 

1 


dr. 

96 

8 

1 


sc. 

2S8 

24 

3 

1 


gr- 

5760 

480 

24 

3r 


sc.  or  3 
dr.  or  § 
oz.  or  3 
lb.  or  lb. 


gr- 

5760 

480 

60 

20 


Table  of  Miscellaneous  Weight. 


make  1 barrel  of  flour. 

1 “ beef,  pork  or  fish. 

1 “ salt  at  N.  Y.  Salt  Works. 

1 bushel  of  oats. 

1 “ barley. 

1 “ corn,  rye  or  flax  seed. 

1 “ blue-grass-seed. 

1 “ castor- beans. 

1 “ hemp-seed. 

,,  ( wheat,  beans,  clover- 

'll seed,  peas  or  potatoes. 

1 “ timothy-seed. 

1 “ onions. 

1 “ apples  or  peaches  dried. 

1 “ salt. 

A sack  of  -wool  is  22  stone,  that  is,  14  lbs.  to  the  stone, 
308  lbs. 

A pack  of  zvool  is  17  stone  2 lbs  =240  lbs. — a pack  load 
for  a horse. 

A truss  of  hay  is,  new,  60  lbs.;  old,  50  lbs.;  straw,  40  lbs. 
A load  of  hay  is  36  trusses.  A bale  of  hay  is  300  lbs. 

A firkin  of  butter  was  formerly  56  lbs.,  but  is  now  generally 
put  up  in  50  or  100  lb.  firkins. 

A bale  of  cotton  is  400  IBs.,  but  it  is  put  up  in  different 
States  varying  from  280  to  720  lbs.  Sea  Island  cotton  is 
put  up  in  sacks  of  300  lbs. 


196  lbs. 

200 

U 

280 

u 

32 

u 

48 

u 

56 

u 

14 

u 

46 

a 

44 

u 

60 

u 

45 

t< 

57 

(t 

28 

(4 

5° 

44 

Avoirdupois  Weight. 

16  drams  (dr.)  1 ounce,  oz. 

16  oz.  1 pound,  lb. 

25  lb.  1 quarter,  qr. 

4 qr.  1 hundredweight,  cwt. 

20  cwt.  1 ton,  T. 

100  lb.  1 cental,  c. 


1 eagle  (gold)  weighs  25S  troy  grains. 

1 dollar  (silver)  “ 412.5  “ 

1 cent  (copper)  “ 168  “ 

23.2  grains  of  pure  gold=$i.oo. 

Note. — The  gold  coins  are  the  double-eagle,  eagle,  half- 
eagle, quarter-eagle , three-dollar  piece  and  dollar. 

Table  of  Comparison  of  the  Measures  of  Capacity. 

1 gallon  or  4 qt.  wine  measure  contains  231  cubic  inches. 
yz  pk.  or  4 qt.  dry  measure  “ 2_68|  “ 

1 gallon  or  4 qt.  beer  measure  “ 282  “ 

1 bushel  dry  measure  “ 2150)^  “ 

In  England  the  following  weights  and  measures  are 
sometimes  used: 


WEIGHT. 

3 pounds  = 1 stone,  butchers’ 
meat. 

7 pounds  = 1 clove. 

2 cloves  . - 1 stone  common 
articles. 

2 stone  --  1 tod  of  wool. 

6lA  tods  = 1 wey  “ 

2 weys  1 sack  “ 

12  sacks  = 1 last  “ 

240  pounds  ■=  1 pack  “ 

CLOTH  MEASURE.  . 

2lA  inches  = i nail. 

4 nails  = 1 quarter. 

4 quarters  ----  1 yard. 

3 quarters  = i Flemish  ell. 

5 quarters  = 1 English  ell. 

6 quarter  = i French  ell. 


2 quarts 
2 bushels 
2 strikes 

2 cooms 

S quarters 

3 bushels 
36  bushels 


DRY  MEASURE. 

= i pottle. 

- 1 strike. 

= 1 coom. 

==  1 quarter. 
=.  1 load. 

= 1 sack. 

= 1 chaldron. 


tierce. 


WINE  MEASURE. 

18  U.  S.  gal.  = 1 runlet. 

24  Eng.  gal.  or  I 
42  U.  S.  Gal.  ! 

2 tierces  = 1 puncheon. 

ifunl:|ai:orh.,ho“shead- 

2 hogsheads  = i pipe. 

2 pipes  = 1 tun. 

7 1/2  Eng.  gal.  = 1 firkin  of  beer. 

4 firkins  = i barrel  “ 


4l25  quarters  = i Scotch  ell. 

Table  of  Comparison  of  Weights,  &c. 


1 U.  S.  pound  Troy«=576o  grs.  Troy 
1 Eng.  pound  Troy= ^760  “ “ 

1 pound  Apoth.  =-5760  “ “ 

1 U.  S.  pound  Av.=7ooo  “ " 

1 Eng.  pound  Av.  =7000  “ “ 

144  pounds  Av.  = 175  lb.  Troy. 
1 French  gram  -=15  *433  STs.  “ 

1 U.  S.  yard  =36  inches. 


1 English  yard=36  inches. 

1 French  meter=39.368+inches. 
1 U.  S.  bushel  =2i5o.42-j-cu.  in. 
1 Eng.  “ =2218.194-  ** 

1 U.  S.  gallon  =231  “ 

1 Eng.  “ =277.26-+-  “ 

1 French  liter  =61.533-)-  “ 

1 French  are  =1 19.664  sq.  yds. 


French,  English  and  United  States  Money 
Reduced  into  United  States,  English  and  French  money. 


Francs. 

Dollars. 

Pounds  Sterling. 

Shillings. 

Pence. 

1 

= 0.1930 

0.0396S  =■ 

0.7936 

= 9523 

5 „ , 

= 0.9648 

0.19S40  = 

3.968 

- 47.62 

5.1826 

=«  1 . 

— 

0 . 2056  = 

4. 11 

- 49- 

25-9t3 

“ 5*o, 

— 

1 .02 So  = 

20.56 

- 247. 

25.20 

— 4.S63 

— 

1 . «=■ 

20.00 

« 240. 

126.00 

- 24.315 

— 

5-  - 

100.00 

— 1200. 

k 


FT 


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It  gives  me  pleasure  to  testify  to  the  value  of  this  remarkable  book. 
The  statistical  tables  toward  the  end  of  the  volume,  are  a storehouse  of 
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ful perusal  of  the  entire  volume. 

I commend  it  to  my  pupils  and  friends  as  a good  investment. 

Prof.  M.  J.  GOLDSMITH , Prof.  Penmanship  Southern  Business 
University , Atlanta , Ga. 

Embodies\he  most  practical  and  useful  amount  of  information  of  any 
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It  contains  a vast  amount  of  valuable  information  presented  in  an 
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in  a family  of  young  people. 

B.  F.  MOORE , A.  M.,  Pres.  Southern  Business  University , Atlanta , 
Georgia. 

I can  recommend  ‘ Gaskell’s  Compendium  of  Forms’’’  as  a useful  book 
of  reference,  for  business  and  professional  men,  and  is  more  complete 
than  any  work  of  the  kind  previously  published. 

BOSTON  HERALD. 

Its  pages  are  so  well  stocked  with  useful  knowledge,  that  few  will 
hesitate  to  give  it  the  second  place,  at  least,  among  the  volumes  in 
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BOSTON  COURIER. 

One  of  the  most  useful  books  for  reference,  or  study,  recently  issued, 
is  undoubtedly  “Gaskell’s  Compendium  of  Forms.” 

Gov.  JOHN  D.  LONG , of  Massachusetts. 

It  contains  a vast  amount  of  valuable  information. 

Gov.  NATT  HEAD , of  New  Hampshire. 

It  surpasses  any  book  of  the  kini  I have  ever  seen;  it  is  a complete 
library  in  itself. 

EX-  VICE  PRESIDENT  SCHUYLER  COLFAX. 

I have  found  “Gaskell’s  Compendium  of  Forms  ” such  a valuable 
work,  and  embodying  so  many  desirable  facts,  forms  and  instructions 
that  I have  not  only  subscribed  for  a copy  for  my  own  library,  but  also 
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It  supplies  a much  needed  want,  and  will  benefit  all  who  consult  its 
pages. 

Hon.  THEODORE  F.  RANDOLPH , U.  S.  Senator  of  New  Jersey. 

Contains  very  much  valuable  information. 

Prof.  H.  E.  HIBBARD , Principal  Bryant  di  Stratton  Commercial 
School , Boston. 

I have  examined  it  carefully,  and  with  great  interest  to  myself. 
Would  not  part  with  it  for  ten  times  its  cost.  Should  find  its  way  into 
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It  meets  a very  aggressive  sort  of  demand.  The  amount  of  valuable 
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Forms  ” will  be  found  a most  excellent  book  for  reference  and  study. 

J.  H.  SMART,  A.  M.,  President  National  Teachers'  Assembly  {1881), 
Atlanta,  Ga. 

I know  of  no  more  valuable  book  than  “ Gaskell’s  Compendium  of 
Forms,”  and  commend  its  use  to  all  business  and  professional  men. 


JAS.  A.  WESTON,  Ex- Gov.  of  New  Hampshire. 

I have  examined  your  “ Gaskell’s  Compendium  of  Forms”  with 
much  interest  and  satisfaction;  while  the  book  is  of  great  value  in  fam- 
ilies, the  business  man — in  fact,  everybody, — will  derive  profit  by  a 
perusal  of  its  pages. 

Hon.  WM.  H.  SPENCER,  C.  S.  C.,  Georgia  State  Senator,  from 
Harris  Co.,  Ga. 

The  work  is  practical  in  its  nature,  is  systematically  arranged,  and  all 
who  consult  its  pages  will  be  greatly  benefited  thereby.  It  is  a book  of 
great  value.  # 

Hon.  ALFRED  IT.  COLQUITT,  Governor  State  of  Georgia. 
“Gaskell’s  Compendium  of  Forms”  contains  a great  many  valuable 
matters  of  both  business  and  social  utility,  and  is  a compilation  of  a 
surprising  amount  of  forms  and  information. 

Hon.  W.  F.  HEMP  HILL,  Publisher  of  the  Daily  Constitution, 
Atlanta.  Ga. 

We  find  it  to  bo  one  of  the  most  useful  books  for  reference  or  study  in 
our  library. 

Prof.  J.  E.  SOULE,  Principal  Bryant  dc  Stratton  Colleges,  Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  useful  books  in  my  library.  It  contains  a world 
of  information,  carefully  arranged,  classified  and  indexed.  The  work 
is  eminently  practical,  and  cannot  fail  to  be  a valuable  book  of  refer- 
ence and  instruction  to  students  and  business  and  professional  men.  It 
is  full  of  good  things. 

Prof.  W.  II.  SADLER,  Principal  Bryant,  Stratton  dc  Sadler  Colleges, 
Baltimore,  Md. 

It  is  decidedly  the  best  and  only  complete  work  of  the  kind.  I want 
six  copies  to  present  to  my  teachers. 

Prof.  W.  A.  DRAKE,  Ptincipal  Hillsdale  {Mich.')  College. 

It  is  superior  to  any  similar  work  which  has  preceded  it,  being  pre- 
pared upon  a more  liberal  plan,  and  evincing  more  care  and  scholarship 
in  its  compilation.  Those  who  possess  it  will  be  spared  many  cash  dis- 
bursements, will  avoid  a world  of  awkwardness,  and  will  grow  wiser 
by  having  access  to  it. 

Rev.  KENDALL  BROOKS,  D.  D.,  Pres.  Kalamazoo  ( Mich.)  College . 
In  mar.y  families  it  will  take  the  place  of  a whole  library. 

SAM UEL  DICKIE,  A.  M.,  Librarian  Albioti  {Mich.)  College . 

A rare  collection  of  valuable  information,  intelligently  compiled  and 
elegantly  printed. 

D.  W.  C.  DURGIN,  Pres.  Hillsdale  {Mich.)  College. 

If  one  wants  an  item  and  doesn’t  know  whereto  find  it,  let  him  go  to 
“ Gaskell’s  Compendium.”  The  “Compendium  of  Reference”  (32 
pages)  is  alone  worth  the  price  of  the  work. 

Prof.  L.  C.  AT LW ORTH,  Pres.  Commercial  College , Battle  Creek , 
Mich. 

An  Encyclopaedia  of  valuable  information  for  all  who  mingle  in  busi- 
ness and  society. 

DALLAS  BOUDEM AN,  Esq.,  Attorney  at  Law,  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

The  legal  forms  are  such  as  are  in  general  use  in  the  profession— the 
most  complete  work  of  its  kind  I have  ever  seen. 

II.  E.  WINS  OR,  Esq.,  Attorney  at  Law,  Marshall,  Mich. 

A book  demanded  by  the  times.  Should  be  in  every  farmer’s  family 
especially. 

ZELOTES  TRUESDEL,  Supt.  Schools,  Pontiac , Mich. 

No  family  can  afford  to  be  without  it. 

C.  N.  WALDRON , Vice- Pres.  First  National  Bank,  Hillsdale,  Mich. 

The  best  book  of  the  kind  with  which  I am  familiar,  and  deserves  a 
large  circulation. 

Hon.  W.  F.  MASON,  Supt.  Atlanta  {Ga.)  City  Schools. 

One  of  the  most  useful  books  in  my  library — for  reference  and  study. 
Hon.  WM.  A.  HARRIS  {Sec.  Senate  of  Georgia),  Attorney  at  Law • 
I unhesitatingly  pronounce  it  a valuable  book  of  reference,  as  regards 
business,  social  and  legal  forms.  I have  a copy  which  I appreciate 
very  highly,  and  would  not  part  with  it  for  five  times  its  cost. 


